10 Monthly Tasks To Keep Your Business In Good Health

Time can move at a rapid pace when you’re a business owner. The days merge into one and before you know it your first year of business is complete. When you’re working so hard it can be easy to forget to check in on how your business is tracking. Incorporating the below tasks into your monthly to-do list will ensure your business is going in the right direction – which can make all the difference to its success!

DO A FINANCIAL OVERVIEW

Your business simply won’t survive unless your finances are in check. To ensure they are, make sure you are consistently and carefully managing your:

• expenses and bills

• invoices

• payroll 

You can do this by tracking the above in a budget or forecast.

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS

Keeping up-to-date with the lodgment and payment of your statutory obligations is an important measure of the health of your business by banks & potential investors. Each month, you should check in to ensure you are staying on top of all requirements. A good way to do this is to diarise lodgement and payment due dates. Here’s some you may need to note:

• Income tax return

• Business Activity Statement (BAS)

• Payroll tax

• Workers’ compensation insurance

• Superannuation payments

REVIEW AND EVALUATE YOUR MONTHLY EXPENSES

Review your account statements each month and consider whether the services you are paying for are still necessary. This is particularly important for direct debits you have set up; often you lose track of these payments, and you may be paying for something you don’t need or no longer use! Evaluate whether you are getting the most out of each service and if you are getting good value for money. If not, it might be time to look elsewhere. 

REVIEW YOUR ANNUAL SALES

Check on your monthly sales to see if you are doing better than the same time as last year. Review whether your costs and profit levels are where they should be in relation to your sales levels. If not, refer back to your business plan and see where any changes and improvements can be made.

MAKE SURE YOUR CLIENTS/CUSTOMERS REMEMBER YOU

In a crowded industry, potential clients are likely to forget you, so help them remember! Make sure you stand out from your competitors and spread the word about your business in new and exciting ways (e.g. TikTok!).

REVIEW YOUR WEBSITE TRAFFIC

Use Google Analytics to understand your website traffic. It will identify pages that are performing poorly, and pages that are doing well. You can also use their In-Page stats to check that your navigation, sidebar, post footer, and blog footer is providing value to your audience and if they’re clicking it. If not, consider making changes to your website. 

REVIEW YOUR YEARLY PLAN & GOALS

Goal setting is an ongoing activity, so it’s important to remember to review your goals constantly to make sure you’re on track to achieving them. Set one day per month where you sit down to review your goals, evaluate your action plan and ensure the relevance, value and necessity is still high. 

IMPROVE/AUTOMATE PROCESSES TO IMPROVE YOUR TIME MANAGEMENT

Automating tasks in your business that don’t need your personal touch will free up time so you can focus on the areas of your business that need it. Some great ways to do this are to:

• set up monthly recurring invoices to your regular clients in Xero or Paypal

• use an email marketing system such as Mailchimp to automate your client onboarding process, and keep your customers/clients up to date with news about your business

• create your marketing materials in bulk. Sit down once a month and create a handful of social media posts, then schedule them in using an application such as Later.

• appointment scheduling with Calendly (so you don't have to deal with those back and forth emails with potential clients)

CONSULT WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

The key to a successful business is to keep delivering to your audience. The best way to do this is to listen to what it is they want. Send out a survey, do an Instagram poll, or ask for their opinion via email. And make sure that once you do receive their feedback, you take it on board and adjust accordingly.

TALK TO YOUR ADVISORS

Arrange a time to meet with your accountant regularly, to review your business performance for the last 30 days and last quarter and ensure you’re on the right track. You can book a time with us below.