052 | Power Up Your Mid-Year Review With Your Secret Sauce

Is your business feeling the mid-year slump? You are not alone!

 In this episode, we’re jumping headfirst into the juicy, game-changing secrets that will yank you out of that summertime slump and catapult your business into a growth frenzy. We’ll unlock the magic of mid-year reviews—think of them as your business’s GPS to avoid veering off course and missing those sweet, sweet milestones. 

We’ll sprinkle in some playful financial tricks and guerrilla marketing tactics that make budgets and KPIs actually fun. And because we’re all about that continuous improvement, we’re borrowing Google’s genius to spark innovation and personal growth. Get ready to transform your mindset and rocket through the second half of the year like the badass CEO you are!

In this episode,

• You’ll learn how to transform a mid-year slump into your business's most powerful growth spurt. 
• You’ll learn the crucial importance of mid-year reviews to keep your business on track.
• You’ll learn strategies to reignite team engagement and morale.

This episode at a glance:

[04:04] All of the underpinnings of your success and your systems go out the window when summertime shows up.

[05:21] You can spend a lot of time, energy, and money; making yourself miserable because you are off focus and off plan.

[07:40] Everybody needs to get out of their houses, out of the office, off Zoom, and into community with each other.

[08:47] You need to be smart with your resources, but you also want to maximize your impact.

[10:57] Businesses that regularly review and adjust their strategies are two and a half times more likely to succeed in the long term.

Resources and Links mentioned in this episode

• Dawn Andrews
• Free Range Thinking
• TOOLS: Trello and Asana
• Check out FREE RESOURCES

You might also like:

• 3 Essential Strategies for Expanding Your Business
• The AI Blueprint Strategy for Female Entrepreneurs
• Company Vision Workbook

More about the “My Good Woman” podcast

My Good Woman is a podcast for new and future female leaders, hosted by me, Dawn Andrews.

Grab a seat at the table with me each week for candid conversations with culture-shifting, glass ceiling-busting, trailblazing women, who are leading enterprises that are making a change in the world. 

We discuss what makes them tick and how they get it all done. And we share actionable strategies to help you and your team get organized - so you can focus on your company’s growth, profit, and impact. 

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Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “My Good Woman” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.

Transcript

My Good Woman
Ep. 52 |  Power Up Your Mid-Year Review With Your Secret Sauce

Dawn Andrews:

To all of you powerhouse female founders out there, remember that a mid year review isn't just a check in. It is a chance to reset, recharge, and to reignite your business goalsand with the  right mindset and innovative tactics, the second half of the year can be your most successful yet. 

 Welcome to the My Good Woman podcast where we help female founders break past plateaus and get to the next level of business growth by refining their strategy building systems and streamlining operations. 

I'm Dawn Andrews. The founder and CEO of free range thinking business strategy consulting. Join me each week for candid conversations, with culture, shifting glass ceiling busting trailblazing women who are leading impactful enterprises and grab their strategies to help your business reach extraordinary levels of growth. 

Hey, hey, welcome back to the pod. I don't know if I've ever called it the pod. I'm having a moment and just feeling very casual. It's summertime. It's mid year. I'm relaxing. What can I say? Welcome back to the My Good Woman podcast, where I am here to help founders become extraordinary CEOs and specifically female founders of service based businesses become extraordinary CEOs.

In this episode today, you will learn the game changing secrets to turning a mid year slump into your business's most powerful growth spurt.

Doesn't that sound good? I'm really into that. You'll discover why mid year reviews are non negotiable for staying on track. and how to inject some fresh energy and creativity into things that kind of fall flat sometimes maybe your financial planning and definitely hopefully not your team engagement and your marketing strategies.

We're going to get fresh with those and I'll share some actionable steps and fun innovative tactics to reignite your business goals and ensure that you have a strong finish to the year. Let's get ready to transform your mindset and tactics so that you have an unprecedented second half.

 My fabulous female founders, did you know that 70 percent of small businesses experience a significant drop in productivity around the half year mark, but not us because we are flipping the script and making the second half our best half. So let's dive in. Mid year reviews aren't just a corporate buzzword, They are your secret weapon to keeping your business on track and thriving. when I moved back to California, My then boyfriend, now husband, and I drove from New York to Los Angeles, and I can't even imagine driving cross country without checking the map and the destination along the way.

And this was before Waze or CityMapper or those kinds of things. We were actually driving with AAA maps that were all stacked up for the different segments of our trip. if we didn't check those maps, girl, we would have been so far off course. Lost somewhere in America.

 we would be missing out on the destinations that we were really excited to visit. And that's what running a mid year review for your business is like. It's a chance to hit pause, reflect on your progress, Celebrate, please, celebrate your wins and tweak what's not working. And without that mid year review, you might find yourself stuck in the same old rut. Your goals slipping away and worse, your team feeling really disengaged. it's like trying to run a marathon with untied shoelaces. It is messy, frustrating, and totally avoidable. So let's not do that. There are incredible pain points of skipping this check in.

Misaligned goals. dwindling team morale, budget overruns, and of course, missed opportunities and destinations, like we talked about. I don't want you to spend the second half of the year playing catch up. I'd rather have you confidently steering your business towards the success that you desire. So I've got you covered.

 Today, we are going into a treasure trove of options for your mid year review. We're going to look at everything from brief financial audits to team engagement strategies, and I promise to sprinkle in some fun and creative ways to make this process not only effective but enjoyable.

 So why do things slow down in the middle of the year? I think, especially for us female founders, and especially if you're a female founder with a family, it is because all of the underpinnings of your success and your systems go out the window when summertime shows up. I'm literally experiencing this right now, and I'm a deer in the headlights for the first couple of weeks what I attribute it to is that my days are structured around pick up and drop off of the kids. breaks really help me to squeeze the most juice out of the orange in between those times. And in the absence of those times, I find myself wanting to luxuriate a little bit. To sleep in a little longer, to take a little more time with everything.

There aren't hard stops and outs in the same way that there are During the regular school year as opposed to summertime You're also contending with you taking your own vacations your team coming in and out with vacations June July and August can be a little bit topsy turvy for people and Depending upon the business you have that may be no big deal because things are a little slower during this time of year, or it may be that you're trying to get the most out of your year during this time period and still dealing with everybody in and out on vacation.

 I used to really avoid doing any sort of review at all. I'm a very action oriented person, a ready, fire, aim kind of person. But the challenge with that, in being that person, is that you can spend a lot of time, energy, and money Making yourself miserable because you are off focus and off plan.

 take it from somebody who has endured the bumps and bruises of not being reflective enough, a reformed reflective person, and take a little bit of time to create and enjoy your mid year review.

Like let's lighten it up a little bit, right? Because reviews shouldn't be boring. Let's turn them into something that you and your team look forward to and create a chance to be inspired, to innovate, to kickstart the next chapter of your business journey with renewed energy and clarity. Let's take a moment to review and see if we can set everybody up for a better second half and to play through June, July, and August with a little more grace, a lot more fun, and a whole lot of profitability.

How does that sound? Sound good? Okay. Consider what I'm about to share with you like a buffet. You will look into your business and you'll have some ideas about the areas that most need your attention that would have the greatest impact on the second half of your year.

And maybe everything that I'm sharing today doesn't apply to you. So when you're listening, keep your problems in mind, keep the areas of challenge in mind and see what rings your bell and start with that. let's talk about some of the tactics for a strong second half. 

 The first for everybody, I think, and whether you think you need it or not, a financial review.

Revisit your budget and financial goals, And you can introduce a playful element, if you like, like budgeting bingo to track expenses and savings. This can make the task more engaging and less daunting.

And depending upon the size of your business, do it departmentally. So what you do is break down your expenses into categories and assign each category, a bingo square. And as you stay within budget for each category, mark off the squares. Get it? 

 There are lots of different categories of your business and if you stayed on track for sales or marketing or production or whatever it is that you need, you can mark those squares off it's more exciting to see those accomplishments marked off on bingo squares than it is to see them as line items on a spreadsheet.

And then from here, reinvigorate your monthly financial check ins with yourself, with your finance team, with your accountant to keep track of your spending and adjust as needed. Make those dates and keep them. 

a next tactic for a powerful second half is looking at your team engagement.

It's retreat time, everybody. Everybody needs to get out of their houses, out of the office, off Zoom, and into community with each other. you can host a mid year team retreat, a one day workshop, or a social gathering. Even if it does need to be virtual, just lighten up.

 Focus on team building activities and re establish your company culture and values. This can reinvigorate your team and align everyone to their goals for the second half of the year. plan interactive virtual games or challenges that require teamwork and problem solving. We've done online scavenger hunts in the past, totally possible, and even better, being able to do them in person.

There's nothing like a party bus full of people pouring out on the Sunset Boulevard trying to find a grapefruit in the middle of a club zone. Just saying, it has happened. set aside time for those retreats to discuss and reinforce your company's core values and vision. 

The epic stories that people tell about those fund retreat moments are the things that knit your group together.

 Another tactic you can try for a strong second half is a little bit of a marketing refresh.

Look at your marketing strategies. I imagine you've been looking at your KPIs all along the way, but maybe there are some guerrilla marketing tactics that are cost effective and engaging that might be refreshing for your team to consider. You need to be smart with your resources, but you also want to maximize your impact.

is there a social media flash sale, giveaway, contest, or challenge that would create some buzz and drive some engagement to your brand? Or are there local influencers or businesses that you could do 

some new or fresh cross promotional activities with? There always are new marketing tactics and there probably are some simple, easy ones that live in the minds of your team.

 if you took this potentially slower time in your business to review, your team would reveal some really innovative, new and thoughtful ideas for you. Refresh that marketing y'all. 

 So after we've covered those main systems areas of your business, the finance, sales, marketing, and your team, let's dive a little deeper, get a little more granular, and whether you conduct this for your company as a whole, have your team participate, or have your different departments complete this, it's worth doing a SWOT analysis, and it's probably been some time since you've done one.

generally, these are just not that fun, and I totally get it, but it is absolutely worth the time to review And mid year is a great time to do it because you're trying to start at the beginning of the year in January and hit the ground running. now that things are naturally coming to a slowing down point, give yourself the gift of a SWOT.

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This analysis is a tool that will keep your business agile, responsive, and self aware. gather your team and or yourself or a brainstorming partner and brainstorm each category and write down every idea, no matter how small, and then prioritize the most critical items and create an action plan and a time plan to address them.

You can use a project management tool if you already have one in your business, you can add a tool like Trello or Asana to track your progress to stay accountable. 

And then use that SWOT to check in at the same time again, next year. So you've set your business goals for the year. You start playing the game in January. You do your SWOT mid year and then you check in with your SWOT mid year next year.

 another tool that brings a lot of energy to the second half of the year is a 20 percent time policy. Inspired by Google, you can dedicate 20 percent of your time or your team's time to learning new skills. This encourages innovation and personal growth within your team and even better if they can collaboratively or collectively learn new skills together.

put innovation time on the schedule each week and encourage your team members to pursue personal projects that could benefit the business, like learning a new software, developing a new service, going more deeply into understanding your clients. 

here's a quick stat for you. According to Forbes, businesses that regularly review and adjust their strategies are two and a half times more likely to succeed in the long term.

Two and a half times! That's worth a strategy review, a SWOT analysis, don't you think? 

 we've talked about a few different things today. we've talked about a mid year review and making it a little less formal. Giving you a buffet list of items that you can focus on entirely, you can do all of them, or you can selectively do them, or you can give part of them to your team.

 We talked about reviewing and revisiting your financial goals and playing budgeting bingo to be able to celebrate your wins. We talked about building team engagement with a mid year retreat or workshop, some way to bring people together in person. We talked about doing a marketing refresh, using flash sales, giveaways, challenges, working with influencers, and leveraging your team's insights.

for new ideas, and we talked about conducting a SWOT analysis so that you can go a little more granular, a little more deep, and maybe get to the root of some of the problems that you haven't had time to look into up to this point. And then we talked about the 20 percent time policy inspired by Google to give you and your team time to develop your skills, to enrich your lives in a way that benefits the business.

 to all of you powerhouse female founders out there, remember that a mid year review isn't just a check in. It is a chance to reset, recharge, and to reignite your business goals.and with the e right mindset and innovative tactics, the second half of the year can be your most successful yet.

thanks for tuning in to this episode of My Good Woman. I'm Dawn Andrews, reminding you to review, refresh, and take bold steps towards your business growth. 

And if you're already feeling overwhelmed by everything that I shared with you and just want to kick it with a margarita and an Emily Henry B treed. I totally get it. Let me make it easier for you. I have a great. Free company, vision workbook. That you can download to help give you a simple process for brainstorming, defining, and sharing your company vision. bringing your team together, improving your accountability and inspiring creativity and creating a roadmap for your company's future. check the show notes or visit Don andrews.com forward slash resources forward slash vision dash workbook. Once you grab it, it'll make this mid-year review something that is fun. Exciting and gives you that little bit of pep that you need for a strong second half. 

And please join me next time for more insights and strategies. Until then take care, stay confident and keep leading with impact.

 Thanks for tuning in to today's episode. If you enjoyed our conversation, don't miss out on an earlier gem episode eight. Where Nicole Marra, the former general counsel for Gucci dives into her courageous leap from high profile corporate life to launching her own vision with her company fixer advisory, it's filled with insights that could change how you view your career trajectory, check it out and maybe just maybe. It'll spark the courage for your own big move. Keep soaring high. 

And remember, every episode is a step towards your greatest Heights. Catch you next time on my good woman.