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Usually, the beginning of the new year is slow for businesses. Since the New Year falls on a Tuesday, it’s likely that people are on vacation, the office is desoliate, and no one is calling to ask for something. It’s a great time to get these ten things done to start the year off right.
10 Things to do right now for Your Small Business
1. Get your receipts in order. Create categories that you use in your bank register so you can reach your receipt quickly if you have questions.
2. Go through your invoices and place them in order by each client and by date. Place the newest invoice on top. January should be in the back and December should be on top.
3. Pull out your paid business bills and create new folders for the new year. You can turn the manila folders (Affiliate Link) inside out to get a fresh new side to write on for organizing your bills.
4. Make a long-term plastic bin for your old business files. Repurpose a bin that is over 7 years old by shredding the content except for the tax return for that year. You need to keep the tax return forever.
5. Review your papers on your desk (Affiliate Link). Do you need them? Did your plans change and now you aren’t doing that any longer?
6. Revisit your in bins on your desk (Affiliate Link). Decide if you want to keep the papers. Are the papers a perfect resource for your new year goals?
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7. Go through your filing cabinets. Revisit client files (Affiliate Link). Remove old clients (Affiliate Link), revisit business bills, credit cards, and other items you stored in the cabinet. Ask yourself, “how often did I look for this particular file in the last year or two?” If never, get rid of it or transfer to a long-term file bin.
8. Go through your ‘other’ long-term files and shred papers older than seven years. These are the file bins from prior years so you can free up space in your storage area. Freeing up space mentally helps you get clear of the junk that you don’t need any longer.
9. Change out your calendar to the new year. Having a hanging calendar helps you plan ahead. I find that having two calendars, one for the current month and one for the next month works nicely when you need to plan ahead.
10. Review your daily planner and your digital calendar and see if there are unwanted items or recurring appointments that no longer apply. Some appointments stay on your electronic calendar but they don’t apply any longer. This is the time to clear it out.
Visit these posts below to get more ideas on what to get rid of in the new year.
10 New Year Tips for Your Small Business
15 Things To Top Your Business Checklist For The New Year
6 Ways To Reduce Wasted Time in Your Small Business
Getting your business ready for the new year will refocus your energy and allow you to let go of the previous year’s incomplete tasks. Making this process a priority at the beginning of the year gets your head ready for new opportunities for the coming year. Are you ready for a change? Start doing this today and refocus yourself and your business.
