Finish 2011 Strong And Start 2012 Stronger

Thanksgiving has come and gone and December is upon us, bringing with it all of the joy and excitement of the Holiday Season. With the Holiday Rush in full swing, many business owners are working feverishly to wrap up year-end business prior to unwrapping whatever Santa might leave under the tree.

It is also a time for many of us to reflect on all of our blessings and look forward to time spent with family and friends. I am truly thankful that I have been blessed with a wonderful family, a rapidly growing business, and a host of wonderful clients and contacts. 2011 has been a year of great growth, both personally and professionally, and I look foward to 2012 and the year ahead.

As we close out the year, let me encourage you to finish 2011 strong and start 2012 even stronger. You might be saying to yourself "gee that's great advice Kent, but how do I do that?". The answer actually isn't all that complicated if you remember 3 important rules:

1. Create a Task List of items that need to be completed by year-end, and prioritize them based on level of importance. As you review the list, those items that should take priority will usually rise to the top in obvious fashion. It is not uncommon for us to avoid the things that we least like to address, but I would suggest doing those things first.
2. Plan for 2012 and document your Goals and Forecasts. Many business owners assume that this requires hours and hours of thought, reflection, research, etc, but I disagree. Yes it takes some time and effort, but it does not require multiple weekends spent in seclusion in the effort to create a 50 page professional document. You know what typically happens with those? More often than not, they are rarely looked at again. I suggest that you review your P & L statement looking for areas where you can eliminate cost and create margin. Then determine how much you want to increase sales, which new accounts you will target, and which relationships you may need to cultivate to make it all happen. I would suggest condensing this information into a 1-2 page document that can be reviewed easily, and often.
3. Address your Corporate Formalities and document things well. When you look at your Task List and identify the top priorities, it is easy to drop this to the bottom or leave it off of the list completely. This is a huge mistake and could prove costly, if not fatal, to your business. Observing Corporate Formalities and properly documenting your business activities is paramount to preserving the integrity of your Corporate Veil and keeping yourself protected personally. If you aren't sure what Corporate Formalities are, please refer to some of my previous blog posts or contact the Safe Shield office.

That's it, that's all there is to it. Sounds pretty straight-forward doesn't it? I would like to close out this post by wishing all of you the very best during this Holiday Season and much success in 2012.