MoneySmart Solution #1: Making money with a small business does not occur by chance – It occurs from our intention.
Every financial guru worth their salt will tell you “know your numbers.” This is particularly true and important for business owners. As a business consultant in San Luis Obispo for the past eight years, I have had an opportunity to work with hundreds of business owners who are either just starting a business or have been in business only a few years. Repeatedly I get the same question, “How can I make sure my business is profitable?” I am happy to report I know the answer to that one; I have been in exactly the same place and created an easy-to-use tool for myself which has become my #1 MoneySmart Solution for helping my clients achieve their own financial success.
When I first started I thought I understood how to have a successful business. After all, I had a real knack for managing businesses from my career as a law office administrator; I had a passion for helping others and I had a deep understanding of business accounting. Additionally, my father had started and sold several small businesses. Nevertheless, after being in business for about six months, my revenues seemed to be lagging and I noticed I was actually allowing my income to be a product of chance.
This was a real eye-opening moment for me. It was understandable though, I was my father’s daughter and was following in his business footsteps. I soon saw that my father’s financial strategies had been based on the traditional business model which teaches us to pay close attention to customers, operations, and management – and that making money will follow. But today’s research reveals it is actually attention on revenue that has been the key for successful businesses. In looking more closely at how my father had done business I could see that he had always worked very hard and yet had never produced much more than a “paycheck.” He had also never used a deliberate, premeditated approach to target making money with his small businesses – he was not being intentional about it.
From working in the legal industry I am no stranger to goals. Preparing for trial requires a great deal of focus and missing your targets is never going to go well. So it occurred to me I could actually make my target my income and what I did next was actually the smartest thing I ever did for my business. I decided to take my personal household needs and add it to my business needs. Using this number as the basis for my goal would allow me to consistently support my business expenses and make sure I was making enough for me. But I wanted to do more than just cover my business expenses, meet my household needs (barely), and pay my taxes. I knew I had to make the number a little bigger to allow me to really create a business I could love. After calculating an annual target for my income, I divided it by fifty (giving me two weeks off for vacation). This became my weekly income target which I then divided by four which seemed to be about as many days as I could manage for revenue generating activities in my new business.
Now I had a daily financial target.
What came next was quite remarkable.
Having a daily financial goal had a profound impact on me – it began driving my performance.
My attention was consistently drawn to making money with my small business to reach my daily number. I knew immediately when I had made it and when I hadn’t. It was not only easy for me to do, it dramatically reduced my stress. Instead of worrying about how I was going to make enough each month, all I had to worry about was how to make my daily goal. At first I had more days fall short than days where I met my goal, but very soon I got the hang of it and started to consistently hit (or even exceed) my daily number.
My income nearly tripled in the year following my implementation of this strategy. I was making enough money with my small business!
This goal setting strategy has become my #1 MoneySmart Solution for helping my clients achieve their own financial success and without exception my clients who have embraced using this approach have produced exciting results. It is like learning to ride a bike, success occurs out of doing a series of little steps strung together to produce the desired result. This strategy is incredibly effective and will create a shift in your focus onto activities that are revenue relevant. Repetitive, intentional activities targeting your income will, in fact, begin to produce results. Guaranteed!
You are reading this most likely because you are an entrepreneur looking for ways to make money with a successful business and create a financial future for yourself and your family. I believe that every small business owner can have financial freedom and I know that effective revenue strategies, easy-to-use tools, and affordable MoneySmart solutions are the answer to creating a business you love. Transforming your business will transform your life. Click the link below to download my Income Calculator (it’s free) and find out what your daily number is so you can start producing results today.
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