The Mid-Year Business Review: 6 Steps To Business Success
As an entrepreneur or small business owner, you know about the importance of setting goals. But what about reviewing them?
However, now that we’ve reached the halfway mark, a mid-year business review is a must for entrepreneurs.
The hustle and bustle of running a business can make it easy to forget about the goals you set earlier this year. That’s why NOW is the perfect time to reflect on your progress and refresh your goals for the back half of the year.
In this blog post, I’ll explain why doing a Mid-Year Business Review is crucial to your business success and how to do it effectively.
Why Should You Do A Mid-Year Business Review
Doing a mid-year review is important because it helps you to assess your progress and adjust your plan accordingly, increasing the likelihood of reaching your goals by the end of the year.
The annual goals you set were based on the information and priorities you had at the time.
Not only have circumstances likely changed since the beginning of the year, but so have your results. Ideally, you’ve made progress (or even completed) some goals, while others may have been forgotten or shoved aside.
You need to readjust your goals to reflect this. A mid-year review can help you determine whether you’re on the right track and if (and how) you need to change course.
Step 1: Revisit Your Annual Goals
The first step in reviewing your goals is to actually look at them! It sounds like a silly step, but so many entrepreneurs create their goals and then shove them in a folder, never to be seen again.
Successful business owners keep their goals front and center, so let this step be a friendly reminder that your goals need to be visible!
Step 2: Assess Your Progress
Next, it’s time to assess how well you’ve been performing against each goal. Are you on track to achieving your goals, or do you need to make some changes?
Identify the areas that are doing well and those that need improvement. Look for patterns in your performance, such as whether you’re consistently falling behind in certain areas, and develop a corrective action plan.
Fun Fact: People who wrote goals down, made a plan, and enlisted friends to help them by sending regular progress reports succeeded closer to 75% of the time. (Dominican University Study)
Step 3: Consider Where You Want To Go
Before you revise your goals, you need to get curious about what you want. Do you want to stay the course in your business? Are you ready to ramp up your growth (or even scale it down)?
These are essential questions to ask before you do goal setting. Goals should only be crafted to align with your vision!
Step 4: Revise & Update Your Goals
With an eye on your future vision, update your goals for the rest of the year.
Your goals, if completed successfully, should get you to your future vision.
Use a goal setting template to write updated, refreshed goals that help you see where to invest your time, energy, and resources.
Write SMART Goals
To increase your likelihood of success, write your goals in the SMART format. SMART goals include each of these 5 criteria:
Specific (the goal is clear and concise)
Measurable (you will know if it’s completed with this measure)
Achievable (the goal is realistic and attainable, especially during the timeframe allotted)
Relevant (the goal aligns with broader business objectives)
Time-bound (you set a date for completion)
Fun Fact: Over 1000 studies have shown that setting high and specific goals leads to increased task performance, persistence, and motivation, compared to vague or easy goals. (Locke and Latham, 2002, 2006)
Step 5: Put Your Goals Somewhere Visible
Now is the time to print out your goals and put them somewhere you’ll see them.
By viewing your goals every day, you’re far more likely to focus your time on the right stuff to grow your business.
Step 6: Track & Celebrate Your Progress
There’s a secret they don’t tell you about owning a business.
Joy isn’t found when you complete a big project. It’s really found along the way!
Every step you take moves you closer to your goal. So it’s important to celebrate your wins, no matter how small.
This builds confidence, boosts morale, and helps you gain momentum.
It’s also an opportunity to reflect on what’s working well (and not!) and identify best practices as you go.
Be sure to recognize the efforts of your team (if you have one!) and show appreciation that they’re helping you achieve success in your business!
Conclusion
A mid-year review is more than just a check-in; it’s a crucial component of business success. It allows you to analyze your performance, make adjustments and stay on track to achieving your objectives.
By performing a mid-year business review, you can measure your progress and make the necessary course corrections to ensure you reach your goals by year-end.
Remember, successful entrepreneurs don’t stop at goal setting; they are fierce about reviewing their progress, assessing it, and making changes where necessary.
So, pull up that seat, get a cup of coffee, and start reviewing!
