Over the past few weeks many of us will have taken some time to pour ourselves a glass of wine and think about where we are personally as we start 2018. We have made lists of personal priorities and goals for the coming year to ensure we are putting our best foot forward: drinking more water, eating more greens, hitting the gym, finally making that doctors appointment.<\/p>\n
We take the opportunity of the New Year to think about our personal health and well-being, but I suspect few of us have taken the time to engage in the same level of reflection about our businesses.\u00a0\u00a0 Most of us have arrived back at the office to find full email inboxes and a list of ongoing priority items carried over from last year that will occupy our time.\u00a0 We have jumped back into doing the work of running our businesses, without reflecting on how to ensure our businesses are in good health going forward.<\/p>\n
I suggest that business owners take a few minutes as 2018 begins to think about the overall health of their business.<\/p>\n
This involves considering those \u201cto do\u201d items that are important but not urgent.\u00a0 We all have that list of items on the \u201csomeday\u201d list – the ones that we know we need to think about at some point, but that sit on the corner of our desks while we focus on items that can\u2019t wait or that are just more interesting.\u00a0 While these items aren\u2019t glamourous or (let\u2019s face it) particularly exciting, they are important to the health of your business and, if ignored, can create problems.<\/p>\n
We suggest setting aside a few minutes to think about the health of your business and whether you have the framework in place to prevent problematic issues going forward.<\/p>\n
Here are some things to consider as part of your New Year business health check:<\/p>\n
It is fair to say that review of the above will likely not be the most exciting part of your year; however, these are issues on which \u201can ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure\u201d and addressing them proactively is one of the most effective ways to ensure your business is in good health for 2018 and going forward.<\/p>\n
Megan Wallace is a lawyer in the Business Law Group at Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall and is called to the Bars of both Ontario and Alberta. She works with a <\/em>variety of clients ranging from corporations that operate across Canada to local family-owned businesses.\u00a0 She assists her business clients on a range of issues, including incorporations, mergers and acquisitions, financings and review of key agreements.\u00a0 Megan was also a 2017 Forty Under 40 recipient.<\/em><\/p>\n