Resilient Profit Partners

31 “Year In Review” Examples to Inspire You

Grace LaConte

31 "Year In Review" Examples to Inspire You

A Year In Review is an evaluation of what has occurred in the past year, what you’ve learned, where things went wrong, and how you will make changes for the coming year.

To learn how to create your own, read How to Do a Year In Review.

Year in review, review of year, year-end review, end-of-year review, yearly review, yearly evaluation, year-end evaluation, retrospective evaluation, risk intelligence

This type of evaluation will stretch you. You may find information about your company that is embarrassing. And you might decide to keep it private—known only to you or your leadership team. Or you could share the results with staff or customers. There’s nothing wrong with editing the content to fit the audience (especially if you’re an introvert like me).

But if you’re willing to be totally transparent, sharing a Year In Review with the entire world is extremely effective.

Read more: 5 Reasons to Share a “Year In Review” of Your Business.

In this post, you’ll get to see examples of 31 different people who used a Year In Review. I will share what I liked (and didn’t like) about each one.

Ready? Let’s get started!
It took me a while to find good examples of annual reviews done by business owners. After searching high and low, I can finally share some examples with you. These individuals come from around the world:

Four countries (the United States, Canada, Germany, and Liberia) including 14 states and DC.

A total of 18 men and 13 women are represented.

Each of the 31 examples are written by small business owners who serve a unique niche market.

Each has a compelling writing style and is committed to making a positive difference in the world (which aligns with my own Vision, Mission, and Values).

We’ll start with the Granddaddy of the “Year in Review” concept, Chris Guillebeau.

Number 1:  

Chris Guillebeau

Chris Guillebeau

Chris has been publishing an annual evaluation every year since 2005 (2017 will be the 17th).

In each post, he asks two simple questions:

  1. What went well this year?
  2. What didn’t go well this year?

The openness and commitment to sharing his results consistently (evident on his blog) have inspired many of us to do the same. Read his step-by-step instructions here.

Chris typically takes a full week in December to evaluate and measure his goals in 11 categories:

  1. Writing
  2. Business
  3. Friends & Family
  4. Service
  5. Travel
  6. Spiritual
  7. Health
  8. Learning
  9. Financial (Earning)
  10. Financial (Giving)
  11. Financial (Saving)

He then sets 3-5 measurable goals in each category for the following year. Here’s what he has to say about the adjustments he made to the process.

Entrepreneurs, authors, and other business owners are now following in Chris G.’s footsteps. Here are my favorites.

Number 2:

Nathan Barry

Nathan Barry

Not only is Nathan’s 2016 post is easy to read and inspiring, it’s also incredibly down-to-earth. Nathan includes a lot of pictures and links to relevant posts elsewhere on his blog. I really like his use of revenue graphics and screenshots, as well as the simplicity of bulleted lists.

Nathan’s review sections include:

Number 3:

Brennan Dunn

Brennan Dunn

Brennan has been sharing his Year In Review since 2012.

His review includes:

The variety of media (screenshots, Tweets, graphics, photos, videos) is easy to understand.

Number 4:

Austin L. Church

Austin L. Church

I really like Austin’s quote to describe the importance of making your review public:

“There is something cathartic about admitting one’s fears and mistakes in front of a large group of people. No longer trapped in our minds or hidden in our hearts, they lose their power over us.”

Austin starts by saying he was inspired by Michael Hyatt’s mini-course Best Year Ever. His style is very conversational; each section is a statement that he’s learned. For example:

He then provides a bullet list of “What went well this year,” and a shorter list of “What didn’t go well this year.”

That’s it. Short and sweet.

Number 5:

Heath and Alyssa Padgett

Alyssa and Heath Padgett of The RV Entrepreneur
The RV Entrepreneur

Heath and Alyssa are a fascinating couple who decided to travel the United States in their recreational vehicle (RV). They share their adventures, mishaps, and discoveries on their blog, podcast, and Alyssa’s book A Beginner’s Guide to Living in an RV.

Alyssa is the primary author of the Year In Review. She includes Major Highlights, Personal Highlights, Things That Went Well, Things That Didn’t Go Well, and a final summary. I enjoyed the many pictures of their adventures, and a very easy-to-read style of writing.

Number 6:

Derek Loudermilk

Derek Loudermilk

Achievements and what went well in 2016 (Work, adventure, physical, spiritual, financial, relationships, emotional), Bucket List Items Achieved, What did not go well in 2016.

Number 7:

Mike Vardy

Mike Vardy

Mike used a month-by-month format, with a bullet-point list for each. While not my favorite format for a review, Mike is still able to convey the ups and downs of his year. Mike ends with Planning Ahead For Success and mentions his Three Words (read it here).

Chris Brogan

The “Three Words” concept was started in 2006 by Chris Brogan, who has been selecting 3 inspiring key words at the beginning of every year. The idea is that those words will be a subconscious reminder to focus on your goals for success.

Chris is the co-founder of Owner Media Group and is based in northern Massachusetts.

Read his #mythreewords post here). #3words

Number 8:

Caleb Wojcik

Caleb Wojcik

Caleb shares very heartfelt and detailed recaps, spanning from 2011 to 2015. I really appreciated his transparency when discussing his wife’s cancer treatments, and how that affected him personally and professionally.

His sections include:

Although Caleb’s last update was in 2015, I contacted him to find out if he will be publishing one for 2017—and he said that, yes, he does plan to share one this year. So I’ll be on the lookout for it.

Number 9:

Brendan Hufford

Brendan Hufford

Brendan published an awesome 2-part review in 2015: Looking Back, and Looking Forward.

The first post is Looking Back (2015 Annual Review: Looking Forward to 2016 (The Calm Before the Storm).

The basic format includes a simple 2-question review:

The other part he published is called Looking Forward (Annual Review 2015: Lessons in Hustle and Heart).

This includes:

The distribution between Hustle (business & career) and Heart (family and health) is really interesting. I really enjoyed the variety of pictures Brendan included of his family, important events, and business endeavors. He also dives deep into difficult decisions he’s had to make. And he mentions the books he’s read (which is always fun to read).

I also liked the Looking Back/Looking Forward dual format. A majority o f Year In Review authors don’t spend a lot of time discussing their plans for the next year.

Brendan published a Looking Back version in 2016, but I couldn’t find a Looking Forward version. Hopefully he shares an update this year!

Number 10:

Barrett Brooks

Barrett Brooks

Barrett shared a very raw and easy-to-read post about his year with a look back/look forward perspective (read it here).

The sections include:

I didn’t see a 2016 review for Barrett but hope he publishes one again soon.

Number 11:

Benny Hsu

Benny Hsu

(Hsu is pronounced “shoe”)

Benny published a Year In Review for 2014. The sections include What Went Well (Travel, business growth, podcast, interviews), What Didn’t Go So Well (writing, podcasting, health, distractions). He ends with “What’s next for [year]?”

At the end of 2016, Benny published a podcast called Why I Don’t Make New Year’s Resolutions.

He also shared a fantastic FREE Year In Review worksheet that I highly recommend.

Number 12:

Dave Barry

Dave Barry

Dave is a well-known hilarious author. He publishes an annual Year In Review in the Miami Herald to bring some levity to the ridiculousness of modern culture. It’s not so much Dave’s own evaluation of HIS past year, more like that of the United States culture.

You’ll find his 2016 post here. He shares a hilarious conversational style, along with a monthly blow-by-blow of what has transpired in popular news.

I can’t wait to hear how Dave will describe 2017.

Number 13:

Fizzle

Chase Reeves of Fizzle
Fizzle, based in Portland Oregon

Fizzle is a quirky online training company co-founded by Corbett Barr, Chase Reeves, and Caleb Wojcik (see #8 above).

Their End of Year Review and Planning Process was written by Barrett Brooks (see #10 above). I like this post because it’s not only a fantastic evaluation of their own company, but also provides practical suggestions on using data points to extract even more value.

In this post, Barrett recommends breaking up your evaluation process into two steps.

Part 1: The Review

  1. What was my body of work this year?
  2. How did my body of work perform this year?
    • What are the most popular things I made?
    • Which pieces am I most proud of?
    • What did I spend the most time making?
    • How did they compare in net profit?
  4. Review the data with metrics
    • number of customers
    • total revenue
    • monthly growth rate
    • unique website visitors
    • total e-mail subscribers
    • conversion rate, etc.
  6. List your body of work. Write out all business activities including:
    • blogs, podcasts, and articles published
    • courses and training developed
    • office hours
    • customer support
    • bookkeeping

Part 2: The Plan

  1. Review and update your Vision, Mission, and Values statements
  2. Identify the Ideal Customer you serve
  3. Visualize your body of work from the past 5 years.
    • What do you hope to have created?
    • Which new things have you produced? List these in order of importance.
  5. Ask 3 Questions for next year:
    • What are my 3 strategic priorities, and how will I measure the success of each?
    • Which ongoing work and projects will help me reach my target goals?
    • List all work tasks and projects from the past 5 years; What needs to change or be discontinued?
  7. Select which tasks you will achieve in the first quarter of the year (January, February, and March).

Fizzle also published a concise episode on the Fizzle Show about how to do a Yearly Review, written (and recorded) by Creative Director Chase Reeves.

Here are the highlights:

  1. Take inventory of everything you made this year.
  2. Make a list of what did/didn’t go well.
  3. Decide who you make things for.
    Who benefits most from your services? Why do you want to help them? These are really soul-searching questions that need to be asked.
  1. Put together a vision statement for next year.

The year-end review is a great opportunity to check your company’s vision and adjust it if needed. Plus, you can choose a word or phrase (or 3 words) specific to this next year.

I’m really impressed by the depth of these two resources and highly recommend you check out Fizzle’s website.

Number 14:

WeWork

WeWork
WeWork logo

WeWork posted a review of their company’s accomplishments that included the list of new countries and new cities where they have a presence, number of new members, innovations, and what inspires them.

In my opinion, this review focused too much on the positives and not on any failures or lessons learned.

I’m hopeful their 2017 review is a bit more transparent and raw. Reading the accomplishments and successes is fine, but learning from the not-so-fun experiences is ten times more interesting.

Number 15:

Adam Rafferty

Adam Rafferty

Adam is a fascinating, enthusiastic, and talented guitar player. I’ve learned a lot by watching his videos. (Here’s his version of “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder)

In his yearly review, Adam is very open about the goals he achieves and those he fails to achieve. He even vows to donate money to charity for all missed goals (with screenshots of the receipt!). Here are some other interesting aspects of his review:

Number 16:

Thanksgiving Coffee Co.

Thanksgiving Coffee Co

I really enjoyed the depth of this review. Not only did it provide a significant amount of data, there was also an obvious sense of connection to their growers, suppliers, and the consumers who buy the final product.

Here are the sections in Thanksgiving Coffee Company’s year in review:

Number 17:

Brad Touesnard

Brad Touesnard

Although Brad’s last update was back in 2014, the elements he includes are worth taking a look at.

Here is what he included in the yearly overview:

Number 18:

Delicious Brains

Delicious Brains

This review is of the Delicious Brains company; it was written by Brad Touesnard (whose personal Year In Review is #17 above). I really like the simplicity and readability, as well as the refreshing use of actual numbers.

Here are the elements included in it:

Let’s take a break here and talk about something that may be quite obvious by now.

Year In Review Authors: Where are the Women?

As you may have noticed, so far this list is composed entirely of males (other than Alyssa Padgett).

Why is this?

Well, I had a really, really difficult time finding Year In Review posts written by females. After a lot of searching high and low, here are some gems I finally discovered.

Number 19:

Yael Grauer

Yael Grauer

Inspired by Chris Guillebeau, Yael has been publishing an annual review since 2010. I found her style to be very open and inviting, which is a welcome change from the more aggressive style of other writers.

Yael includes the basics:

Number 20:

Emily Abernathy

Emily Abernathy

Emily shared a visually inspiring update about her personal and professional life. She included lots of pictures about her adventures in a month-by-month format, with links to the locations she’s visited.

Number 21:

Anuschka Rees

Anuschka Rees

Anuschka published a very simple list of suggestions to evaluate your year and plan for the future. I really enjoyed the thought-provoking questions, as well as the fact that it’s easy to download and print.

Number 22:

Kathy Caprino

Kathy Caprino

Kathy wrote this excellent self-evaluation article that includes:

Although this is not Kathy’s own Year In Review, the questions she shares are excellent.

Number 23:

Classy Career Girl

Anna Runyan of Classy Career Girl
Classy Career Girl

Anna uses a month-by-month review in her annual company review. She details the events that happened, achievements, and big wins for the year.

I really like her in-depth perspective about how she runs a fast-growing service business.

Number 24:

Carrie Dils

Carrie Dils

Carrie has shared a Year In Review since 2011, and I am really inspired by the way she writes. Here are the sections in her review:

Number 25:

Omoju Miller, PhD

Omoju Miller

Omoju is a fascinating person. She is a data scientist, innovator, has a PhD in Computer Science and Education, and writes about culture and technology.

I really enjoy her writing style; it’s smooth and simple. Omoju’s Year In Review starts with a section called “Highlights of the Past Year,” which includes a single line:

Omoju also lists all of the 19 books she’d read, which I always enjoy.

Number 26:

Megan Minns King

Megan Minns King

Megan does an interesting twist on the typical format by including a video (Year In Review 2016: 7 Life and Business Lessons), as well as the transcript broken into seven separate Lessons. For example, Lesson #1: Practice Gratitude; Lesson #4: Mindset is the Foundation.

The only downside to this method is that it’s difficult to identify Megan’s “successes” and “failures,” because they get buried in the text. That could just be a style preference. But otherwise, I like her writing style and the way she weaves  her business lessons into the post.

Number 27:

Bombchel Factory

Archel Bernard of Bombchel Factory
The Bombchel Factory

This company’s back story is incredible. It was founded by Archel Bernard, who moved to Liberia after graduating from Georgia Tech in Atlanta. She started the boutique Mango Rags in 2013 and transitioned it into a clothing design and production company through a super successful Kickstarter campaign in 2016. Archel “specializes in dreaming up contemporary African clothing, training disadvantaged women to sew her designs, and empowering the women to become self-sufficient” (About page).

The Bombchel Factory Year In Review is brief, but it packs a punch. It includes

As you can see from Bombchel Factory’s example, one big benefit of publishing a Year In Review is the ability to give a heads-up about what  is coming in the next year.

Number 28:

Lettie Gooch

Theresa Watts of Lettie Gooch boutique
Lettie Gooch boutique

This boutique, called Lettie Gooch, was founded by Theresa Watts in 2006. Their annual review is really interesting, because it combines events with celebrations and accomplishments. The format is a “top 5 favorite moments of the past year,” which includes:

Although brief, Lettie Gooch’s focus on looking to the future and including a lot of fun photos made it very enjoyable to read.

Number 29:

Melissa Yeager

Melissa Yeager of Melissa Yeager Designs
Melissa Yeager Designs

Melissa’s post provides a variety of categories and graphs to encapsulate her past year. I really enjoyed the visual references sprinkled throughout.

Here are the sections she included:

Number 30:

New Beginnings Chiropractic

Dr. Brenda Trudell of New Beginnings Chiropractic
New Beginnings Chiropractic

This chiropractic office is owned by Brenda Trudell, DC. They share a unique 2-part review with a Wrap Up of the past year, and a Top 5 List.

The “Wrap Up, Changes, & Events” post is basically a reminder of useful services they offer, packages & discounts to take advantage of, and a reminder about insurance changes.

I do like how many of these points is linked to a corresponding article or page. This makes it easy to find more information and take the next step.

The second part is called Top 5 in the past year. This includes:

In addition, the bottom of the document includes an extra section in which they share:

The focus of these two posts is definitely on current and potential patients, which is a refreshing change from a more egocentric perspective typical of most Years In Review.

Lastly, I am featuring another chiropractor who happens to be in Wisconsin (which  happened totally by chance, honest!).

Number 31:

Miller’s Sports & Wellness Chiropractic

Dr Therese Miller of Miller Sports and Wellness Chiropractic
Miller Sports and Wellness Chiropractic

Therese Miller, DC is the Owner of this chiropractic center. Their annual review serves a few purposes:

What I like most about this month-by-month post is that they selected just four months (out of twelve). For each month, they provided a short explanation and a list of “Key Points.”

Final Thoughts

Now that you’ve read about these fantastic examples of a Year In Review, I hope you’ll feel more prepared to complete one for your business (or even personally).

Have you authored (or discovered) a great Year In Review (YIR)? Leave a comment with the link, or let me know so I can feature it in an upcoming post!

If you are a business owner who feels frustrated about planning for the future, let’s talk. Find out more here.

Grace LaConte is a Decision & Continuity Advisor who helps independent owners in manufacturing, B2B, and professional services to uncover hidden profit leaks and build stronger companies without burnout or added complexity. She uses proven frameworks and data-driven insights to improve cash flow, boost margins, and create lasting value. When not consulting, she develops practical tools that help owners protect their bottom line and grow businesses that last.

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