Let’s face it, you might be feeling like you didn’t get the chance to do a lot of business this year.
What with all the disruptions from changing alert levels, lockdowns and traffic lights.
It probably isn’t a year that you want to remember.
So, is it worth doing an end of year review?
It can be tempting to close the book on this year, write it off and move on to the next year.
Yet, there is still some real value in conducting an end of year review.
Let’s explore the main reasons why you should review this year, even if you don’t really want to.
Find Out How Bad Things Are
There is no point sugar coating the position your business is in. Yep, 2021 didn’t go as planned. And it could have been a monumental fail for your business.
But, that isn’t to say that 2022 will be the same.
2022 is going to be an opportunity for your business to rebuild in an economy with fewer Covid restrictions. In order to do this, you need to have a starting point. You need to know how bad things are. That way, you can make an informed plan for your 2022 actions.
Conducting an end of year review, no matter how painful it is, will give you a clear picture of the state your business is in. You can then set practical goals to help you move your business to the place you want it to be.
Discover The Positives
Even in a crummy year, there will always be some positives to celebrate. Especially if you have managed to keep your head above water and survive the disruptions.
Conducting a review gives you the chance to discover those positives and celebrate them. Once you dive in there and start reviewing, you might also discover that things aren’t quite as bad as you thought they were.
And it isn’t just the finances that you need to focus on. If you review your processes, your team culture, your communication levels and your customer service, then you will likely discover plenty of positive things!
Keep Perspective
Market analysis is a key part of conducting a successful business review. Market analysis means assessing your position in the market amongst your competitors and considering any external factors that impacted the market throughout the year.
It is pretty safe to say that there were a LOT of external factors that impacted almost every industry in the country this year!
And, those factors may have actually improved your position in the market as others in your industry may have already left or pivoted their businesses. The market analysis process can help you to shift your perspective and gain a wider insight into your business’ performance in the last year.
Set Realistic Goals
Chances are, you weren’t able to achieve some of the goals you set yourself at the beginning of the year. And that is totally ok when you take everything that happened into account.
Going through the process of an end of year business review will help you to set realistic goals for the next 12 months. In a normal year, you would build on the goals of the year just been. However, this coming year, you might find yourself with the same or similar goals.
Without the review process, you won’t understand where your business is at now and what you can realistically expect to achieve next year.
Accurate Forecasting
Weathering the Covid storm proves that your business can operate under tough conditions. So, you now know what a bad case scenario looks like. By reviewing this year, you know what to expect if long term lockdowns strike again.
You can plan for the worst as you know what it will be. As the world learns to live in this new normal, you can accurately forecast what the coming year might look like.
Explore Viability
Sometimes in business, you have to make some hard decisions. An end of year review will help you to assess the viability of your business going forward.
Based on everything that has happened this year and the mandates and regulations that have been introduced… do you want to continue operating your business in 2022?
By undertaking a review and crunching the numbers, you can take a long, hard look at the path forward and if you want to walk it. If you decide that you don’t, or if you aren’t too sure, a review can help you to formulate an exit strategy; just in case you need it.
Time To Conduct Your Review?
There are a number of things you will want to explore in your end of year review. Keep an eye on our blog as we will be publishing an article on which aspects of your business are vital to review.
Or, if you want to get stuck in now, then get in touch with our team today.
Having a financial expert on your side when reviewing your business can be really helpful. Not only can we look at the numbers in an objective way, but we can make suggestions on how to optimise what you have or help you decide on the next steps.
Book a time to speak with our team today.
