The Mid-Year Business Checkup

No business can continue to grow and succeed without a plan in place, and setting annual company goals helps to focus efforts on building revenue, finding new customers and expanding services with current customers.

Once that plan is in motion, it’s easy to keep going forward, checking off milestones and making tweaks to strategies that are not productive enough. A mid-year evaluation meeting offers a chance to escape the natural momentum of daily/weekly/monthly tasks, and reflect not only on what is happening in the business, but how and why.

Different companies will have different priorities, but some suggested areas for examination and discussion include:

What yearly goal has not been achieved yet, and how far is the business from reaching it? Does it need to be a higher priority? Are there conflicts within the larger plan that are holding back progress on this goal? Should it be reconsidered as a goal for the current year?

What are customers saying? What parts of the business are growing and which seem to be slacking off. If there is a consistent problem it should be addressed. But also consider areas that consistently get praise. These are company strengths that should be used as selling points in gaining new business.

Additional sources of revenue are often matched by increased business expenses. Where are the greatest increases — labor, fuel, equipment, maintenance? Are they in balance with the additional income? Are there cost-cutting measures to consider?

Think about taxes now. Start organizing all of information related to expenses, capital investment, deductions, etc. for the past six months. In addition to making tax preparation easier when it’s time to file, the information can be useful for financial planning for the rest of the year.

This type of evaluation takes time, which is always precious, but the results are worth it.  By the end of the process, the business has better insights into its strengths and its weaknesses, and another six months to make any necessary changes.