Tip of the week: Check your business every week with a ten-minute review

Waiting until the end of the year to look at your numbers is too late. A short weekly review keeps you in control and helps you make small corrections before problems grow.

Pick a fixed time, such as Sunday evening. In ten minutes, look at:

• Total sales for the week, compared with the previous week
• Total expenses, and the biggest categories
• Profit
• Money owed to you and money you owe
• Items running low

Write a single line on what you notice and one action: "Transport costs jumped, so I will group my supplier trips."

A salon owner in Dodoma who does this will notice, for instance, that Mondays are slow and can plan a special offer.

LiberLite Record Keeping gives an automatic business health analysis with advice, which can be a helpful starting point for your review.

Keep your review notes together to see the progress over months.

This week: set a recurring weekly slot and complete your first review.