5 New Year's resolutions for business success

The New Year is in full swing and businesses around the world are hoping to make 2025 their best year yet. Business leaders will make many resolutions, but how many will be kept?

The secret to keeping successful New Year’s resolutions is by figuring out the steps needed to reach your goals. This will break the goal down into achievable actions. Doing this will make it a lot easier to maintain momentum.

Creating a pattern of consistent achievement early on will motivate you to continue making progress. This, in turn, will drive your business forward in 2025.

Read on to see what goals you can achieve for your business this year, and how to achieve them efficiently and effectively!

Focus on sustainability

Sustainability should be top of mind for businesses when setting goals in 2025. Focusing on sustainable practices not only ensures you are meeting governmental sustainability targets and standards. It also makes your organisation more attractive to clients and prospective job applicants.

According to Forbes, 61% of consumers state that an organisation’s environmental practices impacts consumer loyalty. 55% of consumers will pay more for environmentally responsible products. A recent poll from Indeed shows that workers value jobs that help society and the environment. It also shows they take into consideration the environmental practices of companies when applying for jobs.

How to achieve greater sustainability in 2025

Environmental Impact Assessments

Conducing an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a great place to start. An EIA allows you to assess the potential environmental risks associated with your business practices. It examines factors like carbon footprint, supply chain efficiency, and the logistics of future plans, such as global business expansion.

After you complete the EIA, you will have a clear list of ways to improve your sustainability practices.

Implementing sustainable initiatives

Many ways exist for you to improve your sustainability rating this year. These include reducing waste, optimising your supply chains, ensuring alignment with all government sustainability directives, and implementing company-wide green initiatives.

If you are specifically looking for guidance on how to expand globally in a sustainable way, visit our article on how to go global sustainably. Mauve services such as Employer of Record and Global Business Expansion can help.

Strengthen your financial position

Creating and effectively managing your income streams is crucial when managing a business. This will allow you to safeguard your business’ financial future and enable continued growth.

In 2025, you should aim to strengthen your company’s cashflow. This is to help you invest in new opportunities and resources and improve your current setup.

Your priorities should include reducing any debt, saving for unforeseen circumstances, and investing in your company’s future.

How to strengthen your financial position in 2025

Income forecast

Experts suggest creating a year-long income forecast at the start of the year can help. This will allow you to predict where your income is coming from, as well as cash outflows.

Creating a forecast means you can better track and measure your income and expenditure. Areas in which to invest or cut spending will be highlighted. It also means you can set goals for increasing your overall income at each quarter.

Tracking inventory

Assessing your inventory is another way to ensure you are keeping your financial position strong and not overspending. Make sure you are not over-ordering or letting inventory go to waste.

Diversify your revenue streams

In 2025, examine how to diversify your income streams. Would your business benefit from a subscription service? Could you introduce any other new service offerings or sales opportunities?

Embrace flexibility

Flexible working arrangements have become the norm since the pandemic. However, return-to-office mandates rose in popularity in 2024. In-person working requirements hit workers at a number of high-profile companies including Amazon and Meta.

This trend looks set to continue. In 2025, BT and Asda managers have called their workers back to in-person work for at least three days a week. PwC and Santander are also preparing to call their workers back to the office.

Previously, we have discussed the negative outcomes of forcing employees to return to the office against their wishes. A move that can impact both employees and the workplace culture. These outcomes can include increased resignations, strained employer-employee relations, and a weakened employer position.

Embracing flexibility will set you apart in 2025. Studies show that 90% of workers value flexibility as the most important driver of wellbeing.

How to embrace flexibility in 2025

Continue and expand flexible work models

Employees appreciate work-life balance and flexible working. This is why offering flexible work models not only attracts talent, but also retains it. This saves you recruitment costs and earns employee loyalty.

When you offer employees the chance to work in a way that fits them, they feel valued. This increases the chances that they will stay in their job. Flexible working can refer to remote working, hybrid working, or setting one's own hours.

Invest in tools to aid digital collaboration

Supporting your teams to achieve their potential while working flexibly is key to your business’ success. Investing in digital collaboration tools is important. These can include video conferencing platforms, organisational and planning platforms, and project management tools. These will facilitate your teams to stay connected, no matter where they are.

Expand your global reach

If you are a small to medium-sized enterprise (SME), expanding your market reach may seem out of reach. But it doesn’t have to be. Global expansion is not just for large-scale corporations. Today, businesses of any size can set their sights on global markets.

SMEs account for 99.9% of businesses operating in the UK. About 10% of these operate internationally. Over half of those operating overseas intend to expand further in the next year.

How to expand your global reach in 2025

Do market research

When figuring out which new marketplace to enter, you need to consider several factors such as:

• Is there a gap in the market for your product/service?
• Is there a skilled workforce in-country?
• What is the state of the economy in this country?
• What would the shipping distances and transportation needs be?

Seek local expertise

Seeking local expertise before you begin your global expansion is important. Ensuring compliance is a top priority when expanding into a new market. However, rules and regulations differ greatly between regions. That’s why you need to access in-depth local knowledge, to make sure you don’t accidentally fall foul of complex employment and tax laws.

Partnering with experts in global expansion is one way to ensure the success of your global assignment. Global employment solutions providers, like Mauve Group, can help you to navigate even the trickiest parts of internationalisation.

With 28 years of experience under our belts, Mauve Group offers a pioneering Employer of Record solution, allowing you to compliantly employ overseas without having to undertake establishing a local entity.

We also offer Global Business Expansion services, Global Visa & Immigration services, Consultancy Services including Salary Benchmarking, and more.

Leverage technology

Technology is advancing rapidly. Many pros and cons regarding artificial intelligence (AI) exist. However, leveraging this new era of technology in your business’ favour should be a priority in 2025.

AI technologies can support your business in a multitude of ways. You can optimise marketing campaigns and strategies and enhance customer experiences. You can also streamline operations and handle data-heavy tasks quickly and easily, without the risk of error.

How to leverage technology in 2025

Support your HR teams with AI tools

Your HR departments are likely already utilising AI to some degree. In fact, 93% of HR professionals now use AI tools.

However, it is important to take cognisance of just how much these tools can help. Automating tedious and complex data-driven tasks minimises the risk of human error. It also frees professionals to focus on bigger tasks.

Invest in cybersecurity

As noted in this article, 46% of all cyberattacks worldwide affect businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees. Despite this, about half of all small businesses fail to put in place adequate cybersecurity plans.

Investing in security measures in 2025 will secure your data, protect your team members, and prevent financial and reputational losses as a result of breaches.

How Mauve Group can help you achieve your business goals in 2025

Mauve Group has almost three decades of experience in the field of global mobility. We are well-placed to guide you through each of your New Year’s business resolutions.

Throughout the past three decades, Mauve has remained dedicated to sustainability and supporting businesses and NGOs across the world. We have run various sustainability initiatives including 'Mauve Goes Green' and have supported NGOs working towards environmental protection.

Our Finance team provides Global Payroll and Salary Benchmarking services to companies the world over, and we are pioneers of flexible working, facilitating this model via our Employer of Record service. In addition to this, we help businesses of all shapes and sizes to move into new markets seamlessly and compliantly.

On top of everything else, we keep abreast of cutting-edge AI advances and how these can help move the HR industry into the future and help businesses to achieve long-term goals.

Contact us today to find out how we can support your business to make 2025 your best year yet!