1. Review Your Bookkeeping

Nothing is worse than getting to the end of the year and diving into your bookkeeping for the first time for the year. Saving your bookkeeping until the end of each year will mean you’re buried under a pile of dozens of bank statements and thousands of line items.

I like to reconcile my books at the end of each month so I’m never behind or overwhelmed come tax time, but I also like to use mid-year as an additional check-in point for myself in the year.

• Look at revenue and expenses for the year so far
• Reconcile your transactions
• Cancel any unwanted or unused subscriptions (do this on the personal side, too!)
• Make any additional transfers you need to make (like to your tax account, profit account, etc.)
• Check in on total expenses for the year so far
• Check in on total revenue for the year so far
• Check in on your take-home pay/salary for the year so far.

Make any necessary adjustments to help yourself stay or get on track for the second half of the year.

2. Review offers, products, and services

Mid-year is a great time to review what’s working, what needs to pivot, and what needs to go.

• Which offer is bringing in the most money?
• Which offer is bringing in the least?
• Which offers bring you the most joy?
• Which offers do you enjoy the least?

Take some time to sit with the inner workings of your business to decide what can stay, what needs more of your attention and marketing efforts, and what needs to go so that it’s not taking up your time & attention anymore.

3. Marketing and Sales Strategy

Now that you’ve reviewed what your business will offer in the second half of the year, you can review the marketing and sales strategies behind what is staying on your offerings menu.

• What activities bring more eyeballs to your offers?
• What activities are not working?
• What offers get the most inquiries?
• What offers get the least inquiries?
• What do you enjoy marketing the most?
• The least?
• What feels easiest to invite people into?
• What feels the most awkward to invite people into?

Focus your attention and efforts on what feels best/easiest. Chances are that’s you’re money-maker anyway 😉

4. Review Your Schedule

I like to scan my schedule for white space. If I’m not careful, I will easily fill my calendar with to-dos, essentially erasing all white space which is no bueno for me, my mental health, or the longevity of my business.

Midyear, I like to review all of my public calendars, recurring client meetings, and my personal calendar to make sure it still fits into the flow of my day and my life.

I almost always make a schedule adjustment with each new season, but I like to take a pause mid-year to look ahead and pre-empt any changes ahead of time.

5. Personal + Team Development

Personal development is a huge component to business success. As I’ve always said, your business will never outgrow you. Meaning, your business success will fall or rise to your own personal growth and development.

• What situations bring you the most stress in your business?
• What thoughts do you find yourself defaulting to most regularly?

The answers to those questions may uncover where more opportunities for personal growth and development are hiding.

The midyear mark is also a great time to review your team and company culture.

• What things does your team need from you in order to succeed?
• Are there any recurring meetings that have lost their purpose and can be re-imagined?
• Does pay or commission structure need to be revisited?
• Does anyone deserve a raise or a bonus?
• Are there any new components you’d like to introduce to your team? Example: idea generation meetings, brainstorm sessions, etc.

To review your company’s culture, you can host a meeting or send out short surveys to your team members.

• What does it feel like to log in or show up for work?
• What to-dos and tasks, if any, keep you up at night?
• Are there any skills or talents you feel we haven’t leaned into yet?
• Is there anything you’d like to remove from your plate?
• Is there anything you’d be excited to add to your plate?

I regularly audit my business and my personal life, but a mid-year check-in is one of my favorite times to get a broad perspective of what’s been working well for the year so far and what needs to pivot to close the year out the way I’d like to. Give a mid-year review a try!