Getting Your Business Ready for the First of the Year

This guest post is brought to you by Outright.com, the easiest way to track your business finances online.Happy New Year! Well, not quite yet, but it’s coming soon. And also coming soon is an opportunity for you to totally rethink your business model.Why would you do that, you may ask? Well, there are undoubtedly components about your business that you may not like. Whether it’s your website, shipping model, or even your products, something about your company may not sit right with you. What better time to fix what ails your business than a brand new year?Here are our suggestions on what to look at when revisiting how you do business in 2012:Revisit InventoryWhile in the thick of the busy selling times, it’s tough to take enough time to really look at WHAT is selling. But you’ve undoubtedly noticed some patterns, and the beginning of 2012 is a good time to act on them.Unless by some miracle every single one of your items is a best seller, you probably have some low hanging fruit you can pluck. Check your sales records and look at what items just aren’t moving. Are you wasting valuable time, marketing and space by offering them? Cut your losses and get rid of them for bigger and better things.On the other hand, what are your big sellers, or at least the ones one the rise? Consider featuring them more – with advertising, featured listings, or offering them as samples to prominent bloggers or journalists – to take advantage of the sales trend.Give Your Website a 2012 MakeoverSpeaking of featuring items, now is a good time to look at your company’s website or online store through fresh eyes.How prominent are your best selling products?What is the first thing new customers see?Where is your contact information and is it fully updated? Have a friend or five (preferably friends who fall into your target audience) look at your website and watch how they browse. Do they miss the menu bar? Are they fascinated by the FAQ rather than the featured best sellers? Then you may have a design problem.Don’t neglect any part of your website – revamp the entire thing if you have to. Make sure there is accurate contact info on every single page so your customers are never left in the dark. Check every link and look at every picture.Also, have you thought about creating a blog (if you don’t have one already...for all those Meylah storefront owners, it's automatically included...yippie!).  With a blog, you can feature new items, company updates, and general fun stuff to bring new customers in. Just make sure to regularly update your blog...even hire a blogger if need be.Look Up Shipping AlternativesBelieve it or not, you may be spending too much on shipping. But there are several options available, and all it takes is figuring out where your customers are.Are they more local? Do they all come from the same area in the country? (If you’re not sure, check out Outright’s Sales by State report to find out!) Do they typically not need your items right away and choose the slowest shipping option? If so, then you may be able to negotiate discounted shipping rates from one of the major carriers.You may also be able to save money on packaging materials. Do you find you spend half your day stuffing boxes? They may be too large, and you may be able to go to a smaller size and save money. Small details like that add up, so pay attention to every aspect of your fulfillment.It’s all up to you to determine what your business needs to make 2012 a great year. Taking an honest look at even the smallest facets of your online business can give you an idea at least where your money comes in and goes out. Only then will you be able to take your company to the next level in the New Year!Is accounting and bookkeeping one of the facets of your business that needs a face list this New Year? Outright automatically imports your financial information from your bank account, PayPal, Meylah, Etsy and more. Sign up today for free Outright.com account through tax season 2012!

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