End of Year Checklist for Every Entrepreneur

All too soon, we are wrapping up the 2019 business year and bracing up for the new year.

Regardless of how the year 2019 has gone, we have a few more days to reorganize ourselves to end the year on a good note or at least start the 2020 business year on a better note and in good spirits.

Here are a few things you will want to pay attention to as the year ends:

1. Do your end of year stock taking: If your business involves dealing with goods, this is just about the time to start taking your inventory if you haven’t already started. This gives you a fair view of what you have left, the quantity available. This activity goes a long way to let you know whether you should get more or less of a particular product, what quantity of it to get or not to get, for the coming year. You will also get to see what products really moved, and those that did not really move.
2. Follow up on debtors at least to see if you can recover some of your debts: Most business owners around this time anticipate that their debtors (people owning them) will at least redeem themselves and payoff whatever they may be owing. Take a shot. Remind your debtors at least, who knows, you may recover some of your debts. Recovery of your debts simply means spoke cash coming in. Yes!!
3. Prepare your financials and close your end of year financial accounts: This is the time to go back to the drawing board to take a good look at how you have fared as a business in terms of your finances. A simple income and expenditure account will help you determine your net worth as a small business owner; this is even easier if you kept proper records of all your incomes (sales) and expenses. There are simple accounting tools to help you organize your finances as a small business.
4. Do needed backup of all business data both online and offline: In every business, data is of essence. This be be data of suppliers, customers, partners, our sales activities, all business transactions. Any information available that helps to facilitate your business is good data. You therefore need to do a backup of all files very useful files relating to your business both online and offline to guard again future loss of your data especially as we wrap up for the year.
5. Celebrate the little business victories: You have worked hard all year: Give yourself a pat on the back. If you have been working with a team, let them know their inputs have been worthwhile. You can throw a budget friendly party or give away or even bonus. These Homan long way to put you and your team in high spirits before the year ends and even more, gives everyone a bigger anticipation for the coming business year.
6. Prepare a budget for the coming year: If you fail to plan, you simply plan to fail. Get a SMART budget you will work with in the coming year. This at least guides your spending as a business and also gives you insight into the amount of energy required to make the sales target you set for yourself all year round.
7. Prepare for statutory and compliance requirements in the coming year: As the Christmas buzz dies down in the new year and we all redirect our energies into business, please be reminded to satisfy all statutory requirements.This is a very important activity every business owner should anticipate and adequately prepare for. These will include filing of your annual returns or renewing your business registration, filing your taxes, payment of business operating permits, just to mention a few.