Reviewing Your Results

Start Annual Planning for 2024 by Reviewing Your Results in 2023

Review your previous year results before you start Annual Planning

Before you jump into setting Goals and Strategies for 2024, it’s important to start preparing for Annual Planning by reviewing your results from the previous year’s performance. This initial step can save you time in the long run.

Previous Year Review

Review your previous year’s performance to determine if your results were what you expected and identify improvements to apply those learnings to the coming year. It’s like a health check to establish a baseline of your business’ performance.

  • Assemble key financial, operational, customer, sales, product and employee data to review previous results and activities.
  • Review your previous goals and accomplishments.
  • Identify any shortfalls and drill down to understand why you didn’t achieve the result you wanted. Is there anything you can learn and apply to the coming year?
  • Determine if your business is healthy or if it should be on life support.

It’s important to take time to reflect on your previous year’s results and objectively evaluate your performance.

Sample questions to help you get started.

The following are some sample questions to help you start your review process.

  • What were your three biggest accomplishments in the past year?
  • What was your biggest disappointment last year?
  • What did you want to do last year that didn’t get done?
  • If you could go back and do anything differently, what would it be?
  • What is the #1 thing you would like to accomplish in the coming year?
  • What specifically needs to happen for you to be able to work on your business in the coming year?
  • How was your financial performance compared to your goals?
  • What key problems and issues did you face?

Make sure you answer these honestly and objectively before you start for next year.

Reviewing your results from the previous year is an important step in the Annual Planning process. It can help you save time by objectively assessing your performance and applying the findings to help you get the results you want next year. These simple steps will help you get off to a good start. As Benjamin Franklin said, “By failing to prepare, you prepare to fail.”