The end of the year is a crazy time for most small and medium business (SMB) owners. Deadlines creep up fast, end of year expenses accumulate, and holiday breaks make balancing schedules difficult.
Before you throw in the towel and start spiking the eggnog, set yourself up for success in the new year by completing these five essential tasks.
1. Declutter Your Workspace
Even with the best of intentions, it’s impossible to end the year on a productive note if you’re leaving an office packed with paper clutter and disorganized files. While you may not have extra time to scan receipts and organize expense reports, you can outsource the job to a company like Shoeboxed.
Shoeboxed will completely declutter your workspace in a matter of minutes. When the end of the year nears, simply dump all of your receipts, bank statements and other important documents into one of their Magic Envelopes. They’ll scan and digitize everything, upload it to your secure, cloud-based account, and give you the gift of a paperless workspace come New Year’s.
2. Thank Your Clients
Without loyal customers and clients, your small business wouldn’t exist. Even if you don’t have the time or money to send each and every client a personalized card or gift, be sure to acknowledge how much you appreciate their loyalty.
The end of the year is a great time to offer referral discounts, coupons, gift cards and special offers. Consider sending repeat customers and regular clients a small, personalized thank you gift or card, or give them their next service for free.
3. Celebrate Your Wins
At the end of the year, it’s important to acknowledge how hard you and your team have worked and how much you’ve accomplished. Gather the troops (even if it’s just you and your virtual assistant) and celebrate your wins.
Take your team to dinner, throw an impromptu holiday party, or give everyone a small gift. Most importantly, be sure to specifically acknowledge the ways in which each team member has contributed to the success of your business.
If you’re a solopreneur, take a good hard look at what worked really well throughout the year, how you gained new clients, and what made projects successful.
4. Analyze Your Results
While you’re tracking your wins and looking at your goals from the past year, you’ll probably notice some losses as well.
The first step to making improvements is getting a clear picture of what your current BoostSuite grade is. Only then can you make fast, easy changes to improve your site’s performance in the new year.
5. Set New Goals
Once you have a clear picture of what’s working, a clear picture of what’s not, and a clear desk from which to view it all, it’s time to look ahead to the following year. Set ambitious but achievable goals based on the past year’s performance, and don’t be afraid to shoot for the stars!
In addition to deciding what you want to accomplish, be sure to brainstorm some steps as to how you’re going to make it happen.
Finished with all five steps? Go get yourself some eggnog already.
