End of year planning for SBE’s

For those of us in Small Business Enterprises, not only do we need to get through the Christmas rush/wind-down, we also need to be looking ahead and planning for the New Year.

Checking over your overdue debtors and chasing overdue accounts enables us to start the year off fresh- with many employees taking breaks over January, getting through to Accounts Payable can be a slow process. This also applies to client invoicing- ensuring that your invoices are delivered leaves less likelihood that people will ‘forget’ to pay these bills over Christmas.

Then it’s time to start planning- what are your goals for next year? (And we aren’t talking those ‘work off the Baked Ham’ New Years Resolutions.)

By finalising your account reconciliations early, you can prepare your YTD results- use your half yearly P & L to see what area’s need improvement and set your 2018 targets. While you can spend considerable time breaking down costs and income projections, look closely at other aspects of your business as well- client retention, turnover, new client leads, staff numbers and different methods of marketing. Write down some SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Trackable) goals- where can the second half of the year take you?

Another important, and often underappreciated action, is to back up all IT data. With the Summer storms approaching, backing up to a different kind of cloud is highly recommended and will save you many headaches should unexpected events arise.

And lastly, have a break (for those in Retail, after the rush dies down)! You can’t buy good health.