Now that we are in the last quarter of the calendar year, it is a good time to start your business planning and thinking about the forthcoming new year.  Periodically reviewing your goals and objectives helps to keep your business ticking over, and a chance to take stock to ensure you’re on the right track.  It’s also a great opportunity to make sure you have the necessary tools in place to meet your financial and operational goals.

So where do you start?

Get Organised

Being organised is key to juggling multiple projects and the many hats we wear in our businesses.  Spending time on things like decluttering (our desk and our online accounts and profiles!), catching up on our tax returns, emails and filing is a good start.  Schedule in time to have a big decluttering session will help clear the decks for the forthcoming year.

Processes

Now is a great time to review existing processes and check they are still working and achieving their purpose.  Take a step back and look at it from your customer/client/employee’s perspective and ensure they flow smoothly.

Vendors and Suppliers

When was the last time you reviewed your existing vendors and suppliers?  Are they still offering the best product/service for the best price versus the quality they are delivering?  Even if you are happy with your current providers, it is still a good chance to see who else and what else is on the market.  If for any reason they couldn’t deliver or stopped trading, would you know where else to go?

Insurances

The same goes for insurance companies; have you recently reviewed your policy to ensure you have adequate cover for a competitive price?  Most insurance companies will increase their prices on renewals knowing that most won’t want to waste the time in shopping around.  Have you looked to see whether your insurer offers multi-policies to allow everything to be kept under one umbrella?

Employees

If you have employees, it’s a good time to review their performance and pay.  Are you keeping up with an ever-changing, competitive employment market?

Retaining good employees is important to ensuring the smooth running of your business.  Are you offering competitive salaries that if another offer came along they wouldn’t jump at the chance?  A small increase can often outweigh the risk of losing a good, loyal employee.  Think about the investment of advertising, recruiting and spending the time and money training someone new if they left.

Also take time to consider training.  Are your employees up to date with their skills and knowledge to deliver the performance and help to achieve your business goals?

Marketing

We think about our marketing when we create our business plan, but it is something that often gets forgotten or put off.  Reviewing your marketing strategies is a vital part of running a successful business.  We can become complacent using the same methods and not exploring other opportunities that could potentially bring us better value or return.  Also start to thinking about your marketing budget for the year ahead.  What can you afford to set aside and where are you planning to invest?

Business Plan and Brand

This is something I’m guilty of.  I created a lovely fresh business plan just over a year ago but I haven’t looked at it since!!  My business has drastically changed and moved in different directions to what I envisioned but I haven’t spent time to revisit it.  Reviewing your goals and objectives is key to define your business focus.  Things change throughout the year and this means your business plan, and even your brand, needs to adjust with it.

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We all have business dreams and goals but the only way we will ever reach these is by ensuring we take stock, re-evaluate and define in order to succeed and grow.

If you need help getting yourself organised, carrying our research or getting back on track to achieving your goals, why not give me a call on 07538 715537 or send an email to info@njrvirtualpa.co.uk and start achieving your goals in 2018.