New Year planning: The five crucial areas every business should consider

Welcome to the new year 2023 and Happy New Year. This is an important time for your business as it signifies a new beginning or a new season. This is why it is important to set the 2023 pace for your business at this time.

Here are a few tips

Write your annual budget

It is important to write your budget at the beginning of the year, setting out the estimated revenue and expenses. A realistic and fair budget will enable your business to operate within its means, avoiding unnecessary purchases.

It will also motivate your business to collect the estimated revenue.

Businesses that operate without a realistic budget have no proper way of measuring performance.

At the end of the financial year, it is common to measure the performance of your business against the budget.

Consult a finance expert for more information on how to draw a budget for the new year.

In more formal settings, the budgetary performance is monitored by a finance committee whose mandate is to ensure that the business does not go beyond its budget.

It also ensures that the business is held accountable in so far as revenue collection is concerned.

READ: MPUTHIA: Business end year review: The guiding questions during evaluation

Set the 2023 strategy

It is important to set the annual strategic outlook at this stage even if your business already has a strategic plan.

Re-examine your existing strategic plan to ensure that your annual strategy is in line with your overall strategic plan.

It is also important to conduct a simple and quick market analysis to highlight new opportunities your business may take advantage of.

Seize new opportunities that may be advantageous to your business even in the short term.

It is equally important to assess the threats that may be present in the market.

An example could be a new law or a new tax that may pose a challenge to a certain line of business that you have been doing over the years.

It may be better to re-strategise in the event of external threats.

READ: Ipsos Survey: How 2023 will look like - Business Daily

In setting the 2023 strategy write down realistic goals for the year. Have an estimated deadline for achieving each goal and a clear plan on how to attain it.

The performance of the goal should be done in such a way that it is measurable at the end of the year.

Breakdown annual activities into a quarterly and monthly basis

From the annual work plan, you can create a quarterly and monthly work plan dividing your activities into quarterly and monthly activities for easier monitoring.

Write down your almanac

An almanac is an annual calendar containing important dates for example meetings and other crucial activities for your business.

An almanac is a very important planning tool that helps you set the pace for the new year.

Communicate your 2023 plans with staff

It is important to communicate your 2023 goals to the staff members and clearly indicate their role in the realization of the goals.

Communication will help the business pull in the same direction and bring a sense of consensus and ownership of the goals.

Communication could be in the form of a meeting or in the form of other internal communications like internal memoranda. I often prefer a meeting as there is great value in holding face-to-face meetings.

They give room for discussion and feedback.

Ms Mputhia is the founder of C Mputhia Advocates.

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