The Curvy Coach

I’ve been connecting with a few entrepreneurs in the plus size community and there’s a lot of talk about how many of these businesses are really struggling to keep a positive cash flow. While I know this is not true for all, it does raise a red flag. The economy definitely has impacted many businesses but we can’t use that as the excuse as to why we’re not profitable.  In fact, there are many companies that are having their best years ever.

The number one reason I feel most entrepreneurs are not reaching their financial goals is due to their vision. Everyone is looking for a quick buck to help pay down their debts and will accept any and every offer that comes their way to make ends meet. This is short term thinking. It’s understandable that times are tough, but you can’t operate your business with this type of behavior. You have to realize that your business is to help others but also it must be sustainable for your lifestyle. Don’t make the mistake of applying the living paycheck to paycheck principles to your business. There comes a time when you have to take a step back and realize that your business is an investment in you.

After gaining some insight, I’ve realized that many businesses particularly those in retail do not have a financial goal let alone a financial plan in place. Creating a financial plan does not have to be scary or intimidating at all. Yes, there are tons of income statements, cash flow templates, profit & loss spreadsheets out there which can be overwhelming. However, I want to show you a simpler way. In fact, it’s really basic math.

Don’t ever lose sight of the fact that no matter what stage you are in your business, your goal is to be profitable. In order to be profitable, you have to do the math. Let’s start with an end goal in hand and work backwards. For some odd reason, when I ask clients how much money would you like to make, the winning number is $100,000.00. So let’s run the numbers:

If you would like to generate $100,000.00 in sales for 2010 that means you need to generate $8,333.33 per month in sales.

$100,000/12 months = $8,333.33 per month

That means every day you need to make $277.78.

$8,333.33/30 days per month = $277.78 per day 

Looking at the price range of your products and services, how many products do you need to sell or how many clients do you need to book? Let’s say that you have a $28.00 product.

$277.78/$28.00 product = 10 products per day

That means you will need to sell approximately 10 products each and every single day to meet your $100,000 in sales for 2010.

Now doesn’t that seem more realistic and actually within reach? By simply having these numbers down, you can measure the performance of your marketing efforts and sales techniques. Your sales goal is no longer just a number that you’ve pulled out of the sky but now you actually have a financial goal to work towards every day.

In the next post, I’ll provide a few tips on how you can actually achieve your financial goal and the number one question you must ask yourself for every cent you’ve earned.