It’s the perfect time of year to not only plan for the year ahead but also to explore the major things that propelled your business forward this year and those that did not. From things that were successful to things that weren’t – there are growth opportunities hidden within each of these. And then profit generating changes that can be made to create impact in the year ahead. 

 

So what should you be evaluating and how can you then take the results and make changes that move the needle forward in 2022? 

 

In today’s post, I am sharing three areas that can get you started with refining what worked in and didn’t work in 2021 and how to use your findings to create momentum in the year ahead! 

 

No. 1 | The Plan You Used This Year

 

This is a big one and while 2021 was harder than I think we all expected it to be {especially after 2020}, the plan you used to get the work done, to create impact, to grow your community, and to move the needle forward is the best first place to start. 

 

So what questions should you be asking yourself to explore what worked and what didn’t: 

 

• Effectiveness of The 2021 Plan 

1. 1. 1. How did I do with keeping to the plan I had laid out in late 2020? What did I spent my time doing? Did I overestimate my time? Did I underestimate my time? Should I have allotted more time?

• Allocation of Time

1. 1. 1. How did I allocate my time when it comes to both client facing and backend business? Do I feel like these two aspects of business were well balanced? Did they feel out of balance? What changes can I make in the New Year to my ideal week, and month to allow for a balance between all the things I need to do 

• Results of Marketing Promotions

1. 1. 1. What were the results of my planned marketing promotions? Did my results align with industry standards? Did they exceed my expectations? What can I change to make them more of a success if I wasn’t happy with the results?

• General Feeling About Year 

1. 1. How do I feel about how things went? Do I feel disappointed or excited about the year? Both from balancing work with important things like family and life giving activities/hobbies? Did I take enough time off? Did I feel like I was ahead or always behind?

 

These four areas are the key areas to evaluate the impact of the plan you used in 2021. 

 

The answers to the questions above can help to drive the development of your marketing promotion and content plan for 2022. They help refine and improve your ideal week, give clarity to the content you share with your community, and the time you spent each day/week/month on the tasks that run and propel your business forward. 

 

No. 2 | The Systems You Used This Year

 

This is another big area because the systems you use to get the work done are key to helping everything in your business run smoothly. They are the departments that propel you forward and help ensure your clients, and employees are served well.  

 

So what questions should you be asking yourself to explore what worked and what didn’t:

 

1. What systems did I currently use this year to run the various aspects of my business? Were they simple? Were they streamlined? 
2. What systems did my clients use to interact with me/my team? How was their experience {if you don’t know – send a survey!!}? What were some questions that came up over and over again? What aspects of my roadmap with my clients can I change in order to enhance their experience? What aspects of my roadmap can I automate? What aspects of my roadmap can I simplify? 
3. What systems do I feel like my business was missing? What were some aspects of business that I really struggled with this year? Are there tools that I can identify or help I can ask for to make this work easier/simpler/automated? 

 

The biggest question to ask yourself when looking to evaluate your currently systems and approach to your business is whether each day had an intention/purpose? Did you wake up knowing exactly what your major tasks for the day were and did you accomplish those? 

 

If the answer is no – that your days felt scattered and directionless – then we’d love to help you bring order to your workday! We’ve got some special things planned for the weeks ahead for our newsletter community. JOIN HERE

 

No. 3 | The Approach You Used To Track It All 

 

Finally, you absolutely should be tracking and measuring the impact of your work – otherwise all that you are doing is generating content and not taking time to measure whether it is resonating with your community. 

 

We shared recently the importance of providing value as a key driver in your champion content – the content you share on a weekly basis. But you need to consistently evaluate the impact of what you do in order to ensure you serving your community in the way you think you are. 

 

So what areas should you be tracking: 

1. Newsletter Engagement & Subscriber Growth 
2. Champion Content Visits/Downloads
3. Freebie Downloads 

 

These three areas will give you a quick glimpse at whether the work you are doing on a weekly basis both moving forward and previously {in the past year} was well received by your audience. 

 

You want to be consistently taking a review of what you are doing in order to ensure it’s helping to move your community forward – which ultimately moves you forward in your goals of impact, growth, and profitability. 

 

Action Steps To Take Today 

 

If you are ready to take some time to evaluate what worked and didn’t work, then don’t miss our weekly newsletter we are going into depth and providing tons of freebies to our community on how to grow strategically in 2022. JOIN HERE