Reflecting Back on Your Year in Business

December is a time of celebration and also a time of reflection. Now is a great time to look back on how your business performed over the past year in order to have a strong start to 2017.

The end of the year is one of the busiest times for business owners. You’re trying to get everything in order to finish the year strong, but to be able to know where your company is going, it is important to look back and analyze the past.

Okay, so you agree you need to take stock of the good and the not so good from 2016 but don’t know where to start. Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered.

Gather your staff to check in

Each person who makes up your company is vital to its success and has a different viewpoint of day-to-day operations. When looking at a business’ hits and misses, it’s best to start behind the scenes. How your company runs directly impacts its overall performance.

Talking points for your meeting:

• Ask where everyone is at with their jobs. Are they satisfied with the way things are run? Why or why not?
• Are things running as efficiently as possible?
• Are there any improvements that can be made?

Ask yourself the following questions:

• How are you getting your company’s name out there?
  • Where and how are you advertising?
  • Break down your advertising budget. Should you keep your current advertising schedule or change it up a bit? Keep in mind that small changes every once in a while are great ways to track what is effective.
• How were your sales over the past year?
  • Did sales increase or decrease from the past year?
  • What impacted sales?
  • What is working and what isn’t?
• How was your social media marketing?
  • Are you putting enough effort in?
  • Are you using it as a true way to connect or just as something you have to do?
• How many customers returned?
• How did you try to innovate?
  • If no changes were made, why?
• In what ways and departments did your business grow?
• What could stand to be updated?
  • Is your website running as efficiently as possible? Could it use a more modern look or a complete makeover?
  • Does your logo properly reflect your company? A strong logo helps build a strong identity for your business. It’s one of the first impressions you make to customers.

Listen to the feedback you get. And actually use it.

Take into account what everyone has said and the information you have gathered. Make a list of things that should stay the same and things that could stand to be improved. You don’t have to wait until the end of the year to check in; doing a review each quarter or six months could make the task of keeping track your business more manageable.