Spring Cleaning

The lull of winter is finally coming to a close, and with it comes the hope and promise of a productive Spring. As a business owner, you should always be looking for opportunities to revitalize your company, and there is no better time to do this than as the warm weather approaches. Here are a number of ways that you can breathe new life into your company and set your organization up for an incredibly productive Spring season.

Spring Cleaning:

Spring cleaning shouldn’t just be limited to your household. As Spring approaches, take some time to review your records and discard any files that you no longer need. This also includes your emails. Take some time to do a thorough purge of your inbox and try to enter into the Spring with a message count of zero. You should also consider hiring a service to do a thorough cleaning of the entire office. A clean office is a surefire way to enhance productivity, improve office morale and revitalize the entire staff.
Once you have cleaned your office and inbox, you should move on to your financials. You should do a thorough review of the prior year and identify areas of success and areas in which there is room for growth. You can then utilize this information to begin drafting your tentative monthly and annual budget for the following year. It is important to initiate this process early so that you aren’t scrambling when it comes time to finalize your annual budget.
Spring is also a great time to review your overhead expenses, such as phone, cable and office supplies. You should constantly be looking for areas where you can potentially cut costs, whether that be through renegotiating an existing price or changing vendors.

Rebuild Your Website/Upgrade your hardware:

In today’s fast paced and digital age, consumers are looking for content that is easily digestible. Spring is an excellent time to review your website content to ensure that it is simultaneously simple and engaging. Consumers are also looking for ease of access, so it is important to ensure that your web content is optimized for viewing on mobile devices. You should also take the time to ensure that your website is fully integrated with a variety of social media platforms, so that you can connect with your consumers through a number of different modalities.
Spring is also an excellent time to analyze your website traffic, and to assess whether or not you are effectively driving users to your site. If your website traffic is lagging and you need to bolster site visits, you should consider bringing someone in that can help implement optimization strategies to augment the number of visitors heading to your site.
If the budget allows, you should also consider upgrading your hardware. If you have equipment that is frequently malfunctioning, it is likely interrupting workflow and productivity. Consider upgrading your systems and hardware to ensure that your business operations are running smoothly.

Revisit Your Brand:

Spring is a time for reflection, and as such you should take the time to reflect on your personal brand. You should be curious about how the outside world perceives your company, and whether or not you have created a perception that is aligned with your personal values and vision for the organization.
Spring can be an excellent time to revisit your mission statement and ensure that it is an accurate reflection of the company’s goals and trajectory. It is never too late to make adjustments to or reinvigorate your existing brand.

Expand your Coffers (and your team):

Spring is often a time when organizations take on new projects, and as such it is important to have working capital available in order to finance them. Spring is an excellent time to take out a capital loan in order to ensure that you have the capacity to handle the inevitable increase in demand. You can also utilize the additional capital to make new hires, which will ensure that you have requisite staff to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction as the volume of work increases.

Dust off your Business Plan:

Many business owners revisit their business plans somewhat sparingly, and only in circumstances when it is an absolute necessity (seeking out new investors or capital). Spring time affords you an opportunity to dust off your business plan and ensure that it is up to date. It is important to review your business plan regularly to ensure that you are on track to achieve your sales targets, growth goals and other important milestones. Think about your long-term goals and the adjustments that you need to make in order stay on trajectory to meet those goals. Often time’s companies make substantive changes during the previous year to respond to market trends, and these changes should be reflected in the business plan. If you keep your business plan as up to date as possible, you are going positioning yourself for continued success and growth in the future.

Consider implementing these strategies to ensure a fruitful and successful Spring season.