Business Changing

Profit and Growth Specialist

What you can learn from your last financial year

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End of financial year March 31st painted on the road

End of the financial year is here for us Kiwis (Australians, yours is not too far away in June and North Americans, you’re halfway through yours). A lot of people use New Year’s Eve to take stock of their past year and what goals they’d like to achieve in the coming year, but not many of us put the same effort into our New Financial Year – this year, I encourage you to take time to reflect on your past financial year to help make your future even more successful.

Here are some simple questions for you to ponder and to learn from…

  • What were your learnings from the past year?
  • What could you have personally done better over the past year?
  • What could have gone better overall in your business over the past year?
  • What opportunities did you not make the most of?
  • What are you embarrassed about not having sorted in your business?
  • What are you proud of from the past year’s performance?
  • Any other major wins to note?
  • Personally, what new habits did you create?
  • So what is on your list of ‘I/we must do this differently over the next year’?
  • And what is on your list of ‘I/we must keep doing this over the next year?’
  • How much will you push yourself and your business (and team) over the next 12 months?
  • Consider making some New Financial Year goals – how high will you go? Will you create a mix of realistic, stretch, or impossible?

Last question: knowing how much you want to push yourself over the next 12 months (I’d encourage you to push yourself here!), what will you do to give yourself the best chance of achieving these goals? What will you focus on, what changes will you make, what habits will you create…

Do you know what sort of people have the best chance of achieving their New Year’s resolutions or goals? Those who voice them aloud and share them with others – it holds them accountable. I encourage you to do the same with your New Financial Year resolutions and goals – email me on zac@businesschanging.com if you’d like to share how your past year has done and what you want to achieve for the year ahead. I’ll reply with my thoughts on how to maximise your next year’s performance.

What did you think of the exercise above? If you like this sort of thinking, you would love our two-day business planning and strategy workshops we run monthly across NZ and Australia. Over two days we walk through the important areas of your business, asking questions like those above and sharing examples from successful businesses. You’ll leave with a written business plan that gives you total clarity on your business. Check out www.businesschanging.com/workshops.

The above questions are a direct copy and paste from some www.accountabilityme.com questionnaires. Accountability Me is SAAS that asks you questions you should be asking in your business. It facilitates you to think on your business and to move forward, knowing your priorities and what will make a difference to your business. Of course, it adds some accountability to you as well, the biggest factor in anyone’s success – doing what you’ll say you’ll do!

Wishing you a very successful next 12 months!

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  • "The business planning workshop run by Zac is a great opportunity to challenge existing thinking in your business and take results to the next level. The workshop was well thought out and provided a structured environment to channel ideas and ambitions. Zac has the perfect presenting style allowing for plenty of interaction amongst your team and networking with other business from a variety of backgrounds. Highly recommended"
    Gray Borell, Novii
  • "Transformational… Revolutionary… Awesome… Take your pick! Our business looks nothing like it did just three months ago – our brand is visible in the market, there’s a buzz about what we are doing, doors are opening and our heads are in the game. Business Changing changes business for the better… I’m very very thankful we met – my only regret is that we didn’t seek you out sooner!"
    Nick Brown, Huffman Sauces
  • "Zac has also become a key enabler and contributor to us working towards the development of both our employee engagement and customer experience roadmaps. Kotahi is a new and fast-paced environment and it has been great to have Zac as a trusted advisor to both myself and the CEO. He has a no-nonsense and solid experience-based approach to his consulting style. I have enjoyed working with Zac and look forward to continuing on our engagement journey with the support of Business Changing”
    Jay Padden, HR General Manager, Kotahi
  • "Zac has given myself and the business a real sense of clarity, and a better sense of day-to-day achievement for myself and the team. Zac’s ability to ask questions that are relative and beneficial have helped me grow the business and my self-awareness and create a more enjoyable workplace. Give Zac an inch and he’ll take you a mile!”
    Mathew Phelan, New World Churton Park
  • "Zac’s business workshop totally exceeded my expectations. The two days are well planned out to ensure your thought process takes you through the various stages needed to question why you are in business, where your business currently is at and where you want your business to be. Provoking questions, explanations, stories, presentations from successful entrepreneurs and of course Zac’s personal attention ensure you walk away with a clear and dynamic business plan. The venue was perfect, the lunch and refreshments sublime."
    Rachel Kann, IQ Property Management
  • "Great two-day workshop that gives you a chance to reflect on your business, and focus on key points that need to be addressed to maximize your effectiveness and outcomes. The workshop was both entertaining and informative and really helped us to think about how we might navigate Covid / post-Covid, and plan out our next few years to guide the direction of the business. Food and hospitality was also great. Highly recommended!"
    Nelson Raynor, Isle of Eden
  • "Zac is incredibly insightful, inspiring and has been absolutely vital in contributing to the growth of my business. He's made me think beyond my goals and really given me the push my business has strived for."
    Bex Riley, Tosca Salome