As an entrepreneur at the beginning of each new year, it is a good practice to reflect on the previous year. Reflect on the good, the bad, the lessons learned and those things you did that added value to your business. Through these reflections, you will be able to create a better strategy for the upcoming new year. Strategies are not only based on current trends and future growth; strategies are also constructed by reviewing past activities that have led you to where you are today. Strategizing for the future is important for the continued growth of your company. To ensure your business is well equipped for the new year, follow this simple checklist:

1.Review your mission statement to ensure the mission is aligned to your current growth and business perspective.

• To ensure proper mission statement alignment for your business, you should think about the main purpose of your business and then create a mission statement that focuses on that purpose.

2.Ensure your business goals and objectives are specifically tied to your mission statement.

• Goals and objectives are important for every business. They are a way to determine how to meet your mission. The goals you set should specifically affect the mission you are working toward. If those goals and objectives do not specifically address your company’s mission, you should re-evaluate whether it is necessary in the first place.

3.Analyze your business’s financial performance by completing an audit of your revenue statement.

• By understanding your business’s profit and loss through an income statement, you will be better able to determine what areas in your company are making a profit and what areas of your company may have losses. It is important that you keep good accounting records during the year to make this process easier. Through this type of analysis, you can make adjustments to your business for the new year.

4.Complete a Customer Analysis to determine your customer base.

• By completing a customer analysis, you will be able to determine the demographics of those clients you have served in the past. This will allow you to make adjustments to your business to either cater directly to those types of clients or adjust to ensure you reach other types of clients through marketing and other applicable adjustments.

5. Review your overall marketing strategy.

• Reviewing your business’s marketing strategy will help you determine if the current strategy is working or if you should make changes. During this review, you should look at where your customers are coming from and what markets you should focus on to bring in new customers. Remember to look at all marketing platforms during this time to include social media marketing.

While this checklist is short, having only five items on the list, each item requires a large amount of research, analysis, and time to ensure you are deriving the appropriate information that will help your company’s growth. Many larger companies have the manpower in-house to handle this type of analysis for their companies. Unfortunately, when operating a small business, it is difficult to continue to serve customers while completing the thorough analysis necessary to ensure continued company growth.

There are a number of consulting companies out there that can audit and analyze small businesses to ensure their continued growth and progression. Companies such as The Write Touch, LLC specialize in providing professional services to small businesses to increase their customer base and help them provide the best services available for the customers.

Take the time to review your business to determine if it is ready for what 2019 has to offer. You will find that by strategizing for the new year, you will start off with the focus you need which creates peace of mind for what’s ahead.