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What is going well for you in business right now? What could be improved? I’m sharing exactly how you can perform a mid-year review so you can go into the last half of the year with a bang like the boss you are.

Grab your Mid-Year Review Workbook here!

Grab your Mid-Year Review Workbook here!

We are officially at the midway point for 2023, so let me ask you this: are you on track with the goals that you set at the beginning of the year way back in January?

If not, have no fear.

We are going to press pause today, do a quick mid-year review together, and determine what's working, what's not working, and how you can move forward and plan for the final half of 2023.

It’s so powerful to make an intention to do this review before the middle of the year comes so you can really hit the ground running from July to December. Plus this is just such a nice bit of quiet time you can use to review and reflect.

This is one of the practices that I feel entrepreneurs often forget to do because we get so in the day-to-day of our business. We're in the weeds: working with our clients, fulfilling orders, growing our business, and we forget that we made a plan, we set goals at the beginning of the year.

But if we're not regularly checking in on that plan, checking in on those goals, then it's really easy to find yourself off track or not even know where you are in relation to that plan that you originally created.

So I want to walk you through this process today of doing a mid-year review. Make sure you use the free workbook!

Let’s get started on the review framework

So today, I want to give you a framework—a series of questions—to assist you in determining whether or not you are on track with your goals for the year. Now, the good news is that even if you're slightly behind or have deviated from your plan because such situations occur, many of us must adapt and adjust our plans. With so much happening in the world, there are numerous factors that can impact our businesses. As small business owners, we are typically the first ones to experience the effects of economic uncertainty or a potential recession, and now we are the first ones to feel those hardships.

So, I want you to know as you go into this mid-year review, that it's okay to pivot. It's okay to adapt and make adjustments. These are challenges that every business, whether they are large corporations or small-scale micro-businesses, is currently facing.

Check in with your goals

So the first thing we want to ask ourselves as we review our progress is, What were the goals that you set at the beginning of the year?

Now, if you're uncertain about those goals, I encourage you to develop the habit of writing them down and keeping them in a place where you can revisit them regularly.

Also, it's crucial to limit the number of annual goals for your business, preferably keeping it to a maximum of five. This is important because having too many goals can spread you too thin, making it difficult to maintain focus and dedicate sufficient time, energy, and attention to each one.

Retrieve your goals from the beginning of the year and evaluate the progress you've made. (If you haven't set any goals for this year yet, don't worry. Now is the time to set some goals for the rest of the year.)

Once you have your goals in front of you (ideally five or fewer, focusing on your top goals for the year), go through each goal on your list and ask yourself the following questions:

What is this goal?
Did I achieve it, or am I on track to achieve it?
And why or why not?

Sometimes, when we lack the bandwidth, we have to put certain goals on hold or let them go entirely. This year, I have had to do that with several of my goals. In the first half of the year, I struggled to do more live videos, and as I enter the second half, approaching my due date in my third trimester and focusing on preparing my business for maternity leave, it will be extremely challenging to prioritise lives. I need to reevaluate that specific goal and determine if it still aligns with my priorities.

You may also encounter similar situations where certain goals are not essential to achieving your overall business vision. That's why these reviews are crucial. They provide an opportunity to reassess the alignment and relevance of your goals.

Now that you have gathered all the data and insights, including revenue sources and percentages, it's time to regroup and reflect on the information.

Reflect & regroup

Now, we actually want to pull it together and get some insights that we can use to move forward. So first of all, what has worked so far this year? What's worked in your business for you? What offers were the most profitable for you?

You might be surprised when you look at your numbers and your percentage breakdown of where revenue comes from. Did you have an offer that performed really, really well? Did you have an offer that makes up the bulk of your revenue? Do you have something like that something that really is the foundation that your business is built on?

Then you want to ask yourself when you've looked at your income, what marketing strategies or sales strategies produce the best results for you? I think this is so important to track on a regular basis. So you're really really clear because once you land on a marketing system that is working a sales system that is working, then you don't have to reinvent the wheel anymore. You don't have to add more and more and more, you just have to go all in and optimise it.

You also want to ask yourself what flopped this year. What offers didn't work well, and what marketing strategies didn't work? This is so important to ask ourselves as well because sometimes we do things we feel like we have to do and not because it actually generates results for us.

We want to be really discerning about where we are putting our energy.

It’s also worth noting that things are shifting; the economy changing has impacted how people are thinking about purchasing things.

Let me outline a few purchasing trends I've noticed:

Slower buying processes: People seek clarity and informed purchasing decisions.
Attention-grabbing is challenging: Captivating and maintaining people's attention has become harder due to changing consumption patterns influenced by platforms like TikTok.
Shift towards balance and enjoyment: There's a transition from a 24/7 mindset to valuing sustainability, long-term results, and happiness.
Establishing trust is more difficult: People exhibit more scepticism towards learning and trust-building.
Demand for niche solutions: Individuals search for specific expertise rather than broad offerings.

This isn't just about the online education space, people are slowing down and being more intentional. They want to feel 100% sure that someone is for them before putting down their cards to pay. Maybe this has impacted how effective your marketing and sales strategies are. It might not mean that your marketing or sales strategies need to be completely thrown out, it could be that there's more to this than you might have initially thought.

So as you're asking yourself these types of questions, as you're going through the mid-year review workbook, I want you to be really focused on what is working, and how you can be more discerning about where you're putting your time, energy and your attention.

give yourself some breathing space

As we are looking through our mid-year review, I want you to ask yourself, what got in your way? Be gentle with yourself here.

Is there anything that held you back from seeing the results that you wanted? Was there a circumstance or something outside of your control? Was there a lack of resources? Was there a lack of time was there a lack of energy? What held you back?

It's so important to ask yourself these questions and align your business to support you even when you're going through challenges. If we only plan for success in a scenario where every single thing is perfect, we aren't really planning for success because nothing is perfect. Our life is never going to be perfect.

We need to work ahead and give ourselves that wiggle room and that buffer so that when things go wrong we have a little bit of bandwidth.

review your revenue gap

Is there a gap between your revenue goals and your current progress?

If you're ahead, that's fantastic—celebrate your success! If you're on track, reward yourself with something enjoyable. However, if you find yourself falling behind, it's important to remember that it's okay to have gaps in your goals. In fact, achieving 100% of your goals all the time may indicate that you haven't set challenging targets that push you to grow. It's normal not to be 100% on top of all your goals; even I’m not. There will always be ups and downs.

Now, let's discuss how you can catch up on those goals and close the revenue gap. Do you need to close the gap, or can you accept it? Consider the simplest and easiest ways to close the gap. Perhaps you need to run another promotion or take on additional clients. Alternatively, you might decide to focus on a larger promotion later in the year. The decisions you make should align with your personal definition of success and what works best for you.

During my maternity leave, I anticipate having a gap in my business, but I'm preparing for it and planning to bounce back like a boss.

The goal is to build a highly profitable and predictable business. This means avoiding the need to constantly create new promotional, marketing, and sales strategies every month. Instead, find what works for you and double down on it. Rinse and repeat your successful strategies, continually seeking ways to improve them.

When it comes to attracting potential clients and customers, choose one core method and commit to it for the next six months. It takes time to see results, so be patient.

Consider your sales process. While it doesn't need to be overly complex, it should be standardised and repeatable. Depending on your business, your sales mechanism may involve proposals, live pitches, or other methods. Find what works for you and establish a process that you can consistently follow. If you prefer live launches, prioritise them. Remember, simplicity is key—it doesn't have to be a complicated, multi-step funnel. Emails, content, and optional sales calls can be effective.

Looking ahead, set revenue goals for each month of the remaining year. Keep in mind that income may fluctuate from month to month, even in businesses with consistent clients It's normal for months to vary in terms of income due to factors like promotions or increased sales.

let’s recap

Make sure to utilise the workbook when conducting your mid-year review. Use it as a way to ensure you're on track to achieve your goals.

I want to emphasise that you can rinse and repeat what has already proven to work. Instead, I encourage you to do the majority of the hard work upfront, about 80% of it. Then, when you run your marketing promotions or go through the sales process again, it only requires about 20% of the effort because you're making small tweaks and adjustments.

By keeping things simple and aiming for a rinse-and-repeat approach, you can leverage what worked well in the first six months. Run that successful promotion again with a couple of emails and make a few minor tweaks. You can even layer on additional sales strategies if desired.

Let’s make it as simple as possible so we can be bosses with ease!