7 reasons to conduct a review

We all have a tendency to go into a lull over the summer. But summer is actually a great time to do a midyear review and make some smart moves for your business while your competitors are taking it easy.
Bill McBean, a successful entrepreneur turned author, suggests you work smarter, not harder. “Often, business owners think they can review their business or implement needed changes after they’ve enjoyed the summer,” says McBean. “But what happens is, you come back from vacation and immediately get slammed trying to catch up.” Then, suddenly, the year is almost finished and valuable opportunities have passed you by.
Here are seven reasons McBean suggests a midyear review is a good idea:
• Some changes will take a while to implement. If you want to make changes such as ordering new inventory, hiring and training a new employee or putting a marketing campaign together, it will take time to get those things rolling.
• You can act while your competitors are procrastinating. Set a goal to take action on at least one or two important changes. Do it while your competitors are sitting on their hands.
• You know things now that you didn’t know at the beginning of the year. If you did a year-end review last year, you probably raised some important questions.
• It’s a good time to re-grip the reins. Midyear is a good time to assess your own control of the situation, and see if you have developed the kind of culture you want, and have motivated employees to give their best.
• Nothing good comes from waiting to look at the numbers. Now is the time to check sales figures against projections and examine reasons you’re doing well, or not.
• It’s a great time to go after new opportunities. You will be able to evaluate products and services that could add value to your current customers while attracting new ones. Ask yourself: What are my key strengths, and how can I leverage them to grow revenue? What weaknesses can I shore up? Are there offerings I’m just not good at that I should eliminate?
• There’s no better time to re-motivate employees. One great way to re-motivate employees is to set an end-of-summer goal and pre-holiday objectives. You can then develop a summertime special around that goal, and give employees an opportunity to upsell customers. “Keep in mind that most employees are looking for extra summertime cash,” says McBean. •


Daniel Kehrer can be reached at editor@bizbest.com.

No posts to display