Wrapping up the year: a guide for small businesses
Once we move past the festive chaos that is December, the slow speed of January can be the ideal moment for small businesses to welcome back the creative spirit, review the past year and then strategically plan for the year that lies ahead.
This reflection isn't confined to the year-end, it's equally as useful to do for the financial year if that’s how you prefer to track your performance and numbers. However, sometimes work doesn’t slow down enough after EOFY to have the time and headspace to do such a review, but January can be a good time if you take some time off and work is a bit slower.
These are a few things that I like to do in my business, as a one-woman business offering a service. I’ve found it useful to analyse what you spent your time on, how much money it made you, and then review what you actually enjoy doing, where you want to direct your energy into the next year, and where to head if you go off track.
Analyse all your different services.
Analyse all your different services against the average time it takes you to complete each one, how much you like/hate doing it, and how much you earn on average for that service. You can do this in table form just to get it out of your head (see below). If you track income against your different service categories, you can then do an in depth review of the numbers. I did this a couple of years ago for the first time, and it blew my mind at how different the profits were on different categories of income streams for me, and how big the difference was in earnings between different types of photography shoots as well (i.e. an architectural shoot vs a food shoot). It’s very useful to categorise your income into all the different streams, convert it to percentages, and then see what is working or not working for you. Opposite is a table form I use each year to do this, plus a few other things I like to track. I also track a few other things for my B Corp certification like local and diverse supplier spend, client satisfaction and pro bon hours - which I should probably just add to one table for ease. I use Notion as a second brain, and all my summaries are kept in there.
It's also good to do a similar exercise for future services you're thinking about offering. If you love it but it's not very profitable, is there a way you can automate it or remove your time from income?
Oh, and if you’re ridiculously busy and chasing your tail all year with no time for working ON your business, it’s probably time to hoist your prices and get rid of the low-paying clients. Why wouldn’t you want the same money with more time to spare?
Review all your templates and automations.
A periodic review of all your templates that you use to automate your process is a great idea, which you can then update/improve/refresh. For instance, this year I am going to update my email templates that I use to send out different types of quotes, review my Gmail canned responses (aka email templates), and update my rate cards to 2024 wording. I’ve mentioned this before, but using an app that replaces abbreviations with your most commonly used words is a complete time saver and I love it! I use aText - for instance, I use the abbreviations hmh that then expands into hello@marniehawson.com.au. Think off all the words, phrases/addresses etc that you type all the time and then a good abbreviation for them.
Write down your ideal client/job.
Who is it, where is it, what does it include, how do they treat you, how much does it pay? If you don’t know this, how are you going to find them? I then have a big spreadsheet for future clients - when I come across a new client that I’d like to work with, I add in all their details and then send them an email. Go after what you want!
Update your website to reflect only the services you want to offer.
You can still work on other projects/jobs (for the $$ for instance), but just don’t show it on your website or social media. You get hired for what you put out there, so be very selective and remember that less of the right thing is better than more of the wrong.
Review your filters for saying no.
Once you’ve figured out what you actually like doing, what lights you up and keeps you passionate about your work, and what also pays the bills - write a list of filters for saying no to services/requests that don’t fit that bill. And stick to it! Saying no gets easier with practice, and it’s much easier to say ‘sorry, I don’t do X anymore, but here is someone else that can help you’ once you’ve drawn a line in the sand.
Write down goals for next year.
This should include all the different areas in your life such as: personal, work, education etc. I then keep these at the top of my weekly to do list/planner as a broad reminder of what I’m working towards.
In January, seize the slower pace to reflect and plan strategically. Analyse your business -proactivity ensures clarity, efficiency, and alignment with your goals, setting the stage for a purposeful and successful year ahead.
