New Year, Fresh Start
The beginning of the new year is the perfect time to give your business an early spring clean.
From balancing the books to staff training and deep cleaning, now is the time to get cracking to ensure you make this year an even bigger success than last.
Get your accounts in order
After the busiest period of the hospitality and catering year, make sure you are up to date with your admin. There’s nothing more important than making sure the receipts and invoices you need for your tax and VAT returns are in good order, so take time to ensure your accounts are as accurate and organised as possible. You need sound financial information to properly understand what areas of your business have worked well and where you can make improvements.
Look at your financial arrangements
Are you happy with your business bank account, your accountant and other financial services? If not, now is the perfect time to make a change before the new tax year is upon us.
Hold a staff meeting
Sit down with your team and look at what worked well last year; what brought in additional revenue; what actions improved efficiency, and what didn’t work so well. Make a list of 2019’s successes and failures, so you can repeat the former and learn from the latter this year. If you have a staff appraisal programme, get these meetings in the diary asap. If not, consider running staff reviews.
Agree your new year goals
Use the information from your financial assessment and your year-end meeting to plan your strategy for this year. Set out plans for improvements and changes and agree with your team how to achieve them and when by.
Get your calendars organised
Running a comprehensive diary enables you to get a clear picture of the key events for the year like Easter, Father’s Day and bank holidays. Include major sporting dates as well as local events. Plan when you’re going to run your own events and don’t forget to include the deadlines for the goals you’ve set the business.
Look at your staffing
With your calendar completed, map out your staffing requirements and begin any necessary recruitment. If you use an agency to recruit staff, talk to them about your requirements and negotiate a good deal with them.
De-clutter
Throw out or recycle unused materials; fix or jettison broken or damaged fixtures and fittings; sort your freezers and store cupboards and send lost property to your local charity shops. Get rid of plates and glasses you haven’t used in 2019 – if you do need extra in the future, you can always borrow or hire them. In the meantime, they are collecting dust and taking up valuable storage space. Make sure old messages on your telephone and email are deleted and up to date. Make sure the same applies for your website and social media.
Deep clean
• Have a good hard look at your curtains, carpets, bar towels, pictures and POS materials. If they need cleaning, now is the time to get it done.
• If you’ve got company vehicles your customers can see, get them get serviced and valeted – they are mobile advertisements for your business.
• Look at staff uniforms. Do they reflect well upon your business? If not, do something about them – either by buying new kit or setting up a hire contract.
• Is there an area of your business that needs a refresh? If so, far better to do paintwork now, before the busy spring season kicks off.
• Audit the cleanliness of your bar, kitchen, air extraction, storage and waste areas. If a clean is necessary, ask your team to do it or bring in a specialist as soon as possible.
