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.
In a recent episode of the Business LO podcast, Eric 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.
