Essential Q3 and Q4 Planning
Updated: Jul 15, 2022
With Q1 and Q2 behind us, the goals of the first 2 quarters have hopefully been met and have produced some much needed fruit. If you are struggling with goal completion, don't beat yourself up, just be intentional about moving forward and developing your business. In order to make Q3 and Q4 successful, you need to reflect on the successes (and failures) of everything in Q1 and Q2.
Q2 Reflection Questions
What are your revenue targets?
How do you need adjust your schedule to meet your personal and business needs?
How can you include your team in your planning process?
Are you being realistic with your goals?
Do you need to hire help?
Q2 Trends To Reflect On
With rising credit rates and inflation, it seems likely that your current clients and future clients will be more cautious when spending for the next few years. Ensuring that your products and services are high- quality and accompanied with an award worthy customer service strategy is imperative. There are also many issues that continue to affect overseas supply chains besides inflation and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. If it’s possible to go local, now is a good time to consider it. Support small business owners and spread the love!
If you do not offer online components to your products and services yet or aren’t maximizing your customers’ ability to obtain goods or services from you online, this could be negatively impacting your business. It is projected that by 2025, online sales are likely to increase by as much as 24%, and it might be time to see where you can go online if you haven’t already.
Operation Automation
Time is more valuable than any service you could ever offer. Being productive with the time that God has given should be interjected into your end of year planning. Below are five systems that can be streamlined for productivity.
Time tracking
HR/People operations
Payroll
Benefits
Scheduling
Employees say they waste 50% of their time at work when their schedules are inconsistent. This statistics can also apply to all of the sole proprietors - creating a schedule that compliments your work load will not just save you money, it can save your mind.
Content Creation
Also, it is wise to become more comfortable with streamlining your content creation schedule. We use Hootsuite to automatically share content from my website’s RSS feed to LinkedIn and Facebook and share content from other top marketing and business publications. If you want to compare social media management tools, you can also check out Buffer and Sprout Social.
Content is essential for brand building, nurturing relationships, and tapping the full potential of a business. Not automating your content marketing (to some extent) is a huge mistake. To get started with content marketing automation, there are some things you need to have and/or implement:
Blog or website to host your content, which must be useful and tailored to your target audience(s).
Social media presence to engage in a more personal and immediate way with your audience
SEO to make your site searchable and available for specific industry terms, search keywords, and topics
The nice part about many content marketing tools is that they are easily customizable. Each month, Google Analytics can automatically emails you a report showing you which content and pages are driving the highest amount of traffic and conversions.
For business owners, it can feel like work never ends, and you need to keep track of a hundred tasks at a time. Accountability and allotted time for self-care, worship, and professional development can make all of the difference. To stay on the ball, check out our articles for more virtual webinars, in-depth checklists, formulas, and strategies.
Dr. Dee Evans
CEO, Koinonia Training and Consulting
CEO, The Dee Evans Group
info@koinoniatrainingandconsulting.com
Dr. Dee Evans is an internationally recognized consultant and celebrity life coach. She has been awarded several leadership awards and she is a respected educator and Christian leader. She is the author of several books, which include: "God, I'm Disappointed, Procrastination: A Kingdom Perspective on the Theology of Work". Connect with Dr. Dee Evans by visiting the links below.
Koinonia Training and Consulting