Planning ahead for a smashing 2018

What’s left to do after the Christmas presents are all opened and you can’t stomach another Christmas greeting GIF? Well, you could always take some time to reflect on your business and personal goals. Being self-aware and analysing what worked and what didn’t will help you shape 2018 with clarity and purpose. This post will share some of our highlights and what you can do to ensure that at the end of 2018, you won’t look back and think “where did the time go?”

The Year That Was — Shoppertise Edition

First Quarter

• The year started with a bang as we moved into new offices in both KL and Jakarta!
• On the product development front, we built an API to power up e-commerce websites for Pocketbook users
• We pulled off the integration of Pocketbook and the websites of Augustfame and Sleep Champ Baby
• Our passion for growing and grooming local talent saw us co-organising a workshop for womenpreneurs of WENA and the Malaysian chapter of GirlsInTech

Second Quarter

• Our efforts to grow Outletz led to integration with a local courier aggregator and a more refined payment process with unique amount for every ATM /Bank transfer transaction for easier bank statement reconciliation.
• Integrated Outletz with the B2B marketplace
• We continued to invest in growing the community through weekly workshops in Jakarta and monthly workshops around Indonesia.

Third Quarter

• We were focused on developing a new offering — Customer Relationship Marketing — through our Customer Analytics and Marketing Platform, Shoppertise Campfire. This tool will allow brands to take best advantage of targeted marketing with customer engagement in the least time possible.

Fourth Quarter

• Launched Shoppertise Campfire with local supermarket, Farley. We also developed a loyalty app that was integrated with Shoppertise Campfire to reward repeat customers.

Looking back at these milestones, we identified a common theme: growth. Growth in our products, our team’s capabilities and our footprint.

“2017 was a challenging year for us. There was a lot of stress and pressure on our team but we learn through experience. It is also important that we support each other through hardships because one person can’t do everything well, all the time. The biggest satisfaction, is seeing how our products and services help local businesses do better. Their success makes it all worthwhile and reminds us of why we started Shoppertise in the first place.” — Christine Liew and CK Yap, co-founders of Shoppertise.

The Year That Will Be — Your Edition

Now, it’s your turn to set yourself up for success in 2018. You could go through this process alone or with a trusted friend/business partner. Gather up some pen and paper, go to an inspirational place or play some upbeat tunes to get your head in the right space.

• Reflect on your success/failures

  If you tried setting goals at the end of 2016, look back at what you had planned for 2017. What did you achieve and what slipped through the cracks? For goals that you achieved, what made the difference — was it having a mentor or were the goals written well? Think about what’s important to you in the coming year.

• Plot and track your journey

  It’s great to have a destination, but you need to be able to see how close or far you are on your journey. Here’s where a little more effort is required. You could try using planners or diaries, or nifty online tools like Trello to create a roadmap and track your progress. The more detailed you are, the easier it would be to stay on track.

• Reward yourself to stay motivated

  Achieving your end goal should be a reward in itself but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have some fun along way. Little treats when you reach certain milestones will fuel you and keep you motivated. Don’t beat yourself up if you fall short. Just think of it as a detour or punctured tyre, and remember…small delays don’t make big failures.

The idea is to start somewhere. After all, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, and we wish you all the best for yours!

Happy New Year!