My annual business review process
Questions I ask myself
In this post I’m sharing some of the prompts and practices from my annual review process. I tend to do a deep dive and some number crunching in August and then allow the threads that emerge from this to filter through my thinking over the next couple of months. Hope it’s helpful.
This will be my 10th year in business. Since deciding to go freelance in 2015 (which is a whole story in and of itself), my business has grown year on year. I launched a second business with long-time collaborator Gill Thewlis in 2018, and there are new ventures in the pipeline. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not making millions. But I make enough to support a comfortable lifestyle, to invest in new ideas and to save for my future.
I’m proud of everything I’ve achieved so far.
August might not seem like the usual time for a business review, but I launched my freelance career at this time of year, and it’s also a time for early harvests (in the UK at least), so always feels like a natural time to check in and reflect back.
I’m also in the process of transitioning my sole trader practice into a new limited company, which will become the home for some of the new ventures (more on that another time). So, it’s a particularly important year for a review that might kick start the forward planning process.
Here are some of the questions I ask myself:
Money questions
Overall, how much income and net profit did I generate?
What proportion of income and profit has been generated from the different products and services that I offer?
What proportion of my income is generated from the different business development / marketing activities that I undertake?
Relationship questions
Which new relationships have I invested in that I’d love to nurture?
Which existing relationships been deepened?
How have I made an impact and what evidence do I have of this?
Development questions
Which projects have I enjoyed the most? What was it about them that made them fulfilling?
Which have created the best opportunities for learning and development? What new knowledge, skills or experience do I now have?
What new content assets do I have a result of this year?
Reflection questions
How and why is all of this this different to previous years?
Where are the risks for the coming year(s)?
What will I stop doing, do less of, start doing, do more of, and why?
What new threads or opportunities are emerging? Which of these might I invest time and energy to explore this year?
How do I feel about all of this?
Untitled work in progress, Leon Davies.
I tend to work my way through the money, relationship and development questions, then take a step back for a few days before tackling the reflection questions. This gives my thoughts and feelings a bit of breathing space and will often generate new questions or themes that require some attention.
The reflection process can take several weeks and I’m in the messy middle of that right now. Reviewing everything as a whole can feel overwhelming at times, but it allows me to see the connecting points and tensions between my thoughts and feelings. The fog eventually clears and the focus for the year ahead begins to crystallise.
Do you have an annual review process?
If so, what are your breakthrough questions?