How to prepare your small business for 2023

With 2022 recently coming to a close, now is the perfect time to reflect on this past year, to plan for the months ahead, and to make sure your business starts the new year off strong. Although it’s impossible to know what the new year will bring, it’s never a bad idea to come prepared. Here are some actionable steps you can take to set you and your business up for success in 2023.

1. Review this year’s results

Review your money in and money out from this past year, doing a deep dive into your budget and cash flow. Think about what you’ve accomplished and how you can build on this in 2023.

If certain plans didn’t turn out as envisioned, think about why this may have happened. Once you understand areas where your business struggled, it’ll be easier to figure out how to overcome these challenges in the year ahead.

That said, it’s best to monitor your budget, cash flow, and overall performance throughout the year as you can tweak your strategy to align with changing goals.

2. Create projections

Create a list of projections for the upcoming year. Think about the likelihood that your customers will buy more or less from you, how your competitors will impact the market, and whether you will adjust prices.

If supply chain shortages affect your suppliers, for example, you may consider raising the prices of your impacted products. Then, after creating this list and outlining income and expense projections, be sure to discuss with your team how you might do things differently this year.

3. Form your budget

Once you’ve wrapped up your projections, create a comprehensive budget that includes a cash flow statement, a profit-loss statement, and balance sheets.

Assess your annual profit and determine if you need to reduce debt or increase sales targets. And remember that a strong budget evolves with the business and with the state of the economy.

4. Write a business plan

The key to success is planning. Now is a great time to start mapping out your plans for the year ahead. Your goals should be specific, attainable, measurable, and relevant to your bigger-picture strategy.

Decide on a timeline for your goals, and be sure you’ve set yourself up so that you can regularly track your business performance and tweak your strategy accordingly.

5. Celebrate what you’ve accomplished

Running a small business is no small feat. Regardless of where you are at the end of the year, it’s important that you take time to celebrate everything you’ve accomplished, challenges you’ve overcome, and ways that you’ve grown–both as a business and as an individual.

6. Bring your business into the future

If you haven’t yet digitized your business payments process, now’s the time to do so. Consider switching over to a secure payment solution like Melio, where you can pay how you want while your vendor still gets paid their way, save time by paying with the click of a button, and keep track of it all in one place–all while improving cash flow. Digitized business payment solutions take efficiency to a whole new level.

The most important tip of all

Our last, and arguably most important tip is to take a step back and rest during the holidays. Resetting at the end of the year ensures you’ll avoid burnout.

It also ensures that you’ll head into January feeling readier than ever to tackle what 2023 has in store.