Small Business Tips

End of the year tips for business owners – Revised for 2022/23

9 December, 2022

As we come to the close of another year, it’s a great time to look back and assess your business and personal status . . . a time to thank those who helped you get where you are and plan for next year.

What were your highlights as a business? What can you improve? Did you complete all of your annual business requirements?

Here are some thoughts and tips for your business as you are finishing up this calendar year.

  1. If you are a corporation with a December 31st corporate year end, make sure you hold your annual shareholders’ meeting. As part of this meeting, you may need to hold an election for your Board of Directors. Check your corporate bylaws and make sure you provide all the proper notifications in the right manner. Failure to do so might get you into some hot water with your investors.
  2. Review your financial statements (profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow statements). Intuit (https://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/business-planning/end-of-the-year-checklist-for-small-businesses/) suggests you take this opportunity to look for ways to improve. What can you do better? How have you used your cash? How can you improve your collections procedures? etc.
  3. Put together your business budget for 2023, based on your historical and planned expenses. How much will you need to collect in sales to pay for your planned 2023 activities? How will you make those sales?
    • Business owner: make sure your succession plan is in place. Are you on track for retirement? Do you have a succession plan in place for when you leave? If not, we can help guide you through those issues.
    • Make your office more efficient: update your contact information, back up your computer, purge old and unneeded data, etc.
    • LegalZoom (https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/finish-strong-10-year-end-tips-for-your-small-business) suggests you take a good look at your website; is it up to date? Do the links still work? Should you change out some pictures? Should you add / remove information? etc.
    • Create a “company memory”. Record highlights (and lowlights) from the previous year for future reference. Record your activities during January through December: what did you do well and where can you improve for next year? Perhaps you designed and implemented a terrific social media strategy? Maybe you realized that a radio ad wasn’t working as well as expected? Record these lessons; they may be helpful down the road.
    • Thank those who have helped you get to where you are – your customers, employees, investors, friends and cheerleaders. Let them know you appreciate them and their support. It will help ensure (and maybe increase) their support for next year, as well.
    • Celebrate your accomplishments in 2022 and
    • Plan now for how you will do even better in 2023!
    • Finally, be sure to set up a time to meet with your SBDC advisor to go over these year end tips.

    As always, we’re here to help your business with no-cost, confidential advising.

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