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.
