Do you own a business with a fluctuating or inconsistent income due to the nature of your business? Have you wondered how you can set and achieve financial goals when you don’t know what your income will be for the next month?
Today, I’m going to give you some tips on how you can still set financial goals even with a fluctuating income!
If you are just starting your business but still working a W2 job, it’s likely that you receive a fairly consistent income. When you have a consistent income, it makes it much easier for you to make a plan for your money. Whether that is creating a budget, paying bills or setting financial goals to pay off debt or save money.
But, when you are a small business owner, your income can fluctuate month to month, especially if you are selling products where you don’t have a contract in place with consistent monthly or annual revenue.
Watch today’s video for tips on how to set your financial goals!
Steps to Success!
- Look back at your historical income. If you have good history showing what the last 6-12 months looked like, then you can use that data to determine an estimated income. Depending on the nature of your business, it may be best to take a 6-month average or do month-to-month comparisons. Once you set up an estimated income for each month, you can begin to build your financial goals off of that.
- Consider upcoming things you have planned. As you are setting your financial goals, don’t forget about your upcoming holiday sale that will generate a lot of sales, or a contract end or start date that is coming up and will increase or decrease your revenue.
- Your expenses shouldn’t fluctuate. Even if you have variable expenses such as utilities or Facebook ads, you should know the average of these expenses. This will allow you to take your estimated income along with your average expenses to get a baseline number of what you’re working with on a monthly basis.
- Be realistic with your financial goals. The key is to start small. If you have $50,000 of debt you are trying to pay off, don’t set a 5-month goal of $10,000 per month directly to that debt unless you know your money can handle that. Set your goal for 12 months and if you reach the goal and pay it off in 10 months, then great!
Bookkeeping + Goals = Financial Success
If you want to perfect your bookkeeping skills, sign up for my free course!
This course was made for small business owners to gain a better understanding of the who, what, when, where, and why of bookkeeping for their business.
Get your bookkeeping in order, set your goals and achieve financial success!
