The Hired Guns Blog

If you are like me, a solopreneuer, you get to the end of the year and wonder where where it all went. Hopefully you’ve been busy doing great work and enjoying making and keeping in touch with new connections, but you probably haven’t been thinking about how to wrap up the year. You’re not alone!

Here are four things you can do now to end the year on a high note:

Taxes: This is the time of the year you really need to start planning for your 2011 taxes. It’s best if you do it year-round, but we’re busy and often don’t keep up. Be sure you have all your receipts in order and you’ve got all your billings tallied. If you work with an accountant, be sure to schedule a December checkup to do some taxes preplanning. For instance, it may make sense to pay your state taxes for 2011 before January 15 in order to relieve some tax burden come April.

Connecting: Nothing says “keeping in touch” more than the holidays, and that means it’s the perfect time to reach out with greetings — and maybe to schedule a holiday get-together with important clients and contacts. I always like to make plans for a New Year Kickoff, which I start scheduling now. That keeps me out of the immediate seasonal mayhem — and the “New Year” momentum in January helps give me the perfect reason to meet with the people that mean the most to my business (and me personally).

Take stock: Over your favorite peppermint-eggnog-butter latte sit down and write down the things you’ve accomplished over the last 300+ days. What are the projects you really enjoyed and why? Did you learn something new? If you did, can you use the new knowledge to go after new projects or add value to your bottom line? Are there things you want to improve about the business? Then you can start to outline the kind of engagements you want to target in 2012.

Celebrate: This is a must-have when you are your own boss. Take the time now and throughout the year to celebrate the little things and pat yourself on the back. Give a “woo hoo” about the impact that you had with a big client and a “well done” about the solid pipeline. Take time to smile big, remembering how appreciative your clients have been. Mostly, this time of year I celebrate that I get to choose my own end-of-the-year bonus: it is most certainly never a ham.

May your 2012 be the best year ever!

Freelancers: Do you have a great tax accountant you’d like to recommend, or some tips on how to get ready for the year ahead? Tell us in the comments below, or on Facebook.

[Photo: Kristian Bjornard/flickr]