Like it or not, Sunday marked the first day of fall. As the summer business cycle comes to a close, we’re moving headlong into the typically busy fall business cycle, when the pace of everything seems to change. In and of itself, fall’s a hectic season, from back-to-school to Halloween to the big holidays at the end of the year. But fall is also the prelude to the end of the current year, the start of a brand new year and the winter business cycle which, like summer and depending on your business, can be a fertile or fallow time for sales. Either way, most businesses can anticipate peaks and valleys in finances, inventory and cash flow as seasons and business cycles roll by.
All this is to say that early fall is the perfect time to assess, take stock and take steps to prepare for the months ahead. To get you thinking about the best ways to do this for your business specifically, we turned to swipely.com (they provide credit card processing and marketing support for small businesses). The site provides a 10-point fall checklist for small business. This is such a great foundation list that we’ve briefly described the 10 actions steps below.
Finance
- Meet with your tax advisor. You may be able to find ways to lower your tax bill before the end of the year- you can make sure everything is in order to start next year.
- Re-estimate earnings and taxes. Your annual projections may have been sound, but that was several quarters ago! A lot has happened since then, and your calculations will be much more accurate this late in the year.
- Need equipment? Plan now. Deductions, write-offs and depreciation schedules for business equipment seem to change frequently. Consult with your tax advisor to determine if you’d benefit by making major purchases now rather than later.
- Monitor cash flow. Depending on the seasonal fluctuations of your business, you’re probably both flush with cash and headed into a leaner period or the reverse. Either way, it’s always a good time to re-evaluate the fluctuations, plan for them and to bolster your cash reserves.
Business Development & Marketing
- Flesh out Q3 and Q4. Still have unmet goals or unfinished tasks? Now’s the time to articulate those—and get going on accomplishing them.
- Carve out think time. If your traffic is slowing, use this time to reassess and regroup.
- Get a jump on holiday promotions. Incentives? Special promotions? Product changes? Get going on these now. [We would add to the holidays—preparing for Small Business Saturday, which is November 30 this year. Go to the official Small Business Saturday site for details and resources you can use.]
Operations
- Season-driven nuts-and-bolts. Think of everything coming seasonal changes entail, like making changes to your outdoor space, heating vs. air conditioning, cold-weather menu changes if you’re a restaurant, and so forth.
- More holiday planning. Holidays require more than promotions—changes in operations might involve adding staff, lengthening your hours, having more or new merchandise on hand.
- Do some weather-related planning. What have we learned from Super Storm Sandy and other extreme weather events of recent years? Have some contingency plans for evacuation, security, alternative power sources and even setting up shop somewhere else. You really can’t “over plan” in these areas.
There you have it—no one can say there isn’t plenty to do when fall rolls around. You can tie up all the loose ends this year, while laying a good foundation for next. Before you know it, we’ll be deep into Q1 2014 and looking ahead to spring.
Image courtesy of luigi diamanti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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