What Do These 7 Pieces of Data Say about your Business?
When you are starting out in business you are so busy being Jill of trades that you can’t seem to find the time to set and monitor monthly goals. However, there is something in the saying ‘fail to plan, plan to fail’ because you can’t be busy for the sake of being busy. You need a direction of travel and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to know that your business is growing (and opportunities to celebrate along the way – hurray!).
So, what are the 7 pieces of business data that you should be setting and tracking every month?
1. Total Revenue -how much do you want to earn in gross sales this month? This target feeds into your yearly revenue number and includes the 30% on top that you need to account for tax and NIC contributions plus profit.
2. Expenditure – keep it lean and keep it clean. Particularly when you are starting out in business and developing your proof of concept. If you are solopreneur think ‘borrow, barter and bargain’ when buying or acquiring resources for your start-up business. You will know when the time is right to invest in the big-ticket items (e.g., website, software, graphic designer, virtual assistant) because the investment will help you increase your revenue.
3. Net Profit/Loss – the first two stats should be part of your simple monthly accounting to help you arrive at this figure. Don’t get disheartened if you are making a loss early on. It takes businesses 2-3 years to break even, let alone turn a profit. However, build profit into your pricing right from the start.
4. Net Income – a stat that often gets overlooked is how much money you are making minus the 30% additional costs on top. Net income informs pricing. Particularly for service-based businesses. Therefore, if you have an income goal make sure your pricing covers your profit and expenditure and the 30% on top!
5. Social Media Stats – setting and tracking the number of followers helps you grow your community and keep an eye on content that does or does not resonate with your ideal client. You will need to more of the former to increase followers and engagement.
6. Website Traffic – whether you will have a website from the start or it will come on board later, setting targets for web traffic and monthly monitoring with google analytics is a digital habit to get into. It enables you to build on your strengths and address areas for improvement.
7. One thing that you achieved – let’s face it entrepreneurship is a marathon and not a sprint. Therefore, it is important to celebrate your wins along the way. It shows how far you have traveled and gives you the confidence to keep going because action builds confidence.
Want to know more?
Learn more about business planning and goal setting with Carrie Green at the Female Entrepreneur Association here
Thinking about starting a side business?
The Business of Life is part of the 3Cs Digital brand whose vision and mission it is to inspire and empower women to start and grow successful small businesses with confidence.
As well as the blog, The Business of Life is developing an online coaching programme called *5 Steps into Entrepreneurship: Side Business Start Up Success* for women over 40.
So, if you are a looking to diversify your work portfolio and income stream; and create more freedom, flexibility and financial income so that you are empowered to live a life full of passion, purpose and prosperity book a free 30-minute coaching call to find out how to start your side business from the comfort of your own home.
Have a business already? Need support in starting and developing it online?
3Cs Digital is a web marketing service dedicated to helping women in business set up and develop their online presence. Through coaching or consultancy services in web design, copywriting and social media marketing 3Cs Digital equips women in business with the digital knowledge and skills to: create and design websites, find their brand voice and curate social media posts to attract their ideal customers to their small business website.