Whether it’s a new business year in January or in July, it’s a great time to review, refresh and refocus on where you are with things. As an expert business coach, I should say that a lot of these things should be done far more regularly than just once or twice a year; some of these things should be reviewed monthly or quarterly; depending on your business and the item below. So, here are my top 12 things you should review and do – if not regularly, at least twice a year. : )
To Review and Do in The New Business Year
1. What are your goals?
What do you want to achieve in your business long term (10+ years) and what about 3-5 years and what about the next 3-12 months? If you don’t know your goals and don’t have a plan on how to exactly ensure they happen, then I can promise you that most people (and businesses) won’t reach their full potential. Or worse, might actually fail. We all know the expression that ‘people don’t plan to fail; they fail to plan’. It’s not just a cute tagline!
2. What actually worked?
Whether we’re talking service, product or general operations, what went well in the business in the period of time you’re considering? Do you have a product (or service) which really took off, or which has proven to be high margin? With anything good that happened, you want to know how that happened and then essentially duplicate. We definitely want more of the good stuff!
3. What didn’t go so well?
When I’m coaching, I never like to focus on the negative, but the reality is that we all want less of the negative so we do need to look at it, analyse and work out why these negative things happened. More importantly, what can we do to cut out, reduce or mitigate these negative things?
4. What blew out your budgets?
Most businesses should have budgets in place and entered into their accounting programs (Xero, MYOB etc). When something blows budget and you’ve had increased spending, why? If you had increased and unexpected sales, again why? Again, we want to duplicate the good and cut out the bad. If your costs have increased (and many have) then have you amended your pricing accordingly so that your profit is not being chewed up covering extra expenses and you’re making less money? Remember, if you’re not a charity, you’re in business to make a dollar, and there is nothing wrong with that.
5. What about variations?
If you are a business where there are ‘extras’ or ‘variations’ did you capture these and on-charge them? If you don’t have a process to do this effectively, then things need to change. I worked with a builder years ago who said “Don’t worry about it Donna; it’s swings and roundabouts and will all come out in the wash”. I pushed the issue and we tracked variation on one job, and wow – he realised how much money he had previously lost. Never again!
6. How is cashflow going?
If customers are getting slower at paying (there is a bit of a trend with that at present) what are you doing to change that? Every situation has different solutions; it’s about recognising the problem and then implementing some new strategies and processes (or even a change in trading terms) to ensure you get paid and paid promptly. One fact; whatever your terms are, a number of customers will take double that time to pay, so if you want to be paid within 30 days, then perhaps your trading terms should be 14 days!
7. What is the plan for the next 3-12 months?
I mentioned earlier, talking about goals, but each quarter, it’s a great idea to review your goals for the upcoming quarter. What do you want to achieve? What will be your focus? Do you want to expand your client base, or perhaps release a new product or service? Almost as important, have you identified any products or services which are not making you money (or even losing money) and unless there is a great reason to keep them on (such as being ‘loss leaders’) then perhaps it’s time to ditch them.
8. What clients should you ditch?
Yep, you read right. A smart business will identify its D-grade clients – those clients which are most painful, demand (unreasonably) much more service, for less money and are always complaining and probably are slow payers. Going by the 80/20 rule, they probably cause 80% of your headaches and generate less than 20% of your income. If a client is truly classified as a D-grade client, say goodbye to them (in the right way). Make room for your next A or B grade client whom you will love, and more importantly, will love you!
9. What areas are open to operational efficiency?
Now is a great time to review how things are going operationally and see if there are areas for improvement. Talk to your team; often they have great ideas – and being involved in the process, they are more likely to want to be part of the solution and be on board with any changes.
10. Have you some staff and client/customer surveys?
It’s a good idea to do staff reviews (formal or informal) at least a couple of times a year. Likewise, it’s also good to connect with your customers and clients to see how you can service them better and how they see things can be improved. Over the decades, I had some awesome feedback from clients (some things so simple, it was a no-brainer to implement) and it’s meant my businesses have improved and become more successful. Look after your team, they will then look after your clients, who in turn, will then look after your business with sales and profit.
11. Website Results
Whilst reviewing your analytics and website improvement should occur every month, if you haven’t done this for a while, then put it on your TO DO LIST and make the time to look for areas of improvement. If this isn’t your forte, then get in someone who specialises in this area. A review and refresh will improve the results your website achieves for you.
12. Marketing Results
Again, every month you should be ensuring that you’re sticking to your documented marketing plan, but once (or twice) a year, this plan should be revamped, reviewed and updated for the coming 6 or 12 months. What worked a year ago may not be as effective in a year’s time. Marketing is an area which is constantly changing and you need to be constantly changing too. I see businesses that have been doing something for years and when I ask in coaching, “Do you get any leads from that now?” the result is often “Actually, no”. So why is it still being invested in?
In Summary …
Reviews should encompass all areas of your business – marketing, sales processes, operations, finances and people – so that you can ensure you’re operating in all aspects of your business in the most optimal way. When I begin coaching a client, I’m often reviewing all the different aspects of their business, asking lots of questions and determining what is working (or not) and putting in place strategy and very realistic, practical and effective steps to action change that is geared towards success. We get our teeth checked regularly, and our car serviced – but sometimes, we don’t have a check and ‘clean’ of our business, which is often one of our greatest assets (and great money producers). If you’re thinking about business coaching and want to look at improving your business – reach out to me today here.
