December is a busy time for small business owners. You are in the midst of perhaps your busiest season right now, and your focus is on finishing 2022 strong. However, it is also important to make plans for the new year. After all, 2023 is just around the corner, and the plans you’re making now can set your small business up for success. Check out this article to find out what you can do to prepare your business for 2023.
10 ways to prepare your business for 2023
This list will help small businesses get ready for the new year. Choose and prioritize what will make the biggest difference as you prepare your business for 2023.
1. Check your results for 2022
You want 2023 to be better than this year, right? Next, we need to collect data to assess wins and struggles in 2022 and beyond. Ask yourself the following questions.
- how much was your income? What is your profitability?
- How many revenue streams do you have?
- How many suggestions have you come up with?
- How was the closing rate?
- What was your shopping cart abandonment rate?
- Need to add to your team?
- Is it time to rebrand?
By looking at the data and answering these questions, we can understand what worked well this year and what we can work on in 2023.
2. Set a sales target
Another way to prepare your business for 2023 is to set sales goals for the new year. Review your revenue, profitability, customers served, and other metrics to set reasonable goals for your small business. Once you’ve chosen your yearly sales goal, break it down into smaller goals to figure out how much sales you need each month and each week to reach that goal.
Need help setting goals? I wrote a three-part series on creating a small business plan for 2023. Check it out here: part 1, part 2, part 3.
3. Fine tune your sales strategy
You can’t hit higher sales goals if you keep doing the same thing. So what are you going to do?Last month, I wrote this article 25 ways to attract new sales leads in 2023Worth reading if you’re looking for new sales strategies. You can also ask yourself the following questions:
- How do you generate leads?
- How do you rate prospects?
- How can I upsell an existing customer?
- Need to hire a new sales rep?
As you develop your sales strategy, you can also create a promotions calendar with details of promotions that will run next year (at least in the first quarter). This allows you to take advantage of special promotions and is more effective than running campaigns at the last minute.
4. Set a budget
Knowing your goals will help you prepare your business for 2023 and set the right budget. Review your financials for the year to see how much you will spend in 2022. This will determine our baseline budget for 2023. With this starting point, you can ask yourself questions such as:
- What are your current operating costs?
- What does your cash flow look like?
- What revenue can we expect in 2023?
- Where can (or should) your company spend more money?
- Where can we cut costs?
A thoughtful, data-driven approach can help you create a reasonable and achievable budget for 2023.
5. Start tax planning
Contacting your account is another way to prepare your business for 2023. Schedule a meeting to discuss how your taxes are positioned for next year and make sure your accounting records are up to date. You can also contact your contractor or vendor to update your W9. Vendors who spent $600 or more during 2022 must receive a 1099-MISC by the end of January. We also need to make sure every employee has her W2.
6. Organize yourself digitally
To prepare your business for 2023, take the time to get organized now. Who wants to start 2023 with his 10,000 unopened emails from the previous year?Now is the time to deal with those unopened emails and start fresh. Another way to digitally organize yourself for the coming year is to set up managed folders. My filing system is by year and then by category. For example, the 2023 contract. By setting up all your folders for the next year, you’ll be one step ahead of the game when important files come in. If you don’t have a file organization system, now is the time to develop one (it will save you tons of files). The time is 2023).
7. Organize your workspace
In addition to organizing yourself digitally, you can prepare your business for 2023 by organizing your physical workspace. A cluttered desk is a cluttered mind! You may have accumulated things on your office or desk that you can clean and organize throughout the year. Spend a few hours organizing and organizing, finding better ways to organize, and creating systems.
8. Update your website
Your website is your number one selling tool. Most people looking to do business with you first search online (and most often from their mobile device). Make sure your website is simple and appealing on mobile. Check load times and think about site navigation. Talk to others and get their opinions. You may not need to completely overhaul your website, but small tweaks can improve the user experience.
9. Create a social and content plan
Speaking of websites, you can also prepare your business for 2023. Google Analytics can tell you which marketing efforts are working and which need to be adjusted. More specifically, we use data about traffic sources to understand which channels generate the most referrals, understand the most popular content metrics, and understand which topics bring people to your website. You can understand what is leading to Use this data to create content and social media plans for 2023.
10. Schedule team meetings
After you’ve done one or more of the above to get your business ready for 2023, you’ll want to get your team in the loop by scheduling team meetings, in person or virtually. Use this time to discuss your main goals and goals for the new year and what each person’s role is. Create a meeting agenda and share it before the meeting to make your time together productive.
Don’t forget to say thank you!
As you prepare your business for 2023, we encourage you to start with gratitude. Think about the positive things that happened this year and the amazing people you’ve met in your life (family, friends, employees, customers). It’s easy to become obsessed with what went wrong and what needs to be changed next year. But before you go down that road, take the time to acknowledge what worked and the people who helped your small business grow.
December is a busy time for all of us, but with a little planning, you can prepare your business for 2023 and reach new levels of success in the new year. Choose a few items from this list to get started and get started in 2023.
