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The end of the year is a brilliant time to review the past and plan the future. We all get drawn into our businesses and the challenges of the moment as the year unfolds.

Did you take a few steps back over the holiday period and decide what you’re going to do differently next year? There's still time to make a few changes

If you plan to change nothing, you’re either complacent or on the verge of retirement.

Building a business is like running up the down escalator. Stop for too long and you find yourself back at the bottom. Slow down a bit, and you lose ground. Push hard, with grit and determination and you might, just might make it to the very top.

• DO SOME SUMS – Work out what your most lucrative projects or customers were in 2007. Think profit not just turnover. Now look at which were your least lucrative. I’d bet that most of your headaches were caused by those who made you little money. It’s usually a fact that 20% of your customers give you 80% of your profit. Know what makes you money and what holds you back.
• EMPTY THE BIN – The stuff that wears you out and makes little needs to be tipped away. It might be that you’ve grown out of your original customers. You may feel obliged to them, but if they’re not growing as fast as you, you can do them a favour by passing them on to someone with more time to pander to their whims.
• SHOW THAT YOU CARE – If you’re now worried that your best customers didn’t get a token of your appreciation before the holiday, do something now. People used to give their best customers a bottle of booze and a Christmas card in December. However, if your customer doesn’t drink and isn’t a Christian, that’s not much use. Better to stay safe and treat everyone you value to a New Year’s surprise. Write them each a personal letter of thanks and buy them a book. Write something nice in the front and post it to arrive on their desk on their second day back at work.
• RATTLE YOUR BRAIN – Too many people think that when you start a business you stop learning. Nothing could be further from the truth. Check out what’s new and interesting and just around the corner. Out the skills you need and currently don’t have. Invest time and money in training for yourself and anyone you employ. There’s an old fable that if you train people they’ll leave, taking the benefit of the training elsewhere. The trouble is, if you don’t train people they’ll become stale and out of date. Then you’ll wish they were leaving!
• AIM HIGH – It’s all too easy to assume that other people are better than we are. We are always painfully aware of our shortcomings. We are also painfully aware of our rivals’ strengths. However, it could also be true the other way around. Recognise that everyone is human and fallible, not just you. There is no reason then why you shouldn’t aim for the very top every time. Try to work with the biggest and best companies, the most inspiring people and as you plan your new year, think big and aim high.

Remember there is probably no reason at all why 2008 should not be your best year ever.

All you have to do is be a little more focused, a little more determined and of course you are already a little more experienced