⁣It’s amazing to think we are almost at the end of a decade ?, and while 2020 always sounded like the distant future, it’s almost here.  While it may be tempting to kick back, relax, and let things go during the festive season, use the end-of-year as an opportunity to take stock of what’s happened during the past 12 months and make plans for the 12 to come.

From getting your finances in order to shaping up your staffing, here are some of the most important activities to do now if you want your fashion business to be ready for the New Year:

1. Run Your Financial Reports

By running your financial reports , you can get a better understanding of how your business is performing financially.  Don’t have an accountant to help out with these tasks?   Software programs like Intuit QuickBooks, FreshBooks, and Wave are great for that.  

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2. Consider Future Goals & Plan

Take a good, hard look at your accomplishments this year. If you aren’t meeting your goals, it might be time to reevaluate your business practices. Perhaps you did not make as much profit as you expected.  Try to figure out why.  Are you using up your cash flow to buy assets? Are too many people owing you money? What worked this year and what didn't?  What do you plan to do differently next year?  How do you plan to minimize cash flow? What lessons did you learn this year that will be detrimental to you next year? It is time to check out your strategy and work on a solid plan to meet your goals for 2020.

5. Work on your online presence

Now is a good time to review your digital strategy, so take some time to look at your engagement statistics and start brainstorming some ideas to improve your numbers.  Monitor your analytics closely. Know what works and what does not work.  Most digital marketers only focus on driving traffic to the site but if it hurts your bounce rate, then you are better off not running as many ads.  And if the traffic does not result into a conversion, it also becomes pointless.  Truth be told, it does take a while before the results from digital marketing are seen but keep at it and watch your metrics carefully.  And more importantly find someone who knows what they are doing. It goes beyond just running social media ads. 

6. Take a Much-Needed Break

As a business owner, you must aim to take a little time for yourself. Plan a few days away from it all when you can relax and recharge.  If you don’t take care of yourself, who will? ? I know it's hard and we are all quilty but one of the most important plans for next year is that break from it all.  The life expectancy rate is reducing and you need to ask yourself if it is all worth it if you end up spending it all on drugs.  stress wrecks a lot of havoc on the system so when your body calls for it, take that break!​

2020 would be a turning point for many fashion brands, and to be a part of those it’s essential you get started now.  Remember the planning starts today not in January.  If you fail to plan, you plan to fail! Get that vision board out, get your budgets done, get the much needed rest and enjoy the holidays so you can start the year off with a bang!