
Is Your Money Acting Funny And Your Change Acting Strange?
Coach Dreek is a Business Money Coach who helps women with financial management. View profile
There’s nothing more annoying than opening up social and seeing another Boss Babe sharing how she’s hit another 5-figure month, especially when you’re still struggling to make anything consistently. I get it, you’re happy for her and you want to see her win. But…what about you and what you want? What about the effort you’re putting in and the grind that seems like it never stops?
Sounding familiar yet?
Most women in business think that selling is the holy grail to operating a successful business. And while that’s somewhat true, what most Fempreneurs forget to mention is that you also need a financial plan.
Your money plan allows you to map out where you are, where you want to go, and all the steps in between. So, if you’re ready to hit your money goals each month without working yourself to death, use these simple tactics.
Visualization
The first step to consistently hitting your money goal is having the ability to see it before you achieve it so that you know what you’re aiming for. One of my favorite things to say is this, “it’s hard to hit a target you cannot see.” So, clearly defining what you want to accomplish will make achieving it easier, but we can’t stop there.
It’s not enough to just define what you want to accomplish, you also need to include why you want to accomplish it. Adding that extra layer of detail will give meaning to the tough days (because there will be tough days) and serve as a constant reminder for why you started this journey in the first place.
For example, if your goal is $10,000 a month.
Instead of saying this: I want to make $10,000 each month.
Say this: I want to profit $10,000 each month to take my family on a lavish vacation every year.
When you do this, you give your goals purpose and they become bigger than you. You will start to make better decisions about how you make, spend and manage your revenue because you’ve attached it to something that’s important to you.
Incorporation
The second step to consistently hitting your money goal is to ensure you’ve incorporated 3 key ingredients: your personal needs, your business’ financial data, and applying the S.M.A.R.T goal formula. As noted above, adding extra layers of detail to your goals will help you to remain disciplined when motivation wears off or the “I don’t feel like it” kicks in.
So, why are your personal needs important when setting your money goals in business?
Most women go into business so that they can have a better life outside of work. It could be out of necessity to remove the income cap, to have more flexibility to be available for family, or any other reason. But whatever your reason, understanding what you need financially to make your desire a reality is an important ingredient in setting money goals you can hit each month.
Personal needs – Questions to consider:
- What is your minimum wage monthly income? – This means what is the lowest amount of money you can possibly bring home to cover your necessities.
- What is your comfortable living income? – This means what amount of income will allow you to live a very comfortable life. You can easily cover the things you need and be able to afford some of the things you want.
- What is your luxury life income? This means what amount of money will allow you to do all the things you dream of doing and more. Ex. Hiring a nanny or chef, multiple trips out of the country each year, working only 2 days a week, etc.
Financial data in your business – Questions to consider:
- What is your average monthly revenue? – This will help you to see what you are currently bringing in so that you are realistic about your starting place. We’ll cover more on this in the next section.
- What is your most popular product/service? – Identifying what customers or clients are already interested in will help you use that information to drive more sales to that specific item vs having to establish popularity or desire of a different item.
- What are your average monthly expenses? – Having a clear understanding about how much you are dishing out each month helps to establish your big picture.
- Where is most of your spending going? – The easy way to increase profits is to cut expenses. So, identifying where the bulk of your spending is will help you determine which expenses can be cut, if any.
Applying the S.M.A.R.T. goal formula – Questions to consider:
- Is your goal specific? – This goes back to the first step of visualization. What are you hoping to achieve and why?
- Is your goal measurable? – This is the process in which you will determine how close (or far) you are from achieving your goal. What milestones will you need to hit in order to achieve your goal?
- Is your goal attainable? – This is by what means will you use to hit your goal. Ex. What products/services will you sell, what sales strategy will you use, etc.
- Is your goal realistic? – This means do you have the tools/skills you need to hit your goal or will you need to learn some new things.
- When do you want to accomplish this goal? – Giving your goal a timeframe helps to keep your goal at the forefront of your efforts and provides you with an additional checkpoint.
Incorporating these key ingredients in your goal setting process makes you 10x more likely to hit your goals consistently. In other words, putting in the additional efforts to understand where you are and where you want to go before working towards your big picture increases your chances of the outcome you desire.
Implementation
This is the part of the process that is often left out and the main reason you aren’t hitting your goals consistently. Once you’ve visualized your goals and added in all the success ingredients, its time to create a plan of implementation. The easiest way to do this is to reverse engineer your big picture.
Let’s say your goal is to profit $10,000 each month.
*remember that profit means the money left over after subtracting expenses
Step 1. Determine how much you need in sales to profit your goal amount.
Your most popular item costs $100, you have monthly expenses of $2,500, and taxes are roughly 20%.
You’ll need to add in your monthly expenses of $2,500.
$10,000 profit goal + $2,500 average monthly expenses = $12,500
Then, you’ll need to account for taxes.
$12,500 profit goal & expenses x .20 estimated tax rate + $12,500 profit goal & expenses = $15,000
Finally, you’ll need to determine the number of sales you need to make to hit $15,000.
$15,000 profit goal, expenses & taxes / $100 price of popular item = 150
Now we know that in order to hit your monthly goal of profiting $10,000, you must sell 150 of your most popular item at $100 each month.
Step 2. Break your goal’s monthly timeframe into weekly and daily chunks.
How many items do you need to sell each week?
150 items / 4 weeks (average) = 37.5 rounded to 38
Next, how many do you need to sell each day?
38 weekly items / 7 days = 5.43 rounded to 6
Step 3. Determine what needs to happen to make 6 sales each day.
Whatever method you decide to use to reach your 6 sales a day, be sure to remain consistent. Also, remember to make any adjustments in your calculations if your method of choice includes advertising & marketing or increasing your prices. The most important thing to remember is that you find what works and stick with it.
How well do your current goals attribute to the success of you hitting them?
What adjustments will you make today to ensure you are chasing attainable goals?
Short Article Review
- Your goals need a beginning, middle and end. Think about where you are, where you want to go, and the steps needed to get there.
- Give your goals meaning and purpose. Visualize more than just what you want to make each month but also why you want to make it. This will drive you during the not so good days.
- Set wholistic goals. Be sure to include every aspect of why you are in business to make entrepreneurship worth it.
- Map out the process. Know exactly what you need to do each day each week, and each month so that you stay on track.
- Make any necessary adjustment. Don’t be afraid to go back to the drawing board or switch up your approach.
- Be consistent. You can not achieve your goals if you don’t consistently follow your success plan.
The content in this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice. Always seek the advice of a licensed professional regarding any financial questions you may have.
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