New financial year. Who’s this?
Can you believe FY24 is over already? Because we certainly can’t!
As a bustling marketing agency, the busy-ness of implementing campaigns and project planning really does make the financial year fly by. It feels like only yesterday when we welcomed RACT, Melbourne Market Authority, new airlines and more into our growing roster.
Lots has changed business and life-wise in the last year, and we cannot wait to see what is in-store for the future months. However, we also know how overwhelming a new FY can feel. Here in Australia it comes at that stagnant, cold time of the year when getting excited about anything can be hard. But a new fin year typically means new budgets and a new set of goals. That’s fresh! Anything’s possible. Rub those chilly hands together and let’s gooooo!!!
We asked Sally Harley, Founder and Director of littleBIG, on her advice for getting in a new groove and staying in the flow at the start of FY25. Check out her top tips below:
Have you ever felt ‘paralysed’ as a business owner in the new financial year? How did you overcome this feeling, and how will you avoid this in the future?
Yes! There’s so much to wrap up, discuss and analyse at the end of a fin year that when the new one starts you’re sort of exhausted by it all. And realistically it takes a few weeks for many businesses to settle on their plans for the new year so you’re often in a holding pattern, waiting for things to slot into place. And this year, like many before it, economic pressures can make things feel somewhat gloomy which doesn’t help with the momentum.
A change of scene
The last couple of years we’ve whisked the family off for a sunny, extended working holiday at this time of year. I do feel the change of scene helps us step into the new FY feeling fresh and optimistic – similar to how it feels diving back into work after the Christmas/New Year break.
What slow-down?
Our business coach has always advised us to always keep on keeping on – in other words, don’t be mentally held back by “the Christmas slowdown”, new financial year recalibration, holidays etc. When you’re leading a business, it’s up to you to keep things flowing. Say yes to meetings, start new projects, make proactive contact with potential partners – no matter the timing. Since adjusting our mindset in this way – we’ve found historically quiet times of the year (around the end of the calendar and fiscal years) to be busier than ever before. Obviously we all need a break at times so it means being organised about having the right people on deck to keep things moving when you take leave – the planning is well worth it.
Don’t hit snooze
Consider the creation or receipt of your new FY budget/goal/direction your wake-up alarm. I know it’s cold and you want to stay cosy and comfortable under the “doona of just plodding along” longer but DON’T HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON! Just like literally getting out of bed in the morning, delaying the process only makes it harder to kick into gear. Set your planning meetings, brief your agencies, set individual goals for your direct-reports that align with the new business goals, book the media… do whatever it takes to get things in motion. Once you’ve started, the energy builds and you’re thriving again. (Ok, probably have a great cup of coffee before you get cracking too!)
How does littleBIG monitor industry trends to stay proactive in the new financial year?
We subscribe to lots of industry media (marketing, tech, food, drink and tourism) and partake in industry events. This is a great time of year to take in a conference on AI or book those tickets to an industry summit. Not only are the new trends and insights crucial for staying ahead of the curve and achieving great results but novelty breeds creativity and clarity. Taking in new information and experiences is good for every part of you.
What resources do you recommend for monitoring performance to stay proactive in FY25?
If you’re not already using an app or other visual task planning management tool – get onto it. Visually seeing progress on what you’ve accomplished over the days and weeks is really great for keeping up the momentum. We like Jira and Airtable, and many of us use colour coding, etc. in good old Google Sheets which does the trick. Even seeing an actual tick against your actual handwritten list in an actual notebook is satisfying!
Keeping things moving after meetings is key to proactivity. Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai and Evernote are great tools for recording and distributing key actions after meetings. No stagnation, waiting for someone to send around the notes and then everyone forgetting the context by the time they receive their actions.
For those with sales or financial management responsibilities, keep an eye on your performance to budget daily or weekly at minimum. It’s amazing how things come to fruition when you’re mentally focused on them, or even better, when you discuss what’s needed to hit the target with the other key people in your team. You can’t do that without knowing how you’re tracking. We use project management and accounting tools like Harvest, Xero and annual+monthly budget spreadsheets to do this.
What is the most important tip you have for starting off the new financial year strong?
Change things up and implement something new (could be work-related like a new task management process, or personal like starting Pilates)! It’ll have a flow-on effect for your momentum overall.
