Finish The Year Strong: A Guide for Small Business Owners

Want to know how to finish the year strong as a small business owner? As you hit the final months of the year it’s easy to think the year is over and slow down, but it isn’t over until it is over. Maybe you are working until the 31st of December or maybe you are stopping work before then. Either way, it doesn’t matter. If you’ve still got a number of working days or weeks left then you can make them count. Keep on reading to find out how to finish as a small business owner.

 

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FINISH THE YEAR STRONG: A GUIDE FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

 

1. Review your annual goals – celebrate and refocus

If you set business goals for the year then now is the time to review them. If you have achieved a goal – celebrate! As a small business owner, it is all too easy to hit a goal and then move on to whatever you want to achieve next. But as part of finishing the year strong you should take a moment to celebrate your success. No doubt you work hard to achieve them so reward yourself (and your team).

 

Then for all of the goals that you haven’t achieved it is time to work out what is possible with the time you have left. It might be you have a number of goals you can make some progress with all of them or you have a goal or two that you complete in the time left. Either approach is acceptable, but you need to make a decision about what you should focus on for the time you have left in the year.

 

2. Tie up loose ends

As much as possible you want to tie up loose ends from this year so they don’t get carried into the upcoming year. Here are some common loose ends that you may or may not have in your business:

 

• Oustanding invoices to be chased up
• Failed recurring payments to chase up
• Follow up on proposals that have been sent out
• Follow up with potential leads
• Complete outstanding website updates
• Ask for testimonials from clients you’ve had that year
• Fully move over from one piece of software to another
• Finish setting up processes or systems

 

3. Prepare for the Upcoming Year 

If you want to make the most of the upcoming year then you should be planning at the end of this year. This will help you to hit the ground running from the beginning of the year, rather than losing the first few weeks whilst you work out what you want to achieve, and how you’ll achieve it.

 

As a small business owner, you should get into the habit of taking a day out, towards the end of the year, to work solely on your business and put together your strategy for the year ahead. I go into more detail about what steps to follow when doing annual business planning here. And to make your life super easy I also offer annual planning strategy days. Using my signature annual planning process I guarantee in one day we’ll create the strategy and roadmap for the upcoming 12 months so you have complete clarity and confidence over what you want to achieve and how you’ll achieve it. To find out more, and to book, click here.

 

GET MY EXPERT ADVICE AND BE GUIDED THROUGH MY SIGNATURE ANNUAL PLANNING PROCESS SO YOU CAN CREATE YOUR STRATEGY FOR NEXT YEAR IN JUST ONE DAY! Preparing for the year ahead is so no small challenge. But it’s something I’ve been helping small business owners with for years.  In just one high-impact day I’ll take you through my proven annual planning process that means you’ll get a full year of strategic clarity and leave with a clear roadmap for taking your business to the next level in 2025. For more information and to book a 2025 Strategy Day click here.

 

 

4. Ensure you’ve got business, and income, for January and beyond

A key part of finishing the year strong is ensuring you take the necessary actions to start the next year strong. No one wants to start January with no expected income and no work in the diary. By doing your next year planning at the end of this year you’ll now know what offers will and won’t continue into the next year so now you can focus on marketing and selling the offers that you’ll be continuing to offer.

 

The end of the year is not the time to slow down with your marketing and sales, even if you are planning on taking some time off at the end of the year or beginning of the new year. Look through your offer suite and make decisions about what you are going to focus on marketing and selling for the final weeks of the year.

 

If you have offers that require you to be physically involved and you are taking time off then book clients in for when you return. If you have offers that generate recurring revenues then focus on selling those now so that you can go into the new year knowing in January you’ve already got some predicted income.

 

5. Make investments that will increase your success in the year ahead

There is nothing like making a commitment now for your future self. Having set your goals and created your plan for the year ahead you should have a good idea about what you’ll be focusing on. And this will help you to be able to make decisions about what investments you need to make.

 

Community – The people you surround yourself with matter. As a small business owner, it is important to find other business owners who ‘get it’. That might mean joining a membership or mastermind.

My mastermind will be opening shortly. Be the first to hear when the doors open by joining the waitlist.

Improving a skill – Is there a specific skill you need to improve? And what is the best way for you to learn that skill. Will watching some videos or reading a book suffice? Or should you take a course or do you need one-to-one training?

 

Team – With a clear idea of what is going to happen in your business it may be that you need to hire. Use the time at the end of the year to find the right person so they can start at the beginning of the next year.

 

Tech – As your business grows it is common to have to upgrade parts of your tech. It might be that you’ve outgrown the free version of a piece of software, or you need to make an investment in something that will support your business going to the next level.

 

Accountability – Does your plan for the next year slightly scar e you and could you be tempted to not follow through? If so, getting accountability could be the difference between you following the plan or just

 

Coaching or Mentoring – Running a small business is a challenge in so many ways, which is why many small business owners invest in getting a business coach or mentor to help them be the best business owner they can be. Every year I work with a limited number of business owners in a one-to-one mentoring capacity. You can find out more about my one-to-one mentoring and apply, here. 

 

Those are just some of the common ways small business owners invest. It might be that you have a gap and it is obvious that there is one area you need to invest in, or it might be that you’d benefit from investing in a few areas. Only you can decide, but remember investing in yourself and your business will support your personal and business growth.

 

That’s it. You now know to finish the year strong as a small business owner.

 

No matter how many weeks are left in the year when you are reading this I hope it has helped you to see what you can do to ensure you finish the year strong.

 

Remember it isn’t over until it is over. And what you do at the end of the year not only can help you to end on a high, but also set your business up for a great year in the upcoming year.

 

Let me know in the comments what your biggest takeaway has been.

 

Loved this blog post and would like to go a step further and work with me. 

 

If you are looking for one-off strategy support then a 2025 Strategy Day would be perfect for you. 

 

If you are looking for ongoing strategy support, training and accountability then my 1:1 Business and Marketing Mentoring would be perfect for you.