Look Forward

After 9 months of Pandemic Paralysis, it’s time to move on.  Not move away, but progress into the heart of 2021 and be there for your share of the business.  Yes, there will be constraints placed on your business by local and state government, but you still need to plan for 2021.

Funds

Year-end numbers should give you some direction for product/services most requested/purchased in 2020.  Start there.  Your financial/Business Journal should be able to provide you with your income and expense numbers.  I’m in the process of doing our year-end numbers and was delighted to see they were not as far down as I thought.  Numbers don’t lie, and our memories are fickle.  Depend on your books and business journal to give you the facts.

Inventory

This is where your Inventory Journal is priceless.  You should have your year-end inventory done by now.  What do you have on hand in abundance?  Start your year with a promo on those items.  Services? Do an Answer the Public search for your service keyword.  What can you offer your base at a very reasonable price?  It doesn’t need to be on sale, or a coupon code.  It’s priced to appreciate your base and say so.  If it’s in their budget they’ll buy it.

Speaking of Budget

Using your financial/Business Journal review your expenditures and put a limit on your spending by month.  Use your Journal to track it and don’t go over.  If you’re like most of us who survived 2020, you probably have three demands on your cash

• Pay current expenses
• Pay down your credit cards or line of credit
• Put some back in reserves (as you have it)

Create a 2021 Journal

Use tabs and make one for each month.  Start with a year opening/planning tab.  Put down all the plan/dreams for 2021.  I’ve started ours, but I won’t be able to finish until I finish our year-end reports. 

From our 2020 goals, what did I get done in 2020?

What didn’t work and what did?

What did I change due to the Pandemic?

What can I restore to the list, noting that open travel and events probably won’t be available until at least July 2021?

Now for the 2021 dreams.  Identify them, write them down in your Journal and attach a dollar amount to them in your budget. 

Recap

Be sure you’ve included all your expenses in your budget.  If you’re new and don’t know what expenses, you’ll have there are several places to get some guidelines. BPlans.com has a number of great free resources.  Your local SBDC (Small Bussiness Development Center) has forms, some are online.  And if you have an accountant/CPA, talk with them about what you’ll need to track.  Every business is different. 

Don’t have an accountant?  If you’re in Iron County, Utah I recommend Jordan Barden at QuickPros Accounting.  If not, check with your local Chamber of Commerce for a list of companies in your area.

I’m working on a downloadable Business Journal.  I’ll let you know when it’s available in the store.

Until next week - - - when we move along as we Look Forward together.