As the calendar turns to another year, it's the perfect time to take stock of your business and make some important changes for an even better year ahead. We all have a tendency towards continuing the status quo, but if you do what you always do, you will get what you always got. So are you ready to make a change and achieve more in 2017?

If you are serious about making a change, these are 3 key steps to get you started, so pick up a pen and get to work, 2017 is here!

1. Get clear on your goals for 2017

The easiest (and most fun) way to get clear on your goals for 2017 is to plan backwards – what’s that? Backward planning simply means, to start with the end in mind, so rather than your plan for 2017 being to get 10, 20 or 100 new customers, plan what you would do if you achieved your financial goals in 2017 – what do you want to happen? Think of holidays you would like to go on, a new car, things for the kids, clearing a debt, list all the things you would like to do in 2017.

Once you have your full list, put a price on each item to work out what your financial goal is in 2017 – meaning the money you need to bring in to do what you want to do in 2017. When you have established this figure ask yourself the question ‘what needs to happen in my business in 2017 in order for it to generate that amount of cash for me?’

2. Translate your goals into activity

Now, it may have been tempting to write your entire bucket list down during your backward planning, but make sure you are being realistic. Backward planning is a great and fun way to help you get clarity on what you want and need out of your business, but if your list demands your business to generate a million pounds in 2017 and your 2016 turnover was £250,000, you may have set unrealistic demands. To keep your list and financial goals realistic, we recommend you keep the following questions in mind:

• What is your current monthly turn over?
• What was that figure 6 months ago?
• What is your monthly turn over goal for your business in 2017 based on your backwards planning?
• How much turnover do you need to add month on month to achieve this? And is this realistic?

So, you now know what you want from 2017 and what your business needs to generate to realise this, so one final question remains:

• How will you achieve the required financial growth month on month?

Is it through repeat business, new business, referrals, new products or new services? Are you looking for big ad hoc burst of income, or are you looking to build a steady, residual income that grows each month? Whichever business format you follow, the key is to decide how you are achieving the required growth each month, or one better, each week, so that each week you are taking a step closer to realising that 2017 goal.

3. Hold yourself accountable

Having clear, bite sized goals also means you can hold yourself accountable. Each week you can ask yourself the question if what you did that week brought you closer to your 2017 goal?

If you struggle to hold yourself accountable, a great way of creating higher accountability for yourself is to join a local mastermind group or work with a mentor or coach. They will push you to reach your goals, question you if you haven’t hit a goal, and praise you when you do. But above all, they can give you valuable input into the best ways to achieve your goals in 2017.

Now is the time to work out what you want from your business in 2017, which activity levels you require to achieve this and what level of accountability works for you. That dream holiday or car is closer than you think!