Two people meeting across a table, as Aldrich's Eric Seifert recommends for all businesses to finish their year strong.

Five Key Year-End Tips for Business Owners from Aldrich’s Eric Seifert, Partner

By: Aldrich CPAs + Advisors

As we move into the final quarter of the calendar year, business owners have a crucial opportunity to reflect, strategize, and prepare for the coming year.

Eric Seifert's headshot in black and white in an indoor office space.

In a recent episode of the Business LO podcastEric Seifert, Aldrich Partner and Director of Outsourced Accounting, shared his top five tips to help businesses maximize their potential and start the new year strong. 

Whether you’re a small business owner or managing a larger operation, these practical steps are designed to enhance your business performance and set you up for long-term success. 

1. Conduct a SWOT Analysis

Before planning for the future, it is essential to reflect on the past year. Conducting a SWOT analysis—assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats—is an efficient way to assess the health of the business.  

Involving your team members in this process is crucial. Those engaged in the day-to-day operations often offer valuable insights, creating a comprehensive picture of where the business stands. This sets a strong foundation for making strategic decisions and improvements moving forward. 

2. Return to the Strategic Plan

A five-year strategic plan sets broad, long-term goals, providing direction. From there, it’s beneficial to create a one-year tactical plan with clear objectives for the next 12 months. Breaking these objectives into quarterly milestones ensures consistent progress. Regularly revisiting and discussing the plan with the team helps maintain focus and alignment with the company’s key goals. 

3. Create a Detailed Forecast

Start by developing three scenarios—conservative, realistic, and aggressive. These can help provide insight into potential outcomes and ensure the business is prepared for various market conditions. 

Once revenue forecasts are set, it’s important to assess the resources and investments required to meet those goals. From there, building a flexible budget that can adapt to changing circumstances throughout the year allows for effective resource management and strategic flexibility.

4. Focus on People: Employees and Clients

People are the foundation of every successful business. Starting with your team, a thorough performance review process highlights strengths while identifying areas for improvement. Fostering a growth mindset encourages continuous development and helps employees thrive. 

Similarly, dedicating time to building relationships with clients is key. Gathering feedback, understanding their needs, and showing appreciation strengthens the partnership.

5. Recalibrate Processes and Procedures

The year-end is also a great time to fine-tune internal processes, contracts, and technologies. This is not the time for major changes, but rather for small adjustments that can enhance efficiency and streamline operations in preparation for the new year. 

These small tweaks often provide immediate value and help ensure smooth operations as the business moves forward, setting the stage for ongoing success. 

By following five key steps, business owners can finish the calendar year strong and lay the groundwork for a successful new year.  

At Aldrich, we apply this process with our clients to ensure we know their business and key objectives. To learn more about setting your business up for success, click here. For more insights from Eric, click here for a Q+A on helping business owners boost efficiency.  

Meet the Author
Partner, Client Accounting Services

Eric Seifert, CPA, MAcc

Aldrich CPAs + Advisors LLP

Eric Seifert joined Aldrich in 2013, shortly after completing graduate school. In 2021, Eric founded Aldrich’s Outsourced Accounting Services (CAS) group, which provides clients with internal accounting service and business strategy assistance. His expertise is in navigating complex tax and accounting issues across multiple industries, including real estate and private equity, professional services, and entertainment…. Read more Eric Seifert, CPA, MAcc

Eric's Specialization
  • Process Assessment + Development
  • Outsourced Accounting Services
  • Business Strategy Development
  • Entity Structuring
  • Financial Statement Analysis
  • Partnership + Multi-State Taxation
Connect with Eric
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