Position Your Business for Success in 2024
In December of 2019, I wrote an article for this paper about preparing your business for the year ahead. It was about looking back to see all the things you did right, and all the lessons learned from the ideas that flopped, then incorporating all that knowledge into a business plan for the new year. We couldn’t have imagined then what the years ahead would bring.
In just a few short months, Covid shut down much of the world, and almost every business struggled to survive. What we thought would be weeks, turned into months and in some cases, years. Businesses that survived were helped somewhat with emergency loans, grants and finally layoffs. Workers who could, worked from home. Online sales took off while the travel industry crashed and took with it many restaurants and retail shops.
By 2022, Florida was open for business again and visitors were returning. Staffing, increasing costs and debt repayment were for many surviving businesses the biggest challenges, but Southwest Florida was coming back.
September 28, 2022 changed our world again. Hurricane Ian swept through our communities, wiping out whole neighborhoods, bringing torrential winds and flooding that damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses, with a tragic loss of life. If a paint manufacturer were to name a new color “Tarp Blue”, we would all know what it looks like.
Even now, in late 2023, some folks are still waiting on insurance money for their homes and businesses. Rebuilding is happening, but it’s slower and harder for some than for others. Given all the challenges business owners are always facing, if you are still in business, congratulate yourself. You are a survivor. Resiliency is your superpower.
I hope December will be your biggest revenue month of this year. But it’s also the last month to make decisions that will impact on your taxes. Make sure your financial data is current when you meet with your accountant. Should your business collect or delay revenue? Purchase and depreciate or delay capital expenditure? Prepay expenses? These are questions for your accountant.
And as December winds down, it’s time to think about next year, to capture the lessons learned, and plan for 2024 to be your best year ever. Involve your staff if you have them, your spouse, your mentor, perhaps your best customers. What worked? What didn’t work? What did you learn? Consider putting together a new SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). Write it all down.
If you updated your plan last year, this is where you will start. The analysis process doesn’t change. Did you meet your goals? How has this past year been different from last year? Is your customer base growing or declining? Are the demographics changing? Are you targeting the right market segment? Is your market changing? Are your customers asking for different products or services? Do you know what products and services are profitable, how profitable, and which are not? Are you pricing correctly? Has your competition grown, declined or changed direction? What are your biggest challenges?
Once you know what you should be selling, to whom and for how much, you are ready to update your plan for next year. Establish specific goals and document how you plan to achieve them. This plan is for you. It doesn’t have to be long; it has to be useful.
If you need help, you can contact your local SCORE office for free, confidential mentoring that can last for the life of your business. Check us out at score.org to find experienced volunteers who can help you develop your plan to move forward in 2024.
If you are a woman business owner, you may face more challenges than businesses owned by men. You are often the family caregiver, part of the sandwich generation dealing with children and grandchildren, parents and grandparents, friends who need care. Getting funding is more difficult, loan amounts are typically smaller. Investors are rare for women owned businesses. And while social bias may hold you back, sometimes, we women hold ourselves back. When we recognize these challenges, we can more effectively address them. SCORE is holding a Women Entrepreneurs’ Conference on January 24th that addresses those challenges to help you position your business for success in 2024. You can learn more about it at https://bit.ly/3FLUbk4
Eileen Steets Buchanan