As we near the end of the year, it’s natural for us to reflect. What were the milestones we hit? Did we celebrate our wins? What were some unpleasant experiences? What worked and what didn’t in our businesses? This reflection is vital to the growth of your business if you’re reflecting proactively. When you take stock of your past year, you need to hone in on the details so you can improve for the following year. So today, I’m going to walk you through an end-of-the-year business audit! That way, you know the steps you need to take for a better 2023.

Brain Dump or Verbal Vomit

Brain dumping is something I do with Jenn on a regular, and it is so helpful! I want you to Voxer a friend or grab a pen and paper and dump everything that stands out to you this year. Good, bad, ugly. Think about how you felt in peak season. Were you frazzled? Or more stressed and steady? Feeling completely overwhelmed and overworked? Consider your client experience. Did your clients rave about their experience? Were you happy with the level of service they received?

Now I want you to think about what things at home looked like. Were you able to be present with your family? Did you go to bed with your laptop connected to your hip? How many nights were you off?

Finally, how did you feel personally? Did you pursue hobbies? Grab lunches with friends?

I want you to ask yourself these questions and write down how they make you feel. You’re not going to feel like Queen of the World all of the time. Some days knock you on your tail. However, you can love your business most days of the year. So, if you’ve come to the end of 2022 and you’re considering having a bonfire with your camera and laptop, keep reading!

Take Action

To determine what action to take, you need to figure out which area is causing you the most stress. For example, if you were overwhelmed with the amount of work and ended up being overbooked then you make two significant changes:

1. Raise your rates. If you are overbooked, then it’s time to raise your rates! Adding even $100 to your services will help you make more money while working less. (I mean, personally, I would consider doubling them 😉)
2. Create boundaries and stick to them. Boundaries aren’t doing anyone any good if you’re not enforcing them. You can only become overbooked if you allow yourself to put clients on your schedule.

If client experience was a challenge for you this year, then look at why that was. For example, can you hire a virtual assistant if clients wait too long for emails to be returned? Did clients wait too long for galleries? If so, can you hire an editor? Taking a closer look at the exact cause of why you don’t feel confident in your client experience will help you determine what you need to improve.

Take Care of Yourself

I know you’ve heard repeatedly that you can’t pour from an empty cup. But I’m going to tell you one more time. You can’t pour from an empty cup. One of the most significant changes I made this year was intentionally making space for myself.

For years, I have given everything I had to my family, clients, teams, and friends with little left over for myself. This year I carved out space for myself. I did little things that brought me joy and refilled my cup. At the end of 2021, I wanted more personal time to enjoy things that had nothing to do with work so I conducted an end-of-the-year business audit with Jenn. We looked at my calendar and determined that Wednesdays would be a Jodie day. We put a plan in place to help me make that transition, and I implemented it! It wasn’t easy. It required me to let go of some control and be comfortable taking that time.

The Numbers

Know your numbers! Of course, your numbers are among the most critical aspects of your business. When completing your EOY audit, be sure to look at these too. Break them down by service offerings, calculate what you’re paying per service, and consider the time it takes to complete the service. You want to know these statistics frontwards and backward. The better you know them, the better you can make decisions based on facts, not feelings.

These reports can be eye-opening and allow you to see your business from a different perspective.

Get to Work

Whether this is your first year in business or your fifteenth, these audits are vital to sustainable success. They allow you time to focus on your business and what you want it to look like the following year. You can implement changes before the next busy season sweeps us away by taking the time now! When will you be conducting your end-of-the-year business audit?