What Should Small Businesses Reflect On As 2019 Closes?

When the year ends, and the tax information scrambling begins, it is comfortable to sit in reflection over the past year as you thumb through the paperwork. How did this year go for your business? Was it just like you thought it would be, or did it end up looking different than you envisioned? What you reflect on matters for the next year. It’s easy to get bogged down with details that don’t matter, so let’s consider what small businesses should reflect on as a new year dawns. 

There are always quantitative objectives that matter when it comes to reflecting on your small business. The sales projections are still first and foremost. How well your small business performed against what you’d hoped will shape your perspective on all kinds of things. 

Small Businesses Tend To Reflect On Sales In The Wrong Ways 

For small businesses that achieved more than was projected, it can feel like New Year’s Eve came early in the office. But putting one’s feet up on the desk and deciding you don’t need to work so hard at the end of the year may just tee you up for a slow Q1. Everyone wants to relax when the future looks bright. If you want it to stay that way, keep doing what you are doing until December 31st.

There is always the realization that sales look a little like they’ll close on a disappointing note, which makes small businesses reflect on things that they also should reconsider doing. The tendency with a down sales year is to throw the baby out with the bathwater and slash expenses for the next year. This may be a mistake. If costs need to be slimmed down, it is just as important to consider what needs to go and why. 

Cutting Expenses Takes Long Term Thought 

Most will look at the significant expenses and say those are the ones that have to go, namely the benefits for employees. Getting rid of benefits can have many ill effects besides employees needing to take care of their healthcare. Most employees who lose benefits end up quickly finding a solution to their benefits problem, and that is usually a new job. What does it cost to replace employees who leave due to a lack of benefits? It is thinking through the long term of the decisions that will help you make better choices when it comes to tightening the budget. 

There are also times when small businesses reflect on the possibility of needing to downsize. This may also not necessarily be the best choice when it comes to getting a reign on employee expenses. Unless you have employees sitting at their desks twiddling their thumbs, waiting for something to do, someone is going to have to do the work that is being done. Deciding to eliminate positions to cut expenses means your employees who already have assignments are going to have to take on more work. This doesn’t usually end up being the right long-term decision. Overworked people end up finding another place to work. Not to mention, the stress of always looking over your shoulder for the next layoff. Downsizing makes perfectly good workers nervous. There should be all other options covered before deciding to let valued employees go if you are one of the small businesses reflecting on headcount. 

Finding Multi-Tasking Solutions Are The Best Ones To Invest In 

Whether you found your business on the plus or the minus side when it came to growth this year, both should not just consider what the least expensive option for business solutions is but which ones will do the most for what you are paying. It’s easy to look at a price tag and make a snap judgment. Thinking long term will win in the long run when it comes to finding business solutions that do a lot for small businesses. 

One perfect multi-tasking solution to consider for small businesses that are growing or not is PEOs. A PEO does many things for small businesses that take a lot of responsibility off a CEO. Are you paying one vendor for small group health insurance, another for payroll processing, yet another for workers compensation insurance, and still another HR services? What if you could pay one vendor to do all of this and more, but for a fraction of what you are paying now? How much could you grow next year if this were a reality for your small business? 

If you’d like to know more about how PEOs help small businesses just like yours grow and even prevent downsizing, we’d like to talk to you before 2020. Contact us today for a free consultation.