- Assess how the business performed in 2019
- Prepare an updated business plan for 2020
- Involve your staff in setting goals for the year
- Prepare a simple financial forecast, to include estimated revenue
- Make sure you have enough money to do what you need to do
Review 2019 Business Performance
The first step in preparing your business for 2020 growth is to evaluate your 2019 numbers. What did you do in 2019 to grow your business? Take what worked and repeat that for the year. If something didn’t work, why? Learn from the shortcomings of the year and tweak them to be benefits. If something was a large expense and did not generate business, don’t be fooled into repeating it for the year. Leave your losses in 2019 and only build on what is working to grow your business.
Have a look at how your business performed this year. What worked well? What didn’t work so well? What could you do to improve things for 2020? Leave aside the stuff that is a distraction to your business. Also, what did you change this year that made an impact or make things better for your business? Really do a deep dive into the performance this year: the highs and the lows. And take the highs and repeat more of that next year.
Update Your Business Plan
Look at your business plan. Focus in again on what you can repeat next year. What has changed? Are there new competitors that have come into your market? Has there been a change in pricing as things got more competitive? What do you need to do to adjust your business plan for 2020? Start working on the numbers now, and again build on the success that you’ve had this year. Don’t go overboard, adding cost you may not need, especially if the economy is in a state of change. Definitely focus in on building on the highs of this year but keeping a close eye to new entrants to the market, any price changes you need to make, things like that that are sensitive or could impact your business.
Each year it’s important to review your business plan and revise it accordingly. How has your market changed? How have your products changed? Does your pricing model still make sense? Is your competition outselling you? Have they changed throughout the past year in their model? Analyze all this and adjust your plan to best benefit your business. Remember, your business plan is your road map to achieving your goals. Stay on course with your updates and grow at the pace you need to stay profitable.
Engage Your Team
When it comes to running a small business, you probably know all your employees. That means they know you as well. Be a leader that inspires your team to work towards the business goals you set out. Make the goals challenging but achievable. Money talks, but so does recognition, compassion, and ownership. A huge benefit to small businesses is that your employees will feel ownership over their work and the business. This means that they share in the successes and failures of the business. Even if you can’t afford to pay more in salary or bonuses, other benefits like leadership opportunity, direct access to senior employees, and a healthy company culture can keep your team happy and driven in their work. Know what makes your company different from larger corporations and use that to the benefit of the whole team. Unhappy employees will give sub-par performances. Engage and motivate your team through your own actions and effort.
Involve your staff. When you start setting goals for next year they’ll feel engaged. They want to be proud of the success of your business. Definitely ask their opinion. What do they think about the performance this year? What more could they do for you? They will definitely rise to the challenge. If you involve your people it’s a great way to set your goals for next year. Get everybody behind the success that you want to achieve.
Prepare a Financial Forecast
This step is included in revising your business plan. Financial forecasts are at the heart of your business goals. You may have the wildest dreams of growing your business, but an increase in revenue does not mean an increase in business growth or profit. Cash flow estimates and budgets keep your goals realistic or show you the need for small business financing. You can return throughout the year to benchmark how you are performing. Do you need extra staff? Have you accrued additional overhead? How might these costs affect profitability? Finances may not be the most fun part of running your own business, but they are necessary to evaluate to monitor your progress.
You want to increase your revenue. Start putting the numbers together now. Again, it links with your business plan, but this is more of a profit and loss forecast. So, start plugging in the numbers based on what you’ve achieved this year and looking at what you need in order to get to the numbers that you want to achieve next year. A forecast is essential. Definitely spend the time now working on those numbers, putting it together either in a spreadsheet or using a tool such as QuickBooks. Whatever your accounting software is, get those numbers together. Really focus in, and again, involve the team. And you’ll have a good plan, a solid basis to take your business into 2020.
Find the Best-Fit for Financing Your Business
After preparing your financial forecast, you will see your shortcomings in capital needed to achieve the growth you desire. Here is where a small business financing partner can help grow your business in 2020. Increasing revenue is a start, but how does that revenue translate to profit? Extra sales mean extra costs. Lengthy credit terms can stall your business growth by hurting your cash flow. Having cash on hand and available working capital to inject into your business will result in more sales, more staff, and more products. Small business invoice factoring is a financing strategy that improves cash flow to help you achieve your small business growth. Invoice factoring services do not require lengthy time in business, high credit scores, or debt on your balance sheet. Instead, your business operates as normal and receives immediate payment for your invoices rather than waiting a month or two for your client to pay the invoice.
Don’t forget to have enough money to do what you need to do next year. Make sure you’ve got the right financial partner with you. It’s really important for a growing business. You can easily run out of cash if your cash flow is not right or you don’t have the right funding partner to help fuel your growth. Make sure you’re working with somebody that understands the needs and the pressures of your business and how important it is that you get the right funding and fast.
When it comes to business growth in 2020, don’t let the cash flow gap caused by credit terms slow you down. Fast financing with flexible terms can help you achieve your 2020 business goals. Remember the 5 top tips for achieving business growth. Number one: look at your business performance in 2019. Take the good parts forward into 2020. Number two: look at your business plan. what has changed? What do you need to account for in 2020? Number three: involve your staff. Definitely important you get your team behind you. Number four: put together that financial forecast. It’s really important to make sure that the numbers work for you. Number five: make sure you have your business financing plan together. Don’t run out of cash. Get that right financial partner.
