5 Key Ways to Close Out the Month & Start Fresh. The first week of each month I like to work on formally closing the prior month.
I love the month end because it’s a time for reflection and analysis of my business. It’s important to review how the last four weeks have done so you can make improvements, adjustments, and set goals that make sense based on how things went.
There are 5 things I do at each month end to get my business set up for the next month. They are:
✅Think about the prior month’s wins and disappointments – I like to think about things holistically. Did we hit our goals? Did we exceed them? Miss them by a little? A lot? What did we achieve? What needs to be improved, changed, or removed from our plates? I look at things that worked and plan to continue implementing those strategies. We’re not trying to recreate the wheel here. If it’s working, we’re keeping it. For things that did not go as planned, we analyze the issues and make adjustments or, if need be, we make a new plan and put it to the test for the next month.
✅Analyze your P&L (profit and loss) and budget details – This consists of looking at your revenue, expenses and profit numbers for month over month, and year over year. Knowing how your business is doing financially is vital to the success of your company. Analyzing this monthly (or more) can help you realign your goals and keep you and your team on track. Plus, it allows you to know what you’re able to outsource and how much you can add to (or need to back off of) payroll.
✅ Check your goals – Look at monthly, quarterly, and yearly goals and ensure they are on track and your actions are in alignment. Setting specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound goals will help you stay focused on what needs to be achieved to move your business in the right direction.
✅ Complete any follow-ups – This includes potential client follow ups, collaborations, and vendor work. You want to make sure you’re crossing all your t’s and dotting all your i’s. You don’t want any potential clients or collabs to slip through the cracks. Those are missed opportunities you can’t afford to miss when you are building and growing your business.
✅ Congratulate yourself – You did it! Another month’s work is done and you achieved and learned so many things! Close the month out and move on to a new month with gratitude and a go-getter attitude.
Setting yourself up for success each month keeps you in tune with your business holistically. You will be able to recognize the results clearer when you see what all you’ve done & learned, and how you were able to implement new strategies as well as continuing to put into place the strategies that have been and are still working.
Each month is full of learning opportunities, wins big and small, and is another step in the right direction. Every month won’t go exactly as planned, and some times you might not end it how you wanted or hit the goals you though you would achieve, but that’s okay!! That’s just another learning experience you have under your belt to help you move your business forward.
You have access to support and accountability from me. Every month I hold a free workshop to help CEOs just like you to help build the business they desire. Join my email list, The Savvy Scoop, to get emails with small trainings and information about my free and paid programs. Also, every week I host CEO Conversations on Instagram (@SavvyCloverCoaching) where I talk about a different topics each week and answer questions from all different types of CEOs. Follow me for updates, weekly lives, and educational posts dealing with the job that is being a successful CEO. Can’t wait to connect with you!! Stay savvy!
