End of Year Tips

The holiday season presents a good time to review the previous year and start getting ready for the new year. Look at what you wanted to do and what was accomplished. Decide what will be important in the coming year and make adjustments so those goals can become a reality. As we all have heard, insanity it is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.

Contribute end of the year donations and keep deduction information and other receipts together for tax time.

Giving can not only help you fulfill your goals for social responsibility, but it can also engage others in helping those who can use a hand. Meaningful activity will increase endorphins in the brain and help make the world a better place—it may also provide a tax deduction, approximately equal to the fair market value of what is donated. Always review your philanthropic strategy with your tax specialist to determine the tax benefits, don’t just assume they will be there at tax time.

Perform End of Year Maintenance Review, Provide and Receive Feedback

• Internal Maintenance
  Looking inside and becoming self-aware of internal faults and things that need to change is one of the most difficult things to do. You can start by asking your employees how you measure up. They are your most important asset and critical to your success. Take some time at the end of the year to thank team members for their contributions and let them voice their opinion. Listen to what they expect in the coming year, including additional types of training and pathways to grow within the company. This is also a good time to remind employees to update their records and apply any changes that happened over the year (marriage, child) and change their W-2 filing status.
• External Maintenance
  While you most likely update your website and social media profiles throughout the year, this is a good time to bring it all together and perform a consistency check. Dedicate this time of the year to touching up, revamping or overhauling your digital presence. If you’ve gotten new clients, make sure to change the statistics on your site. Review all your platforms and make sure you are telling a strong story that touches your audience on that platform. Update quotes from customers and add enhancements to your site that help bring your digital presence into 2020.
• Facility Maintenance
  Review all the maintenance that should have happened this year, make sure it was all completed to spec, and try and catch anything that still has yet to be completed. Make sure your processes are on point and things are running smoothly. If there are areas for improvement, this is a good time to test out different processes and take your maintenance routine to the next level so next year goes that much smoother. Similar to professional athletes and performers, this is a time to do a “play review” to see where things can be improved, make things better for next year, or if you need to insource or outsource new players.

Catch Up with Those You Care About, and Who Care About You

Loyal customers are your biggest fans and usually your best marketers. They tell others how great you are, they promote your business, they rate you high and write great reviews. Make sure you thank those you care about (and that care about you) for their loyalty and support. Give it that personal touch and give them a call to see if there is anything you can help them with and make sure everything is going well with them. You may not only receive great ideas to improve your overall business, but you’ll receive even more loyalty from someone who is already happy to work with you.

Structure Goals for the New Year

The end of the year is a natural time to reflect on, and analyze, the good and bad that came in the previous year. Assess if things are where you want them to be, if their trajectory are on point, and calculate any maneuvers that need to be made in order to achieve your goals on time, or if your goals need to be rethought. As you reflect, consider the next year as a blank slate, and new possibilities are endless.

The end of the year is the perfect time to prepare for changes, so that you can begin the New Year with a relatively clean slate. Knowing where you were and what you want to change in order to improve is a great starting place. You can’t expect different results next year without moving things around and making changes now.