2nd Quarter Business Planning Checklist
Planning for Q2 for Your Small Business
At CCS, we have created a Second Quarter Quarter Business Planning Checklist to help you and your team stay on top of your business goals, maximize efficiency, and plan for whatever comes your way.
For this checklist, we’re going to focus on a few things:
Reviewing the past quarter
Previous goals
Current goals
SWOT Analysis
With Q2 marking the middle of the year, it’s important to take what you learned about your business in Q1 for the year and use it to set your business up for a successful second half after Q2. Let’s dive in!
Review the Previous Quarter
Take the time to review your business's Q1 statistics. What goals did you set for yourself for the year? How realistic do these goals seem after Q1? What changes can or need to be made for the next quarter? Were there areas where you went above and beyond? Where was the bulk of your profit coming from? Results from Q1 can help you visualize the best path for your business to take in Q2 to set your business up for success for the rest of the year.
What are Your Current Goals?
Taking into account what you set out to accomplish in Q1, what are your goals for Q2? If, after Q1, you realized some of your goals may not be realistic, then what adjustments need to be made? It’s okay to fall short of goals you set for your business to an extent, as long as you know how to turn those missed goals into new opportunities!
Each quarter presents its own set of challenges and tasks. For example, Q2 is prime time to plan for summer, which, depending on your business, may be either your busiest or slowest time. For businesses geared towards tourism, outdoor activities, or seasonal items and activities, this is when your business thrives. For other businesses, this may be a period of reduced profits and tasks. Taking the time to plan for your business' needs is essential to ensure that resources aren't spent where they aren’t needed, or vice versa, to ensure your funds are correctly allocated to meet demands. Failing to plan accordingly for this could have a drastic impact on your business in the second half of the year, so it's best to plan ahead.
Some things that your goals should be around this quarter are:
Marketing- What does your marketing budget look like? What’s trending, and how can you use it to your advantage? Any sales planned?
Customer traffic your business experiences - As mentioned above, what kind of traffic will your business experience? How will you plan around this?
Product planning- Figure out what products will be available and when. Anything new coming out? How do you plan on announcing it?
SWOT Analysis
Each quarterly plan should include a SWOT analysis, so in case you haven't seen our business planning checklists for First Quarter Business Planning, Third Quarter Planning, Fourth Quarter Business Planning, here is a breakdown of what your SWOT analysis is and what it should have.
SWOT analysis reviews multiple aspects of your business and can help pinpoint where your focus is needed. SWOT identifies opportunities to target and also indicates where you may need to allocate more or less resources to address any issues your business is experiencing. When completing a SWOT, make sure to limit cognitive bias and approach the exercise with an open mind. If you don’t want to see something, you won’t see it - so an open mind to see whatever the SWOT shows you - it imperative .
A SWOT analysis covers strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and trends. Let’s dive into some examples of each area:
Strengths (internal factor)
Strengths are how your small business succeeds, and what helps your business achieve goals. Some examples of strengths for your business could be:
Brand and Reputation - How your community and customers view your business. Your reputation can increase your retention rates and, therefore, increase revenue over time. Being visible in the community, supporting your community, and online reviews can help with branding, credibility, and reputation.
Key services or products - notable features your business has that make you stand out such as a quality focus.
Systems - The systems and processes you have in place to help your small business run smoothly. Your processes can automate tasks, simplify analytics, maximize efficiency, and keep it all organized.
Employees - staff or team members that help make your small business stand out
Machinery and/or equipment your business uses
Clean and efficient facilities
Weaknesses (internal factor)
These are areas your business is struggling in and needs attention. Some examples are:
Bad customer service - No one wants to do business with someone who treats them poorly.
High costs with low profits - Finding a balance between what you spend and how much you earn is essential.
Bad location - Location can make or break a business due to an inability to reach those it markets towards.
High turnover rates - It costs a lot more to hire new team members than it does to maintain current ones.
Little or no marketing - marketing brings in the right customers (target markets) and without marketing tactics - people do not know your small business exists. We call them marketing buckets - you want to have a solid foundation and build it from there with marketing that hits the sales pipeline at different timings - short term and long term. Most businesses need at least 5 marketing tactics to reach sales goals such as online ads, social, networking and community involvement, referral process, and website SEO. The specific tactics and the number of tactics needed vary by business, industry, product or service, and other factors.
Opportunities (external factor)
These are areas where your small business can take advantage of to improve and expand. Some examples of important opportunities to look out for are:
Target market discoveries
New technology or automation
Discovering new markets or areas where your business can fill the gap
Diversify products or services based on an upcoming trend
Threats (external factors)
These are outside factors that pose a risk to your business, one way or another. Some examples are:
Competition - businesses or products that are in the same market as you.
Tight credit market - Interest rates and borrowing power for loans could pose a risk for some businesses.
New taxes and business regulations - New taxes and other regulations can significantly impact a business if not properly planned for.
Vendor pricing - Vendor prices are one of the many things we see rising.
Market saturation - How many products and services are similar to yours? Too much of a good thing is a bad thing!
Trends (additional factor)
Changes in the market, industry, consumer habits, and overall processes (such as the rapid evolution of AI). These are external factors that your business should research over time to stay informed about current developments. These trends can change rapidly, so it's essential to keep on top of them as much as possible.
Your SWOT analysis is a vital tool that you can use whenever you want to help identify opportunities and threats to your small business. We recommend making it a consistent part of your business planning, since SWOT analysis can provide valuable insights.
More SWOT resources:
Comprehensive Consulting Solutions for Small Businesses is a business consulting firm based in Northwest Arkansas, providing consulting and coaching services to business owners nationwide. We help small businesses with the pieces of their small business puzzle, such as marketing, operations, retention, sales, processes, recruiting, and more. Our founder, Mollie Watkins, is an Accredited Small Business Consultant® – the only one in the state of Arkansas. If your business needs help with a SWOT or has a current or upcoming transition, challenge, or opportunity, call a Small Business Consultant today at 479-935-2488 to schedule your free consultation!
