I’m sure you’ve heard of spring cleaning your home, but have you ever considered that you should also spring clean your business? Well, you should!
Life happens and regular business tasks can easily get lost in the chaos. If you’ve been neglecting some of the things you should be doing regularly for your biz, now is a great time to catch up and get ahead!
14 Ways To Spring Clean Your Business
Sweeping the dust bunnies from under your desk isn’t the only way to spring clean your business. Here’s a list of 14 different areas of your business that might need some extra attention.
1. Revisit Your Business Plan
When was the last time you actually looked at your mission, vision, or values? It might be time to revisit and update those (or write them for the first time!).
You should also look for ways that you can simplify your business — narrow your niche, reduce your offers, and review your policies. A simple business is easier to market and more fun to own.
Resource: Organize Your Business 101
2. Check on Your Clients
Do you have confidence in your onboarding and offboarding? You owe it to yourself and your clients to set up a professional client management system like HoneyBook.
Also, you might want to check in on past clients. If you didn’t get testimonials from them, it’s never too late! You can even see if they need more help or have a referral for your business.
Resource: Get 35% off with my HoneyBook educator link!
3. Organize Your Digital Storage
I know you’ve been putting it off, but now’s a great time to organize your digital files and storage systems. This includes things like your desktop, computer files, Google Drive, Dropbox, and phone apps.
Here are the steps I take each quarter to organize my digital storage:
- Go through each folder and –
- Delete anything outdated, duplicated, or unnecessary
- Archive files you might need but don’t use
- Financial records for taxes
- Client information
- Historical info (before photos, metrics, etc.)
- Rename any files that don’t have a clear, searchable title
- Update your organization structure
- Add new folders
- Remove old folders
- Merge folders when it makes sense
- Put everything in its proper place
The first time you do this, it might take a while. Binge some Netflix while you organize, or maybe the entire Lord of the Rings extended editions if you really have a mess. The more often you go through the process, the less time it will take in the future.
Resource: Organize Your Google Drive
4. Improve Your Email Marketing
The first thing you should do is clean your list if you haven’t done it in a while (or ever). “Cleaning your list” means getting rid of inactive subscribers. It helps reduce expenses if your platform chargers based on the number of subscribers. It also increases your open rates and improves deliverability.
Next, take a look at the templates you use. Do they need to be updated? Are all the links working?
You might want to revamp your strategy also. Consider whether you want to send more or less emails, send emails at a different time, or change your email marketing system completely.
Resource: How to Clean Your ConvertKit List
5. Catch Up on Your Finances
Spring in the United States is also tax season! Are you ready?
Have you been tracking your income and expenses on a spreadsheet or in a program like FreshBooks? If not, you NEED to catch up before you fall behind. It’s a lot easier to track as you go than to try to sort out an entire year’s worth of financial statements.
Resource: Business Finance Tracker
6. Modify Your Goals
Review your goals from the first quarter, but don’t beat yourself up if you didn’t achieve everything you wanted. Look at why you didn’t achieve your goals. Were you too ambitious? Did life get in the way? Did you write them down and forget them?
Use that knowledge to then plan your goals for quarter two. Keep it simple. Make them actionable. And review them at least once a week or daily if possible.
7. Declutter Your Inbox
Feel like you’re riding the Hot Mess Express every time you check your email? Stop stressing yourself and clear it all out! You deserve to open your inbox without anxiety.
- Unsubscribe from newsletters you don’t read.
- Set up automatic filters for the things you’re keeping
- Delete the old stuff (just let it go and move forward)
- Use folders and/or labels to organize your emails going forward
Resource: Zen Habits - Email Sanity
8. Analyze Your Metrics
Metrics help us make good decisions in the online business world. Instead of guessing, you should be looking at the data to learn what’s working and what’s not.
Some of the ways you can collect data are adding Google Analytics to your website, using UTM links, and tracking your basic metrics month-to-month.
9. Update Your Processes
One of the biggest mistakes I see online business owners make is not having and using SOPs. You might prefer to call them processes, workflows, or checklists, but they are an absolute must!
Every recurring process in your business should be clearly outlined so that anyone with a little experience can jump in and help. This is the key step for scaling your business, and it’s easiest to start BEFORE you really need it.
SOPs will save you so much time and money! Create new ones regularly, update your old ones, and keep them organized so you can find them quickly.
10. Rethink Your Social Media
When’s the last time you updated your social media bios and profiles? It’s time! Make sure you’re using keywords and being very clear about your business.
If you’re struggling to post consistently, here are a few things you can try:
- Use a social media scheduler like Tailwind
- Reduce the number of times you post
- Cut back on platforms or content types
- Repurpose your content frequently
- Plan out content a month in advance
- Batch create your graphics and videos
11. Streamline Your Systems
Are your systems helping you or overwhelming you? Consider giving up some of the tools you use and simplifying your systems. Ideally, you want to use as few tools as possible, even if that means you have to pay for some upgrades.
Automate as much as you can, but don’t forget to occasionally check on those automations and make sure they’re still working. Tools like Zapier are great for connecting your favorite tools, automating your processes, and turning your systems into well-oiled machines.
12. Hire a Team
The best advice I ever got about growing my business was to hire before I was ready. Get a coach, book a strategy session, or find your first team member. You won’t believe the difference this can make in your business!
When you invest in someone to help with your business, make sure that they are saving you time and/or making you money. My first team hire was a graphic designer. As a perfectionist, I was spending way too much time making graphics. Now I can better use that time on money-making tasks!
Resource: Free Hire a VA Service
13. Freshen Up Your Website
Websites aren’t the kind of thing you can just create and forget. They need love and attention! Check for broken links, optimize your SEO, and update old posts and pages.
Does your branding still align with you, your biz, and your audience? Maybe you need a new logo, fresh colors, or to add in more of your story in an authentic way. Your website should connect with your audience, and if it doesn’t, there’s really no point in having a website.
14. Tidy Your Workspace
Time for some actual cleaning! Messy desks are the death of productivity.
- Throw away or recycle anything you no longer need
- File or scan paperwork you need to keep
- Type up or screenshot notes so you can organize them digitally
- Move anything that doesn’t belong to its rightful home
- Say goodbye to your collection of dust bunnies
- Wipe down the surfaces, screens, and electronics
- Decorate with a few things that make you happy
Take Action
Your business isn’t going to spring clean itself! Schedule a little time each week to work on tidying up your business.
You can even make a “Spring Clean Your Business” SOP using this post so you can repeat the process each year!
