Time to archive 2018 and make the best of 2019

The holiday season is already gone and now it’s time to get back to the daily rhythm. Taking the first few days to switch back on working mode and to finish the tasks that usually take place in the beginning of the month, now we are ready. Ready to perform the business analysis of how the past year went and to set SMART goals about archiving in 2019.

Whilst archiving and document management are in our blood, we decided to make an experiment to see what it takes to archive a business year. So, we applied initial steps from our core procedures.

Step 1 – Analyse your business needs.

We asked ourselves three questions in order to know how to archive it:

1. Where did we lose an opportunity and why?
2. How could we be better?
3. Where did we do it right?”

Having these answers gave us an idea on what to focus on, where we have spent too much time and unjustified efforts, what to include in our plan for the next year, what to keep an eye our for and what to improve.

1. Where we lost an opportunity and why?

Having our “why” in the opportunity lost is the first step. We went into even greater detail and listed all stumbling stones: Why didn’t we win the client? Did we done the maximum? Do we have the right people for the job? What did we learn from this?

2. How could we be better?

Could we finish our projects faster? Could we get more answers on our survey? Could we have more recommendations?”

We were specific and went into detail about our procedures, the technology we are using, the machines, the working time, the people in our team, the things we have heard our colleagues are making notes about. Thus we see how we can optimize each and every one.

3. Where did we do it right?

As we are still in the business game, it means we make things right. It is time to analyze all the good decisions we have made and what made them good for us. Did we invest in new equipment and facilities? Did we implement new business ideas? Did we adjust and scale yours? Did we have ROI of your marketing efforts and which ones?

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

Summary and action plan

The answers combined with our goals helped us make the summary and draw the action plan.

Tip:

Take time to analyse your core business needs. List your goals for the next year – include the business and the marketing ones as they are strongly connected.

1. Business goals
   

   Here is where you should include your desired profit, net income, opening new store, buying new machines, team growing, 20% more new clients, etc.

2. Marketing goals
   

   List how you will achieve your business goals. For instance, if you want new clients, you should think about where and how you can meet them, both online and offline. Here, you can find some really great tips from Think with Google to help you meet your ideal customers at the right time and in the right place via social media .
   Hint: Content strategy will continue to be a big thing and this article by Forbes is a proof: 5 trends in content marketing.

3. Financial analysis
   

   In order to check if your business is growing and if it is the right time to make big decisions, you should perform a financial analysis. We found this practical guide that might help you in this respect: https://www.quietlightbrokerage.com/buying-tips/financial-trend-analysis

Organise and Archive

Bear in mind all the things listed in the first part, your successful and unsuccessful actions.

1. Decide what you will use through the next year to achieve your goals – information, machines, staff, technology. Find out why 2019 is the year of mobile experiences and machine learning here
2. Divide in sections. Then put the key components for achieving each goal – as sticky notes or comments. See what you will do and when, set time frames and then consider what type of information or assets you will need to use on daily basis. Is it important for you to find it immediately or you will need it from time to time?
3. Last but not least  – make space – if you want new things to come, you have to make space for them. Forget and put away what is blocking your potential or on what you spend money and time keeping it. In other word, it is time to start archiving in 2019.

So: Sum up, organize and archive.

Action

This step is extremely important. We can make a really great plan but if there is nobody to execute it, then our efforts will yield no result, even we did everything right.

🔎Find the right people

⏭️ Track on your progress do follow-ups on every step

📦Having our mind and house organized thanks to the previous step, we can make the roadmap of the plan and then press on to the destination.

Bonus

And if your plan is already set but you look how to optimize the usage of information, ease your colleagues in their daily tasks, have quick access to concrete document while they are stored and secured off site – we’ve got your back!

And just a small reminder, that if you want things to be different – the first step is changing yourself towards them. Take a look and contact us because we will be happy to find the perfect solution to archiving in 2019 that will help you in unexpected way to achieve your goals.