11 tips for a simple quarterly business review for heart-led business owners
If you’re a creative or heart-centred business owner, then doing a simple quarterly business review can help you stay organised, improve your finances, and plan ahead. It doesn’t have to be scary, overwhelming or hard.
This gentle checklist is designed for artists, healers and health practitioners, and small business owners who want a softer approach to business.
I look at if things still feel aligned with where I want to be, and if it’s still bringing me joy, delight, inspiration, and income.
When looking at the real business of things, I know that one of the biggest blocks for you might be finances. I’m going to talk about that below, but there are lots of other things to consider as well.
So, set aside some time at the end of the season – perhaps an hour, perhaps 15-minutes each day over a week.
Make sure to download the checklist so that you can cross things off as you go. That’s the satisfying part – I’ve been known to write a list after I’ve done the things so that I can cross them off. Don’t tell me you haven’t done that too!
Here’s what I do each quarter to keep up to date as well as looking ahead at how my business is going.
1.Gently review your outgoings
This is one of the most powerful (and often overlooked) things you can do. It’s one of the most important things, in my business. While I can continue doing all the things to create income, my spendings is really the biggest thing I have direct control over.
Grab your bank statements and log into your PayPal account and go through all your expenses for the past quarter. Remember if some things are yearly, so look out for those as well – if the renewal period is coming up it’s good to know in advance before the funds are automatically withdrawn from your account.
Just this morning I cancelled two plans that will be saving me almost $700 a year! I’m constantly keeping an eye on other things and reassessing what platforms and tools I actually need.
Keep in mind though, that you do need to spend money on your business. There are a lot of great free tools out there, but many do have limitations and it’s worth upgrading for something that is easier, more streamlined, more aligned to you, does a better job.
I can feel scary spending money on your business. I’ve written below a couple of things that are important for me to spend money on, that I know give their value back.
Take a little time to look through your monthly expenses:
Subscriptions
Apps and tools
Platforms
Memberships
Ask yourself:
Am I actually using this?
Is this supporting my business right now?
Is there a simpler or cheaper option?
Sometimes this looks like cancelling something completely.
Sometimes it’s downgrading your plan.
Sometimes it’s replacing itwith a more aligned tool.
Even one small change here can free up money (and mental space).
Alternatively, you might find that changing your plan to annual instead of monthly will save you a lot of money. So, if you’re using the tool then look at other ways to minimise your outgoings.
Remember – these are ALL tax deductable. So make sure to put them into your tax return at the end of the quarter or year. This includes things like art, craft or creative classes that will benefit your practice, retreats or events, online memberships to connect with community within your field.
2.Keep your financials up to date
This doesn’t have to be complicated.
Just aim to get a clear, honest picture of where things are at:
Make sure your bookkeeping is up to date – I do mine monthly, and use Quickbooks. But you might use a spreadsheet and update weekly or quarterly (I wouldn’t leave it longer than that for sanity’s sake)
Reconcile your accounts if needed
Check invoices (paid and unpaid – follow up if people owe you invoices).
Put aside money for tax if you haven’t already
If you’re in Australia, this might also be a time to check:
BAS obligations
GST tracking
Any upcoming tax deadlines
Think of this as tidying your financial space—not judging it.
When I first started my business, I ignored this all year, then come tax time had to spend many stressful days gathering all my receipts and income to input into a spreadsheet.
I mostly did this because I wasn’t earning much money, and it felt pointless keeping track of it all. And also I’d look at the monthly financials and feel down on myself.
When I started getting serious about it and using QuickBooks (it’s honestly near on the best $20 I spend each month!) my approach to money changed.
My mindset shifted and I wasn’t looking at the small income, but looking instead at the profit, and trying to minimise my outgoings. I was also recognising that there was growth each month or each quarter and year.
And that felt empowering.
Talking about money, taking notice of it, keeping track of what we earn as business owners is a vital step to being really serious about what you’re doing.
This isn’t a hobby – it’s a business.
3. Check in on what’s actually bringing in income
Without over-analysing, take a moment to notice:
What sold this quarter?
What didn’t?
What felt easy to share or promote?
What felt heavy or forced?
You don’t need a full strategy session here.
Just a simple awareness:
“This worked… maybe I’ll do more of that.”
I love doing this with my offerings. It’s a reminder that the things I create need to be talked about with my audience, rather than sitting there just waiting to be found.
I look back on what newsletters I sent on what weeks, and if I had any promos or discounts or anything that made some products spike in sales. Or if I had an Instagram post go well that converted to sales of a certain course or item. I take note of this in my diary.
This helps me to be aware of what’s selling, where my focus is going and perhaps where it could be going instead.
It also helps me reassess what I might want to let go of or adjust a bit – maybe the sales page needs tweaking, or maybe I simply need to talk about it more.
4. Refresh your website (just a little)
You don’t need a full redesign.
But a quick check-in can make a big difference:
Are your offers current?
Are links working?
Is anything outdated?
Does it still feel like you?
Even small updates keep your site feeling alive and cared for.
I mean it when I say that I do this regularly. I love doing this, and it is my business as well.
Sometimes the small simple things we can forget to change, and while a broken link on a website isn’t the end of the world, it’s also good to check in and keep your site refreshed.
A website isn’t a static make once and leave it forever. It’s an evolving living aspect of your business.
5. Update your Instagram and social media bios
This is such a simple one—but so effective.
Check:
Your bio description
Links (are they current?)
Your profile image
Any seasonal messaging
You might shift wording slightly or simply bring in a seasonal feel.
It’s less about perfection, more about relevance. I actually find that the most often I do this the more aligned my words become - the practice of continuing to reassess my offerings and my messaging.
If I’ve done a promo for a product or a bundle or collaboration offering, I generally put the direct link into my bio. Over the past years I’ve occasionally forgotten to remove this afterwards. Eeekkkk – keeping on top of this only takes a little bit of time, but it’s well worth it.
I suggest you set aside maybe 15-30 minutes. Do it while sitting at your desk, rather than lying in bed. Make it a real business task, not a 10pm spur-of-the-moment thing.
Looking at these screen shots of both my Instagram accounts, I can see that Petalplum is overdue for an update. I shut down my Stitch Membership more than 3-months ago now. Sometimes it takes me looking in a different light to notice what changes I need to do.
6. Look ahead to the next season
What’s coming up in the next few months?
This might include things like:
Easter
Mother’s Day
School holidays
Winter (or a seasonal shift)
Gently consider:
Does this affect what I make or sell?
Do I want to create something specific?
Do I need to start preparing now?
Is there marketing that I need to do, or wholesalers I need to contact in advance?
You don’t need a big plan—just awareness and intention.
I wish I was organised enough to have a whole yearly calendar on my wall, but I’m not. So looking ahead each month and each season keeps me on track with any upcoming promos, events, dates or planned things.
It’s simple, small, but a good way to see where we’re at in the year. Rather than being blinkered into weekly plans and things jumping out at us at the last minute.
When we were selling wholesale to galleries and boutiques I always kept note of when the next seasonal events were coming up. Places like this do restocks in advance of Christmas or Mother’s Day, so making sure I contacted them early enough to order from us, rather than someone else, meant we got more orders, while also having ample time to create the products and send them out.
7. Review your analytics
I do this monthly, so that I know what has been working in terms of social media growth, to newsletter subscribers, new students in my courses and income. It’s all connected, and it’s worthwhile keeping on top of.
At the end of each month, I check in to see:
Review my Instagram account:
followers - growth or decline
average engagement in general for views, likes, saves and shares of each post. It’s more than just likes!
looking at which posts got best engagement – this doesn’t have to be about vanity metrics, but Instagram is part of my business, and the more I treat it as such the more I see the outcome from that
Take note of newsletter statistics:
subscribers growth
open and click rates
knowing what newsletters or automations are getting the best engagement, helps me to keep re-aligning with my customers and audience
Look at website analytics:
What pages are getting the best views
Where are people coming from
What searches are bringing the most views – can you replicate this by writing more blog posts within that content cluster of ideas?
8. Revisit your offers
Sometimes we keep selling things out of habit.
Ask yourself:
Do I still want to offer this?
Does it feel aligned?
Is there something I want to simplify?
You might:
Refine an offer
Remove something
Or simply recommit to what you already have
For me this is often intuitive and happens during the year at different times that aren’t specifically related to a quarterly check-in. But I’ve been running my business for over 17 years and selling online courses for more than 10. So, I have a close understanding of what I want to keep going with.
That doesn’t make it easier, it just means that I’m reassessing things more often and listening to my inner conversation about why or why not.
9. Check your systems (keep it simple)
Are there any small things causing friction or that are just downright frustrating you?
Maybe:
Your email system feels messy
Orders are hard to track
Files are scattered
Photos are hard to find when you need one (this one I know very well!)
Choose just one thing to tidy or improve.
It doesn’t have to be everything.
Often, I find that I set something up in a rush, or I keep adding to things as I go. There are a lot of “systems” that I used that when I didn’t really know what I was doing. I kept on with them for way too long, as I always told myself it was easier to keep going than find a simpler solution. Or to create the time to fix it.
Think about what aspect of your business you hate doing. What do you avoid each week or month, just because it’s too hard or complicated to get going.
Having your newsletter system set up well might take a little while, even just created that one template that you use each week will make a difference when you come to doing this job.
You don’t need to start fresh every time.
Also – I help with setting up newsletter platforms and creating welcome emails, templates and the whole back-end systems of your email newsletter account. If it feels like something you know you need to do.
10. Celebrate what you’ve done
This is the part most people skip. I usually forget to do this!
Before you plan ahead, pause and acknowledge:
What you created
What you showed up for
What you learned
What you moved through
Even if it felt like a slow quarter… there will be something worth noticing.
Throughout the month or quarter I get upset with myself that I didn’t get something finished or even started that I told myself I’d do. I feel guilty, stupid, a failure.
I tell myself I’ve been doing this for so long, I should know better. I should be getting better results…..
And yet, when I get to the end of the month or quarter and actually take stock of what I DID do I feel really proud.
It might be doing more daily stitching, launching a new course, growing my newsletter list, writing more blog posts, or earning more than I actually thought I had. It doesn’t actually matter the thing is, what matters is that I noticed it and can celebrate it.
11. Choose one gentle focus for the next quarter
Not ten goals.
Not a full strategy.
Just one simple focus, like:
“Show up consistently”
“Promote my existing work”
“Create one new product”
“Simplify everything”
“Set up a new system for something”
Let just one thing be enough!
Consider that you’re more likely to get this one thing done if you dedicate time to it, and make it a priority. At the end of the year you’ll have four actual finished completed things, rather than a list of ‘one days…’
I’ve talked about mono-tasking and getting things done here, and how focussing on one thing is better all round for our nervous system and feeling that wonderful sense of acheivement.
A softer way to run a business
You don’t need to become a “business person” to care for your business. Or otherwise, perhaps, we can change the connotations of “business” and make it feel more aligned to our lifestyle and our creative heartful selves.
You just need small, regular moments of attention.
This kind of quarterly reset isn’t about doing more.
It’s about noticing, adjusting, and continuing— in a way that actually feels sustainable.
Sometimes it’s about removing things from your to-do list, asking for help, delegating, hiring someone to do it. Or just saying that doesn’t work for me or my business anymore.
Creating space within your days allows you to think, feel, breathe, and spend more time doing what you love, while running a business that feels aligned, easeful, joyful, and gentle.
