The end of the year may be daunting- part of what makes us human calls us to look back and see what happened. New year’s resolutions are not only meant for your personal life. As the business year draws to an end, it is important to reflect and prepare for the following year. Setting new goals for your business requires that you look at ways of ensuring sustainable growth and new levels of achievement. There is no better time than now to have those strategic goal setting meetings with your teams to ensure that when the New Year starts, as an organisation, you hit the ground running. In this article, we take a look at tips and ideas that will allow your organisation to start the New Year on a good note.
Take some time out with less to no distractions and begin by looking back on the year. What worked, what didn’t, why it worked the way it did, why didn’t it work, etc. You may want to do this in a structured way or very informal and creative way, however the importance here is to do a business stock take. To make the reflection a lot richer, take a look at your calendar and remind yourself of all the meetings, outcomes, projects, events, new clients and deals, wins, lessons, etc. Looking at your calendar brings a holistic approach to your reflection and it helps prompt your memory beyond the more recent stuff but to your entire year.
Some important things to consider:
- Business documentation: review your business documents and policies and see what is still relevant and what is not. Some documents and policies may require you to update and amend them. The business may have taken on new projects, new employees, developed or implemented new policies that were not accurately documented, or certain licenses may have expired and need to be renewed and so year end would be a great time to clean up and start afresh. When the new year begins, no matter what shape or form your organisation takes, you’ll know that your records are in order. Ensure that your tax paperwork is up-to-date. You can consult with a tax practitioner to ensure that you are compliant and to see if you don’t qualify for further additional deductions. Tax deductions may be easy to miss and they can save you money.
- Send feedback to all your stakeholders: notify your employees, clients, and other stakeholders about their performance for the year and ensure they know where they stand and what is expected of them in the new year. Revisit your employee agreements and ensure that everyone is on the same page.
- Set new goals: once you have reflected on the past year, set new goals you would like to achieve. Analyse and reflect on whether the business is where you want it to be and prospects for the future. Evaluate your current business practises and see whether they are adequate or not. The end of the year is the perfect time to prepare for any changes to start off the year on a clean slate.
Why is a year-end reflection important:
- Reflections are good because they can help give an idea of what your business could potentially look like in the coming year.
- It allows you to see where your strongest points are as a business and where your weakest points are in order to make the necessary changes and know which area to focus on.
- Reflections help with looking back with curiosity and not judgement – the aim is to get better and improve.
Remember as well that if you reached your goals, take some time out to celebrate and be proud of yourself for all that you have accomplished. On the other hand, it is easy to just sit back and say you want to own your own business. However the journey becomes challenging. Staying focused on the journey and things that set you on the path in the first place will help you stay on the path for a long term
