As 2023 draws near, you are probably getting ready to finish your annual business evaluation, log off, and enjoy a much-deserved break. But, before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, there is still time to position your company for a successful year-end and add a boost.

It is your responsibility as a business owner to ensure that your business improves in the coming year. Therefore, one of the most important things you can do is prepare for the year-end business goals. Whether you are a new business owner or have been in business for years, now is the time to put in the most effort and see the most success. This blog discusses four effective ways to end the business year and start the coming year in a grand style.

Assess the Present Situation of your Business

As a business owner, you will need to compare your business goals for the year with what you accomplished and make a note of anyone you failed to meet.  This assessment must be completed in all departments of your company. In doing this, you will realize some goals may appear impossible to achieve before the year finally ends. However, just before giving up on such business goals, it is a good idea to take some further precautions, such as thinking about the reasons for the average performance to date and coming up with plausible alternatives for accomplishing those goals. To get closer to your goal, you will need to:

1. Create a list of your most significant accomplishments and give yourself credit for them in order to push yourself to keep going.

2. Share with your team any recent accomplishments that you are free to share with them. This act will cause an increase in motivation and a deeper sense of personal connection to your business.

3. Take careful note of the statistical information you have – because different businesses place varying amounts of importance on various metrics, it is essential to first identify those that are most significant to your organization. These could include metrics gathered from your website, the number of people who visit your site, the number of new subscribers, the number of downloads, the number of monthly orders, etc. This will further lead you to take the necessary steps to increase outcomes relevant to your business.

4. Create a plan for the coming year – being able to develop a strategy for the following year should be considered one of the year-end business goals, as this will enable your business to have focus as the year begins. Using this guide, devise a strategy for how you intend to attain your objectives and the means by which you intend to do so. In order to attain this goal, the various departments of your business will need to collaborate with the most important members of the team to come up with measurable goals for the year.

Review your Financial Statements  

As a business owner with growth and profit goals, you need to be aware of some factors that ensure you are on top of your financials. These factors include: a) whether your business is profitable; b) how profitable your year was; c) where all the money that passed through your business in the previous year was spent; d) how much your business owns; e) how much your business owes; f) some exemptions you can get on taxes; g) who owes your business; etc.

Keeping tabs on your finances is essential. You can start to do this by:

1. Reviewing your business expenses – your business should always be able to trace where money is being spent. Here is where accountability comes in; a comprehensive analysis of business spending is possible with the help of the right business solution, like Zoho Expenses.

2. Compare your revenue of the year against last year – take note of any sudden changes in the numbers and conduct thorough follow-ups on the results.

If you expect to have a healthy profit for the year, now is an excellent time to invest in business tools and software that can help increase productivity and foster collaboration amongst your staff. Business tools from Google Workspace, Zoho, etc are a good place to start.

Offer Customers Bonuses and Discounts 

There is no better time than around the end of the year to attract new customers to your business by giving away bonuses and offering large discounts (after all, who can resist a good deal?). Customers can be enticed to purchase with such tactics, which is good for business because more money is spent. It is a smart marketing move to reward loyal consumers with special end-of-year deals and promotions.

Aside from the fact that customers love sales and discounts, here are some other good reasons for your business to start using this strategy:

1. Sales are boosted as a result – offering discounts to your customers may appear counterproductive, but the increase in sales more than makes up for the loss in profit. Customers will remain loyal to your brand throughout the new year if you conduct promotions or offer discounts as the year winds up.

2. Your business will acquire some new clients – offering incentives like discounts and bonuses can greatly improve brand awareness and introduce new customers.

3. Boost the number of visitors to your site.

4. It helps to build your brand’s loyalty – discounts and bonuses make customers feel appreciated, which in turn increases their loyalty to your business. Brands want nothing more than devoted patrons.

Re-energize your Staff 

Every successful business is built on the backs of dedicated employees. With the end of the year quickly approaching, now could be the ideal time to invest in boosting your team and developing incentives to drive sales. Team-building exercises, annual reviews, and new year’s business objectives can all do wonders to revitalize your staff. For instance, if you want to motivate your team to perform at their best and reach their full sales potential, you may try the following,

1. Promote staff referrals – every member of your team has their own personal network, so why not encourage them to reach out? By offering a staff referral reward, you will encourage your team to dip into their network for potential clients. It is a win-win situation for everyone involved if you institute discounts for recommendations and provide incentives for employees who successfully convert referrals into sales.

2. Bonus for the best employees of the year – to motivate your staff, set up an incentive structure with levels for those that go above and beyond in terms of achieving sales targets. The hardest workers on your team will be recognized for their efforts, and everyone will share in the rewards.

With only a few weeks left in the year, you can still turn the year around in your favor by following through with our year-end business goals and recommendations. This will be a good starting point to usher in the new year. In case you need further help on how to begin to get the best out of the year, speak with us and we will help you achieve your business goals.