Business Owners' Year-end Seven-Point Checklist

by Richard Avdoian

The year is coming to a close, but it isn’t time to sit back and relax. It is time to check off tasks that will ensure you start off the new year on the right foot.

 These seven tasks will help lay the foundation for a great start in 2016.

Business/strategic planning
Take a few days to review your current business plan to determine which of your yearly goals were met and which were either neglected or incomplete. Now assess why and identify what the obstacles were and how they could have been avoided or dealt with differently. What are your new goals for 2016? Make assignments, establish target dates for completion and develop action plans.

Personal life

It is that time again when people are making New Year’s resolutions. Before you begin to make your list, take a moment to do an internal audit of your life. Are you juggling with ease all facets of your life: time with family and friends, taking vacations, managing your time wisely, living healthy, taking time to smell the roses? If not, how do you plan to make changes to live a well-rounded life?

Budgeting/finances

Time is ticking, so don’t delay any longer if you haven’t begun to gather all the necessary documents to complete your 2015 taxes. Make time to review your present budget and begin completing your 2016 budget. Working with the two budgets side by side will allow you to make sound decisions. Before you begin, take note of how your competitors have used their financial resources in key areas. Have they raised their brand awareness on social media outlets, refreshed their websites, broadened their services area, and added new products or services?

Customers

The holiday season seems to be the typical time to show appreciation to your customers. Consider breaking from the pack and kick off the new year with a designated “open house” for present customers and employee families to express your gratitude with refreshments and discount incentives. Ask customers to complete a survey to help identify what they like about your services/products as well as current issues and needs so you can plan to serve them better.

Human resources

Many companies do year-end performance reviews, so this may be on your to-do list. Employees look forward to these reviews, looking for recognition for doing a good job, knowing where they need to improve and what is expected of them. This is a wonderful time for owners and direct supervisors to share appreciation and praise employees for another successful year in business.

Projects (review status complete or give status report)
It is time for you, managers, and employees to review the status of to-do lists. What projects will be completed at year-end, which will not and which have not begun? Jointly, determine which need to be completed, which are no longer important and which can be carried over to 2016. This will be helpful when planning 2016 goals, action plans and assignments.

Celebrate

The holiday season is an ideal time for the owners and senior management to be visible and interact with customers to celebrate both the holidays and the end of another year in business.
This is the time to be humble and public and express gratitude to everyone who has contributed to the success of your business: employees, employee families, customers and vendors.

Richard Avdoian is founder/CEO of the Midwest Business Institute Inc., a business coaching, consulting and training firm. For more information about coaching and training, contact Richard at 618-972-8588 or Richard@RichardAvdoian.com.