The clocks changed last night, it’s a blustery Fall day, and the Buffalo Bills are leading the Patriots on TV (barely, gulp).
You know what all of that means? We are solidly into Q4 of 2020! And what a year it has been . . .
Regardless of your feelings for 2020, it’s time to put forth best efforts to wrap the year up strong and prepare to start 2021 raring to go.
In this first of a three part series, I’ll be leading you through process – starting with assessing 2020 for your business to date.
ASSESS 2020
What this assessment basically comes down to is:
What Worked?
What Didn’t?
What immediately comes to your mind when you think of these two questions for your business?
BY CATEGORY
Let’s dive a little deeper. Consider the questions below for each of the five main categories for your business:
Products and Services
- Were they what your clients/customers were looking for?
- Did they change along with the changing needs of clients/customers?
- Were they suited to what you most enjoy developing and providing?
- Were they packaged and priced well?
Operations
- Technology Resources – Did you have electronic systems in place to support your business from both an administrative and client support perspective? Were you utilizing them to their fullest potential?
- Human Resources – Did you have the internal and external support you required to effectively service your clients? Were you utilizing these human resources to their fullest potential?
- Systems – Were your business processes clearly identified, documented, and implemented?
- Physical space and equipment – Did you have sufficient and comfortable space to conduct your work?
Marketing and Sales
- Were you clear on your target market?
- Were you present where they were?
- Was your foundation in place?
- Were you focusing on the RIGHT activities?
Finances
- Were you tracking and controlling the most important financial metrics?
- Did you take advantage of financial incentives?
- Did you get lean on cutting expenses?
- Are your accounts receivable current? Accounts payable?
Personal Management
- Were you productive?
- Did you stay motivated and excited about your work?
- Did you use your time well?
- Did you take care of yourself outside of work?
RANK IT
One more step in our assessment –
Go back through each of the above five categories and rank your business’ performance in each on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the best possible and 1 being a disaster.
For example, if your Operations were optimized to the highest possible level – you had the best people, systems, technology resources and physical space/equipment and you utilized these to their highest level – give yourself a 10 for Operations.
To be walked through this process by video, give yourself 20 minutes and watch the video provided here.
STAYED TUNED FOR PART 2 – COMING SOON!
If you would like to work with me on developing your own Business Success Plan for 2021, join me November 17, 2020 for a full day planning intensive.
