The holiday season is approaching, which means you deserve to kick back and take a much-needed break, catch up with mates and spend quality time with your family. However, the tail end of the year is also a time to reflect on the last year of business and plan for the year ahead.

The beginning of a new decade is a new opportunity to find more customers, increase team engagement and be more productive. With this in mind, here’s how to set your tradie business up for success in 2020.

Get your finances in order

There’s no need to go into another year with piles of paperwork waiting for you. As work gets busy throughout the year, it’s easy to chuck receipts in your glove box or leave invoices in a pile on your desk and think “I’ll get to that eventually”. While it’s not the most glamorous of tasks, decluttering your office and work vehicle will help you get a fresh start in 2020.

Throw away any unnecessary receipts, and use your smartphone to take photos of any expenses or invoices that you might need for tax time in 2020. Remember to hop onto your computer as well and organise your folders and spreadsheets, so everything’s ready and sorted for the year ahead.

If you’re looking for a way to cut down on the stress of managing expenses and chasing up invoices, the start of a new decade is the perfect time to embrace technology as a form of trades business assistance. Having the right job management tool eliminates the stress of managing paperwork and chasing up payments — that’s because it stores all your expenses, receipts and jobs in one place for you to access at any moment, either from your smartphone or laptop.

Give your customer service a refresh

You pride yourself on your customer service, and your entire team works hard to keep your customers happy. As work slows down, it’s a great opportunity to give your customer service a refresh for the new year.

Customer service is all about building trust and delivering great work, and having a job management app gives you the upper hand in customer service. It gives you an overview of your entire team’s schedule, which makes it easier to organise your team’s work day and ensure they get to jobs on time. Plus, communication with customers is a breeze — customers simply hop onto the app to check up on the ETA of their job, rather than calling you for an update.

2020 is the moment to finally get on social media. Facebook is an awesome business tool because it helps you connect with existing customers and grow your business. Set up a company page if you haven’t already, post regular company updates, and ask your existing customers to share the love with a review. For more on social media marketing tips for tradies, check out this post.

Check in with your team

As a trades business owner, you do your best to check in with your employees regularly throughout the year. However, sometimes this can fall to the wayside as work piles up. The end of the year is a great time to take a moment and make sure everyone is ready for the new year.

Although you and your team make it a priority to keep your tools in good shape, wear and tear happens — particularly after being put through the hard yards during jobs throughout the year. Conduct a check up to make sure everyone’s toolbox is in good condition, and fix or replace anything that’s seen better days. It’s also a good idea to review your current team’s skills, and arrange for them to do training or get certified in new skills.

As things wind down, remember to make sure your team feels their best going into 2020. Check in with each team member and see if their preferred work days and hours have changed, and see how they’re feeling about work overall. This is also a good time to proactively ask if they have any suggestions or ideas to help you in running a trades business in the future — this could range from apps they’ve come across that they’d like to try out at work, or new professional goals they’d like to achieve in the future.

By getting your finances in order, refreshing your customer service, checking in with your team and getting the right job management app, you’ll work smarter, not harder, in the new year. 

And above all else, remember to celebrate your wins and take some much-needed time for yourself and your loved ones. You’ve worked hard this year — you deserve to relax and unwind, so you’re re-energised and ready to go once 2020 rolls around.

Whether you want to win back time in 2020 or grow your business, Geo is here to help. Try it out yourself for 30 days, free of charge.