Entrepreneur’s annual startup checklist

Every end of the year is a great time to review the business performance of your startup and to plan your strategy for the next year. The annual performance review is essential for small companies because it summarizes the outcomes from a year worth of hard work and identifies the need of change caused by the growth in the company.  

Entrepreneurs need to spend some time in the end of every year to analyze their startup’s performance and to plan ahead.

Growth

Startups are newly created companies with a mission to grow in order to survive and succeed. Entrepreneurs must look at the growth of their company during the past year and to determine if the achievements meet their expectations. Now is the time to set the bar higher and to plan your next annual growth strategy.

Business model

Is it time to change direction and to switch to different business model? It depends on how your company did during the past one year. If you managed to grow enough and your starting business model is not sufficient enough any longer, it is time to evaluate your strategies and approach and embrace one new business model for your startup.

Product

The product development review is essential part of the precise annual performance evaluation for small companies and startups. Entrepreneurs must evaluate the elaboration of their product and services and to plan the future direction of this process. The product is the actual result from the execution of the idea and is the main reason for the existence of your company. Go over the annual reports on the subject and analyze if this is the most efficient project execution approach.

Team

The end of the year is the moment to analyze the performance of your team. Are you working with the right people? Do you need to hire someone else? Plan your hiring strategy for the next year. Work on improving your management plan for the upcoming year in order to manage better your employees and become a better leader.

Financial report

This is one of the most important parts of your annual startup review. Entrepreneurs often overlook this part of the business plan and leave the financial matter in the hands of their accountant. Don’t do it! Take your time to go through the financial report. There is valuable information about the whole yearly performance of your startup and you need to be aware of these numbers. Make sure that you pay properly your taxes and that all financial matters are in order.

Clients

The end of the year is the time when you can do an overview over your relationships with your clients. Did you manage to attract more customers to your startup in the past year? Are you able to meet the expectations of your most valuable clients? Rethink your strategy and be bold enough to create the new, more effective one for the next year. Your customers are what make your startup valuable and you should spend the right amount of attention to them.

Competition

Take a look at the competition and evaluate their performance during the past year. What unique moves they made? Where were they mistaken? Knowing the struggles of the competition will give you the advantage to think one move further from them. Don’t forget that they are probably watching you too, so it is just a matter of strategy and right timing to take over sufficient part of the market.

Investors

Did you manage to get closer to winning investment for your startup? How many investor meetings did you go to? What went wrong? Did you ask for enough feedback? Answer these important questions to yourself and you will have the opportunity to create one strong strategy for the next year and hopefully win the funding that your startup deserves.