Fall Cleaning Checklist for Your Business

Autumn is here, the holidays are just around the corner and daylight savings time ends on November 4th. Now is a great time to take a little breather and do a little fall cleaning for your business.

Don’t panic, I’m talking about grabbing a mop or the dust buster – these are a few more pragmatic items for your checklist that we never seem to find the time to complete, but each one make your life more organized and efficient at work.

1. Gather up all those business cards you have in piles, drawers, etc. and scan them into your data base. Shame on you if you are entering them manually!
2. Now go through that data base and clean it up. Do you have someone’s name in there five times? Do you have names you have no idea who they are? Clean it up and re-sync all your gadgets. Do a few each day and you will be done in no time.
3. Get rid of all the stack of papers sitting around (or worse magazines). If you were waiting to go through them to see what was important – it is too late now. If they have been sitting there for more than 3 months – chances are you are not going to use them. (Caveat: Do a quick look to make sure you aren’t throwing away the deed to the building!)
4. If you do Social Media for your business – set up a planning calendar so you know what you want to share and when. Remember it is not all about the business, but about the customer / client. What would help them?
5. You know you are going to be busy – probably already are – especially if you are in retail. Make sure all events for your business and the family is on one calendar until at least the end of the year.
6. Can’t find anything on your computer? Again do a little each day, but go through your files and consolidate or delete. I find I have 15 iterations of my business card on my computer – (yes I still print them myself and will address that in next item) – and it takes forever to find the right one.
7. Review those things you are doing now that at one time saved you money. Does it still make sense? Or, should you start outsourcing? Things like bookkeeping, printing your own business cards, envelopes, updating your website, administrative duties, doing your own social media can all be performed by others and if you consider your time and actual money you might be able to outsource and spend more of your valuable time growing your business.
8. Long Summer – Are you a little stressed? Now is the time to have your Happy Face on. Take a little time to recharge – do something that is just for you and that relaxes you. Consider doing the same for your employees – they need to be at full strength also.

Now that you have completed your fall cleaning – enjoy the coming holiday season at your business.

Cathy Shull is owner of Sage Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in serving business, nonprofits and government in rural areas. Sage Strategies delivers services in Social Media; Project Management; Business Coaching; Strategic Planning, Nonprofit Management, Facilitation and Event Planning. Her motto is “Supporting Our Rural Roots & Growing Economies in Our Own Backyard”. @SageStrategies www.sagestrategies.biz www.facebook.com/sagestrategies http://sagestrategies.wordpress.com