More Than a Milestone
Written by Deb Dorchak - July 7, 2011 0 Comments
If you’re a start-up business and you’ve made it through your first year, give yourself a big ol’ pat on the back! Surviving your first year is probably the hardest thing you’ll ever do. You’ve gone through a lot of trial and error to see what works. You’ve had to figure out exactly who your audience was and how best to reach them. You’ve had to balance a few hats and maybe hand a few hats out that didn’t fit.
When it comes right down to it, you did it. But the real work has only just begun. Your second year will be full of more tweaks and ideas. Honing your business into a well-oiled, and successful, machine never stops.
Celebrating that first anniversary is more than taking time out for a breath of much needed air, it also marks a time of reflection.
This past February, we went through the same thing. On the one hand we were very happy we “made it”. And on the other, we had a lot of new little revelations that led us to make some important changes to our business model. Some things didn’t fit anymore and other things we needed to do came to light.
Here’s a little annual checklist you can use to evaluate your business each year to help keep you updated and on track.
Show Me The Money. When you began your business, you had an idea of how much you could invest and break even and you may have had some idea on what it would take to turn a profit. Now that you’ve had a whole year to see this in action you have something solid to go on for next year’s projections. What do you need to do to make more? What’s draining your resources and what’s helping to add to the coffers?
Industry Standards. Are you keeping up with all the latest information, technology and practices of your industry? Are there any courses you need to take, new programs you need to learn or update, or specific trends coming your way you need to know about? Stay current and KEEP LEARNING!
About Those Hats…Your second year will make it very clear to you what your genius work is. Doing it all on your own is counter-productive. Take some time to see what can be outsourced and delegated to others so you can focus on the work that really belongs to only you.
Shifty Goalposts. At the start of a new venture we often have a very clear idea of where we want to go. That first year is full of many kinds of goals. But what was relevant in the first year may not be as important in the second year, or the third. Look at your goals. Have you completed what you set out to do last year? Are there any loose ends to tie up, or is it time to create some new goals? Don’t be surprised if you find everything’s completely changed and you’re headed in a new direction.
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