On Jan. 27, the editor of The Sacramento Business Journal, Ron Trujillo, wrote an article with the headline, “Sacramento region’s economy ‘improving’ but trouble still looms.” In the article, Trujillo suggests the Sacramento economy “escaped the grip of the recession several months ago, but the gut-wrenching pain will linger in 2011, from the double-digit jobless rate to the hard hit construction industry and real estate markets.”

If you are a small business owner in the Sacramento area, that’s pretty sobering as, using a book-keepers analogy, the financial records for the first month of the year are about to be officially ‘closed.’

With this being the longest recession since the Great Depression and many “green shoots” in the economy starting to appear, it’s now time to prepare for future growth and not sit back and wait for it to happen.

So here are five tips to be ready for growth:

Besides, if you don’t do these things now, when will you have time?

1. Let’s start with you
If you’re running a business that sells products, you are used to counting your inventory. If you are a service business and don’t have inventory, you understand the concept. So this idea is simple, let’s start with you. What do you need to be ready for the growth of your business? Do you need a vacation to freshen up your energy levels, some training to learn a new piece of software, an accounting, sales and marketing or social media course? Set a goal to learn one new thing each month. If it takes 21 days to create a new habit, let’s start that journey now.

2. Do some audits of the business
Let’s make sure we are “business-ready” so when things get busy we don’t waste opportunities. Items to check in this category include your lease – when does it expire, and is it worth renegotiating with the landlord now or hiring a professional to help you do this? Update training manuals and employee manuals. If you don’t have either of them, now’s the time to do it or hire someone to do it for you. Answering the same question from each of your employees is not only repetitive but a waste of time. Making sure your manuals are also legally compliant is a good business investment. This audit can also include the corporate records of the business.

3. Review your business insurance
This idea is an extension of the above. If you’re doing a business audit, talk to your insurance agent to see what changes you need to make. You’re probably concerned some policies have gone up, but it’s possible some have gone down or you can lessen coverage on some items to better handle your premiums.

4. Talk to your employees and get them motivated
The recession has been tough on everybody. Being the owner of the business, we tend to think it’s been tougher on us. However, your employees have been concerned about losing their jobs, cuts to the number of hours they work, reduction in overtime or bonuses, plus their own standard of living. It’s time to re-engage them – check where they are at and what they see. Perhaps it’s time to hand them more responsibility so they can grow as the business grows, but this may require training. Let’s get that training going and build a team spirit.

5. Upgrade your office equipment
If you’re working off outdated equipment and its holding back your business, now’s the time to upgrade. If the new equipment is sophisticated, there will be a learning curve involved. Now’s the time to get on with it. And if you do it now, you will be ahead of your competition.

Perhaps selling your business in the back of your mind? The start of the year is the perfect time to work through that option. Selling a business requires thought and planning. Building an exit strategy includes positioning your business correctly, not only for potential buyers but also how this impacts you personally with tax and personal financial planning issues. With unemployment so high, buyers will be looking for options other than returning to Corporate America.