revenue plan Archives - SalesTactics.org

Your Money Plan is important.

But if you're a small business owner, it's likely you don't have it.

As the end of the year approaches, coaches start talking about planning out the next twelve months. Smart business owners take them up on this offer... and yet if I had to put a number to it I'll bet about 5% actually do the work.

The rest sit back.

They have various reasons for doing so.

After all, the holidays are coming up. They can do the work in January. (But of course they never will.)

Or they get trapped in The How: HOW will this money come in? A revenue plan is just fantasy, as far as they're concerned.

Those are two of the big reasons small business owners do nothing. They continue to drift.

money plan puzzle revenue plan business owner planning decision making choices

Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

Why Create Your Money Plan

I've seen a lot of people and companies drift.

Some are comfortable.

Some are so uncomfortable they can't imagine how figuring out a money plan will help.

Yet that's the truth: having a revenue plan will help.

It tells you all sorts of things, if you do the work.

Your Money Plan tells you how much you want and need to earn.

It tells you what the minimum price is that you should go to work for.

From that, it tells you the minimum size of problem you should be looking to solve.

It tells you who you should be looking for as a target customer.

It tells you how fast you need to be working.

It gives you all sorts of incredibly valuable information about how your business needs to be set up and run...if you want it to be successful.

So why do so many business owners shrug this planning off?

Why do they believe it's "not for them"?

Two Reasons People Struggle With Their Money Plan

The truth is in two parts.

First, nobody has ever told them about the key factors I just listed for you. The business owners therefore believe this kind of planning is a boring accounting exercise: and who wants to do that besides the accountants?

Second, deep down, they don't believe they're really in control. They think, if they're winning, "I got lucky." That their customers are the result of chance. That it won't last.

And in a weird way, they're right about the second part.

If you don't continually create the outcome you desire, things will fall apart.

But you do have control.

You can control who you speak with...and who you don't.

You can control what size of problem you choose to work on solving.

You can control your activity level and involvement in phases like prospecting, selling and fulfilling orders.

You can control a lot.

Probably a whole lot more than you thought.

So if you're content to stick it out in the comfort zone, abdicate responsibility for the outcome and tell yourself the lie that, "It's all luck"... you're on your own.

But if you're excited about the idea of getting your Money Plan together—and perhaps changing your business much for the better—then we should speak.

>> Jason Kanigan is a business strategist. Book a time with him to speak about your situation...and get some serious answers...by clicking here. <<

Living with uncertainty is a fact of entrepreneurial life.

It's so emotionally brutal a fact that most people can't face it. They shy away. The job road is so much easier.

It has torn apart marriages, destroyed friendships, and hurt families.

Uncertainty is something you and those around you are going to have to get a handle on if you are going to travel this path.

Far Fewer People Than You Think Are True Entrepreneurs

Let's take a look at how many people are really taking that leap.

The number of real businesses being created every month is far fewer than you might believe.

Let's take the US. Population: about 319 million.

More businesses are shut down than started, according to Forbes. Other sources say births and deaths are about even.

At any rate, we're talking about around 500,000 people who have decided to open a new business this month.

Most of these, however, are not "employer firms," meaning they don't employ anyone and have an average annual revenue of $44,000. Enough to support one family, perhaps.

Also, a large fraction of these startups are created by people who already own one or more businesses--thereby cutting the total with entrepreneurial commitment even lower.

Historical data (p.3) says 10-12% of firms with employees open ever year, and about the same amount close every year.

So let's say over a year we have over 650,000 new businesses being created. About the same number are closing, but let's focus on the births. I couldn't find the source I'd seen before of how many startups were opened by people who already had a business, but I remember the number was close to 50%. Let's say conservatively that it's 25%.

So that leaves us with about 4.9 million true entrepreneurs who took the plunge this year, and that's being generous.

Out of a population of 320 million, that's about 1.5%.

And I believe it's less than that.

Not Many People Can Stand Living With Uncertainty

Now there is some statistical fuzziness in here, because every year new people do make the entrepreneurial leap...but so too are those who failed in a previous venture and are returning, or starting a second or third or twentieth business and would be double-counted. Estimates vary from around 8% to 13%.

This article from Entrepreneur.com explores the question of "Who is an entrepreneur?" The answer is not so easily defined as you may think.

My takeaway from this little analysis is about 1 in 10 persons in the US is comfortable with the idea of being self-employed, and another 1 or 2 in 100 takes the plunge over a given year.

Meaning the vast majority of the people who say they'd like to start their own business are scared to death of the uncertainty.

Most stay employed with the "regular people", where they feel it's safe.

And who can blame them? Most businesses fail, and quickly.

The first two years are often a terrible struggle.

And most businesses fail before the end of their fourth year.

As we entrepreneurs know, however, your job can be whisked away from under your feet at any time.

There are no guarantees.

How To Be An Entrepreneur and Stand Living With Uncertainty

The fear of living with uncertainty is paralyzing.

If you are really going to take the leap and become an entrepreneur, open your own business and face the heat, be ready for the uncertainty.

Make sure, if you have a family, that they are ready for the uncertainty.

Know your budget before you begin.

How much revenue do you need to bring in every month?

What are your expenses?

Have you figured out what is absolutely necessary, and what is optional?

If you have family, are they prepared for possible cuts in the lifestyle they have now and expect to continue?

The truth is there is uncertainty in everything.

If you step outside of your home, uncertainty raises its ugly head.

As a self-employed professional, there's nowhere to hide. Nowhere to go. No one to fall back on. You simply need to get it done yourself.

And this highlights an important fact: Personal responsibility trumps uncertainty.

Have you figured out your budget?

Do you have a revenue plan?

Do you know, in detail, what you need to do and how you are going to carry it out to make that revenue?

If you do, the pressure of uncertainty will retreat. Your sense of personal responsibility will be taking control.

If you don't, and you are trying to make "as much as you can get," then you are leaving everything up to chance. Small wonder the bugbear of uncertainty is right there in your face.

The numbers are scary.

Most businesses fail in a pretty short time. Well over half. What does that say about the entrepreneurs who founded them?

They don't have a budget or revenue plan. They don't have leaders who have taken personal responsibility for results.

They've left everything up in the air.

Less than 1% of the US population knows what it takes to be successfully living with uncertainty. To make it no big deal. You can be a part of this group.

>> For help with your revenue plan, talk with Jason Kanigan. <<