The end of the year is upon us. As business owners, this means we’re busy trying to figure out health insurance, figure out our business taxes, create a budget, plan for the upcoming year, renew contracts, and see if we can hit our annual goals in the few weeks we have left.
Just like we need to pause every quarter and during the mid-year for business planning, we need to do the same at the end of the year. It’s just that the end of the year is further complicated by the holiday season.
Needless to say, this time of year is exhausting and we’re not allowed to drop any balls in our businesses. Here are a few tips on how to stay sane during end of year business planning.
Talk to your team.
Part of staying sane during end of year business planning is to realize you can’t do it alone. In fact, this would probably be a good time to enlist the help of your team.
For example, if you’re going to be working on financials like budgeting and tax planning, set up a meeting with your accountant. If you’re going to be discussing systems and customer service, call your assistant. If you have partners, now would be a good time to sit down and talk to them about plans for the following year.
If you don’t have a team yet, maybe you decide that one of your business goals for the following year will be to start building one. Building in this kind of support over time is what will help you during crazy times.
Prioritize.
As much as we want to do it all at the end of the year, we probably can’t. I know this is a lesson I’ve definitely learned the hard way over time, and it’s something I warn my coaching clients against all the time.
That being said, the best way to stay sane during end of year business planning, is to get crystal clear on what absolutely needs to get done and then drop the rest.
For the sake of example, I’ll use my business to explain this. I know that I absolutely need to handle financials and map out larger projects for the following year.
However, I’ve learned that creating an editorial calendar for my blog is somewhat pointless because I end up changing it throughout the year. As such, I don’t bother much with the editorial aspect of my own business.
(Side Note: I write and create content for a living so I can come up with stuff on the fly based on what I see going on with my market. If that’s not you, maybe you should consider an editorial calendar as a part of your end of year business planning).
Plan to take time off.
It’s the holiday season and I’m sure you don’t want to spend the entire time working or doing end of year business planning. As you shouldn’t. In fact, being overworked just leads to mistakes anyway.
Do yourself a favor and actually plan to take some time off to spend with friends and family. Your business will be there when you get back.
