It may be hard to believe, but we’re already at the midway point of 2022. And that means it’s a great time to check in on your goals and plans for the year and perform a mid-year small business update. Taking stock of your goals, plans, and business helps you stay on track to finish the year strong.
Take a few minutes to read through our helpful guide to performing a mid-year small business update then make sure to review your goals and plans.
How to Perform a Mid-Year Small Business Update
The slower summer months are a great time to schedule a mid-year update of your goals. Are you on target to hit your goals by the end of the year? If not, you still have time to adjust.
Review and track your progress toward your goals
If you have made quarterly updates on your goals and noted your progress through the year, this step will be easy. Take out your goals and review them. Have you accomplished the interim goals and checkpoints along the way? If you set a goal to achieve a certain metric by the end of the year, are you making steady progress?
Look at these areas to check your agency’s mid-year progress:
- Financial
- Agency operations
- Marketing
- Social media
- Continuing education
- Employee satisfaction
Celebrate successes and move past failures
Find and promote the things your team has already accomplished this year. Celebrating successes makes people want to win more — so be sure to focus on the great things you notice. And when there are failures, move past them quickly by finding the learning lessons and trying something new. Make sure to recognize both success and effort.
Change is a positive thing
Change management theories have shown us that change is a constant — and positive — part of life and business. This holds true for your goals, too. Making changes when you realize a goal isn’t quite working is important. Sometimes people keep doing something that isn’t working for too long because of the work they’ve already done — this is the sunk cost fallacy. Sometimes it’s better to make a change to a new idea or way of working when the old way is failing.
If there is a goal you set that is no longer relevant, it may be time to delete it from your plan or modify it so the goal is a valid target. Make changes to your goals and plans as needed — it is a fluid working document designed to help you stay on track. Changing your strategies can help move your goals forward so don’t be afraid to make changes at the mid-year point.
Make future plans
During your mid-year review, look at your business with an eye on the past and on the future. What do the next six months look like? Consider things like your staffing plan as you head into the last two quarters of 2022. If you have plans to expand, take on new territory or products, or make major changes to your business model, you may need to update your current staffing levels. Similarly, if you plan to reduce business in a certain area in the next few months you might consider waiting to hire new employees.
Don’t forget to focus on yourself
Take time during your mid-year small business update to think about yourself. Consider how you have grown and improved during the first half of the year and what you want to focus on for the remaining six months. Check in on the obvious requirements like your CE credits for your license, but also think about your own professional and personal development. The summer is the right time to register for fall and winter conferences, like the American Agents Alliance’s 2022 Conference & Expo. Don’t let another year pass without pursuing your own goals — and events are a great place to do that!
Move Forward After Your Mid-Year Small Business Update
After reviewing your mid-year progress and thinking about the rest of 2022, it’s time to move forward. Keep making progress toward your goals — and after a mid-year review, many people feel renewed energy and excitement for the rest of the year!
Keep that momentum going as you finish the year strong. If you’re not already a member of the American Agents Alliance, consider adding a membership to your year-end strategy. Member benefits include access to the best networking, discounts on helpful products and services, and educational content designed to empower independent agents and brokers to thrive.
Become a member today!
