As business owners flip the calendar pages from November to December, they start to feel the pressure of the new business year inching closer. Now that Black Friday and Cyber Monday have passed, many companies are assessing their sales from not only these holidays but also the entire year. Have you given any thought yet to your business’s performance this last year? If not, now is the time to reflect as we prepare for the new sales quarter. Find out how to prepare your business for a new sales year and how you can reflect on this year to make your next sales year better than ever.

Get a Head Start

When it comes to any aspect of business planning, getting a head start is always a good strategy. In this case, you want to start your business plan for the following year as early as possible. Now, this may not always be reasonable for businesses that rely on or expect a large number of sales during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday period, as well as during the December holiday season. You may need these metrics before you complete your next year’s plan to get accurate predictions and overall numbers for the year. In this case, complete what you can beforehand. For more details, look below at our Annual Sales Plan section.

Plan Marketing and Promotions

One thing that all businesses should be able to tackle before the holidays is planning for upcoming events, such as the first holiday of the new month. New Year’s Eve and Day may not be as celebrated shopping days as Black Friday week and Cyber Monday, however, planning for future holidays early allows you to retarget customers who shopped with you over Black Friday. Customers may be eager to snatch up another deal, so plan your promotions accordingly. If you have the time and resources, you could even plan promotions several months into the new year. Your marketing team will be happy to have the extra notice when it comes to setting up future deals and promotions.

Year In Review

Once you’ve given your Black Friday and holiday sales time to settle and you’ve organized all your data, it’s time to review the past year. If you made an annual sales plan the previous year, compare your sales with your goals from the beginning of the current year—did you meet your goals and predictions or do you have some adjustments to make for next year’s sales plan? Note anywhere throughout the past year that you surpassed your goals so that you can make some positive adjustments and allow room for growth.

Depending on the size of your business and teams, you may want to sit down with your marketing, management, and other various teams to discuss their successes and areas for improvement.

Communicating with your teams also allows for multiple perspectives on the year in review to generate new ideas for next year.

Make Predictions for Next Year

Once you have finished reviewing the current year, set your sights on next year’s goals. You should start making predictions for the following year and forecasting your business’s overall growth. For example, if you predict that you will need to expand your business to accommodate local demand or online orders, there will be extra income as well as expenses that come into play with expansion.

Another aspect of the upcoming year to focus on is trend predictions. Do some end-of-year market research to identify what trends will continue into the new year. Which products will continue to fly off the shelves and which ones seem like their popularity is starting to dip? For example, if you have a clothing business, you’ll likely be stocking up on bulk bucket hats for the upcoming spring and summer seasons after they dominated the headwear market last year. There are plenty of programs through Google, social media, and other sources that allow you to track trending searches and purchases that would be helpful to note for next year.

Create an Annual Sales Plan

Work together with your sales department or team to create an annual sales plan for the new year. This will be integral in comparing your sales with your predictions at the end of the upcoming year (as far away as it sounds). If you’ve already referenced your sales plan from the beginning of the current year, you understand the importance that this report can hold.

Start by setting realistic goals for the year ahead. Take any new expenses into account and identify any other unique circumstances ahead of your business. Based on the goals you’ve set, now is the time to determine if your teams will need any extra training or if you need to hire on any extra team members to accomplish these goals. You would rather have too many hands on deck and ready to help than to stretch your business and employees too thin.

Communicate Any Changes

Finally, reach out to the rest of your employees and teams that weren’t involved up to this point. Don’t forget to congratulate the company on its performance over the course of the last year and show your employees your appreciation. This is key to maintaining productivity, company morale, and open lines of communication. If you plan any changes going into the new year, determine the best time to make this announcement as well—better sooner than later. If you plan to hire new employees, this is also a suitable time to announce the incoming assistance.

In conclusion, the end of the year is a crucial time for reflection and preparation for any business. Starting your preparations for the new year early on can help increase your future productivity and sales. Plus, creating an annual sales plan helps your business stay on track and organized as you attempt to reach new heights and goals throughout the year ahead. We hope this discussion has helped clear up how to prepare your business for a new sales year as the date on the calendar inches ever closer to 2022.