Year End Data Crunch - Finish Strong!

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We are now just a month and a half away from the end of 2015 - that went fast, didn’t it?

Sales quotas that need to be met for the year, revenue collection, dealing with a growing client list and the need for more employees, and the fun of closing the books for 2015, can bring real anxiety to business owners this time of year.

As many of our clients are small businesses, we wanted to reference a great Top 10 List we found to help you finish strong.
 

  1. Review your policies and procedures - and prepare to adjust if needed for 2016

  2. Get to know your financials

  3. Think more creatively to expand your business next year

  4. Add value versus discounting - this is an expensive time of year and adding a perk (gift cards, tickets to an event, etc.) to close lingering business can be strong incentive for action

  5. Evaluate bad habits - it’s not too late to “be better at networking,” volunteering your time to a cause you believe in, and improving time management

  6. Set realistic and achievable goals

  7. Use mentors and your support team - a fresh set of eyes on a problem or to bring ideas to you can bring lasting benefits

  8. Improve your digital footprint - we are firm believers that the web is extremely underutilized for many small businesses - spend some time thinking about how 2016 could be a year you pay the attention to how your website works for you

  9. Show gratitude and heart - this is touchy feely but bear with us; how you serve others is who you are - something your customers and employees will appreciate

  10. Commit to your own health and well-being

If you find yourself overwhelmed with year end data and could use some help with data entry, online research or project management, give us a call. We would love the opportunity to quote your project or can be available with blocks of hours devoted to your business.

 

Don’t let Q4 get you down!→

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Well Target has their Christmas ornaments out, so this can only mean fourth quarter has arrived, which for many small businesses means a crazy busy few months.

Finalizing projects, forecasting for 2016, and making that last push for closing pending deals against the ticking clock can be too much to handle on its own. Even so, thoughtful planning needs to be done to ensure future success. It’s those important but “easy to put on the back burner” items that are often overlooked this time of year.

Andrew Filev of FastCompany  wrote a short post on making sure you keep your eye on the big picture in Q4 planning. In October, he recommends setting next year’s goals. Use November to communicate those goals to all, and December should be a time of reflection to determine how to improve. Those are lofty goals for a business operator to undertake when the demands of the day-to-day business are screaming for attention.

There is a great checklist for small business owners’ to follow that includes not only strategic planning, but also high importance/low priority items like organizing mileage records, creating budgets, and planning in advance for employee and client appreciation gifts and events.

If you’re stuck with a monster to-do list and can’t add any more tasks, why not consider short-term office assistance? Data entry, competitive research, or creating fourth quarter social media posts are easy things to quickly outsource so you have time to focus on being more strategic as you wrap up your fiscal year. If this sounds helpful, feel free to give us a ring to get an estimate on your project.