If you haven’t done so, now is the time to ask yourself, what can I do to create a better business practice for my company in 2022? With the New Year only a few weeks away, many businesses will take this time to “reset” their companies needs and future goals. If you haven’t started this process, go ahead and build time into your schedule to get it done before January hits.
Hopefully, you already have a business plan in place from last year. If you don’t – this is your sign to get one done for the upcoming year and get back on track. If you don’t already know, a well written plan can provide your business with a road map of set values, financial means, create a target market, allow you to have a better understanding of your competition, plus so much more. If you need help writing your plan – check out NerdWallet “How to Write a Business Plan, Step by Step” for ideas on how to start.
A business plan is normally updated every year in order to keep your business on track. If you’re not sure what you are looking for when updating your plan, I created a quick guide below that reviews what you can focus on when looking over the previous business plans.
- The first step is to ask yourself what went well over the past year and what goals did you already hit? Did you achieve these goals? Did you set your goals too high or low? Did your business take a new direction from where you previously thought it would and you didn’t hit the goal at all? Take this time to recognize your triumphs or failures and readjust.
- Do your values and missions still align with where the company is heading? This is important and sometimes overlooked. Has your company kept up its values and mission statement? Do you need to adjust this at all or has your company matched what your values and missions are?
- Go ahead and get employee and customer feedback. Check in with your own employees or customers to see how they viewed the previous year in their own eyes. Do they agree that the goals were met and that your values have been consistent? Most of the time an valued employee or customer can visualize your business in a way that you can’t and offer insight that is beneficial to your growth and success.
- Know your data! Before starting the review, make sure you have the necessary data. When reviewing the previous business plan, you will need to know what financial goals your company hit or missed. From there you will have to ask yourself a few questions. Are your sales goals still relevant? Did you hit your financial marks from the previous year? Did you take a hit financially last year? Make sure you are up to date with the year’s financial reports and use this to readjust the projections in the plan.
- Can you adjust the priorities? Maybe last year you focused heavily on developing your brand and marketing channels and you hit these goals. Now you need to determine if this is still a priority or should you alter this focus onto a different department, like upgrading your technology or hiring more employees to handle the overflow of work created over the past year.
- Get rid of what isn’t working for your business. Don’t keep trying to force something to work. Take a deep look at what is working and what isn’t. If it’s taking up too much of your time and energy without a good return of your investment – just get rid of it!
- Share the workload! Is it time to hire an administration specialist? If you want to focus on the tasks you love and pass along the tasks you hate, it might benefit your company to hire an online business manager. Someone who can take on the workload of the business or even just offer short term help by implementing and organizing your business and free up your time to focus on the reason you started your own company.
A business plan should define who you are as a company, supply projections, and make your commitments known. Challenge yourself to take a good look at your company and the data from the previous year(s), get rid of what is wasteful, and keep track of your goals. Finally and possibly most important, make sure both you and your employees encompass the business values and mission statement, your consumers will know if you are not true to these values and this can impact your bottom line.
January will be here before you know it. While we know the end of the year can be busy for small businesses, make sure you take the time to review and readjust your business plan. Now that you know what to look for, block your calendar and read over your previous plan. This will only benefit you and your business in the long run.
If you are still unsure on how to move forward, ask a trusted expert – like Support U – for help. We can assist in guiding you to create a business plan that embraces your vision.
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