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If you’re a business owner, December is the perfect time to reflect on your journey over the past year before diving into new goals for the year ahead. 

In this episode, I’m sharing a powerful, step-by-step end-of-year review to help set your business up for unprecedented success in the coming year.

In this episode we chat about:

• Why reflecting *now* is crucial for next year’s success (1:29)
• How to get an unbiased, objective overview of how you’re doing (1:56)
• Using qualitative data to find the story behind the numbers (3:09)
• The critical question to ask yourself about your goals (4:16)
• Why it’s crucial to bring your heart and soul into this process (4:34)
• My exact method for constructing a high level business plan (5:44)
• How to ensure you make consistent, meaningful progress over the long term (7:26) 

Episode resources:

• SheLaunch (join here)
• Mastering Your Mean Girl by Melissa Ambrosini (book)
• Open Wide by Melissa Ambrosini (book)
• Comparisonitis by Melissa Ambrosini (book)
• Time Magic by Melissa Ambrosini and Nick Broadhurst (book)
• Xero (website)
• Google workspace (website)

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The following transcript has been automatically generated and not checked for accuracy.

[00:00:00] In episode 632, I’m going to be sharing with you how to do a powerful end of year review for your business. Let’s dive in. Welcome to the Melissa Ambrosini show. I’m your host, Melissa, best selling author of Mastering Your Mean Girl, Open Wide, Comparisonitis, and Time Magic. And I’m here to remind you that love is sexy, healthy is liberating, and wealthy isn’t a dirty word.

Each week, I’ll be getting up close and personal with thought leaders from around the globe, as well as your weekly dose of motivation so that you can create it. Epic change in your own life and become the best version of yourself possible. Are you ready? Beautiful. Beautiful.

Hey, beautiful, and welcome back to the show. I’m so excited about this episode because I love doing end of year reviews. I think it is so fun and such a beautiful opportunity to [00:01:00] reflect on the amazing year that you have had, and I truly think that this is the best time to reflect on your last year. And to set your goals for the new year.

So I’m going to share with you exactly how I conduct an end of year review. And this will set your business up for unprecedented results for next year. So let’s dive in. You are going to want to grab a pen and paper for this or open your laptop and sit and listen to this and do this as we go. Okay. So the first step.

is you need to set aside some time. I want you to carve out a chunk of time for this process. Like if you can’t do this right now, just pause this and come back to it later. Now, this could mean a few dedicated hours or even a full day or half day, whatever it is. And trust me, this time is well spent.

You’re not just reviewing, you are strategizing for success. Okay. So set aside some time. The second step is you’ve got to gather your data. So the numbers [00:02:00] never lie. So looking at your performance data for the past year is a great way to get an unbiased, objective overview of how you are doing. And as for what metrics to review, it will be different for every business, but a great starting place is to look at, okay, write these down.

Your annual gross income. Okay. We want that number, your expenses, your profit, number of customers or clients, units or packages sold, number of followers on social media, number of subscribers on your email list, number of product launches, the volume of sales calls that you did, advertising spend, average customer spend, website visitor numbers, hours worked and vacation days.

Now, if you can, get those metrics for the year prior also. And look for trends, areas for growth, and places where your efforts may not have yielded the results that you dreamed of, okay? We use Xero, a lot of these numbers you can get from Xero. So hopefully you have a system [00:03:00] where you can get these numbers easily, but then, um, you’ll need to go into the back end of your website for like website visitor numbers and things like that.

So that is the second step, gather your data. So step number three is the story behind the numbers, qualitative data. Now, numbers only tell part of the story. Qualitative data is also important. So this kind of data helps you understand the why behind the what, giving depth to the numerical data and offering a more rounded view of your business’s year.

So you might want to look at number one, customer feedback and reviews, like customer’s opinions, satisfaction levels, and suggestions can offer valuable insights into your performance support. Like did you make any new hires this year? What did you? Assets. Did you create any new assets, new products, programs, lead magnets, employee or contractor feedback, like gauging your employee satisfaction, team dynamics, and feedback on an internal process can help you spot areas to [00:04:00] improve workplace culture and operations.

And then external factors like consider the impact of external factors like economic shifts or global shifts like a pandemic can help in risk management and future planning. Okay. So that is the third step. Okay. Qualitative data. Step four is check in with your 2024 goals. Get out your goals that you set for your business throughout the year.

And hopefully you’ve got these written down somewhere. And if not, now is a great time to make that habit. Then for each goal, ask yourself, did I meet that goal? Why? Or why not? Okay. So this is a little check in with your goals. Step five is to do the deep dive. Okay. This is what I call the deep dive. Okay.

So, so far in this process, we have been quite objective and data focused. Now let’s bring some heart and soul into this review process. So I want you to ask yourself these questions on your computer or in your journal. What worked really well in your business this year? What didn’t work so well? What could [00:05:00] you have done differently to achieve a different outcome?

What drained your energy? What sparked joy? What bottlenecks are slowing your progress? Where could you need some extra help? What aspects of your business yielded the most results and what gave you the most headaches? What would you love to stop doing? What would you love to start doing? What are you proud of from this past year?

What areas have you not been performing so well in? What did you spend too much time and energy stressing about? And a little hot tip for you. This kind of deep dive is where you unearth the most valuable insights. So take your time and do not rush through these questions. Okay. And then step six is create your high level business plan for next year.

So this step is about taking your reflections and turning them into actionable plans. It’s where you define your goals, decide what to track and outline the activities that will drive your business forward. [00:06:00] Now I usually like to sketch out a high level plan for the entire year and then create a more detailed plan for the first quarter only.

As each quarter passes, I then flesh out my plan for the next chunk of time. So that next quarter. Now this means that I start the year with a clear direction while also allowing space to be flexible and responsive as the months unfold. But you know what? The beauty of this process is that it’s flexible.

So feel free to structure your plan however you like. Now, some things to consider for your plan are number one, your high level business goals, including how much income you want to earn, how much growth you want to achieve. Number two is the sub goals and the sub sub goals that compound to make high level goals possible.

Number three, the daily and weekly activities that will move you toward your goals. For example, if you want to land 20 new coaching clients in the first quarter of 2025, how many sales calls will you need to schedule each week? Okay. Number four, the metrics you [00:07:00] want to track along the way. Number five, key dates for the year, including launch dates, vacations, deadlines, all those sorts of things.

Number six, any new products or assets that you want to create over the year? And number seven, how will you prioritize things if you don’t have time to do everything? And another little hot tip. I usually do this kind of planning in a Google doc and I use a spreadsheet and my Google calendar and I love it.

And then the final step is step seven, making it happen. Now, you can’t just do this exercise once and forget about it for the whole year. Plans only work if you do. The key to ensuring that you execute on your big, beautiful plan is to integrate the steps, goals and activities that you’ve just identified into your daily routine.

Now my favorite ways to do this are number one, regular check ins. So schedule periodic reviews either weekly or monthly or quarterly to evaluate your progress against your goals. Now put these in your calendar. Otherwise, my [00:08:00] friend, they just won’t happen. They won’t happen. So put them in your calendar.

If you do this with your team, make sure they know about it as well. Number two is track the data. Keep a close watch on your key performance indicators. Tracking these metrics continuously allows you to spot trends and react promptly. And number three, make it visual. Create a visual representation of your goals.

Like a wall chart, a vision board, or a custom desktop wallpaper as a constant reminder of what you are achieving for. I love vision boards. I have one that I can see right now above my computer and I love it. And then number five, align your daily activities with your long term vision. Now, every day when you are deciding what to do in your business, Ensure that each activity you choose to spend your time and energy on is building toward your larger objective.

Is it moving you toward your goal? Okay. So there you have it, a comprehensive guide to conducting an end of year review for your business. Now, remember, this [00:09:00] process is not just about looking back. It’s about moving forward with purpose, clarity, and renewed energy. I am so excited for 2025. I have some big, beautiful things planned, lots of exciting stuff with SheLaunch, lots of exciting stuff with SheLeads, some in person events, retreats, masterminds, so many fun things.

So stay tuned for all of that. And if you loved this episode and got a lot out of it, please subscribe and follow the show and leave me a review on Apple Podcasts. And as a thank you, I will send you my wildly wealthy guided meditation. And all you have to do is send me a screenshot of your review to helloatmelissarambrosini.

com. And please come and tell me on Instagram at Melissa Ambrosini, what your biggest goal for 2025 is. I would love to hear. And before I go, I just wanted to say thank you so much for being here, for wanting to be the best, the healthiest and the happiest version of yourself. And for showing up today for you.

You rock. Now, if there’s someone in your life that you can think of that would really benefit from this episode, maybe [00:10:00] even a business bestie, you could do this together with them, share it with them right now, and you can take a screenshot, share it on your social media, email it to them, text it to them, do whatever you’ve got to do to get this in their ears.

And until next time, don’t forget that love is sexy, healthy is liberating and wealthy isn’t a dirty word.

Thank you so much for listening. I’m so honored that you’re here and would be SO grateful if you could leave me a review on Apple podcasts, that way we can inspire and educate even more people together.

P.S. If you’re looking for a high-impact marketing opportunity for your business and are interested in becoming a sponsor for The Melissa Ambrosini Show podcast, please email pr@melissaambrosini.com for more information.

P.P.S. Please seek advice from a qualified holistic practitioner before starting any new health practice.