Running a successful business requires an owner to stay organized in every area of the company. This is why a monthly small business checklist is important.

After running a company for eight years, I learned that checklists are my saving grace to not forget to do all the things needed to keep things flowing smoothly. If I keep things only in my head, well good luck to me and I will forget them for sure!

There are many things we can do in business, but there are things that will keep you sane if you do them monthly. I can create a very long checklist of everything that needs to be done to run a business, but this would be a much more extensive list for another day. This list is a MUST DO list. You will not sink the ship if you just follow this mini list. These 5 things kept me going as a business owner.

5 Things To Do Monthly

Here is the monthly small businss checklist.

Review Previous Month’s Budget

Know your numbers! This is one of the most important things you will do in your business for survival.

There are many studies about how the lack of money ruins relationships, breaks up marriages and closes down businesses. Why? Poor money management. If you are going to learn to do anything, learn to do a budget in your small business.

I really disliked, with a great passion, when I heard the word budget until I saw what it did for me in the business in a positive way.

Where do you start?

There are two things to start documenting:

1. How much money are you making? Every dollar from selling your product or service must be documented.
2. How much money are you spending? Write down every dollar you are spending on the business. Rent, utility bills, office paper, toilet paper, coffee with your client, payroll, owner pay…I mean every dollar you spend must be written out.

Once you have all those written out, now you are ready to do some simple math.

Take a close look. Is what you are making less than what you are spending? If so, you have a problem! There needs to be some changes made. Your business is sinking because it has no money to sustain itself. Start thinking about how to make more sales and cut down some of the expenses. This is your first step.

If your spending is less than your expenses, congratulations! Your small business is making enough money to pay the bills and more.

This is the most important step in your company. You will know how to manage your money well if you understand what comes in and out of your bank account. You will sleep better at night! Add this to your small business checklist.

Create a New Budget for Next Month

Now, don’t stop at just reviewing your budget from the previous month. Make sure you look ahead. Start creating a budget for the next month.

The first week of every month is when I start creating a budget for that month. I suggest that you do what is better for you. Before the month starts or after it starts, that doesn’t matter. As long as you are doing it.

There are two things to list in a budget – expenses and profit (everything you earn).

If you have an existing business, you can take all your expenses and list those the same way. Take a few moments to think if you will have any other business expenses in this particular month that will be different than the previous month. List all the money going out of the business.

Now we can list all the money that we will earn – profit. This is where you will need to guesstimate. Some businesses have booked and prepaid services or appointments, while others are dependent on retail sales and will not know what they will make until the end of the month. That was my business. I had a food business and everything was dependent on what sales I made that day. I had to always predict based on previous years of experience what my sales would look like this month.

If you are a brand-new business and do not have any numbers to base your prediction on, you will have to do things a bit differently. Think about how well you advertised your business, any services booked but not paid yet, or orders placed that will get picked up that month. These will give you something to count on as you see what kind of profit you could potentially make in your company.

Once you list both expenses and profit, you can now visually see if you are spending more than you earn and think of ways to earn more. Do you need to advertise more? Do you need to go and knock on doors and sell your product or services? Get creative! Make those sales happen in whichever way possible and cut expenses as needed.

Celebrate Your Wins

This is my strength. I love celebrating milestones in life and thinking of all the things accomplished to that moment. I am really good at celebrating even the smallest of things. In business, you must do the same. This is a must on your small business checklist.

After eight years of putting in the hard work to build a company, I know how draining it can be if you hustle without any reward for your work. Most of the time, no one will celebrate your achievements a specific way that would fill your cup with energy. That’s why you should be intentional about finding ways to celebrate.

I remember when I paid myself for the first time in my company. To ensure the memory as captured, I took a picture of that check and posted it on my wall in the office (aka closet). I love coffee, so I took myself out for a nice latte. During that time, I spent a few minutes reflecting, appreciating the opportunity to be a business owner, and seeing the potential of the future.

What are some moments to celebrate as you start your business or continue your company?

How are you going to celebrate them? Just make sure they are within your budget.

Set New Goals

A new month means new things to look forward to and live out.

In business, every month can look different. During the holidays sales are high and planning to be available for your customers is the focus. During slow months, preparing for the busy season would be the focus.

What is your business’s goal for next month? That is a short-term goal. What if you were to take a calendar and divide it into quarters and have goals for every 3 months in the year? The purpose is to stay focused and ensure you’re progressing in your dreams and aspirations as a business owner.

Ensure your small business checklist has intentionality by having set goals.

Schedule Social Media Content

This is a time saver for me! I love it when I don’t have to think on the fly sometimes. I want to be able to open my calendar and understand that this is what I need to do for the day and do it! When I have a stressful day, I tend to lose focus and don’t know what to do next. I get flustered. Having this simple calendar was so helpful.

My calendar was so simple. I used Google Docs to create a calendar and fill in the blocks to once a month. I put in as much detail as I needed to ensure I didn’t forget what I was going to post about that day.

In the date block that I created, I would write the idea of the post, what type of post it would be (reel, post, carousel), when I would create it or if it was created, and I would add a checkmark box to make sure I would mark it off when completed.

There are so many tools out there to schedule social media posts. I used several and was not too impressed with any of them so far. It would take twice as long to post. Transferring all videos to my computer was always a hassle. Sometimes the program was lagging as well. That was very frustrating to experience. Maybe I have the wrong tools to start with, but I found a free way of creating posts and keeping track of them that worked for me.

Start Your Monthly Small Business Checklist Today!

These 5 things have been the most important things I have done in my company to date to keep things organized and moving forward. Start planning today to keep yourself as organized as possible by using this small business checklist.