7 Ways to Have a Strong 4th Quarter Finish

You deserve to have a strong 4th quarter finish. It’s time to harvest what you have reaped all year.

If you still need to sew some seeds to accomplish goals, we recommend the following:

1. Determine priorities. What are absolute “musts” for the rest of the year? Don’t pick too many. It is better to having a feeling of accomplishment than push too hard and miss out on the other good things that happen this time of year. Choose priorities that have a strong meaning to you and the growth of your business or that you will lose out if you don’t do something before the end of the year.

2. Set a personal goal for yourself  — not related to business and put it on the calendar as to when you want to accomplish it. Make sure it gets done. The reason to be a business owner is to have some rewards for yourself.

3. Now, consider those business priorities you set. Turn them into specific goals that are measurable and observable. What will it take in terms of time, energy, and money to accomplish them? Do you have what it takes? If not, your first step is to arrange things so you do. Put some things on hold or scrap them. See if you can find an ally or an easier solution than you originally planned. Do you have to do it or can you make less money but gain more time if someone else does it? Plan first, do second.

4. Watch what is going on around you. You will frequently see others flailing about, shooting from the hip, trying things before thinking things through. Don’t make their mistakes. Believe me, the odds are not in their favor that they will come up with the right answer.

5. Celebrate small accomplishments. If you break each big goal into small tasks first, then you can see progress quicker. This is a great motivator to keep you and your staff going. To big a bite and you might get discouraged.

6. Finally, be sure to stop and smell the pumpkin, mince, or apple pie. Life is too short not to enjoy the season. Be thankful for your friends, family, customers, vendors, employees, and community. They make everything worthwhile.

7. Finally, remember what English author, teacher and tutor George Gissing said: ” Money is just tokens of perspiration.” And our moral for this month comes from the Wall Street Journal: “Money: An article which may be used as a universal passport to everywhere except heaven, and as a universal provider of everything except happiness.”