Three Tips to Reflect on Goals and Set Up for 2025 Success
Closing the chapter on 2024 is the perfect time to take a look at your business’s performance over the past 11 months. It is the time to ask yourself and your leaders—Did we hit the goals we set out to achieve? And while we all want the answer to be a resounding “Yes,” whether you exceeded expectations, just scraped by, or missed the mark, the lessons you take from this year will inevitably shape your success in 2025 and beyond.
As an outsourced CFO, we work with businesses with a variety of these goals and lessons, depending on their current stage of business, but we thrive in helping them bridge the gap between their financial goals and their actual results. As we work with our clients on taking these lessons and turning them into insights for next year, we wanted to share some insights of our own.
Here are three tips on how you can approach your year-end review with clarity and intention and set the stage for a stronger, more strategic 2025.
Tip 1: Reflect on Your 2024 Goals
1. Start with the numbers: As is commonly said in business, “The numbers don’t lie.” That is exactly the reason you need to start with them. Think about the following—
- Did you meet your revenue targets?
- Did you meet your profit targets?
- How about cash flow, expense management, and other key financial metrics?
As always, collecting this data is not enough. You want to dig deep into the numbers to better understand the story behind them, so you can make appropriate adjustments.
2. Evaluate your KPIs: Beyond the financials, you’ll want to explore how you fared against other goals.
- How did you perform against operational goals, such as customer retention, employee satisfaction, technological upgrades, or efficiency improvements?
3. Ask the tough questions: This review won’t always be pleasant, and you may need to face some hard truths.
- If you didn’t meet your goals, why?
- Were they unrealistic, or did execution fall short?
- If you surpassed them, was it due to strategy, luck, or something else?
Tip 2: Identify the Wins and Losses
1. Celebrate the wins: It’s easy to focus on what didn’t go well, especially when one or all of your goals were not met, but it’s important not to overlook your successes. Acknowledge what worked, celebrate it with your team, and then double down on those strategies in 2025.
2. Own the losses: Remember, failures aren’t fatal, but they are an extraordinary wealth of knowledge through feedback. Look for patterns or commonalities in what didn’t work.
- Was it poor planning?
- Was it external factors outside your control?
- Were there a lack of resources?
Tip 3: Take 2024 Insights and Prepare for a Strong Start in 2025
1. Set Clear, Actionable Goals
Your goals, whether financial, operational, or strategic, should be ambitious but realistic. Remember to break them into smaller, measurable, clear steps to track progress throughout the year—annual, quarterly, monthly, and weekly goals will help keep everyone on track.
2. Build Flexibility into Your Plan
If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that agility is key. Plans are crucial, of course, but they need to have built-in flexibility. Make your 2025 plan strong enough to reach high, but also flexible enough to pivot if the market shifts, demands change, or it is otherwise needed.
3. Get Your Financial House in Order
- Review your budget: Use the insights you gained from your 2024 review to adjust your budget for 2025.
- Are there opportunities to cut waste and expenses?
- Are there opportunities to invest more strategically?
- Strengthen cash flow management: Cash is still (and always will be) king. Revenue is important, but you also must ensure your cash flow projections are strong and that they align with your goals. In doing so, remember to anticipate potential shortfalls.
- Plan for growth: If your goal is to scale in 2025, evaluate whether your current financial structure can support that plan. And, if it cannot, what is needed to do so? Do you need to –
- secure funding?
- expand your team?
- invest in new technology?
4. Prioritize Your People
Whether it’s customers or employees, or likely both, people will always be the backbone of your business. Use the lessons of 2024 to fine-tune your approach to leadership, communication, and culture. It is well-known that happy employees drive productivity, and happy customers drive revenue. So, it’s important to make sure they stay in the equation in a positive way. Think about –
- Company culture
- Employee retention rate
- Customer retention rate
5. Partner Strategically
You don’t have to do this alone. If you found yourself overwhelmed in 2024, consider outsourcing tasks that aren’t in your Zone of Genius. An outsourced CFO, for example, can give you expert guidance without the full-time price tag.
A Fresh Year, A Fresh Perspective
2025 is a clean slate—but it’s also a continuation of all the hard work you’ve already done. For most of us, success isn’t built in a single year. Instead, it’s the result of consistent effort, reflection, and improvement.
As you plan for 2025, remember that this is never about perfection. It’s about progress. Learn from what 2024 taught you—about your business, your market, and yourself—and use those lessons to make next year even stronger.
Here’s to a prosperous and intentional 2025!
At Agile Planners, we can help you get your financial house in order, so you can leave the guesswork behind. We provide strategic guidance and outsourced CFO services to companies of all sizes. We can help provide the strategy your organization needs for the growth you want. We understand that no two organizations are the same. And with our experience and financial knowledge, we can help develop the right strategic plan for your business to grow and reach its goals. Simply, we’ll be your trusted partner, so you can focus on running your organization. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help.
