New Year’s Resolutions
A New Year is traditionally the time for some resolutions and these typically include joining a gym, giving ‘Dry January’ a go or reading more books. But, what about resolutions in your business?
Here are some suggested business resolutions for the year ahead:
Get organised
January is officially Get Organised Month, so this is a good place to start. As accountants, we’d suggest you use the New Year to make a list of what you need to do to get your business life and accounts in order. Of course, if you haven’t already submitted your Self-Assessment Tax Return, then why not start 2024 by doing that?
Now could also be a good time to review the systems in your business, including IT, CRM and telephony. You might want to change your accountancy software and we can help you with that. If you have a VAT registered business, you are already required to keep digital records and file your tax returns using compatible software, as part of the Government’s Making Tax Digital programme.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is now also on the horizon; from 6 April 2026 you will be required to adopt the scheme if you have an annual business or property income of more than £50,000 (and from April 2027, if you have an annual business or property income of more than £30,000). While this could be two or three years in the future, it is worth looking at how you intend to implement this into your accounting processes ahead of that time and which software you intend to adopt.
Audit your suppliers
Now could also be a good time to audit your suppliers and see if they are providing you with the best service and prices.
Have you spent the last few weeks trying to get hold of your accountant to ask them some tricky questions about filling out your Self-Assessment form or, if you do get through, do you end up speaking to somebody else every time you call? Have you saved money using an online accountancy firm but would rather deal with ‘real people’ or do you feel that you’re being over-charged to the point that you avoid asking questions in case you get a bigger bill. These are all reasons to give us a call at Lewis & Co.
We are consumers too and we know how frustrating it can be when your call or email isn’t returned, so we make sure that every phone message or email is actioned as quickly as possible. Even if we can’t answer your specific question straightaway, we will at least acknowledge it and give an estimate of how long it’ll take us to reply properly. We are also a small team, so the chances are that somebody who already knows you will answer the phone.
Conduct a business review
Set some goals and make plans for the first few months of the year and perhaps even write a strategic business plan? If you employ people, now could be a good time to see which areas of the business you might want to recruit into over the next few months? For many industries, recruitment is tricky, so look at ways to perhaps redeploy or promote people around in your business. This could also be the time to see if there’s additional training or qualifications your team could be doing – which could have additional benefits to your business too.
Plan your social media and content
We all recognise how important creating great content for your website and social media channels is. The New Year is a good time to create a social media calendar and plan content and campaigns. Why not make one of your resolutions to regularly write blog content for the next 12 months.
New Year, New You
Why not use the New Year to look at whether your company branding is continuing to work for your business. You might want to also look at your website and see if that is continuing to make the right impression and whether it’s performing for your business.
Make new connections
The majority of us are back networking and attending conferences and exhibitions. The New Year is an ideal time to consider which industry events or exhibitions you might want to attend this year. You could also review the networking groups you belong to. In addition, you could spend a morning updating your LinkedIn profile and writing a few testimonials for people who’ve supported you recently. They are always appreciated and, very often, reciprocated.
If you want to know more about making the New Year work for your business, call us on: 01892 513515.