Friends! We’re coming up on the end of 2021, so it’s time to be planning for 2022! It’s best to plan for the year early so that you can be prepared when 2022 gets here. In today’s show, Cam gives her best tips for evaluating your year, reflection, and how to plan for the year ahead.

Reviewing 2021

We know how important it is to review before we can move forward. In our EOY meetings, we talk through everything. Get our free EOY planning template that is the exact copy of what we use every year in our meetings. Now, let’s dive into the process that you should go through this year!

E — Evaluate 

First, you need to EVALUATE your systems and processes. Were you using systems that don’t make sense for your company anymore? Take a look at all of your systems to assure that they make sense for your team. As for processes, it is so important to have Standard Operating Procedures in place for everything. Whether it’s sales, marketing, podcasting, or whatever else your company needs. SOP’s will help new hires know how to do their job and give the entire team clarity on specific tasks. Years like 2020 and 2021 made us shift the way we do things, so if you haven’t looked (or don’t have) SOP’s, now is the time to evaluate those and tweak where needed! 

O — Offerings 

Look at what you offer and determine if you still want to be offering those things. Did you offer things this year or last that just don’t make sense anymore? Are your customers asking for something specific that you don’t have in your inventory? Where do you keep a list of those random thoughts and ideas you have throughout the year for your offerings? These are all questions you want to ask yourself when reviewing your offerings. Keep track of your inventory and how pieces are renting throughout the year. Make sure to pull reports and stats to review.

Y — Yay or Nay

Yay or Nay simply means to celebrate wins and overcome obstacles. We first like to celebrate any and all wins we had in our company over the past year. It’s important to celebrate what you did this year BEFORE you focus on the negatives, because it’s so easy to look at what went wrong. Also try to expand on why it went so well! For example, you brought on a new hire and the training was seamless because you had a plan and SOP in place. Next, look at what didn’t go so well this year. Be realistic but not too hard on yourself as no year will ever be perfect. Failures are important because it informs you of how to overcome challenges next time and keep you from making the same mistakes again.

EOY Meetings

Some additional things you want to add to these EOY meetings is looking at your business overall. You may need to cover accounting, team culture, and goals for the next year! You may be wondering, “When do these meetings need to happen and who needs to be apart of them?” We suggest having these meetings before 2022 starts so that your business will be set up for success. It’s important to have your team in these meetings because they will have valuable feedback. Have the appropriate people in the meetings at the appropriate time. For example, the warehouse crew probably doesn’t need to be a part of the marketing meetings, but they would definitely need to be a part of the rental process conversation!

We know from experience that EOY meetings will prepare your team and set your business up for success. Don’t forget to grab our free EOY planning template for your EOY meeting!