Readying Your Tomball Small Business for a Successful Fourth Quarter

The fourth quarter is upon us, which means it's time to start wrapping up the year and preparing for the next one. For small businesses, this can be a hectic time. There are year-end goals to evaluate, new goals to set, holiday marketing to plan, inventory to stock up on, and taxes to prepare for. But don't worry—the Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce has got you covered. Here's a quick rundown of what you need to do to get your small business ready for the fourth quarter.

Evaluating Achievements for the Year

The first order of business is to take a look back at the year and see how you did in terms of achieving your goals. This will give you a good idea of what areas you need to focus on in the coming year. If you didn't meet all of your goals, don't despair. Instead, use it as an opportunity to learn and grow. And if you did meet or exceed your goals, congratulations! Use that momentum to fuel your efforts in the next year.

Outlining 2023 Goals

Now it's time to start thinking about what you want to achieve in the coming year. What are your big-picture goals? What are some specific objectives you want to accomplish? Once you have a good idea of what you want to achieve, you can start putting together a plan of action. Remember, though: goals should always be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.

Planning Your Holiday Marketing Push

If you haven't already started planning your holiday marketing, now's the time! The key here is to start early and be prepared. That way, when the holidays roll around, you'll be ready with a well-thought-out plan that will help boost sales and bring in new customers. Not sure where to start? Check out our blog post on holiday marketing tips for small businesses.

Updating Your Website and Social Media Accounts

With the end of the year comes a new beginning—and that means it's time for an update! Make sure your website and social media profiles are up-to-date with your latest products, services, specials, and contact information. This will ensure that potential customers can easily find everything they need when they're looking for it.

Stocking Up Your Inventory Levels

If you sell physical products, now is the time to make sure you have enough inventory on hand to meet customer demand during the holiday season. No one wants to run out of stock right before Christmas! So take inventory of what you have on hand and order more if necessary. This will help keep things running smoothly during one of the busiest times of the year.

Reviewing Your Accounting Methodology

The end of the year is also a good time to review your accounting practices and make sure everything is in order. This includes reviewing your financial statements, reconciling your bank accounts, and preparing any necessary tax documents. Taking care of these things now will save you a lot of headaches come tax season.

Organizing Tax Documents

Speaking of taxes, now is a good time to start organizing all of your tax paperwork so that everything is in one place come April 15th. This may not be the most exciting task on your list, but it's definitely a necessary one! 

You might even want to take pictures of all your tax paperwork, then convert the images to PDFs using this free tool. That’ll help you stay organized and prevent you from having to wade through stacks of paperwork just to find those one or two missing receipts when you’re getting ready to file.

Changing Your Organizational Structure

Finally, if you're thinking about changing your business structure—such as converting from a sole proprietorship to an LLC—now is a good time to do it. Making this change before the end of the year can have some major tax implications come tax season (in a good way!), so it's definitely worth considering if it's something that would benefit your business.

As you can see, there's a lot that goes into getting a small business ready for the fourth quarter! But by taking care of these things now, you'll set yourself (and your business) up for success in the coming year. So get started today—your future self will thank you later!