In the wedding industry, winter is often referred to as “slow season” but if you’re a wedding professional, you know it’s anything but slow. Winter is the time of the year when we have to take care of all the back-end administrative tasks we don’t have time to do during busy wedding season. January is an especially busy time because it’s when we refresh our businesses and update everything for the new year.

 

Calling it “admin season” is way more accurate than “slow season”, ​am I right??

 
Here’s a checklist of just some of the tasks I do in the winter for a fresh start in the new year:

 

The Small Business Owner “Slow Season” To Do List:

• Reflect upon last year’s goals & set new goals for 2023.

• Box up/scan any 2022 receipts + create a new box for 2023 receipts.

• Finish up/proofread/reconcile 2022 bookkeeping records – make sure categories are accurate and no expenses have been missed. Send to your accountant, if you have one.

• Record your Jan 1st odometer reading (& subtract your 1/1/22 reading to get your 2022 total miles driven). Finish up mileage records for 2022. Start a new log for 2023.

• Request reviews from clients you worked with throughout the year.

• Use this time to network and actually go on those coffee dates with industry peers that you didn’t have time for during “busy season”. (If you’re local to Hudson Valley, you’re welcome to join our Rising Tide Society group!)​

• Take new headshots & stock photos, if needed.

• Update contracts – add/modify any clauses that need changing, make sure all contact information is up to date. Create new contracts for any new offerings + delete any contracts for services you no longer offer. (Archive old contracts just in case.)

• Update packages – consider raising your prices, adjust your package structure to accommodate any common requests/trends you’ve been seeing. Create new packages for any new offerings + archive any old offerings.

• Update workflows, if needed.

• Backup & delete all unused files from your phone.

• Backup & create an organized archive for all past documents – past client galleries, past contracts, past invoices, obsolete templates, etc.​

• Run a Time Machine backup of your computer, back up all of your website/blog files, and backup any important text/information/copy from “rented” sites (sites you don’t control or have autonomy over such as: Instagram captions; Facebook posts; reviews on The Knot, WeddingWire, Google, etc.) or any other valuable content you could lose.

• Uninstall any phone apps you infrequently use.

• Delete unused/temporary files from your computer (ex: CleanMyMac X – system junk, log files, caches, temporary files, mail attachments, etc).

• Update/change passwords, especially for high-risk sites.

• Send out 1099-NEC forms to any contractor who earned $600+ from you in 2022 [due around January 31st].

• Submit 2022 Q4 Estimated Taxes [due around Jan 15th].

• Remit 2022 Q4 Sales Taxes, if necessary.

And some extra tasks for photographers & videographers:

• Clean and organize all equipment. Clean all camera sensors. Send any equipment to get serviced or repaired, if needed.

• Make sure all equipment is labeled (with your name/contact information), especially any new equipment.

• Take inventory of your “arsenal.” Upgrade any equipment that needs it. Purchase any new equipment you’ve been needing. Sell or give away any obsolete or unused equipment.

• Take a look at your upcoming 2023 jobs. Make sure all tasks & workflows for each client are scheduled and on track.

• Update website – change any copy that needs updating, change pricing/upload new package PDFs, curate your portfolio (add new “best of 2022” photos, remove any “less favorite” photos).

• Update photos on online storefronts such as The Knot, WeddingWire, Zola, Google Maps, etc.

• Send images to your favorite vendors you worked with throughout the past year so they can cross-promote you during their booking season.

• Submit your favorite work to blogs/publications.

  

If you have any questions (or have any other tasks you think I should add to this list), feel free to reach out! Wishing you a happy, healthy, successful, and fulfilling 2023!
 

 

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