Reflecting on the Past Year: Tips for Small Business Owners to Grow and Succeed
As another year comes to a close, it's time to pause, reflect, and plan for the future. This past year has been a rollercoaster for business owners, with many facing challenging circumstances and adapting to a new way of doing business. But in the midst of chaos, it's important to take a step back and acknowledge both the wins and the lessons learned.
In this blog post, I will share my annual year-end process: from reflecting on the past year to planning for the future, I hope to give other entrepreneurs tips and insights to grow and succeed in the upcoming year!During winter break, I like to take a few hours to journal in a different location than my home office. This gives me the space to think more creatively and reflect on the past year.I usually start by drawing a calendar (12 boxes) and entering what happened each month:
Life events: celebrations, adopting a puppy, buying our house, partner losing their job
Work wins and struggles: new clients, stress, low sales months, hiring of key employees
Trips and visits from friends and family - tip = go through your phone pictures
Medical or wellness updates
People: key moments with those I love (girls trip, parents visiting, meeting new friends)
World news that impacted me
And anything else I can think of
This first exercise gets me into a reflective mood to then focus more on the new year ahead. I write START, STOP, and CONTINUE on 3 different pages and start filling them out.
Start doing - This involves creating a list of things I want to start doing in order to improve my business. Examples of prior years were: calendaring meditation time, reading the book "Atomic Habits", implementing a new marketing strategy, bringing my team to the QuickBooks Connect conference, going on daily walks with the pup to break away from my desk, and investing in new technology to streamline processes. Whatever it may be, it's important to keep an open mind and be willing to try new things that can propel you and the business forward.
Stop doing - Just as important as figuring out what to start doing, is figuring out what to stop doing. This might mean stopping a certain marketing campaign that isn't generating leads, stopping attending the weekly team meetings (once a month instead), refusing meeting requests from new apps or vendors, or ending a partnership that no longer serves the business. It's important to evaluate all aspects of the business and cut ties with things holding you back.
Continue doing - While reflecting on the past year, it's also important to recognize what has been successful and continue doing that. Maybe it's a certain service or product that has brought in a lot of revenue, a Slack tool like Tacos which improved employee morale, the implementation of career paths and offering of coaching services, or a business practice that has improved efficiency. Whatever it may be, it's important to recognize these successes and keep up with them.
Wins and Lessons
Lastly, I like to document all my wins and lessons from the past year. This is a short list of bullet points such as defining our corporate values, onboarding 10 ideal clients, organizing our first annual retreat, etc. This not only helps me remember all the successes and challenges, but it also serves as a way to track growth and progress. I reflect on what I learned from each experience and how I plan to use that knowledge to improve the business in the upcoming year.
Conclusion
In conclusion, reflecting on the past year is crucial for small business owners to grow and succeed. It involves assessing what worked well and what didn't, planning for the future by starting and stopping certain practices, and recognizing the successes and challenges faced. By implementing this year-end process, entrepreneurs can set themselves up for a successful year ahead. Remember, it's important to take the time to reflect, learn from challenges, and be willing to try new approaches to grow and succeed in the new year. Cheers to a successful 2024!
