FYI, if the idea of a end-of-year check in totally stresses you out, then you might want to have a look at this. It’s important.
Businesses run in seasons, and you – like me – will probably take some time at the end of the year to reflect. Actually, the reality is that you should take some time but you’re busy, you’re tired, and you’re stressed – what a year it has been, eh?
I’m afraid now is the time to start preparing your research so you can spend a few days deciding how you want next year to look. Here are 8 questions you should be asking yourself (and your biz) going into the new year. You don’t need to answer these today, but tuck them away – the new year is looming. 🙂
- What am I doing that is working well and could be expanded? The hard part is defining “well” – you gotta run the numbers.
- What am I doing that has no financial or personal returns and needs to be stopped? You can do stuff that doesn’t provide financial rewards, as long as it provides value to you. But remember, a biz is a biz because it makes a profit.
- What am I don’t that I don’t enjoy, or worse, hate? If you have to do it, can you offload it to someone? Otherwise, get rid of it. Life is short.
- How is team morale? You are part of the team too. This is even more important if you are the team.
- What is my competition doing? I’m not a big fan of studying the competition too heavily, but it’s nice to make sure you have a pulse on movement in your industry.
- How are my systems? All those business books talk about systems for a reason. Bad systems will break you, no systems will kill you. You gotta get organized, even if you want to stay small.
- What can I do in the new year that excites me? Customers can tell when you’re excited, and projects that excite you have a better chance of doing well. And running a biz is damn hard work – don’t kill the joy, embrace it.
- What do you want things to look like a year from now? I stole this question from the folks at the World Domination Summit, but it’s a good question. Actually, it’s a fantastic question – grab your crayons and start visioning.
Answer one, answer all of them, but please, take some time to reflect on your journey. If you’re too busy running ahead as fast as possible, you are missing the view. 🙂
THE P.S.
Here’s that pesky P.S. part. (They say everybody reads it. Hi ‘everybody’ !!) If you want a helping hand to help you get some perspective on the coming year, you need to grab this special offer before it’s gone. Hurry: there’s pumpkin pie.