January is when most people consider what their course should be for the coming year. Find out what questions you should ask yourself as a business owner this time of year.

So the Christmas selling season is over, post-Christmas sales have ended, and New Year’s resolutions are just kicking in. January may not be the busiest month for entrepreneurs or would-be entrepreneurs, but it’s the month that the “Should I?” questions get asked more often — and considered more seriously — than at any other time of the year. These questions are crucial for evaluating your business idea and overall readiness:

• Should I go into business for myself?
• Should I expand my business?
• Should I close my business down?
• Should I begin to plan my exit as a business owner?

Of course, these questions are applicable throughout the year, but January seems to be the month when many would-be entrepreneurs ask themselves if this is the year to take the plunge into ownership and when most business owners, especially the successful ones, begin to plan or finalize plans for the coming year. Regardless of who’s asking, though, these are serious questions that demand serious and well-thought-out answers.

Reflecting on the Past Year and Planning for a Successful Business

As a business owner, it’s essential to take the time to reflect on the past year and plan for a successful business. This reflection can help you identify areas of improvement, celebrate your successes, and make informed decisions for the future. January is the perfect month to do this, as the experiences of the past year are still fresh in your mind, allowing you to be guided by reality.

What were the biggest successes and failures of the past year?

When evaluating the past year, it’s crucial to acknowledge both the successes and failures. This will help you understand what worked and what didn’t, allowing you to make adjustments and improvements for the upcoming year. Consider the following questions:

• What were the most significant accomplishments of the past year?
• What challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?
• What were the most significant setbacks, and what did you learn from them?

By analyzing your successes and failures, you can gain valuable insights into what drives your business forward and what areas need improvement. This balanced reflection is key to fostering a successful business.

What did I learn from my experiences, and how can I apply those lessons to the new year?

As a successful entrepreneur, it’s essential to learn from your experiences and apply those lessons to future endeavors. Consider the following questions:

• What skills or knowledge did you acquire in the past year?
• How did you adapt to changes in the market or industry?
• What strategies worked well, and which ones didn’t?

By applying the lessons you’ve learned, you can refine your business strategy, improve your decision-making, and increase your chances of success in the new year. Continuous learning and adaptation are hallmarks of successful entrepreneurs.

How did my business change and grow over the past year?

Evaluating how your business changed and grew over the past year can help you understand its trajectory and make informed decisions for the future. Consider the following questions:

• What new products or services did you introduce?
• How did your target audience change or expand?
• What new partnerships or collaborations did you form?

By analyzing how your business evolved, you can identify areas of growth and opportunity, as well as potential challenges and obstacles. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for planning future strategies and ensuring business success.

Should I go into my own business?

This is obviously a complex question, and would-be owners often get lost looking for the answer because there are so many factors to consider. The trick here is to ask yourself the right question, which is, “Is this the right time for me to start a business?” And the way to answer that is to ask yourself a series of related questions, specifically:

• Do I have the necessary experience to be successful in my market?
• Have I conducted thorough market research to validate my business idea?
• Do I have access to the capital I’ll need to succeed?
• Have I chosen a business model that aligns with my funding strategy and long-term goals?
• Do I have the mental discipline and toughness required to lead a business?
• Am I talented enough to create sufficient gross profits to make a great living?
• Do I understand the role a successful owner plays in creating success?

If you can’t answer these questions, or your answer to any of them is “No,” you should suspend your quest for ownership until you can honestly say “Yes” to all of them. And if you already own a business and can’t answer “Yes,” you need to get some help, and soon, because you and your business are likely to be in danger

Evaluating Business Performance and Identifying Areas for Improvement

Evaluating your business performance is crucial to identifying areas for improvement and making informed decisions for the future. As a business owner, it’s essential to regularly assess your business’s strengths and weaknesses to stay competitive in the market.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of my business, and how can I use or improve them?

When evaluating your business performance, it’s essential to consider both its strengths and weaknesses. This will help you understand what drives your business forward and what areas need improvement. Consider the following questions:

• What are the core competencies of my business?
• What sets my business apart from the competition?
• What are the most significant challenges facing my business, and how can I address them?

By identifying your business’s strengths and weaknesses, you can develop strategies to use your strengths, improve your weaknesses, and stay competitive in the market. As a successful entrepreneur, it’s essential to continuously evaluate and improve your business to achieve long-term success.

By reflecting on the past year, planning for the future, and evaluating your business performance, you can make informed decisions, drive growth, and achieve your goals. This proactive approach will help you navigate the business world with confidence and help ensure your business journey is a successful one.

Should I expand my business? 

If you’re thinking about this, your business must have had some success, meaning your cash flow is continuously positive and you’re making a profit year after year. Expansion, though, means taking your profits from past years and reinvesting them in the business, so you’re taking a chance not only with your future but, in effect, with your past, as well. In deciding whether or not to make this move, there are three basic questions you need to answer before you do anything else:

• Will expansion generate more market share and capitalize on what I’ve already accomplished?
• Will my gross profit percentage increase, or will it remain the same?
• Is this the right time for me to expand my business? That is, since the skills I need to open a business and expand one are very similar, can I answer “Yes” to the questions I’d ask myself if I was just starting the company? As a new business owner, seeking advice from experienced entrepreneurs can provide valuable insights into the expansion process.

If you can provide positive answers to all of these questions, you’ll have a foundation on which to determine whether or not it would be advisable for you to expand your business.

Should I close my business down? 

The fact is that building and maintaining a successful business is hard — about 65% of businesses don’t last 10 years. So this is a question that, unfortunately, many business owners have to ask themselves not just in January but throughout the year. If you’re in this situation, the most important thing to remember is that your first loss is your least lost. In other words, the sooner you recognize that you’re riding a dead horse and get out, the less it will cost you financially and the less heartache you will have. Pretending things are going well when they’re not, or being overly optimistic, doesn’t work. You have to face the facts head-on.

Should I begin to plan for my exit as a small business owner?

Sometimes it’s easy to answer this question — when you’re tired and worn out, and the thought of running the business isn’t as appealing as it used to be. Unfortunately, it’s rarely quite so simple because, as with the decision to start a business, there are so many factors to consider. There are, however, two realities you should never forget when you’re thinking about exiting your business;

• The best time to sell is always when you don’t have to because that’s when you have the greatest number of alternatives and the most lucrative payout.
• If you don’t choose when to exit your business, something or someone else will choose it for you, and that’s never a good thing. A strong company culture can also play a crucial role in ensuring a smooth transition and maintaining business continuity.

This is extremely important because, if you don’t keep these realities in mind, you will be leaving everything you’ve worked for up to chance, and that’s the opposite of what you did to become and remain successful. It’s essential that you continue to control whatever you can control.

As I’ve said, these are all questions that can be asked anytime during the year. However, January is the perfect month to begin thinking about them because your successes, failures, and frustrations of the past year (or years) are still fresh in your mind, and you’re more likely to be guided by reality. Again, though, you shouldn’t answer any of them too quickly because, as with everything in business, they all require serious thought and careful planning.

© Bill McBean, author of The Facts of Business Life: What Every Successful Business Owner Knows that You Don’t.

Wish you could start over with your team in the New Year? Start fresh this year by using these four steps. 

The New Year brings with it the opportunity for change, growth, and renewal. We commit to accomplish new goals or resolve to finally complete old ambitions. Most of us feel more optimistic at the beginning of the year. New Year’s resolutions are expected. Gym memberships go through the roof in January. The “fresh start” feel of each new year is infectious.

What if we could start over with our teams, as well? What if we could take the old patterns of dysfunction, gossip and infighting, cliques, and politics of last year and turn them into high-performing team behaviors this year? Toxic team behaviors destroy employee morale and engagement, stifle creativity, and put personal agendas above team or company goals.

So, how do you reset with your team?  Follow these four steps:

Understanding the Need for a Team Reset

A team reset is a crucial process that helps teams refresh, renew, and realign themselves with the company’s goals and objectives. Recognizing when a team needs a reset can significantly impact its performance, productivity, and overall well-being. Some telltale signs that indicate a team might need a reset include low morale and motivation, poor communication and collaboration, lack of clear goals and objectives, inefficient processes and workflows, and high turnover rates.

By acknowledging these signs and taking proactive steps to address them, teams can benefit from a reset and emerge stronger, more focused, and more productive. A team reset can transform a struggling team into a cohesive unit that works together towards common goals, ultimately enhancing the overall success of the organization.

1. Diagnose the current state of your team.

Before you do a full reset, you need to know what’s working and what’s not on your team. Start your diagnosis by identifying the type of team you currently have. From our research, we know all teams can be categorized into one of the following four types.

• Saboteur Teams: The worst of the worst — team Hell. Distrust, politics, infighting, and gossip are hallmarks of Saboteur Teams. Win-lose thinking and survival tactics take precedence over shared goals.
• Benign Saboteur Teams: What team? These risk-averse groups are characterized by lack of interaction, support, and alignment. Typical characteristics include a “you stay in your lane while I stay in mine” mentality. While team members don’t actively hurt one another, they don’t do much to help, either.
• Situational Loyalist Teams: These are good but not great teams. Pockets of trust, collaboration, and support exist, but not with all team members. There is more focus on keeping the peace than speaking up, mining for conflict, or driving peer-to-peer accountability.
• Loyalist Teams: Extraordinary teams. On these highest-performing teams, all members feel accountable to shared and aligned goals and provide honest, candid feedback. They actively work to make others better, trust one another unconditionally, and are loyal to each other, the team, and the organization.

How would you characterize your team? Do you need to move from good to great? Is your biggest issue trust? Are you missing shared goals? Reflect on your team leadership practices and talk with your team to analyze the current state. You can also take a simple and free online team assessment or download a Loyalist Team checklist for a more accurate view.

Recognizing when a team needs a reset can significantly impact its performance, productivity, and overall well-being. A healthy company culture is essential for driving these outcomes.

By acknowledging these signs and taking proactive steps to address them, teams can benefit from a reset and emerge stronger, more focused, and more productive. This requires a comprehensive strategy to address these issues effectively.

2. Set your intention and own your role.

As a team leader, you have an exponential impact on the state of your team. If you want a team reset, announce your intention to the team. Take ownership of your role in allowing or not adequately dealing with the dysfunction. Involve many team members in the process to ensure diverse perspectives and buy-in. Create a compelling view of a better work life with a stronger team. Demonstrate commitment by setting up time and resources to develop the team. Loyalist Teams are built over time and with great intention.

Redefine your team culture

Redefining your team culture is a critical step in the team reset process. It involves re-examining the team’s values, beliefs, and behaviors to help ensure they align with the company’s overall culture and goals. This process helps to identify and address cultural gaps and inconsistencies, develop a clear and compelling team vision and mission, and establish a set of core values and behaviors that guide team interactions.

Fostering a supportive work environment that encourages collaboration and innovation is essential. By redefining your team culture, you can create a positive and productive work environment that supports the well-being and success of all team members. This renewed focus on team culture can lead to improved morale, increased engagement, and a stronger sense of community within the team.

3. Create team culture norms.

Toxic teams have learned bad habits. Without a focused effort to transform this destructive behavior into new, more productive practices, the lingering resentment and negative patterns will reemerge, even with good intentions. Work with your team to identify 5 to 7 new norms of behavior.  If you have a Saboteur Team, you might want to start with the basics, such as:

We will:

• Extend trust and assume positive intent with each other.
• Talk to each other, not about each other.
• Respect each other and listen openly to others’ views.

If you have a good team you’re trying to make great, you may be ready for more advanced norms around candor, feedback, and accountability, such as:

We will:

• Provide candid feedback to each other.
• Put the toughest issues on the table and talk honestly about them.
• We will hold each other accountable for achieving our goals and living our team norms.

Once you agree to team norms, set up check-ins, reminders, and accountability to make norms real and meaningful for the team. Establish metrics to measure success and regularly review these metrics to help ensure the norms are effective.

4. Set team goals and measure success.

On Loyalist Teams, all team members have skin in the game. They’re committed to shared goals – not just their own objectives and agendas. They work hard to balance ego and personal ambition with team or company needs. Aligning the goals of the sales team with the overall team objectives is crucial to ensure cohesive performance. You can build this type of joint commitment by developing shared team goals.

Help team members see the bigger picture by exploring how work intersects and aligns. Share each team member’s goals with the whole team to look for gaps, overlaps, and commonalities. Enlist your team members in setting two or three team-level goals they can all support. When team members engage in planning and problem-solving work together, they practice being a Loyalist Team. They learn the mindset and skills they need to sustain teamwork. They learn the power of joint accountability and commitment.

Re-engage and re-energize your team

Re-engaging and re-energizing your team is essential to maintaining a positive and productive team culture. This involves recognizing and rewarding team members’ contributions and achievements, providing opportunities for growth and development, and encouraging open communication and feedback. Fostering a sense of community and teamwork is also crucial.

By re-engaging and re-energizing your team, you can boost morale, motivation, and productivity, leading to improved overall performance and success. When team members feel valued and supported, they are more likely to be committed to the team’s goals and work collaboratively toward achieving them.

Sustaining a Positive Team Culture

Sustaining a positive team culture requires ongoing effort and commitment. It involves regularly assessing and addressing cultural gaps and inconsistencies, continuously communicating and reinforcing the team’s vision, mission, and values, and providing ongoing training and development opportunities. Encouraging and recognizing team members’ contributions and achievements is also vital.

By sustaining a positive team culture, you can create a stable and supportive work environment that supports the well-being and success of all team members. This long-term commitment to a positive team culture can lead to sustained success and growth for the team and the organization as a whole.

The New Year is the perfect time to reset your team. Once you start, you’re likely to see improvements immediately. Be intentional in your efforts — and persistent — and you’ll reap the rewards.

Audrey Epstein is a partner at The Trispective Group and the co-author with Linda Adams, Abby Curnow-Chavez, and Rebecca Teasdale of The Loyalist Team: How Trust, Candor, and Authenticity Create Great Organizations.

Goals are important ingredients for success, but how you set your goals can be just as important to achieve goals. Learn how to make the most of them.

Setting goals is risky business. Depending on how you set your goals, they can elevate you or they can devastate you. And you want to know a secret? Not everyone who succeeds in life sets goals.

[pausing for the oooh’s and aaaah’s…]

Like any tool, however, your goals can be powerful victory builders. But be careful. If you set your goals too high, you’ll quickly become frustrated and experience feelings of failure and the desire to give up. If you set your goals too low, you won’t be motivated to strive.

Though few people talk about it, there are certain tactics you can use to help ensure that your goals significantly aid you in achieving success. Rather than simply be the measuring stick for your achievement, each goal will serve as a vehicle that gets you there. I call these tactics the Ten Commandments of Goal Setting.

The Ten Commandments of Setting Smart Goals

1. Thou Shalt Be Passionate. The passion you have for what you want, what you do, and who you are is more powerful than any goal you ever set. Find your passion first, then set your goals around that.

2. Thou Shalt Be Realistic. If your goal is to make a million dollars in one year, and you only make $500,000, according to your goal, you’ve failed. Yet, you’ve made $500,000! Isn’t that a huge success? So why not set your goal at $100,000 dollars in one year and beat the heck out of it five times that year?

3. Thou Shalt Be Value-Driven. In the pursuit of wealth and satisfaction, many of us lose sight of our values and beliefs. Make a list of your goals, then a list of your values. If you can’t directly associate each goal with one of your values, maybe you shouldn’t invest your time in that particular goal.

4. Thou Shalt Be Detailed. The goal itself is almost never enough. The most effective goals are designed so that you know the goal, the date by which you will achieve it, the quantity by which you will measure it (is “rich” $100,000 or $500,000?), and how it will change your life.

5. Thou Shalt Plan. Start with the end result in mind, then work backward to develop a comprehensive strategy. For example, if your goal is that your teenager confides all her secrets to you, the step before that has to be that she trusts you. To earn her trust, you have to listen and allow her to tell you her mistakes.

6. Thou Shalt Remain Accountable. Find someone to hold you accountable to your goal, or create a system whereby you hold yourself accountable. Collaborate with business leaders to enhance teamwork and achieve overarching objectives. An effective way to do this is to set clear performance goals for each step in your plan and then report to yourself or a friend how far you’ve come in that step. These little goals are easier to measure and give a sense of accomplishment.

7. Thou Shalt Have Fun. Goals won’t do you much good if they just frustrate you and make you feel guilt or a sense of failure. Have fun with them, reward yourself, and when things get tough, take a break and do something novel and entertaining.

8. Thou Shalt Believe. Many of us set goals we don’t truly believe we can reach. Just think of the resolutions you made during New Year’s. Have you ever followed through on one of those? If your goal is to be healthy and fit, and you can’t imagine being able to exercise every other day and stay away from chocolates, then you have to rework your goal into something believable for you. Otherwise, you’ll only frustrate yourself.

9. Thou Shalt Seek Support. Most of us hate to admit it, but we often won’t achieve our goals solely on our own. Depending on the goal, you may need a professional mentor, a coach, a close friend, or an inspiring book. Don’t always try to achieve your goals alone.

10. Thou Shalt Not Give Up. What if you still don’t achieve your goal? Don’t give up. Maybe you’re concentrating too hard on reaching the goal and losing sight of why you set it in the first place. Not everyone succeeds by setting goals. If you try the above and they don’t work for you, then try something else. The most important thing is to be passionate and have fun. You’ll get there.

Understanding Goal Setting

Goal setting is a powerful process that helps individuals and organizations achieve their desired outcomes. It involves defining specific, measurable, and attainable objectives that guide efforts and motivate progress. Effective goal setting requires a clear understanding of what you want to achieve, why it’s important, and how you plan to get there. By setting well-defined goals, you create a roadmap that directs your actions and decisions, helping ensure that every step you take brings you closer to your desired outcomes. Whether you’re aiming for financial success, increased employee satisfaction, or personal growth, having a clear goal in mind can make all the difference.

Setting Effective Goals

Setting effective goals requires careful consideration and planning. Here are some tips to help you set goals that work:

1. Be specific: Clearly define what you want to achieve. Instead of setting a vague goal like “improve business performance,” specify what aspect you want to improve, such as “increase sales by 20% in the next quarter.”
2. Make them measurable: Ensure that your goals can be quantified. This allows you to track your progress and know when you’ve achieved your goal. For example, if your goal is to increase employee satisfaction, use surveys and feedback to measure changes in satisfaction levels.
3. Set attainable goals: While it’s important to challenge yourself, your goals should still be realistic. Setting unattainable goals can lead to frustration and demotivation. Consider your resources and constraints when setting your goals.
4. Ensure relevance: Your goals should align with your broader business objectives and personal values. This helps ensure that your efforts contribute to your overall business strategy and personal growth.
5. Be time-bound: Set a deadline for achieving your goals. This creates a sense of urgency and helps you stay focused. For instance, if your goal is to launch a new product, set a specific launch date and work backward to plan your steps.

By following these tips, you can set SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and
time-based) that are clear, actionable, and aligned with your desired outcomes.

Overcoming Limitations and Side Effects

While goal setting can be a powerful tool for achieving success, it’s not without its limitations and side effects. Here are some common challenges and how to overcome them:

1. Setting Unrealistic Goals: One of the biggest pitfalls in goal setting is aiming too high. While it’s great to be ambitious, setting goals that are too far out of reach can lead to disappointment and burnout. To avoid this, break down large goals into smaller, more manageable steps. This allows you to make consistent progress and build momentum.
2. Losing Motivation: It’s natural to feel a dip in motivation, especially when working toward long-term goals. To stay motivated, celebrate small wins along the way and remind yourself of the bigger picture. Regularly reviewing your progress and adjusting your goals as needed can also help keep you on track.
3. Dealing with Setbacks: Setbacks are inevitable, but they don’t have to derail your progress. When you encounter obstacles, take a step back and reassess your approach. Look for alternative solutions and be flexible in your planning. Remember, setbacks are opportunities to learn and grow.
4. Overemphasis on Outcome Goals: Focusing solely on the end result can sometimes lead to stress and anxiety. Instead, balance outcome goals with performance goals that emphasize the process and behaviors needed to achieve the desired outcome. This shift in focus can reduce pressure and increase satisfaction.

By recognizing and addressing these challenges, you can enhance your goal-setting process and increase your chances of achieving your desired outcomes.

Copyright Jaime L. Mintun. Ms. Jaime Mintun is the founder of the transformational growth assistance company PhoenixFire.

We sat down with Mark Cuban at South by Southwest (SXSW), the music, film, and interactive conference in Austin, Texas. Mark is a champion and advocate for people who want to start their own businesses. He is also known for his ownership of the Dallas Mavericks, where he transformed the team into a highly valuable franchise. So we asked: Are entrepreneurs born or made? What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur? Is there a formula? Read on for his top tips for starting a business.

Question 1: What makes someone a great entrepreneur? 

Mark Cuban: We’re all entrepreneurs. We are all by nature problem solvers. We solve problems, and we find ways to help people. That’s the foundation of being an entrepreneur. The hard part is finding the thing you are good at. When you start a company, you’re going to have to compete. In order to compete, you have to be good at something. Once we find that thing, then it’s just a question of fear. 

One of the most critical decisions you’ll ever make in starting your own business is, for all too many entrepreneurs, not really a decision at all.

Many entrepreneurs never really think critically about what business to go into — they just jump in head first. Maybe they have a little experience in one business. Maybe they read an article somewhere about someone who made a lot of money in a particular type of business, and maybe it sounded like a cool and interesting thing to do.

All too often, these entrepreneurs end up with a bad business idea that they are doomed to struggle with (if it survives at all).

There’s a better way. That’s because there are some businesses that are more likely to survive. There are some that can make you more money for a lot less work (essential if you’re running this as a side hustle). There are some that are outright risky.

We’ll admit it: we’re generalizing a bit here. With the right conditions, business start-up know-how and strategy, and hustle, almost any business idea can turn into a profitable venture. But business ideas aren’t created equal. Statistically speaking, some business ideas are more likely to be a success. A well-thought-out business model can significantly influence the success or failure of a business. So, in this article, we’ll explore some of the best and worst businesses to start going into 2025 and beyond.

Deciding on business ownership: Is it right for you?

Deciding on business ownership is a crucial step in starting a successful business. It requires careful consideration of your goals, skills, and resources. Before making a decision, ask yourself if you have the necessary skills and experience to run a business. Consider your financial situation, risk tolerance, and personal goals. It’s also essential to research the market and competition to determine if your business idea has potential.

Owning a business is not just about having a great business idea; it’s about having the right mindset and resources to turn that idea into a successful business. Do you have the skills and experience needed to manage and grow a business? Are you financially prepared to invest in your business and handle potential losses? What are your personal goals, and how does business ownership fit into them?

Researching the market and understanding your competition is also vital. Is there a demand for your product or service? Who are your competitors, and what can you offer that they don’t? By answering these questions, you can make a more informed decision about whether business ownership is the right path for you.

Research and brainstorm business ideas: Lay the groundwork

Researching and brainstorming business ideas is a critical step in starting a successful business. It involves identifying your passions, skills, and market needs. Consider what problems you can solve, what products or services you can offer, and what sets you apart from the competition. Use online resources, such as business idea generators and market research reports, to help you brainstorm and refine your ideas.

Start by looking inward: what are you passionate about? What skills do you have that could be turned into a business? Next, look outward: what does the market need? What problems can you solve for your potential customers? By aligning your passions and skills with market needs, you can come up with business ideas that are both fulfilling and viable.

Don’t be afraid to use online tools to help you brainstorm. Business idea generators can spark new ideas, while market research reports can provide valuable insights into industry trends and customer needs. The goal is to find a business idea that not only excites you but also has the potential to be a successful business.

The Best and Worst Business Ideas

Any business idea can turn into a profitable company, but some ideas are a better, safer bet than others. Here’s “the good, the bad, and the ugly” for some common business ideas.

Service Business Ideas: The Best Bet for Many People

If you’re not sure what type of business you like best, starting a service business might be a great fit. Service businesses often rank among the most profitable business ideas due to their low startup costs and high demand.

Service businesses tend to be local, and competition from national firms tends to be less severe than for product businesses or Internet firms. For example, national firms usually don’t have a significant cost advantage over small local services. And the personal touch of a local owner can be a significant advantage in a service business.

Service businesses typically require less capital to start and operate than product businesses because you don’t have to finance inventory. Often, you can ask customers for immediate payment by credit or debit card upon completion of the work, so you don’t have to get involved in extending credit or payment plans. As a result, you can start many service businesses with a very small investment (or perhaps no investment at all). You can also operate a lot of service businesses as a home-based business, saving a lot of money on overhead.

Some service businesses you can start part time, possibly even keeping your day job. There’s also a higher chance of breaking even sooner with a service business thanks to the low overhead costs.

Product Business Ideas: High Risk, High Reward

If you’re aspiring not just to be wealthy but to really hit the big time, a product business may be your best bet. But there’s a distinction we need to make: we’re talking about a product business, not manufacturing. Manufacturing itself can take huge amounts of capital and is best left to specialized firms.

Although product businesses can lead to super riches, the risk and failure rate is very high. You will almost always be competing against larger national or international firms with similar products. Then there are the challenges of distribution and financing a growing inventory. Ultimately, to make a product business work, you really need to weigh the potential profits against the hefty challenges you’d face.

That said, creating your own product can be an incredibly fulfilling experience. There’s something magical about developing a concept, designing a prototype for it, testing it, and then bringing it to market successfully.

Take, for example, a book publishing company. Publishers face tremendous challenges in bringing their products (books) to customers. There’s the process of locating titles that will be profitable. Then there’s the challenge of getting them edited and typeset, designing a cover, and then printing it and successfully selling it to readers. This work can be pretty difficult, but seeing readers enjoy great stories? Talk about rewarding.

Rental Business Ideas: Good Profit Potential

Rental businesses are not as easy a way to make money as you might think, but many rental firm owners have made a lot of money. It takes time to develop steady patronage and iron out the operational issues of running the business.

As a rental business owner, you must manage various operational challenges to be successful. You have to rent a lot of items because the rental fees on even expensive products like cars or boats can be relatively modest. On the expense side, you have marketing costs, repair, and maintenance, to name a few. Liability insurance can also be high. Even if you get people to sign a release, you can still get sued on the basis of having rented out faulty equipment.

There are also issues like theft; even with the best preventative measures, you can find yourself spending hard-won profits to replace lost inventory.

Rental businesses also tend to be more cyclical, meaning business ebbs and flows throughout the year (or with upturns and downturns of the economy). Take, for example, a rental bike business. Unless you’re operating in a vacation destination that’s popular and temperate year round (unlikely), you’ll find that you’re busy during the summer months but slow during school season and almost nonexistent when the weather’s ugly.

If you prepare for this cyclicality in your business plan, you’ll be fine. But it’s one of several challenges you’ll need to anticipate.

Consulting Business Ideas: A Great Business

Consulting can be a great business, offering your expertise to others to help them improve their company (or even their personal lives, depending on your consulting focus). This business is especially promising for entrepreneurs who’ve already had a career in their field, allowing them to use their niche expertise, well-established reputations, and industry contacts to their advantage.

Consulting probably isn’t the best option for younger professionals who are still building experience in their field. But if that’s you, you could consider partnering with a proven professional and starting a consulting business as a team. Your clients would benefit from your shared expertise, and you’d benefit from a shared workload and the opportunity to learn from your partner’s experience. You could also consider investing in some specialized training; specialized education can enhance your ability to provide valuable insights and solutions to clients.

There’s a wealth of possibilities in business consulting: public relations, information technologies, search engine optimization (SEO), marketing, and more. You could even offer your services to private clients with services like personal styling, sleep consulting, or even resume writing.

One drawback (or advantage, depending on your personality) of a consulting business is that it’s usually a solo endeavor; when you aren’t working directly with clients, you’ll be on your own, chasing your next project. Even if you have a partner, it would be just the two of you.

Our recommendation? Start a consulting LLC to enhance your professional image and take advantage of this business structure’s personal asset protection (all while keeping your business paperwork manageable).

Retail Business Ideas: Increasingly Difficult

Retail is a lot tougher than ever before, and it’s getting more difficult every day. Think about it: where do you shop normally? Odds are, you immediately think of go-to stores like Amazon, Walmart, or a regional chain. Superstores and big box stores take a lot of the retail market share, and it’s not surprising. Since their sales volume is so high, they can offer competitive prices that would destroy smaller retailers. And having insurmountable brand recognition doesn’t hurt their cause, either.

It’s not impossible to compete with the mammoth retailers out there — the success of the various “Dollar” store chains shows this — but it’s very, very difficult. You especially need a very carefully developed strategy that clearly differentiates your business and gives shoppers a clear reason for choosing your store.

You also need a retail space that’s affordable but gets enough traffic. To get started with even a very small retail storefront, you’ll need money for probably at least two months of rent, inventory, and build-out, and some cash in reserve. So, for most retail stores, you’re going to want $50,000 to $100,000 to get started. And even for the very tiniest of retail storefronts, you’re going to need upwards of $10,000 to start your business.

One strategy to succeed in retail is to pick a niche that’s pretty specialized or has a product that customers prefer shopping in person for. A good example might be a local bike shop. Your customers would prefer coming to your store to chat about which bike is best for their riding goals and then take a bike for a quick test spin. You could also pair your retail offerings with repair services to keep customers coming back even after your first sale. Hobby shops like tabletop game stores tend to have similar appeal.

E-Commerce Business Ideas: Tougher Than It Looks

Opening up a retail business online — or an e-commerce site, if you prefer — what could be easier? Just throw together a website and wait for the orders to roll in, right? Unfortunately, it just isn’t that easy. First, it’s much harder than you might think to get visitors to come to your site.

For starters, getting a new website to rank on the first page of search engine results of the more popular keywords on the larger search engines is a formidable task indeed. Granted, you can buy advertising to drive traffic to your site, but it’s very expensive. Then, even once you’ve driven traffic to your website, it can be very hard to convert visitors to sales.

Overall, new e-commerce businesses have a shockingly high failure rate. According to a study conducted by Forbes, Huffington Post, and Marketing Signals, roughly 90% of all new e-commerce companies in the U.S. fail within the first 120 days.

That’s a scary statistic, but it doesn’t guarantee that your e-commerce business will fail. What it does guarantee is that you have to develop a really sound strategy for attracting customers to your site and converting their site visits into actual orders. By entering this industry with your eyes wide open to the challenges and a plan to overcome them, you’ll increase your chances of success.

Secondhand Store Business: A Safer Bet in Retail

If you really want to go into retail, particularly in a category dominated by superstores, you could be a lot better off opening a secondhand store. You may be able to operate with no investment in inventory by only handling goods on a consignment basis — that means that you never actually own the merchandise. Instead, you display the goods and pay for them only after you’ve sold them.

But even if you are selling on consignment, you need to get a healthy markup. You want about 15 percent of the sales price if you’re selling high-priced items like cars or boats and more like 50 percent if you are selling less expensive items like children’s clothing.

You can also make a thrift store work by buying a stock of inventory or accepting donations for gently used items. This might require a bigger investment of money and time, but you can appeal to buyers who enjoy the thrill of the hunt for a thrifted treasure.

Your biggest expense as a secondhand store will always be your retail space, so be sure you’ve accounted for that expense. If you’re not quite ready for that, you can consider using sites like Poshmark or even a social media account for thrifting to build some capital through sales and expand into a physical space later on.

Restaurant Business Ideas: High Risk and Unpredictable

Restaurants have a sky-high failure rate. Steady, loyal patronage may take years to build, and it can be very difficult to rapidly accelerate the process, even with elaborate marketing campaigns. Owners of successful restaurants usually have extensive restaurant experience, work endless hours, and either rely on their large, close-knit families for assistance or have a special knack for attracting, retaining, and motivating good kitchen help and waitstaff. On the other hand, to emphasize how hard the business is, many owners of failed restaurants also possess these so-called “success traits.”

A restaurant business is rife with challenges. Finding a location is hard. Unless you get lucky enough to rent a building that was previously used as a restaurant, you’ll need to spend a lot of money to build out the kitchen and dining room. Even then, you’ll still be paying rent to your landlord. You’ll also have to overcome city regulations.

Overhead costs are also challenging. Between employee wages and utilities, restaurants can spend a lot on costs. The water bill alone for a typical restaurant can be quite expensive.

Sandwich Shops: An Excellent Food Business

The lunch business can be a nice compromise between the challenges of running a restaurant business and the profit potential. Think: with a healthy, high-quality sandwich shop, you can appeal to busy professionals who need a quick, filling, and healthy lunch option. Having limited menu items can also help limit your overhead costs; after all, making sandwiches doesn’t require a bunch of specialized equipment. You’ll need refrigerator space, a prep counter, and maybe a panini press or toaster.

A sandwich shop can also be a great candidate for running a food truck, which might help you navigate the location challenge of the restaurant business. With a truck, you can go to where your customers are, and you likely won’t have as high of a lease payment to make (unless you buy your truck outright).

Digital Marketing: A Growing Field

Digital marketing is a growing field that offers many opportunities for small business owners. It involves using digital channels, such as social media, email, and search engines, to reach and engage with customers. Consider offering digital marketing services, such as search engine optimization (SEO), content creation, and social media management, to help businesses build their online presence.

In today’s digital age, businesses need to have a strong online presence to succeed. This is where digital marketing comes in. By offering services like SEO, content creation, and social media management, you can help businesses attract and engage customers online.

Digital marketing is a dynamic and ever-evolving field, making it an exciting area for small business owners to explore. Whether you’re helping a local business improve its search engine rankings or managing a company’s social media accounts, there’s a growing demand for digital marketing expertise. Plus, with the right skills and strategies, you can build a successful business in this thriving industry.

Wholesale Business Ideas: Easy to Start, Hard to Succeed

Wholesale business ideas can be easy to start but hard to succeed. They involve buying products in bulk and selling them to retailers or consumers. Consider offering wholesale products, such as clothing, electronics, or home goods, to retailers or online marketplaces. However, be aware of the challenges, such as high competition, low profit margins, and logistical complexities.

Starting a wholesale business might seem straightforward: buy products in bulk at a lower cost and sell them at a markup. However, the reality is more complex. The wholesale industry is highly competitive, with many players vying for the same market share. Profit margins can be razor thin, and managing logistics — such as shipping, storage, and inventory — can be challenging.

If you’re considering a wholesale business, it’s crucial to do your homework. Identify products that have a steady demand and consider how you can differentiate yourself from competitors. Be prepared to navigate the logistical complexities and work on building strong relationships with both suppliers and customers. While the path to success in wholesale can be tough, with careful planning and execution, it can also be rewarding.

Exclusive Distributorships: Often an Exceptional Opportunity

Let’s be clear: an exclusive distributorship is a little bit different from a wholesale or warehouse business, and that distinction can spell the difference between razor-thin profits and business success.

On one hand, a wholesaler typically sells the goods of many different manufacturers and competes head to head with other wholesalers often offering highly similar, if not exactly the same, products, driving gross profit margins to razor-thin levels.

An exclusive distributor, on the other hand, typically has much higher gross profit margins because they sell specific goods to wholesalers and directly to retailers or end industrial users. Sometimes, the exclusive distributor imports a foreign product. They might even be the only distributor for that product in a wide radius, meaning anyone who needs it comes directly to them.

Essentially, an exclusive distributorship works through its name: exclusivity.

Starting Your Own Blog: Tough to Make a Living

We all know that traditional print media — newspapers and magazines — have been devastated by online advertising competition, so why not focus there? Isn’t everyone starting an online blog? How hard can it be? Well, it’s easy to start an online blog, but it is nearly impossible to make any significant money at it.

There are currently more than 200 million online blogs worldwide. And there’s not enough advertising money to go around. Most blogs don’t even carry ads. But plenty do. However, most blogs that do carry advertising only receive a dollar or two in revenue a day.

Typically, they’re getting ad revenue through an ad-serving platform. The ad-serving platform may keep around 35 percent of the revenue. Furthermore, the ad rates that advertising space is sold for on blogs through ad servers tend to be very low. So, a blog may be a good way to show off your creativity, but less a good way to try to earn even a part-time income.

A better bet? Start a different business and establish yourself as an authority in that sphere. Then use a blog as a content marketing venture for some supplemental income.

Franchise Business Ideas: Usually a Solid Bet — But Not Always

Buying a franchise can be a good bet, especially if you don’t have business experience. After all, you can rely on the brand recognition of the store you buy, so you won’t have to hustle as much on the marketing front. But a franchise isn’t a panacea; franchises can and do fail.

If you go this route, understand that you’ll have a pretty hefty upfront investment, so it’ll be a while before you generate an exact profit. That said, some chains offer purchase programs that help you work around this challenge, so be sure to carefully read your contracts before proceeding.

Buying an Existing Business: Often the Lowest-Risk Alternative

Buying an existing business will, on average, dramatically increase your chances of succeeding in business. But buying and valuing a business is not usually a simple process, and there are plenty of things to watch out for.

For example, settling on a price for the company can be tricky. You’ll be paying for the physical space, of course, but you’ll also be paying for all of the countless hours the original owner has invested into the company. You’ll need to balance that equity with a price point that you can actually get a profit from later on.

Then, after you’ve bought the business, you’ll have the challenges of making it your own. Too many businesses fail by coming in and making too many changes too quickly, alienating the company’s loyal customer base and even its employees.

Avoiding Business Pitfalls: Common Mistakes to Avoid

No matter what business you decide to start, avoiding pitfalls is crucial to running a successful business. One of the most common mistakes is failing to conduct thorough market research. Without understanding your target market and competition, you risk launching a business that doesn’t meet customer needs or stand out in the market.

Inadequate funding is another common issue. Many new businesses underestimate the amount of capital needed to get started and sustain operations until they become profitable. Poor management and insufficient marketing can also derail your business. Effective management involves not only overseeing daily operations but also planning for growth and handling challenges. Marketing is essential for attracting and retaining customers, so don’t skimp on your marketing efforts.

To avoid these pitfalls, seek advice from experienced entrepreneurs, conduct thorough market research, and create a solid business plan. By being proactive and prepared, you can increase your chances of building a successful business.

Evaluating Risk in Small Businesses Ideas

Any business you go into will involve some risk, but some businesses are inherently much riskier than others. Make sure you carefully decide which type of business you want to go into and are aware of the most common risks in that type of business. Then, think about the risks and reward potential of the specific business you are considering. There is a common adage of “no risk, no reward,” but smart businesspeople try to reduce risk any chance they can.

Key Takeaways You Can Use

• Retail start-ups are very difficult.
• E-commerce is tougher than it looks.
• Rentals and consulting have decent potential.
• Service start-ups are a good bet for most people.
• Product starts-ups offer high risk, high reward.

For More Business Ideas

If you need more business ideas, check out our favorite small business ideas for entrepreneurs. This detailed guide explores more than 350 ideas in a variety of industries, from health and wellness to technology and more. It’s a great place to find some inspiration.

According to email research by the Radicati Group, the average office worker receives over 120 emails a day. That’s a staggering amount of information to process, and without proper organization, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.

Learning how to manage your email is crucial, whether you’re a business owner, freelancer, or someone managing personal and professional accounts. Effective email management saves time, reduces stress, and improves productivity. With the right strategies, you can turn a chaotic inbox into a powerful tool for success.

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ZenBusiness will file your business formation paperwork for $0 + state fees. Plus, we offer additional services to help you run and grow a business.

As an entrepreneur, New Year’s resolutions are important for helping you focus your energy and efforts in the aspirations and success of your business.

However, before you can make any New Year’s resolutions as an entrepreneur, you’ll want to make sure that your decision is rational and sound. Ultimately, creating unrealistic goals and making numerous expectations for your business means you are almost setting up yourself for failure. Every year, millions of people who set New Year’s resolutions fall short of their goals because they’re unrealistic or too numerous.

So let’s explore some of our favorite resolutions for entrepreneurs to make during the New Year, including personal goals like the common resolution to lose weight and more professional goals like improving your social media strategy.

Setting Your New Year’s Resolutions

Setting New Year’s resolutions is a fantastic way to kick off the new year on a positive note. For both individuals and businesses, it’s an opportunity to set clear goals and objectives for the upcoming year. A well-thought-out resolution can be a powerful tool for personal and professional growth. By making a conscious effort to strategically focus on what you want to achieve, you can set the stage for success.

Whether your goal is to save money, improve your health, or increase productivity, a well-set New Year’s resolution can guide you toward making it happen. It’s about taking deliberate steps to ensure that your aspirations are not just dreams but achievable targets. So, as you step into the new year, take some time to reflect and set resolutions that will help you and your business thrive.

1. Improve your health

Living a healthy lifestyle is an important resolution for anyone, including business owners. As an entrepreneur, you will find it hard to run a smooth-performing and successful business if you are constantly suffering from health issues or your general well-being is compromised. It’s a lot easier to tackle your to-do list and manage tasks effectively if you’re energized and running at full strength.

Healthy living looks a little different for everyone. For some, it’s prioritizing a balanced diet. For others, it’s about a need to exercise regularly. It could even be a goal of getting enough sleep or improving your mental health by finding a good therapist. In the end, a resolution for healthy living should improve your well-being and happiness (and it might even help you run a successful business at the same time).

2. Increase your social media interaction

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram have rightly amassed popularity over the years. It’s often safe to assume that the majority of your potential customers currently use at least one social media platform, if not more.

Social media networks are great for entrepreneurs for connecting, engaging, and interacting with customers and even other businesses. Business owners can also use social platforms to create and enhance brand awareness and even connect with influencers and potential investors.

A practical goal for the new year might include posting a certain number of times per week, developing a specific content series, gaining more followers, or something else. Whether you’re picking a small improvement or an ambitious strategy, be sure to set a goal you know you can manage so you can stick to it.

3. Improve your communication

To be a successful entrepreneur, your ability to communicate with your employees, clients, and colleagues must be impeccable, clear, and concise.

If you struggle with the inability to communicate and share your ideas clearly, then the New Year can be a great time to commit to improvement. Maybe you’ll prioritize working on your writing skills to improve your IMs, emails, and memos. Or maybe you want to work on your public speaking. Some entrepreneurs even dive into seminars about non-verbal communication (which can be notoriously tricky for even the most savvy person).

Improving your communication might even mean working with new tools (like Canva or Adobe) to develop your own visuals, graphs, or videos. The possibilities are nearly endless.

4. Encourage negative feedback

Negative feedback from your colleagues, clients, and employees can be vital in developing an acceptable product/service offering and improving company processes. Business feedback has always been shown to be important, notwithstanding its origin or aim.

As you enter the new year, you might decide to find ways to encourage feedback of all kinds, but especially how you can improve. Maybe you can set a goal to have drinks with colleagues once a month or host small groups of customers or employees for a meal. In these more relaxing moments, you’ll find you’re able to build positive relationships and garner some constructive criticism along the way.

5. Understand accounting basics

Some business owners are fortunate enough to have an accounting department to manage their finances, but plenty need to handle it on their own. No matter how many staff you have, it can be immensely beneficial to learn some of the basics of accounting.

Understanding business finances can help you with clearing debts, lowering your business expenses (and even your personal ones), and establishing effective financial forecasts.

6. Stop being a workaholic

Granted, “stop being a workaholic” is easier said than done. Most entrepreneurs tend to be workaholics and spend a lot of hours in their offices and away from offices working. This is understandable; there’s always something demanding your attention. But in the end, working long hours day in and day out can lead to stress, exhaustion, and even burnout, which can all negatively impact business productivity.

So maybe you’ll need to make self-care your new year priority. Perhaps you’ll schedule a mandatory day off for yourself each month or every other week. Another option is to set regular appointments for yourself, such as social gatherings with family and friends, massages, or even therapy sessions.

These moments to stop and take care of you, away from your office, help you keep an appropriate balance between your work and personal life. We all need quality time away from work, so make sure you get some in the new year.

7. Embrace new technology

There isn’t much you can count on in the business world, but changing technology is something you can always expect. From blockchain and deep learning to smart AI assistants, there’s always a new tech opportunity to pursue.

While you don’t have to adopt every single new technology advancement that comes your way, you might consider picking up some new tricks during the new year. Small businesses have an advantage in embracing new technology, too; it’s easier to implement new ideas since there are fewer steps to test and adopt new tools (especially compared to larger companies).

8. Ensure you meet compliance regulations

You should always certify that your business complies with any existing laws and regulations, but the new year can be a great opportunity to renew your commitment to compliance.

Adhering to compliance regulations is vital for respecting the community and building public trust. Regulations compliance results in the protection and security of customer data and the health of customers by providing safe products.

A great example is getting a SOC 2 certification if your industry is in IT, SaaS, accounting, cloud computing, etc. Showing SOC 2 compliance helps demonstrate your organization’s commitment to protecting the privacy and security of your customers’ information — increasingly important in our connected digital age.

9. Revisit your business planning and strategy

A well-planned business strategy is the backbone of any successful business. It helps you set clear goals and objectives, identify your target market, and develop a roadmap to achieve your ambitions. A comprehensive business plan should include a detailed analysis of the market, competition, and financial projections.

The new year can be a great time to revise your business plan to make sure it still suits your business goals. Odds are, your business has grown and changed since you first wrote the plan, and it’s good to keep it up to date.

10. Improve your online marketing and digital presence

In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for any business. A well-designed website, an active social media presence, and a robust digital marketing strategy can help you reach your target audience and boost your conversion rates as you enter the new year. Focus on creating high-quality content, engaging with your audience, and building a strong brand identity.

A solid digital presence not only improves your reputation but also increases your customer base and keeps you ahead of the competition. Moreover, an effective digital marketing strategy can help you save money and maximize your return on investment. So, make sure your business is visible and active in the digital world.

11. Foster your leadership and team management

Effective leadership and team management are essential for the success of any business. As a leader, your focus should be on building a strong team, setting clear goals and objectives, and providing ongoing support and training. By empowering your team members, you can boost productivity, improve morale, and reduce turnover.

A well-managed team can also enhance your customer service, increase efficiency, and keep you ahead of the competition. By prioritizing leadership and team management, you lay a strong foundation for your business’s success. Remember, a motivated and well-supported team is a key asset for any thriving business.

To improve your leadership in the new year, you can start small. Check out a few books on leadership and employ one or two tips from each. There are also online courses available, leadership seminars, and more. Find an approach that interests you to help you stick with it.

12. Improve your customer relationships and service

Building strong customer relationships is vital for the success of any business. Focus on providing excellent customer service, responding to feedback, and creating a strong brand identity. By building trust with your customers, you can increase loyalty, improve your reputation, and boost your conversion rates.

A good customer service strategy can also help you save money and enhance your return on investment. By prioritizing customer relationships and service, you establish a solid foundation for long-term success. Remember, happy customers are not just repeat customers; they are also your best advocates.

Have a successful and exciting New Year!

Never be afraid to up your business game with a New Year’s resolution. There are dozens (if not hundreds) of different resolutions you can make, all with great potential to improve both your business and personal life. Whatever you choose, the team here at ZenBusiness wishes you a prosperous and healthy new year!

In conclusion, for a higher level of entrepreneurial success to be achieved and maintained this year and even in the future, these resolutions can greatly be of help. Never be afraid to up your business game.

Low-Risk and Safest New Business Ideas to Launch

So, you want to start a business and learn about the safest businesses to start. That’s smart because starting a new business can be risky. There are all kinds of risks of losing your capital investment, time spent, business confidence, personal reputation, family relationships, and your health, too!

So, in this blog post, we’ll give you lots of low-risk business ideas and tell you which are the highest-risk businesses to avoid.

Plus, we’re going to share with you our hard-won tips on how to make your business startup safer to reduce risk and increase your chances of business survival and success.

What is the safest low-risk business idea to start?

You’re sitting at your desk, thinking about what business to start. You’ve considered a few ideas, but you don’t know which one is the safest. Don’t worry! We’ve created this list of safe and profitable businesses for entrepreneurs who want to start their own firm but need some help deciding which idea to launch.

Characteristics of Low-Risk Businesses

Low-risk businesses typically have certain characteristics that set them apart from higher-risk ventures. These traits help minimize the financial and operational risks involved, making them ideal for new entrepreneurs. Here are some key characteristics of low-risk businesses:

• Low startup costs: These businesses often require minimal investment to get started, reducing the financial burden and risk.
• Flexibility: Many low-risk businesses can be operated from home or on a part-time basis, offering flexible working hours and locations.
• Low overhead costs: With lower expenses for rent, equipment, and staffing, these businesses are easier to manage financially.
• High demand: Catering to a high-demand market helps ensure a steady stream of customers and revenue.
• Low competition: Operating in niches with less competition makes it easier to establish a market presence and attract customers.
• Scalability: The ability to scale up or down based on market conditions allows for flexible growth and expansion.

By focusing on these characteristics, you can choose a business idea that offers a safer path to success.

Now, let’s look into those safe business ideas.

Business planning is a great way to spend the downtime many businesses have at the end of the year. Use these nine tips to get your business ready to start off on the right foot next year.

Planning your business may not sound like an activity you want to pursue during the holidays, but if you’re in a business that slows down at this time of the year, planning may be the best way to spend your time.

Business planning at this time of year is especially important if your business has suffered a downturn or even if there’s been a sudden increase in business. In either case, you need to look at trends and consider whether they’ll continue and how your business may need to change as a result, which is where annual plans come into play.

While it may be tempting to kick back, relax, and let things go during your slow season, savvy business owners and consultants know better. They use the end-of-year slowdown as an opportunity to take stock of what’s happened during the past 12 months and make plans for the 12 to come.

From getting your finances in order to shaping up your staffing, let’s talk through some of the most important business planning activities to do now if you want your business to be ready for the New Year.

The Importance of Annual Planning for Business Owners

Annual planning is a cornerstone of business success. For business owners, it’s an opportunity to set a clear roadmap for the year ahead, outlining specific business goals, objectives, and strategies to achieve them. By dedicating time to reflect on past strategies, assess current market conditions, and set realistic goals, you can make informed decisions that propel your business forward.

Annual business planning helps align your entire company, helping ensure everyone is working toward the same objectives. An aligned business plan can lead to increased productivity, improved communication, and a stronger competitive advantage, setting the stage for a successful year.

1. Run your financial reports

Unless you’re happiest with a calculator in hand and spreadsheet open in front of you, the odds are good that financial reporting isn’t your favorite activity. However, the end-of-year slump is an ideal time to take care of some of the essential (if unexciting) tasks on your to-do list. By running the following reports, you can get a better understanding of how your business is performing financially:

• Profit-and-loss statement (P&L): Also known as an income statement, a P&L details all of a business’s revenues, expenses, and costs over a particular time period.
• Balance sheet: This document shows a company’s assets and liabilities, including any outstanding amounts owed to investors.
• Cash flow statement: A cash flow statement reveals how a business manages funds and includes information on how changes in the balance sheet impact cash and cash equivalents.

Additionally, creating financial projections can help you anticipate future financial performance and make informed decisions.

Don’t have an accountant to help out with these tasks? Accounting software programs can help you run these reports and manage other business-related tasks with ease.

RELATED: 5 Tips for Organizing Your Business Finances

2. Consider future goals

As one year comes to an end and another begins, it’s a good time to consider your goals for the future. Along with the above financial planning, small business owners should evaluate factors like customer testimonials, employee feedback, and the overall business outlook for the coming year. Take a good, hard look at your accomplishments this past year. If you aren’t meeting your financial and personal goals, it might be time to reevaluate your business practices.

For example, you should examine your products and services and determine what, if any, changes are due. Consider what’s working well for your competition and decide whether they’re doing something right from which you could learn. Setting clear objectives and delegating responsibilities are essential strategies to help your business grow and thrive.

3. Review your website

As you evaluate the areas of your business that need improvement, don’t neglect your website. These days, most small businesses have their own websites, and if yours isn’t up to snuff, you might be missing out on invaluable opportunities to grow your company. And this isn’t just updating photos and your company description. Along with clicking links to make sure they’re all working, check phone numbers and email addresses and be sure your contact forms function appropriately. Searchers are unlikely to stay very long on a site full of dead links and slow-loading images.

Additionally, owners should use the end-of-year slowdown as a chance to plan out their online content goals for the coming year. While you don’t have to outline every blog, newsletter, and social media post prior to January 1st, it’s a good idea to consider your overall content strategy. For example, if you’re going to promote a particular product line in the first quarter, brainstorm some ways of marketing those items to your customer base.

It’s also useful to consider factors like weather and holidays when making content plans. After all, clothing retailers will surely promote different wares in January than in June.

If you don’t yet have or want a new website, our business website service is easy to use and gives you lots of options.

4. Start on your taxes

It’s everyone’s least favorite time of year. Still, filing taxes on time is important if for no other reason than the IRS imposes a late filing fee of 5 percent of the additional taxes owed for each month. If you have some extra hours in December, consider taking the time to get your tax documents in order. Look over your paperwork and make sure nothing is missing. Additionally, you may want to contact a tax advisor to help ensure you aren’t missing out on potentially lucrative deductions. Remember that if you use independent contractors, you are required by law to file 1099-NEC information form with the IRS by January 31 and to also provide a copy to the contractors by that date.

The ZenBusiness Money Pro app can help you prepare for tax season by simplifying your small business’s finances. It features invoicing and expense tracking to help save on taxes.

5. Sit down with your team

Employees are the backbone of any small business. However, that doesn’t mean relationships with staff are always smooth sailing. As the current year winds down, schedule some time to speak to your team members one on one. Discussing strategies for customer retention can also be a valuable part of these meetings, helping ensure that your team is focused on maintaining and improving this crucial metric.

Along with informing them about performance areas that need improvement, let them know what they’re doing well and encourage them to keep it up in the New Year. Want to avoid HR issues moving forward? Think about reviewing your employee handbook to make sure it’s up to date.

6. Assess your staffing needs

Once you’ve evaluated your team’s performance in recent months, you’ll be in a better position to determine staffing needs for the coming months. With many small- and medium-sized businesses reporting that hiring new employees is their most challenging task, owners need to make smart decisions when it comes to staffing.

Start by assessing whether you need new employees throughout the year or just at particular times, such as your busy season. Understanding and defining roles within your own business is crucial for effective staffing and delegation.

If you decide seasonal help is all you need, it might be worth working with a staffing company. These businesses specialize in finding and screening part-time and temp workers who can help you out at the spur of the moment. Additionally, you can predict future needs by determining your goals for the months ahead. If you have a new project launching in June, have a strategic plan to bring on additional workers a month or two ahead.

7. Reflect on previous strategies

Reflecting on previous strategies should be a vital part of your annual business plans. It allows you to evaluate what worked and what didn’t, pinpointing areas for improvement and opportunities for growth. By analyzing past performance, you can gain valuable insights into your company’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as the market trends and conditions that impacted your business.

This reflection is not just about looking back but about using that information to inform future strategies. With a clear understanding of past successes and challenges, you can better position your business to achieve its goals in the coming year.

8. Separate your marketing plans from your sales plans

Marketing and sales are two sides of the same coin, but they require distinct strategies. Marketing plans focus on building awareness and generating leads, while sales plans concentrate on converting those leads into customers. By separating these plans, you can help ensure that your marketing efforts are effectively driving sales and revenue growth.

Set clear goals and objectives for each plan and establish metrics to measure their success. This separation allows you to optimize both your marketing and sales strategies, leading to improved business outcomes and a more robust bottom line.

9. Take a much-needed break

While it pays to get your organization ready for the New Year, as a business owner, you should still aim to take a little time for yourself. Plan a few days away from it all when you can relax and recharge. You’ll reenter the workplace with a clearer head and a firmer commitment to building your business.

Put your plan into action

Creating an annual plan is just the first step; putting it into action is where the real work begins. Communicate your plan to all your stakeholders, including employees, investors, and customers, to help ensure everyone is on the same page. Establish a system for tracking progress, monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs), and making adjustments as needed. This proactive approach helps ensure that your plan is executed effectively and that your business stays on track to achieve its goals.

Regularly review and revise the plan to remain adaptable and responsive to changing market conditions, keeping your business forward-focused and ready for success.

Dog breeding has become a popular way to turn a love for animals into a profitable business. However, it takes more than choosing any dog breed to succeed. To make it, you need to understand which dogs are currently popular, how to care for them, and the costs associated with raising them. More importantly, you need to know ethical breeding practices to show your customers that you’re not just making money; you’re raising their newest furry family members.