After you�ve been in business for one whole year, it�s time to celebrate! You�ve made it successfully through many of the first year obstacles, you�ve created a clever and innovative working business model, you�ve found the perfect location and premises, you�ve recruited and hired hard-working employees, and you�ve kept on top of your finances. It may feel like the hard work is done and dusted but it�s barely beginning. Your business may be ticking over nicely but if you want to continue to enjoy success and if you want to keep growing, the beginning of your second year in business is the perfect time to take pride in your achievements, but also plan for bigger and better in this upcoming year. Whether you own an online service provider, you own the hottest marketing firm or you�re a retailer on the high street, it�s time to review year one and see what improvements can be made to make your business continues to go from strength to strength in your second year!
Review & Update Your Business Plan
Your business model and plan were clearly working well if you�ve made it through year one! However, it�s vital to keep your plan updated to continue to have a clear goal and vision of where you want your business to go, and most importantly, how you�ll get there. It is essential that your business plan contains the objectives and strategies that you need to put in place to keep growing. After you�ve completed your first year in business, it should become clearer where you appropriately need to make changes to your business plan. You may have found one strategy you chose originally didn�t work as well as expected when you implemented it, there reviewing the business plan will help you decide and put in place new strategies. Updating your business plan will also address any new financial changes. In your first plan, you may not have accounted for how many employees you hired or how expensive the rental on your premises is now if you�ve changed location as you�ve grown. There are a variety of business plan samples available online to help point you in the right direction as you enter year two.
Assess Your Current Finances
It�s vital that you continually monitor your business�s finances whatever year. However, sitting down and assessing every incoming and outgoing of your finances is worthwhile now you�ve left year one. While you may have been extra vigilant in year one, you may have found you had costs that you hadn�t accounted for. Taking the time to comb through your companies bank statements may seem like a lot of effort, but it�s imperative that you take this step to continue to enjoy as much profit as you can. Assessing your finances will not only show you where and what your money is going towards, but it can help prevent unnecessary outgoings or show you where you can improve your business. You may discover you are paying for extra services in your office building that you don�t need, or you may find you can employ an extra member of staff to take the pressure off your current workforce.
Continue To Make Sure You Get Paid On Time
Have you found your clients have asked for extra time to pay their outstanding balance? Or have you enjoyed success in getting paid on time? Whichever you�ve found, it�s important you keep on track of any invoices and make sure you follow up whether it�s been received and when you can expect payment. If you haven�t already, consider hiring a new member of staff to deal directly with invoicing clients. If one person takes charge of this job, it will mean they are responsible for ensuring you are paid on time, and they have the time and energy to dedicate to it. If you are trying to run the business, keeping track of your staff and trying to invoice every client, it will wear you down.
Address Any Financial Strains
When you�ve assessed your situation, you may find you have concerns about your finances. Take the time to address them as soon as you can. It may be financially beneficial if you look into a small personal loan to help you through a rough patch. If you have experience with bad credit, then look for companies that offer bad credit installment loans; by doing so, you can ease your mind and ensure your business credit isn�t affected. These work by allowing you to borrow a small, set amount and works with you to find an affordable and realistic repayment plan. It�s important you ensure you can pay the repayments set because if you don�t, it can damage your credit rating and you will personally find you have a bad credit rating. It�s easier than ever to apply online for affordable personal loans with professional and knowledgeable consultants to help you find the one perfect for you.
Look Towards The Future
Where do you want your business to go? Do you want to be the lead in your sector or do you want a hit a profit target? Wherever you vision your business going, setting clear goals for year two and beyond will help you strive for them. You should always monitor any trends that could improve your business, whether that�s brand new software to increase productivity or a new marketing technique to try and hook new customers into your business. There are always new trends appearing in every industry and every sector.
Know Your Limits
Now you�ve completed year one successfully, you will also be aware of any limits that may put a strain on how you increase and grow as a business. It�s important to be realistic with these. While you may want to be a millionaire at the end of year two, is it realistic for your company? Knowing your business�s limits will help you find areas that can be worked upon in year two and the most effective way of doing so. It will also help you not only set a target for yourself, but for your staff too.
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