Your Business-Success Check List

PUBLISHED MARCH 2024

As the end of the year’s first quarter bears down on us, this is a good time for business owners to reflect on the state of their business and the factors that matter most to their success.

The most successful companies will be those with leaders who are keenly versed in knowing cost structures, focused on core competencies, and understand the market. These fundamental skill sets can equate to successful bottom lines, regardless of your specific industry or economic conditions.

Given this, here are a few steps business leaders can take to keep performance strong in 2024:

Updating Your Business Plan

Regularly reviewing and adapting your business plan is critical to ensure you’re operating in a realistic and nimble manner. When updating a business plan, there are a few best practices to keep in mind.

• Compare last year’s business performance to that of prior years by checking sales results and marketing tactics to spot trends. This will help you determine the best strategies going forward.

• Keep your budget in mind and ensure you are updating salaries, your projections, and any fixed costs or money you’ve used to grow your business over the past year.

• Source feedback from others when updating your business plan. Speak with your employees, your customers, and fellow business owners to get a sense of what’s working well and what needs to be changed to perform better this year.

• Evaluate your customer service offerings. At the end of the day, you want to make sure you’re keeping the customer happy, so look at your strategies, such as loyalty programs, to ensure you’re creating repeat customers.

Evaluate Your Working Capital

One resource that almost all business owners will need is capital—be it from efficiencies and cost reductions or from your bank or the SBA. In Kansas City, Bank of America small business lending is up year-over-year, reflecting confidence and growth amongst market small businesses.

Despite demand, many entrepreneurs face difficulties accessing capital. Traditional bank loans may feel like the strongest capital source, but it’s important to consider that it might not be the best fit for your business. This is where business grants that do not need to be repaid can help bolster your small business finances. Also, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) can be helpful sources of capital for underserved entrepreneurs. AltCap, one of the bank’s partner CDFIs located in Kansas City, has deployed over $800 million in financing to more than 800 small businesses across Kansas and Missouri since 2008. 

Recruiting and Retaining Talent

It’s important to evaluate your hiring or retention processes, as nearly half of small business owners are impacted by labor shortages, according to Bank of America’s 2023 Women & Minority Business Owner Spotlight, often leading to entrepreneurs working more hours and raising wages. Whether it’s sourcing candidates, setting a clear employee growth timeline, or creating an internship program, businesses can explore various ways to bring candidates to the interview table. As talent acquisition grows increasingly competitive, our bankers have also been working with more businesses to offer benefits packages as additional ways to recruit and retain top talent.

The new year is also a great time to recognize your current team and set a positive tone for the year ahead. Take time in the new year to set S.M.A.R.T. expectations and goals for your team—meaning goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. If you didn’t already, it’s also important to acknowledge the great work your team did in the past year, which can serve as a motivating factor for growth.