Do you know how much money you'd like to earn next year? Have you worked out how much product/ how many services that equates to? Do you have a spreadsheet somewhere on your laptop that shows how much you'd like to turn over on a monthly basis?
It's tempting not to bother. You don't have time. You're not sure what's possible. You're worried you're being bullish. What if you don't meet the targets? There are plenty of reasons/ excuses why people don't create targets. I can't imagine my business that didn't have targets. No wait a minute, I can…
We'd drift along from on month to the next. We'd still do a great job for our clients and my team might be happier for a while: no targets means no pressure at the end of the month! But after a while that lack of direction and sense of purpose would manifest itself in both me and the team. The team wouldn't know how well they were doing, because they'd have nothing tangible or objective to measure their performance against.
Horrors; if I didn't have targets I probably wouldn't have a budget either. I'd spend money when I had it in the bank, and I'd stop spending when I ran out of cash. I'd make decisions based on the cash in my bank account rather than the value they'd add to my business. And it would be touch and go as to whether I'd have a business next year. I'd spend a LOT more than if I'd had a proper budget and the chances are I'd make a LOT LESS money.
Without the incentive of monthly targets I'd probably invoice a good 25% less every month as I'd just be drifting along. And I'd probably have a bit of a rude awakening at the end of the year.
I don't like the sound of any of that! I've always been very targets focused and it's all I've known all my working life. Yes it's tough, yes it's corporate, but I also believe it's essential to anyone serious about running a successful business.
I've had my book keeper put together a budget for me for next year based on the company performance over the last four years, and also my own personal financial goals. It's exciting! And most importantly, I know what I need to do to get to where I want to get to.
Now all we need to do is achieve them!
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