Business planning 101: Your top 5 quick wins before 2022 winds up

If you’ve had a year anything like ours, it’s likely the end of the year came more quickly than you were anticipating. Again. With business shutdowns and festivities approaching, many of our clients are spending the next few weeks getting their business ducks in a row before winding down for some hard-earned relaxation time with friends and family over the festive break. How great it is to know that when they switch their computers on for the first time in 2023, they’ll have already taken care of the bulk of their business planning well in advance, and can hit the ground running. Here’s what we recommend you take care of now for a successful start to 2023 for your business:

1. Business planning 101: Create the big picture plan

One of the most common mistakes business owners make is failing to make a solid plan… and then stick to it. Business planning doesn’t have to be some arduous or rigid experience that you set and forget. Your business plan is something that you’ll interact with – possibly daily – and adapt as the year progresses. So before you switch off for the year, start creating the bones of the year ahead – what would you like to achieve by this time next year? Start with breaking those goals down into achievable quarterly sub-goals and set up the structure of where you’d like to lead your business in 2023.

2. Business planning 101: Reflect on the year that was

A big element of business planning is also done through looking back and reflecting on the year that was. Assessing your biggest wins and opportunities for improvement will give you a clear indication of what to focus on and what practices you can let go of. Creating these new efficiencies in your business in 2023 will give you clarity in your direction going forward and a fresh energy to start the year from a position of strength.

3. Business planning 101: Build in down time

By going through the process of business planning, you’ll start to get clearer on the rhythm of your business throughout each week and the year in general. Can you identify any slower periods? These moments are the perfect time to book in time off for yourself. Quite often as the person responsible for the business you spend a lot of energy looking after it, and less looking after yourself. Having dedicated time in the schedule for rest and rejuvenation (or just to do something separate from the business) means it’s more likely to actually transpire. We always have great intentions of ‘self care’, but if it’s not in the diary, it often doesn’t happen.

4. Business planning 101: Sort out your priorities

It’s not often we take the time to really take stock of our priorities. We end up caught up in the daily mill of ‘doing’ that we neglect the bigger picture. Identifying what really matters to you as a business owner is an essential element of business planning. Perhaps you’d like to create new environmental or social responsibility policies, or 2023 is the year for upgrading some ageing tech. Maybe you need to expand your team. Whatever your greatest priorities are, make a note of them and start thinking of ways to bring them to life.

5. Business planning 101: Consult your customers

There’s no better way to learn how your business is being perceived than by directly asking the people who buy from you. As you’re distributing the obligatory end of year gifts, take the time to touch base and ask what’s working for them, and what they’d like to see from you in the year ahead. You can feed this information in to your business planning content. They might have some insights you hadn’t previously considered, and at a minimum, you’ll have some excellent data that could also be repurposed for testimonials for the business.

So then, just a few tips from us on business planning for a successful year ahead. If you’re looking for support for your business as the year comes to a close – or across 2023, now’s the time to get in touch. We’ll be closing our doors from Wednesday 21 December to Wednesday 11 January  so that we can all have a well-earned break ourselves.