5 Tips to Prepare Your Business for Financial Success
For business owners, the start of a new tax year can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you’ve made it through tax season and realized new opportunities; on the other hand, it brings new challenges to address unresolved issues from the previous year. The good news is, there are steps business owners can take to prepare their businesses for a great year. These four tips from Sophisticated Cloud will help you along the way.
1. Tie up Loose Ends from Last Year
If there were tasks you were trying to check off your to-do list at the end of the year that you still have not yet accomplished, make them a priority. It’s difficult to start with a clean slate when you have work from last year hanging over your head. Tying up loose ends from last year will help you reflect on the previous year and focus on the new year, too.
Even if your to-do list from the previous year contains tasks that are not priorities, finish them. You run the risk of overlooking something that could potentially pose issues further down the calendar this year.
It’s also a good time to review your website to ensure that all of your information is correct and up to date.
Implement new tracking plans and update your inventories and account for your assets. This may save you some time as you prepare for next tax season.
Prepare to send in your annual reports to the state. Many states require these filings every year, though the info they request does vary.
Revisit your payroll setup to see if it could use a boost-- even if everything has been moving like clockwork. To keep your well-oiled machine moving the way it should, your software should have supplemental features that enhance your payroll system. Like automated payroll, automatic filing and calculating of taxes, direct deposit and even time tracking.
Make a point to schedule quarterly meetings to reflect as a team and make sure everyone’s loose ends are completed before assigning new projects and tasks.
2. Offer Employee Incentives
One way to set your business up for success is to recruit — and retain— top-quality employees. You could reward your employees with everything from sales bonuses to time off for meeting goals and quotas. You could also offer to help to pay the tuition for those employees who wish to go back to school to further their position within the company. For instance, if you have a worker who wants to enroll in an online program to get their MBA, help them pick a great university that fits both your budgets. These suggestions are only the tip of the iceberg — get to know your employees and see what they might respond well to.
3. Review Your Business Strategy
The Training Industry notes that now is the time to do some serious assessments of your business strategy. Be honest and critical while identifying what has worked and what hasn’t, and make changes to make a difference and set you on a more profitable path. You might also want to look into business plan services to get you on the right path.
A big part of your strategy is the effectiveness of your online presence. Take a long, critical look at your website and if necessary call on Sophisticated Cloud to redesign the site to convert more sales. And if you have yet to do so, design a Facebook ad and utilize that social media platform to drive traffic to your website.
Next, align your people and resources with your new strategy. Of course, this also means making sure that your people are doing the work that you want them to be doing. While letting employees go never is fun, it is better to do so now to avoid any lingering issues. If your people are not living up to your expectations, make the tough decision to put them on an improvement plan or show them the door.
4. Get Feedback from Customers
Reflecting with your team isn’t enough if you want to prepare for a successful rest of the year. You must include your customers in your reflections, updated business strategy, and new marketing plans. Help Scout points out that getting feedback from customers via surveys is one of the fastest ways to get a picture of customer satisfaction. Then, make a plan to gather customer feedback throughout the upcoming year to become a more customer-centric business.
Creating a customer-centric business strategy is one way to lower costs and increase customer loyalty and profits, because it costs less to retain an existing customer than it does to gain new customers. With a focus on service, customer desires and needs, and a commitment to driving customer value, your business will grow in the new year.
5. Work to Improve the Employee Experience
A worn-out and frustrated staff can have a serious impact on your overall business and your bottom line. If employees don’t feel appreciated and engaged, or if your teams feel splintered, it’s time to rectify this ASAP. Your company culture is a major component of your operation, so make a point to stay engaged. That way, you will be better equipped to diagnose any problems and develop a plan of action so that you can make inroads in a whole-business culture transformation.
Preparing and revisiting your business strategies and approaches now can pave the way for a great rest of the year. By doing so, you increase your chances of experiencing growth, satisfying customers, and having time to focus on the year ahead instead of on previous failures.
The mission of Sophisticated Cloud is to help a million people to be heard and seen by having a robust online presence and embracing public speaking. Reach out for more info today! hello@sophisticatedcloud.com or (+44) 7738 823317.
