When the calendar flips ahead to January, there’s no better time to set aside a day or two in your small business to take stock, update, and prepare to make the coming year even more streamlined and successful than the last. Consider it an opportunity to both build excitement and buckle up for a year of adventures in the roller coaster ride of entrepreneurialism. Make a date in your calendar to refresh and organize your small business in these nine ways.
- Map out a calendar for the year
Pull out your calendar for the next 12 months and look at the big picture. Note any important seasons, dates, events, vacations, and deadlines for every area of your business. If you keep a digital calendar, set advance reminders for things you might forget.
- Send an email marketing campaign
Saying “Happy New Year!” is a fantastic opportunity for email marketing to get back on the radar of your clients and business partners. Make sure to fill them in on recent business developments, and remind them when and why they need your product or services in the coming year.
- Empty all the drawers
Take a day to clean your office, and dig deep into drawers and boxes where you may have been shoving things you didn’t have time to organize. Scan important documents into digital files. Recycle — or shred, for sensitive documents and any forms with financial information — every piece of paper you no longer need.
- Thank your employees
You’ve likely celebrated your employees leading up to the holidays, but take a few minutes in the new year to send a note or card to each employee (if feasible), or to each department, listing specific things you’re grateful for and specific goals you’re looking forward to reaching with them this year. Help them come back to the office feeling appreciated and excited to work for your business each day.
- Review your insurance coverage
Insurance is giving yourself the gift of peace of mind. Gather all of your most recent policy information and review it against any changes your business has gone through since your policies were last updated. Do you need more liability insurance? Did you start taking online payments and need adequate coverage for a data breach? Check out this list from Forbes of 13 types of insurance a small business owner may need. If you identify any gaps, call your agent now.
- Get your tax files together
Make a file or box specifically for the new tax year and put it someplace easy to access, so that you can put tax-related documents into it throughout the year. If you didn’t do this last year, take the time to search for and gather everything related to the previous year’s taxes in one place to give to your accountant when all documents are in. Make a list of any missing documents and begin to track them down or request duplicates now. If you need to do your taxes face-to-face, call your accountant and make an appointment now so that you’re not scrambling come April.
- Set a realistic goal for the first quarter
A year is often too long to work toward a big goal. Break the year down by quarter, and set a goal for Q1 of the new year. It may be related to your bottom line, or your management style, or marketing and PR. Pick something important to your business, that’s realistic and attainable. Post the goal up around your office and tell a colleague who will help keep you accountable. Consider taking advantage of the RISBDC’s no-cost, one-on-one business counseling for help reaching your goal!
- Learn something new
Pick one area you’d like to deepen your knowledge of, or a skill you’d like to add to your repertoire, and find an opportunity to attend training in that area. Invest in yourself by picking up marketing skills, learning about cutting edge developments in your industry, or learning how to use a tool that will streamline your business.
- Let go (of something that’s not working)
Give yourself permission to stop using, trying, or being something that continually proves to be more trouble than it’s worth. Maybe you want to eulogize its passing; maybe you prefer to run ahead and never look back. But if a process, tool, vendor, contractor, or even one of your products is just dragging the rest of your business down, feel free to leave it in the past and look forward to experimenting with something new.
We wish you luck kicking off the new year in your small business!
