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Want to know how to prepare your business for a successful fourth quarter (or Q4)? When it comes to quarters there can be a lot of pressure on the fourth, and final, quarter. Whether you need to have a record quarter to hit your annual goals or you want to continue to keep outperforming yourself you are in the right place. Keep on reading to find out how to prepare your business for a successful fourth quarter (or Q4)?
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Business growth looks different for every business. For some business revenue will continue to grow month on month. However, it is also very common to hit a revenue plateau and it can happen at any stage of business. So whether you are just starting your business and struggling to grow, or whether you’ve been growing your business well and for some reason have now hit a revenue plateau in your business I’m here to say it is normal and it can be overcome.
Why is the fourth quarter (Q4) so important?
Really every single quarter is important, but in business, there is a lot of emphases put on the final quarter because it is usually where annual targets are achieved (or not). For many businesses, the fourth quarter is seen as the home straight. It is the time to get your head, do the work, make big sales and end the year on a high!
HOW TO PREPARE YOUR BUSINESS FOR A SUCCESSFUL FOURTH QUARTER (OR Q4)?
Step 1: Review your annual goals (or targets)
If you set annual goals (or targets) for your business, then before you do anything else you need to review them. As I mentioned earlier, the reason why the fourth quarter is so important to businesses is because it is the last stretch in the annual race. However, it isn’t unusual for a business (especially when it is a solo-owned or micro business) to have forgotten what the annual goals even were. Now I’m hoping you did set some goals (and if you didn’t please make sure you do next year). Dig those goals out and review your performance. Look at how the business is performing in relation to each goal. If you’ve already achieved an annual goal – fantastic! For all other goals you should be assessing them based on the fact you are three-quarters through the year and deciding whether you are behind where you should be right now, on track, or ahead of schedule.
Step 2: Set your quarterly goals
Now that you’ve reviewed your annual goals and understand exactly what needs to be done in relation to those goals to achieve them by the end of the year it is time to write your quarterly goals. Achieving the quarterly goals should be ultimately helping you achieve (or even better smash) your annual goals.
For example, if your goal was to work 1-to-1 with 50 clients and so far you’ve worked with 30 then it means your goal for the fourth quarter is to work with 20 clients.
When it comes to goals that include numbers it is usually fairly easy to work out what you need to do in order to ensure your fourth quarter goal allows you to achieve your annual goals. However, you might have other goals that aren’t numbers focused (revenue goals, number of clients, email subscribers), but around a specific activity such as launch a new service, roll-out your rebrand or be featured in the media. In this instance, since you are in the fourth quarter it is likely that the goal will still be the same as when you set it for an annual goal, but hopefully, you are closer to achieving it.
Step 3: Set your reward in advance
I’m a big believer in making it clear to yourself how you’ll reward yourself when you achieve your goal at the same time as setting your goals. Now I hope that the goals you are setting for your business are satisfying enough to motivate you, but there is nothing like an added incentive. Your reward should be something that gets you excited.
Step 4: Create a plan
You know what you’ve got to achieve and you know what the reward will be you’ve achieved the goal. So now it is time to start making a plan to achieve that goal. In Step 1 I told you to work out whether you were behind, on track or ahead of where you should be at this point in the year. This was useful for setting your fourth quarter goals, but it is also important when it comes into planning. If you were on track or ahead you could argue that what you’ve been doing so far has been working. Therefore when it comes to planning it probably looks similar to previous plans. However, if you were behind then you need to take this planning stage serious.
If you are behind on your goals there are usually two reasons. Firstly, you’ve been taking action but not getting the results you desire. Secondly, you haven’t been taking the necessary action. If you think you fall into the first category it is time to shake things up. Write down everything you think you could do to achieve the goal. Then you need to identify which actions can happen straight away and which need something else to happen. Then you can start making a week-by-week plan.
One of the beauties of planning for a quarter is that it isn’t that long a time frame. This means you can get super detailed in your week-by-week plan about the exact actions you need to take. Now at beginning of the quarter, you might not know everything you need to do, but just try and make the plan as detailed as possible and you can continue to add as the quarter goes on.
5. Get some external accountability in place
If you are committed to ensuring that your business has a successful fourth quarter (Q4) then you should seriously consider getting some accountability to ensure you follow through with your plan. Now some people are able to hold themselves accountable, but for most people, external accountability is what really makes the difference (especially if some of those actions in your plan are scary).
There are numerous ways you can get accountability. You can get it via an accountability partner, within a membership group, within a mastermind or from my working 1-to-1 with coach/consultant/mentor.
I’m a bit of an accountability queen so if you are looking for some accountability here is how I can hold you accountable.
Work with me 1-to-1
When you sign up for my 1:1 Business and Marketing Mentoring programme you get unlimited accountability through Voxer. Whether you need check-ins on a daily or weekly basis I’ll be by your side helping you to remember the plan you are meant to be following and holding you accountable for taking the necessary actions. Find out more about my 1:1 Business and Marketing Mentoring programme here.
Join my Clubhouse Room
Every Thursday at 5pm UK time I host a room called ‘Entrepreneurs: Wins and Wine’. Everyone has the opportunity to join the stage and share what they would be held accountable for doing over the next week. To join the room follow me @charellegriffith and then come join in on Thursdays at 5pm UK time.
6. Take action and review your progress
By this point you should be prepared to have a successful fourth quarter (or Q4) but if you really want to have a successful fourth quarter you are going to have to do the work. You’ll need to follow your plan and review your progress along the way. Don’t wait until the last week to review your progress. You have a week-by-week plan so check in weekly with your progress.
Ask yourself “Are the actions I’m taking giving me the results I want?” and “Am I still on track to hit my fourth quarter goals?”.
Asking yourself both of these questions on a weekly basis will ensure that you are reviewing your progress and can quickly make changes if necessary.
There you have it! You’ve now know how to prepare your business for a successful fourth quarter (or Q4).
As I said at the beginning the fourth quarter is final stretch. It is the time where you can give it your all and the end the year on a high. Just imagine sitting down at the end of the year, enjoying your rewards and knowing you business has done well this year. You can take a nice break over the festive period and come back refreshed and raring to go in the new year.
I hope you’ve found reading this blog post and in the comments I’d love to hear about what you are going to do next to ensure you have a successful fourth quarter.
WANT HELP TO HAVE AN AMAZING FOURTH QUARTER AND END YOUR YEAR ON A HIGH?
I work with solopreneurs and (super) small service-based business owners to get clear on their business goals and then implement the right growth, marketing and sales strategies to achieve build a thriving business that supports the lifestyle they want.
When you work with me I’m by your side every step of the way helping you to create your action plans, prioritise your actions, review your progress and hold you accountable.
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