Friends, another year has come and gone. And it, quite simply, reminds me of HOW ANNOYED I used to be when I heard people say things like this. 

Like yes, Janet… another year HAS come and gone. THAT’S HOW IT WORKS!

But now, years later, I get it. Sometimes the years go by so fast that you just can’t help but be surprised by the speed – and when you’re a mama, and a business owner, and simply a human living in the year 2023 (!), it’s almost a required saying..

So, as we lean into a new year, I’m doing one of my favorite things to do… reflect, especially from a business standpoint. After all, we deserve to do this — and this year, it’s been a really growth-filled, exciting year. 

So in case you love to read these kinds of blog posts as much as I do, you’re in the right place! I wanted to share some of my very favorite learnings from 2022. 

My Business Learnings from 2022

1. Finding the right people to help you grow is absolutely everything — and this year for me, that was another Campaign Manager and Account Manager. Now I know not every business owner reading this is a Facebook ad agency (of course), so hiring a specific Campaign Manager or Account Manager may not quite make sense for you — but if it does, I can’t recommend it enough. And if you’ve increased your own ad spend, your own workload, or your own client load, 2023 may be the perfect time for you to do it, too. Read this blog post for some advice on this!

But, on the other hand, I can’t even tell you how imperative it is to hire the right people to help you grow, no matter what type of business you run. The people you invest in are the people who will push your business forward (or pull it backwards), so hire intentionally, fire quickly if needed, and hold onto your best ones — because the growth is unparalleled when you do.

2. Continuing to create, invest in, and follow processes and systems makes the biggest difference in your workload, your team’s productivity, and in the experience of your clients. While processes and systems have always been important to us over here at System Envy — I mean, just look at our name! — they’ve become especially integral this year. 

We’ve continuously worked towards creating checklists for everything, building out Asana templates for tasks, creating Drive folders for templates we constantly need, and building out SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for everything from client onboarding to campaign procedures. 

P.S., Wondering what needs a SOP? To give you a sneak peek of a few things we make SOPs for, here are a few examples: campaign setup, onboarding, evergreen ad set up phases, TikTok setup, reporting, sales calls, client notes… literally you name it, and we have a SOP for it. It’s changed the game for us.

3. There is nothing more important than being a customer service-focused business. Nothing. We truly care about our clients, and for us this is a legitimate, foundational tenet of the work we do. No one signing up to work with us is going to find a team who leaves them hanging, and that’s so important to us. 

Changes in the FB ad world this year have thrown us all for a bit of a loop at different times this year, but we’ve continued to adjust with our clients, guide them towards the things we know will work, and continue to be their partner… no matter what. (Plus, we work with some wonderful and successful clients, and we’re so lucky to do it. We love them all so much!)

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Now it’s time for a new year… and new lessons — and I can’t even tell you how hopeful and excited I am for those, too. Have any lessons you want to share, too? Post them in the comments below. I’d love to hear ‘em!