25 Feb Setting Financial Goals

One of the many keys to business success is setting financial goals.  Knowing where you are headed can help you stay on track and keep you from relying too heavily on your gut. Financial goals aren’t scary or hard.  Here are three simple steps to setting financial goals: SET YOUR GOALS, BREAK YOUR GOALS DOWN INTO ACTION STEPS AND MONITOR THOSE GOALS and a tool to help you…

• Set Financial Goal(s):

Financial goals should include both income as well as other financial goals.  Setting a goal of maintaining a specific margin, or increasing profitability by a certain percentage are useful goals that allow you to see things in a relative light.  Goals that are general like creating multiple income sources are also useful.

• Break Your Goals Down:

  It isn’t enough to say “I’m going to make more money”. You need to break your goals down.  If your goal is to create three new revenue streams what will they be?  If your goal is to increase your margin how will you be doing it?  Will you be outsourcing your production to a new production company at a lower cost?  Write down each goal and break down the action steps for that goal.  We have a Goal Planner here for you to open and print!

  Fogged In Bookkeeping Financial Goal Planner

• Monitor Your Goals:

  The only way to know if you are obtaining your goals is to monitor them.  One of the simplest ways is to utilize the tools available to you within your financial software.  If you are a QuickBooks user you can set and monitor a budget.  If you have set financial goals that are more abstract such as developing new revenue streams you obviously can’t measure that in a financial statement.  You may want to utilize some other resources to help you monitor your goals as well as to help you follow through.  If you are someone who tends not to have great follow through then you may want to use a mastermind group to help you stay on track.  By developing a team who knows what your goals are and fostering a group who will follow up with you you are increasing the likelihood of obtaining your goals.