The new year is ripe with opportunities to create dynamic changes in your personal and professional life. While you may easily be able to pinpoint health or lifestyle goals, it can be difficult to know what to plan for when it comes to your business. At Fraction Force Strategies, we have guided many business owners through reviews, changes, and audits that have helped them get a fresh start no matter the time of year. Here are a few Fraction Force Strategies recommended ways to streamline your operations for a year of productivity in 2025.
Five Strong Operational Resolutions
- Conduct an Operational Review: The best way to get a temperature check on every aspect of your business is to conduct a comprehensive operational review. An outside, unbiased perspective is valuable when it comes to operational reviews. When we conduct operational reviews as fractional COO, we take a comprehensive approach. We speak with key leaders and other employees to gain a full understanding of the workings of the company, finding out where improvements can be made. An operational review can be conducted by an external expert, such as FFS, or led by a qualified internal employee within your business. Regardless of who takes the lead, we strongly recommend that the process be managed by a single individual rather than a group to ensure consistency and effectiveness.
- Evaluate Your Systems: Whether this means simplifying your systems or creating new processes all together, we recommend surveying the tools you’re using and ensuring that they integrate with each other. Do your project managing tools work seamlessly with your payroll systems and communication systems? Are you using your systems to their full capacity? If you’re paying even a small fee for a product or system that you aren’t using, you’re wasting money that could be used elsewhere in your business.
- Audit Your Financials: The new year is the perfect time to look at your financials and make sure you have a budget in place for the new year. You should have a system for tracking your financials and expenses and be checking them at least monthly. It can be nerve racking to check your financials, but it is paramount that you keep track of your businesses financial health. It is much easier to set yourself up for financial clarity at the beginning of the year than try to sort it all out at the end.
- Employee Development: The start of the year is a great time to check in with employees and make sure they are set up for success. Do they have clear roles, proper training, and know their tasks? Do they have the resources to do their job? A lot of these answers will come out during a comprehensive operational review. Engaging with your employees through conversations about their work, and also team-building days, will create a more productive and positive work environment.
- Planning For Growth: If you are happy with the size of your team and company, that’s great! You should definitely think through what steps you can take through the year to maintain this level of execution for your business. If you wish to grow, it is helpful to think about what short-term and long-term goals you need to meet to reach the aspirational milestones you have for the year. Thinking about KPIs and business goals can be intimidating, but this process can be achieved in a simple, half-day planning session that will help you navigate this new calendar year. Through Fraction Force Strategies, we have helped business owners identify their goals and set them on the right course for success.
Setting Your Business Up For Success In 2025
After the hustle of the holiday season, it can be relieving to slow things down in the beginning of the year. While operational reviews and planning for the future may seem taxing, they are often relieving processes that alleviate stress for business owners and employees alike. Here are some of the reasons we encourage clients to start strong in the new year with the aforementioned resolutions:
- Recognizing Problems Early: You never want to carry old problems into a new year. If there are issues such as miscommunication, confusing or inefficient systems, or low employee morale, they should be addressed. Letting issues fester may lead to an exodus of employees, missed deadlines, and unforeseen costs. Uncovering problems early will help you maintain control and confidence in your business throughout 2025.
- Creating a Positive Work Environment: If you’re looking to onboard new employees in 2025, it is important to know that there is a solid foundation available to them. You can also help current employees feel capable and assured in their jobs by making sure you have the right people in the right seats. Things might be working okay at the moment, but if you take the time to recognize your employees’ strengths and weaknesses, you may optimize your team’s satisfaction and productivity. Taking the time to spend time with and get to know your team increases everyone’s trust and confidence in each other.
- Stabilizing For Future Success: Unfortunately, many business owners avoid closely examining their finances, often due to fear of what they might uncover. Others may feel overwhelmed by the complexity of financial data or believe they lack the expertise to fully understand it. Some may even prioritize other aspects of their business, assuming their finances will work themselves out. FFS can help clients take the necessary steps to address their financial fears. Sometimes when you are working to run a business on your own, you have more than enough on your plate with the day-to-day operations of your business and don’t feel you have the time or energy to think about making changes or looking towards the future. Our job is to encourage you to take a brief pause and review each aspect of your business so it can successfully move into the next chapter.
Through Fraction Force Strategies, we help business owners form a clear understanding of their business so their visions for the future can become their reality. Have questions? Reach out to Fraction Force Strategies by phone at (615)-733-9505 or via our website. We look forward to helping you reach your 2025 goals!