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Even though I'm self-employed, it doesn't mean I should be going without a year end review. When I worked in the hotel business, I got a review each year. Even though it didn't come exactly at the end of the year, it did cover the entirety of my work year results and achievements and looked ahead to the upcoming year as well.
When I left that industry to head out on my own, I thought it would still be a good thing to keep some sort of year end review in place, even though I would be conducting it myself, for myself. Even though it might be a little more difficult to remain objective in such a review, I'm often my own best -- or worst, depending upon my viewpoint -- critic.
Income Goals
At the end of the year, as I prepare for filing final income tax returns, it is also a good time to review income goals. I can review the ground I've covered for the year, determine whether I've hit or missed the mark with this year's goals, and begin to develop next year's goals as well. This can help me build a budget and make future tax projections.
Productivity Evaluation
I tend to gauge my productivity throughout the year. As the year ends though, I can start to evaluate my total production for the year, watch for seasonal trends, and begin to determine whether my standards were too high, too low or accurate. This can help me build my productivity standards for next year and determine what production methods worked best for me, helping me to focus and develop those that were most beneficial moving forward.
Career Goals
Again, like productivity, while I continuously evaluate my career and where it is heading throughout the course of the year. But taking time to sit down and review the year's goals and where I'm headed moving into next year, is an important aspect of my year end review.
Doing this can help determine the future course of my career, whether I'm being successful as measured by last year's goals, and what might need to change when it comes to how I'm determining where my career is headed.
Budget Standards
Budgets can be an important aspect of both business and personal life. At the end of the year, taking time to review how budgets in both areas have finished up can help to better determine what next year's budgets will be. Not only this, but reviewing high and low points in budget numbers throughout the year can help me find ways to cut, or things for which to be prepared come next year.
Savings Objectives
It's not all about business though when it comes to a year end review. As a self-employed person, I must watch out for my family's personal interests as well. This means that as the year comes to a close, it's also a good time to review how far we've come with our savings objectives.
Answering questions such as whether we met our savings goals, whether we put enough away for retirement savings, if we could have found other ways to save or save more, and similar questions, and reviewing our overall savings strategy as a whole can help us adjust our standards moving forward.
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