As a small business owner, you have hopes, dreams, and goals for your business. One of the most rewarding things that can happen to you is to see your business reaching major milestones and achieving goals. When that happens, it’s cause to celebrate. So how do you go about celebrating reaching a major milestone?
Announce the Milestone
To start with, make an announcement when you reach the milestone. Ideally, those involved with your business will be aware of the milestones and goals you have in mind for your business. They probably don’t know exactly where things are at in terms of reaching those milestones though. Sending out an announcement when the milestone is reached is a great way to make everyone aware of the progress you’ve made so they can share in the sense of accomplishment.
Thank Employees by Name
The very nature of running a business means that if your business succeeds, it’s in large part due to the efforts and contributions of your employees. As such, you owe it to them to thank them for the hard work they’ve put in. Don’t just thank your employees as a whole, though that certainly isn’t a bad thing to do. Take the next step and thank the employees who helped your business reach that major milestone by name. The recognition for their individual efforts will help build employee loyalty, which can only serve your business going forward.
Go Out to Celebrate
It feels good to reach major milestones. It feels even better when they give you a reason to go out to celebrate. You might treat your employees by taking them out to a bar or restaurant for a meal on the company’s dollar. This gives your employees a chance to bond with one another outside of a workplace setting and gives them a chance to get to know you a little better as well. This can make it easier to build healthy relationships with your employees. It feels good to be rewarded for your hard work in an easily measurable manner, so take advantage of this reason to get out of the office. You can choose the restaurant yourself, or you might send out a survey to your employees to find out which restaurants are the most popular choice.
Host a Company Party
If taking everyone out isn’t really your style, consider hosting a company party instead. This will probably take a lot more planning than just going out to celebrate, but it can be a really fun experience if you do it right. You may find it helpful to put together a party planning team to avoid putting too much responsibility on any one person. You’ll need to set a budget, pick a date, plan a venue, pick your entertainment, decide on any events you want to take place during the party, and choose the food and drink that will be served. You can use bamboo skewers to create a better presentation for the food at your party.
Give Employees Gifts
Verbally thanking your employees isn’t the only way to show them you appreciate what they’ve done. Consider giving your employees gifts to thank them for everything they’ve done to help you reach this milestone. The gifts don’t have to be anything especially big, or even expensive. They should be meaningful and thoughtful. There are a ton of fun gift ideas you can pull inspiration from as you think of what to give your employees. Consider their interests and hobbies outside of work and use that to help guide your decisions.
Share the Good News
Your employees aren’t the only ones to alert when your business reaches a major milestone. Let your customers know as well. You might share the news on the social media platforms you’ve built a presence on, write a blog post about it for your website, and have your local news organization run a story on it. Positive PR will likely always be of benefit to your business. This can be a good way to build the relationships your business has with your customers and community, allowing everyone to celebrate your successes.
Offer a Milestone-Centric Promotion
While your customers and community may be happy for you, it won’t hurt to give them a reason to have a more celebratory perspective regarding your success. To that end, give your customers a reason to celebrate too by offering a milestone-centric promotion. If you’ve been in business in that community for 10 years, you might offer a 10 percent discount on some of your products, for example. This can be a great way to thank your customers for helping your business be as successful as it has been. Remember, your employees and customers are the primary reasons behind you reaching any of your goals and milestones.
Remember the Individual Milestones Too
Your business’s milestones are as achievable as they are because your employees are meeting their milestones too. If you want to build employee loyalty, one of the things you need to do is make your employees feel appreciated. This is a lot easier when they feel like you’re paying attention and notice their successes. It’s far too tempting and all too easy to focus on the shortcomings and deficiencies of your employees, but beyond a certain point, that’s only going to harm your business and damage employee morale. Instead, make an effort to recognize employees for the good they do and the milestones they achieve. That could include things like meeting or exceeding certain metrics, work anniversaries, or significant events in their personal lives. You might send a congratulatory card at the birth of a child, flowers if there was a death in the family, or a care package if they are recovering from a severe injury or illness. This proves to your employees that you care about them and their well-being, which is only going to be a good thing for you.
Your business reaching a major milestone is cause for celebration. You and your employees have worked hard, so why not kick back and take advantage of a reason to engage in some festivities? As an added bonus, celebrating your milestones and achieving your goals will provide additional incentive to continue striving to reach greater heights.
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