Get a Head Start on Your 2024 Financial Goals

[Listen to the Podcast version here]

2024 is right around the corner!

As a business owner, I know this is a busy time. But it’s also the perfect time to prepare for next year and set yourself up to achieve your financial goals.

Before diving into the details, I want to ask a question.

What is it that you want to achieve?

Only work 30 hours per week?

Take a family vacation without feeling like your business falling apart?

One of my goals is to not work weekends.

I want to spend that time with my family and friends, enjoying shared activities and exploring new hobbies.

I don’t want to spend it thinking about the next podcast I need to record or the information I’m still waiting on to move forward with a project. I want all that work stuff wrapped up or tucked away, so I can enjoy life.

So, what’s your goal?

Now that you have your goal in mind, what will it take for you to achieve it?

Do you need to…

• Double your revenue?
• Change up your products and services?
• Work with a strategist?
• Hire employees?
• Increase your profits?

Think about the resources you will need to build your business in the next 12 months to achieve your goal. What do you need to give yourself the time and space to do what you need to do?

Let’s walk through a scenario:

Claire owns a parts distribution company.  She maintains a small inventory in stock and dropships from suppliers as needed. She works from home. Her small inventory is stored on shelves in her garage.

She’s getting multiple orders per day. Her customers are happy because she always meets her delivery promises. Claire’s business crossed over the $500k revenue mark this year. 

Business is good, but Claire is tired. She started this business so she could spend more time with her kids, but she’s working late to meet delivery demands and the paperwork is falling behind. Her kids want to get involved in sports and she wants to be there with them all the way. But she also wants to keep growing the business.

What can Claire do to achieve both?

Claire has built her business with a lean mindset to keep costs down which is great, except now she has too much on her plate to do what she wanted to do in the first place – spend more time with her kids.

Now, she needs to make a shift. Her business is profitable, and she can afford to start investing her cash in a way that frees her up to spend time with her kids.

Claire could look at options like:

• Breaking down the things she does into two groups:
  • Tasks she can teach someone else to do that are time intensive and require less specialized knowledge
  • Tasks she excels at because of her background / expertise or things she simply enjoys doing
• Creating processes for the tasks she can teach someone else
• Hiring and training someone to take over the things she doesn’t want to do anymore

She could start by hiring someone part time to handle shipping the orders. The new shipping clerk could also be trained to keep track of the inventory on hand and prepare purchase orders to replenish stock.

Then Claire could hire an accounting firm to take over managing the financials and have someone to run ideas by for scaling the business.

As these pieces fall into place, Claire will spend less time doing all the things in her business and be able to focus on spending time with her kids. When she is working, she can do what she enjoys most, which is talking to her customers and learning more about how she can serve them. As the business grows, she can continue to add resources to protect her time commitment to her family.

This isn’t going to happen overnight for Claire, and it won’t for you either. This process takes time and hard work to get it right. But that’s where the plan and resources come in to help.

I wrote a two-part series on the planning process and tools to use that dives into detail on how the planning process works.

The series covers:

• The information you’ll need to get started
• Choosing a sales forecasting method that works for your business
• 9 questions to ask yourself during your strategic planning
• Why relying on more sales isn’t the only answer
• Using your budget to track profitability
• Fostering flexibility as your business grows

You can read both articles here:

Planning Part 1

Planning Part 2

What I want you to take away from today’s episode is that where your business is at right now doesn’t control the goals you set for yourself.

Set your goals.

Dream as big as you want to.

You may not achieve them 100% in the first year, but you’ll be a heck of a lot closer than if you hadn’t worked towards them.

And you may surprise yourself. Determined people can achieve great things.

As you’re heading into the new year, I’m sure you’re thinking about what else you can do to keep more money in your pocket and grow your business.

While I strongly advocate for a long-term cash flow strategy, there are several things you do to increase your cash flow in as little as 30 days.

Today, I’m sharing my new 30-Day Cash Flow Catalyst Group Intensive.

If you're ready to:

 + increase your profits

+ increase your cash flow

+ reduce the number of hours you’re working

+ or finally take that dream vacation

Then this program is for you.

Here’s how it works:

30 Days of Cash Flow Analysis & Strategy

You'll identify what's blocking your cash flow by diving into the numbers and analyzing your current cash flow management system.

4 Weekly Group Calls

As you're diving into your cash flow, we can explore the causes and potential solutions together to get some quick wins while you build your plan for the future.

Voxer Access To Chat In Between Meetings

No need to have to wait an entire week to ask a question. Ask me questions any time and I'll get back to you during business hours so you can move forward fast.

My 30-Day Cash Flow Catalyst Group Intensive starts on December 4^th.

I’m keeping the group small – only 10 spots are available.

If you’re ready to tame the cash flow monster in your business so you can spend more time enjoying life, you can see the full program details here and secure your seat in the program.

If you’re not sure if this intensive is for you, but you’re interested in learning how we can work together to increase your cash flow, click here to schedule your Cash Flow Strategy call.