It’s important, especially for business owners, to pause, take stock, and reflect at the end of the year. It is only by assessing where we are now, what went well, and what didn’t, that we can make plans for the future. I am going to start this small business annual review with my own take on 2023.
Small business annual review 2023
A personal reflection...
My whole world was turned upside down in 2022, and this year I have suffered the aftermath of that.
Not only have I been a business owner and a mother, but I have also been the advocate for my seriously ill brother.
I spent five months of this year away from home, on the other side of the world, and have had to adapt to running my business from wherever I happened to be.
In the process, I have undertaken no fewer than six long haul flights totalling 63,354 miles (more than two and a half times the earth’s circumference!)
It is deeply ingrained in us as small business owners to keep pushing forward, pursuing our dreams, no matter what, clearly focused on our goals.
This is great and I have followed this mindset myself for many years.
But what we tend to lose sight of, in the relentless push forward, is taking a step back sometimes to reflect on how far we have come and whether our goals are still the same as they were when we began our journey.
It is okay to just let go, relax, and give our bodies and minds time to recover.
What happened when the metaphoric truck hit me
What happened in my case was that I had ignored the previous warnings.
My client Simon Hodges sums it all up perfectly.
At first your body receives a feather as a warning; then a brick; and finally, a truck.
It took the truck for me to stop.
Quite simply, I burned out.
I was for the most part, out of action and at times, not fit to work.
The levels of exhaustion were off the scale and nothing like anything I had experienced before.
Pushing myself too hard for so long left me extremely run down and I found even the challenge of simple tasks overwhelming.
I had never questioned or understood how pushing myself too much would affect me both physically and mentally.
I have recovered now, thank goodness.
But this awful experience as well as turning 40 this year, has made me understand that my life has to change.
I had an epiphany when I realised that when you create some space in your life, all those decisions that you were struggling to make, suddenly become clear and the way forward is illuminated.
I have taken stock, done some research, and realised what I wanted from my life and my business.
I have realised that I can use my experience and analytical skills to reduce the overwhelm and put the systems and processes in place to optimise my clients’ businesses.
I can provide the necessary structure and foundations on which they can build successful and profitable companies.
By focusing on supporting my clients through all the highs and lows of running their small businesses, I can help to bring calm to the storm as well as celebrate successes.
In 2024, Spero Solutions will be reinvented itself as an online business manager service only.
I have realised that in order to help myself and my clients, I need to stop trying to do everything and concentrate all my efforts on supporting my clients in the best and most effective way possible.
I talked about how you can become an obstacle to forward progress and how to stop doing everything in your businessin my last blog.
I would like my personal experience to have a positive result for you and to operate as a sort of ‘red flag’.
When conducting your small business annual review, be honest and think about it.
Is everything down to you?
Then, I urge you to stop and take stock, read the list of issues caused by creating a business that relies too heavily on you in my last blog post, and assess whether they apply to your situation.
Spero Solutions reborn
Online business manager service...
It is now time for you to undertake your small business annual review.
Create some space in your life by obtaining help to manage your business, so you can concentrate on being the leader.
You should be focusing your talents on growing your business and realising your goals.
When you don’t have the time, it is sometimes difficult to see the wood for the trees.
But with Spero Solutions on board as your online business manager, you will be able to take stock and assess the opportunities, leading your business towards strategic growth and higher profits.
Using our online business manager service to analyse your systems and processes, will help to identify where improvements can be made.
As well as being your right-hand person, a Spero Solutions online business manager will implement procedures to save you precious time and make day-to-day business operations more efficient and effective.
Avoid that truck coming along and hitting you!
You cannot possibly be good at every single task yourself and an online business manager will take over all those tasks that you are not good at, don’t have time for, or simply do not enjoy doing!
Smoother and quicker processes will not only make the day-to-day operations of your business easier it will give you back time to concentrate on winning more customers and take advantage of opportunities that you may not have been able to see before.
An online business manager will implement and track the progress of KPIs, reporting directly to you on business performance against targets and the progress of individual projects without you having to take the time to monitor these indicators yourself.
But more than that, they will share in your dreams and streamline processes to help you to attain them.
An online business manager from Spero Solutions will therefore:
- Identify areas for improvement
- Establish goals and performance targets
- Assess whether new systems or practices could make a difference to operations (and implement change after consultation)
- Recognise where more resources are required
- Enable effective planning of resources to meet seasonal demand
At Spero Solutions, our online business manager service offers a realistic and affordable solution.
We have already helped many businesses owners to avoid overwhelm and master the art of delegation, rather than doing everything themselves.
We offer a bespoke approach, completely unique to your business, which is both realistic and affordable.
I encourage you to undertake your small business annual review, and if you can see that truck approaching, or need help to regain that vision, call Elaine of Spero Solutions on 07846 754 747 today. We can talk about how an online business manager package can implement systems and processes to relieve your stress, giving you the time and space bring that dream closer.
And if you’re not sure how to undertake your own small business annual review then get in touch. We can work through it with you.