Assessing the last twelve months can set you up for greater success in 2025.

The end of the calendar year is an ideal time to conduct a business review. Here are tips to help you evaluate the events of 2024 and set up your business for greater success in 2025.

Assess your goals

Review long- and short-term goals and assess how your business performed. Have any business or personal conditions changed since you first made the goals? Do your business goals need to be modified?

How was cash flow this year?

Healthy cash flow is vital for the success of any business. New business owners might still be learning how customer activity fluctuates week to week as well as how this affects incoming cash. They also need to learn the peaks and valleys for outgoing cash. Owners of established businesses can check if this year’s cash flow followed historic patterns.

Use your understanding of cash flow trends to plan for next year. Some decisions that factor in cash flow include when to make big purchases, hire new team members, invest in inventory or equipment and restrict spending.

Consider a business line of credit to be better prepared for future cash lulls or unexpected expenses in 2025.

Will 2025 tariffs affect your business?

President-elect Trump has clearly stated his intention to raise tariffs next year. Many businesses are stocking on imported goods now while prices are lower. Consider if your business would benefit from doing the same.

What do customers say?

Online reviews and in-person conversations are two simple ways to discover how customers feel about your product or service. Surveys can be useful too but keep in mind that folks are bombarded with surveys and may not respond to one more survey request.

Use customer feedback to see what successes you might scale up and what areas could use improvement.

What are competitors doing?

It’s no surprise that a competitive analysis can provide valuable insights. However, when you’re busy running your business, it can be easy to overlook. As part of your year-end business review, check out what competitors are doing:

• Do they have new products or services?
• How does their pricing compare to yours?
• Have they adopted new technology?
• Do changes in their operations offer opportunities for you to fill a gap?

Use competitive analysis to help determine your business path to success in 2025.

 

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