A Guide to Getting Your Small Business Ready for the New Year

The year has come to a close. The bells have rung and the ball has dropped. As a business owner, now your challenge is making certain you aren’t dropping the ball, too. Make sure your business is protected and primed for the new year by taking a look at your strategy, finances, goals, and competitors.

Need help with your plan of attack? You’re in luck. We’ve compiled some of our favorite tips, tools, and resources for getting organized, improving retention, and doing better business in the coming year.

Tools for Small Business Growth and Financial Planning

1. An invoice template to help you get paid on time.

Tracking your invoices and chasing down payments can use up a lot of your precious time. Our free invoice template and invoicing guide can help keep your business admin organized and get you on the right track. Here’s what you’ll get:

• A downloadable and editable PDF invoice template that does the math for you
• Tips to help you get paid on time
• Recommendations for invoice software

You can download and try our free invoice template here.

Learn How to Manage a Small Company

2. Start planning for success in business.

A new year is a good time to reassess your habits and strategies to see what’s working and what’s not. Have you struggled to stay organized in the last year? How about your work-life balance? Many business owners struggle with time management as they juggle their professional and personal responsibilities.

Sometimes the best solution is also the simplest — using a planner. In our guide to harnessing the power of planning, we explore:

• The benefits of using a planner for your business
• Whether paper or digital is right for you
• Different planner formats and why they matter

3. Find and keep great employees.

Good help is one of the keys to success in business. Finding the right people and keeping them onboard, however, isn’t always easy. Fortunately, we’ve curated our best management tips into one ultimate guide to hiring and developing employees. Here’s what to expect from this downloadable guide:

• Tips for effective recruitment and onboarding
• Employee development ideas to help improve retention
• Advice to help you know when to let an employee go, and how

4. Understand your insurance coverage with an insurance audit.

Knowing how to grow a small business is important. But growth is only part of the equation. Does your thriving business have the protection it needs? Our step-by-step guide for reviewing your insurance coverage can help you find out. We cover:

• The importance of reviewing insurance policies
• Types of changes that could impact your coverage
• What to look for on your renewal

Not sure if you have the coverage you need? Simply Business® can help. Start a quote online, and in minutes we’ll match you with policy options recommended for businesses like yours. If you still have questions, our team of insurance experts is here to assist. You can reach them at 844-654-7272, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. (ET).

Guides for Assessing and Optimizing Your Business Plan

5. Evaluate your small business’s performance.

It’s important to celebrate your accomplishments, but reflecting on what could have gone better is critical for business prosperity. Our guide to evaluating small business performance makes it easy. It covers:

• Reviewing your income and cash flow
• Tracking customer satisfaction
• Knowing when it’s time for equipment upgrades

6. Understand your risks.

Threats to small businesses can vary by industry, but the first lines of defense will always be education and preparation. We can help you get started. Our business continuity risk explainer explores:

• The four risk categories for businesses
• Major risks commonly faced by businesses in almost any industry
• Tips for reducing exposure and making a business continuity plan

7. Learn who you’re up against.

Scoping out the competition is another important key to small business growth. That’s why we recommend performing a competitor analysis, particularly as you’re rethinking your strategies. In our competitor analysis roadmap, you’ll find:

• The benefits of researching your competition
• A step-by-step guide for identifying and researching rival businesses
• The most helpful data to collect

Looking for More?

The Simply Business Resource Center is chock full of free guides and templates to help streamline your business operations. Check out these free downloadable resources:

• Business Plan Template
• Guide to Word-of-Mouth Marketing
• Project Estimate Template
• Cash Flow Management Guide