How to Write an Annual Letter to Customers as a Small Business

Large companies publish annual reports. Small businesses mostly send a holiday discount code. In between there is a format that works surprisingly well for small companies, agencies, and independent professionals: a plain annual letter to customers that says what happened this year, what you learned, and what is coming next.

The best-known example is Warren Buffett’s letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, available going back decades on the company’s letters page. They are famous less for their numbers than for their candor: plain language, admitted mistakes, and a clear sense of how the business thinks. A small business can borrow that tone in a single page.

Write It As A Letter, Not A Campaign

An annual letter should read like it came from a person. Sign it with your name. Write in the first person. Leave out promotional banners and discount codes; if you want to run an offer, send it separately. The moment the letter becomes a sales email, readers stop trusting the rest of it.

Report The Year Honestly

Share a few facts that matter to customers, not vanity metrics.

Before:

2026 was an amazing year of growth and innovation for us. We are so grateful for our incredible community and excited about everything we achieved together.

After:

This year we delivered 1,240 orders, up from 900 last year, and moved to a larger workshop in April. We also made a mistake: our autumn shipping times slipped to two weeks because we underestimated demand. We have hired a second packer and changed suppliers, and November orders are back to four days.

The second version includes a mistake, which is exactly what makes it believable. Customers already noticed the slow shipping; acknowledging it builds trust in everything else you say.

Thank People Specifically

Generic gratitude is forgettable. Specific gratitude is memorable. Thank the customers who sent feedback that changed a product, the early buyers who trusted you before you had reviews, or the local business that referred you. Name groups rather than individuals unless you have permission.

If you also send personal thank you notes to your best clients, keep those separate; a year-end thank you email to clients covers that one-to-one version.

Look Ahead With Commitments You Can Keep

Close with two or three concrete plans for next year: a product you are developing, a service change, a price change if one is coming. Announcing a price increase in an annual letter can be a good idea, because it arrives with context; the details still deserve their own message, as covered in how to write a price increase letter.

Avoid promising dates you cannot hit. “We plan to launch refills in spring” is better than “Refills arrive 1 March” if you are not sure.

Keep It To One Page

Five to eight short paragraphs is plenty. Publish it on your website as well as sending it by email, so it becomes a record that new customers can read. Over several years, these letters become a small archive that shows how your business thinks, which is useful for customers and for you.

A Context For Customer Letters

A Wrivio Context for annual letters could say:

Rewrite this as a warm, plain, first-person annual letter to customers of about 400 words. Report the year’s facts, acknowledge any mistakes honestly, thank specific groups, and finish with two or three plans for next year. No marketing language, no exclamation marks, no discount offers. Keep every number, date, product name, and commitment exactly as written. Do not add achievements, statistics, or promises that are not in the draft.

Press Ctrl+Shift+Space, paste your notes, and read the diff with the mistakes section in mind. A rewrite that softens an admitted error into “a few challenges” has removed the most valuable sentence in the letter.

Common Questions

What should an annual letter to customers include?

A few honest facts about the year, any mistakes and what you did about them, specific thanks, and two or three plans for the coming year. Keep it personal and signed by a real person.

When should a small business send an annual letter?

Mid to late December or early January both work. Avoid the busiest promotional days, when it would be buried among sales emails.

Should I include a discount code in an annual customer letter?

No. A promotion turns the letter into a sales email and undermines its credibility. Send offers separately.

Is it a good idea to mention mistakes to customers?

Yes, if customers were affected. Acknowledging a known problem and what you changed builds more trust than pretending it did not happen.

Download Wrivio for Windows to turn a year of notes into a plain, honest letter your customers will actually read.