2022 BUSINESS PROCESSES & PLANS

Happy New Year! We’ve made it and it’s a new year. And it’s time to evaluate your business, go deeper, streamline processes, and plan for growth in 2022. Essentially, let’s put the pieces of the Strategy puzzle together and grow forward to Success.

STRATEGICALLY EVALUATE YOUR PROCESSES & BUSINESS PLANS FOR 2022

Over the next 6 days, I will share strategic tips for evaluating the processes in your business and plan for success in 2022.

START WITH LAST YEAR

As a small business owner, I’m sure you’ve learned by now that each year has its own lessons to learn and challenges to bear. It is very important that we evaluate the business processes, what succeeded, where can improvement be made, and what failed during the previous year. Your finances should be a PRIORITY. Go over the bookkeeping thoroughly and organize your financial books. Review and focus on systems, processes, and workflows. Identify what can be improved.

SET GOALS AND BOUNDARIES STRATEGICALLY

After creating or modifying the processes, set attainable and actionable GOALS. To know when the new processes and plans have succeeded, you must set goals. Blocking off time makes it easier to work on your goals. To avoid the feeling of overwhelm, break them down into smaller steps which can be simpler to achieve. Next, set clear BOUNDARIES. I’m sure you’ve heard the quote that lack of boundaries invites lack of respect. Focus on setting boundaries and caring for yourself. Healthy boundaries make you happier and more productive.

MARKETING

Marketing affects so many aspects of business. It seems like we are constantly thinking about marketing – but often, we can forget to concentrate on the marketing processes and planning. Do an audit on your marketing plan instead of posting daily on social media. There may be some components in marketing that haven’t been utilized and a process may need to be created for content creation which can be shared and attract more of your ideal clients.

Let’s begin with the topic for Day 1: Financial Organization and Bookkeeping.

FINANCIAL ORGANIZATION & BOOKKEEPING

Since it’s the beginning of the year, most business owners are thinking about their finances and bookkeeping. If your financial records were not updated regularly, it’s likely messy at this point. Yes, I know financial recordkeeping is not very motivational and therefore, it gets pushed to the back of your to-do lists. It’s been ignored long enough and now, the new year reminds us that the work must begin cleaning up our financial house. Streamlining this process can be very beneficial.

FINANCIAL ORGANIZATION

If you were asked to pull a Profit & Loss statement or Balance Sheet, would you be able to? What is your current system and process for doing so? Can you understand the revenue and profit margin clearly? Are your reports simple and organized? If not, you may need a professional (think bookkeeper or CPA). The goal of organized financial records is tax compliance.

START WITH TAXES

Cleaning up your financial records can be overwhelming. But since it’s the beginning of a new year, start getting tax compliant. Make sure you are current with tax payments. If you are overdue with tax payments, put all of your energy and resources into getting current. Most importantly, outsource and hire a bookkeeper, if necessary.

BOOKKEEPING

Begin at the beginning of the year and be sure to track income & expenses by category. Using software like QuickBooks Online can make this process much easier. Make sure all business bank accounts and credit card accounts are connected to your software. QuickBooks will automatically pull transactions over from your bank feed and transferred into the correct categories on the Chart of Accounts. The Chart of Accounts, created during setup, is a basic system that organizes your accounts and classify the transactions.

On January 1, categorize all transactions for the year. Some transaction items could be office supplies, subcontractor payments, subscriptions, advertising, utilities, or equipment. With any luck, all business income and expenses flow through your business bank and credit card accounts. Any transactions made through your personal accounts may require manual entries. At the end of the month, perform a reconciliation of the account. Reconciliation makes sure everything is accurate and errors, like missing transactions or duplicate entries, are caught. Categorize and reconcile each month until the end of the year or current. Generating a Profit & Loss statement or Balance Sheet will enable you to see the results.

MAKE IT A ROUTINE

Always try to make it a routine to categorize and reconcile your books at the end of each month. Not only will it result in more freedom (at the end of the year) or peace of mind, but this also enables you to make strategic decisions about your company’s financial position. The ability to streamline and learn your numbers can help you analyze, strategize, scale, and grow your business.

As always, I’m here to help you take the next step in your business journey. Schedule a Strategic Planning session with me and we can help you get started with your QuickBooks setup included ($350 value by itself). Click HERE to book your call today. In the meantime, for Strategic Success: Plan, Consult, & Manage!