Capex CPA - CPA firm for Small Business Mississauga, Brampton, Toronto, Oakville

View Original

New Year’s Small Business Checklist

One year is closing and another is yet to be.  As a small business owner there are some positive steps to take to stay motivated.

Creativity

Seek out friends and relatives who are willing to give you advice.  Many small businesses have found it advantageous to form a creative alliance with someone else who can bring a new perspective to your business.  Whether your operation is booming or dragging along, everyone can use some inspiration.  You may even want to collaborate with someone else in a similar or complementary field.  For instance, if you are ecommerce, try working with a local brick-and-mortar store to expand your merchandise.

Website

Security is always a hot topic in the digital world.  Make it a point to confirm that your site and data are safe.  Even if you feel confident in your current situation, see if there are some additional ways to help you and your customers be safe.  Some options might be having a clear privacy policy on how your website collects data from customers.  Another choice might be to get an SSL certification (HTTPS versus HTTP) if you have not already done so.  Checking the effectiveness of your antiviral program, looking for loopholes, and tightening things up.

Engage Customers Differently

Look for new ways to connect with your current customers and to attract others.  That may be striking a new tone in your blogs or social media.  It is very easy to drop into a rut and use the same style of writing or posting.  Find someone who has a new perspective and ask for guest posts while you do the same in return for their website.  See how cleverly this works into our earlier point of creativity? 

Be sure to keep current on SEOs and how to make the most of them.  SEMrush is a tool many people are turning to in order to boost your visibility in search engines. 

Financials

Get your books up to date and review all the reports you can generate.  This will help you with an overview of the previous year and help you establish viable goals for the next.

  • Balance sheet

  • Income statement (profit and loss)

  • Cash flow statement

    • Operating activities, such as revenues and expenses

    • Investing activities, such as assets purchased and assets sold

    • Other financial activities, such as new loans taken, loan repayments made, and partner or shareholder investments or distributions

Taxes

In addition to gathering everything you need to prepare your return, look at how you can reduce your tax burden by income splitting, depreciation claims, and others.  If you took advantage of some of these methods last year, review how well they worked.  Consult with your tax advisor and/or accountant. 

All of these items can be placed on your agenda to take care of in the last month of the year, or to implement very early next year.  They are viable strategies that will make your business life easier going forward.

Contact your Accountants today click on this link —> https://capexcpa.com/contact

- The Capex Team