Ahh... don't you love that sense of accomplishment when you finally get something done that's been on your to-do list for what seems like forever? The kids blessed me with a longer than usual nap yesterday, giving me some much needed quiet time to really chip away at my goals for this year.
What really made a difference in setting these goals, is that I was more specific in what I wanted to achieve. Until recently, my goals seemed to always be based on just a general number of client sessions per month, not taking into consideration whether they were 30, 45, 60, 75, or 90 minute sessions, or whether it wasn't even massage, but a bodywrap or other spa treatment instead. I suppose my 2010 goals didn't get quite as specific as they could be, now that I'm thinking deeper into it, but I've at least based my goals on the financial step I'd like to reach.
I'm still a bit on the fence about sharing exact numbers, maybe not due to my own feelings towards them, but more in regards to other people's feelings about income. I've never really understood why people are so secretive about money. I'll keep much of this information on a general, percentage standpoint, though I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to punch a few numbers into a calculator and come up with the exact. If you are really interested in knowing, just ask.
To begin, I had 206 total sessions in 2009, which is equal to 58% of 2010's goal of 351 sessions, based on the most commonly booked 60 minute sessions.
My total income in 2009 is equal to 67% of my goal for 2010, and 2009's total take home is equal to 66.6% of 2010's goal. I like that those numbers are pretty close, and am not too daunted by my goal of a 33% increase...so far! However, I'm also looking to reduce my total business expenses. 2009 is 117% of my goal/budget for 2010.
If I reach my monthly income goals, 31.3% goes towards business expenses, things like my massage room lease, student loans, stamps, ink, printing, continuing education, license renewals, linens, laundry, products, etc; 23% for taxes, maybe that will take the edge of my annual surprise!; leaving 45.6% for personal profits, ie. paying household bills and keeping tummies happy.
So to reach these monetary goals, I need to have 29 non-discounted 60 minute massage sessions per month, which would keep my schedule at 78% capacity throughout the year. I believe I worked in a few vacation days when figuring those numbers. If my schedule only books up to 70% capacity, I would need to increase my 60 minute massage rate by $6.86 to continue to meet my goals.
How will I keep my schedule at 78% capacity to avoid raising my rates, you ask? I've got a list of things to do and, as I found when beginning this post, a few more things to add on also. I don't want to list it all out here... so let's see if, as a client, you notice my efforts!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
The More User-Friendly Version of Bookkeeping Analysis, Part 1
It feels like I've been spending A LOT of time working on these numbers, and when I posted them up last week, I thought I could finally be free from their hold on me. The task still was just not as complete as I had hoped. I, myself, was still going bonkers looking at ALL those percentages all at once.
Yesterday, I decided the best way for me to understand it all, would be to break it down into smaller groups of numbers.
First, I wanted to see how each percentage compared with an ideal, "average" throughout the year. Breaking 100% down by 12 (months per year), that number is 8.3%. So I looked through each category, and found the months that came closest to that 8.3%. But then, I also realized that just because there were some that were very close to "average," it didn't necessarily mean that was a GOOD thing. Sometimes it's better to be ABOVE or BELOW average, not spot on. So I took it two steps further, and found the Best of, and Worst of each category.
I then also scored each month by my new breakdown numbers--Closest to 8.3%, Best Of, and Worst Of, and looked at those 3 numbers to give each month an overall score.
Unfortunately, Google Documents doesn't want to read my Microsoft Works Word Processor document that this is all laid out on an easy to view and compare format, so I had to just list them month by month among the 3 new categories. My scores are at the end. See if you agree, or if I'm being too nice/hard on myself with the scores. I gotta say, by looking at the numbers this way, I was a bit surprised... some months didn't score as high as I thought they would, and others did much better than I thought previously also.
Here it is.
Yesterday, I decided the best way for me to understand it all, would be to break it down into smaller groups of numbers.
First, I wanted to see how each percentage compared with an ideal, "average" throughout the year. Breaking 100% down by 12 (months per year), that number is 8.3%. So I looked through each category, and found the months that came closest to that 8.3%. But then, I also realized that just because there were some that were very close to "average," it didn't necessarily mean that was a GOOD thing. Sometimes it's better to be ABOVE or BELOW average, not spot on. So I took it two steps further, and found the Best of, and Worst of each category.
I then also scored each month by my new breakdown numbers--Closest to 8.3%, Best Of, and Worst Of, and looked at those 3 numbers to give each month an overall score.
Unfortunately, Google Documents doesn't want to read my Microsoft Works Word Processor document that this is all laid out on an easy to view and compare format, so I had to just list them month by month among the 3 new categories. My scores are at the end. See if you agree, or if I'm being too nice/hard on myself with the scores. I gotta say, by looking at the numbers this way, I was a bit surprised... some months didn't score as high as I thought they would, and others did much better than I thought previously also.
Here it is.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
2009 In Review--Part 1
My 2009 Bookkeeping Analysis is FINALLY complete! I've compiled my numbers and figured them into percentages based on quarterly and yearly totals, as well as percentages of my total income, so I'll just post those percentages. I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to get a sense of how much money I actually made, but I'd rather leave those exact numbers out.
Don't worry if you click the link and your head starts spinning...believe me, it was no easy task to figure it out as I was calculating the numbers either. Having this completed gives me a much better tool to measure success in this year and years to come. Often, I hear of other small businesses saying things like their sales have increased by XX%, and until now, I would not have been able to see that growth from my own business. Now, at the end of 2010 (as well as quarterly, because I WILL NOT put this off till the end of the year, or beginning of 2011!!), I will have a clear picture of financial improvements, particularly in relevance to marketing.
I've always liked seeing how many sessions I have in a month and had thought that was a pretty good tool of measurement, but as I look at the big picture, that's just one ingredient in my take home dollars pie. The biggest area I need to look out for are my business expenses. These encompass my massage room lease, student loans, continuing education classes, license renewals for Oregon, National, and business, stamps, ink cartridges, paper, business cards and other print materials, the cost of vendor spaces, sheets, oil, etc. Other areas, of course, are increasing my income from the get-go. Part of that means watching how much I discount services. You can bet I won't be offering 30% off for a whole month again!! Whew... October hurt me. But at the same time, I think that's a good way to drum up stagnant clients. Taking a look at August and seeing negative numbers--now there's a month that could've benefitted from a 30% off discount!
Well, anyway, take a look, if you dare, and give me some feedback.
And, as always, I appreciate each and every one of my clients for coming in. Without you, my entire year could have gone negative, rather than just one month! The bottom line: 45% of my income stayed in my pocket for the the year. My hope for 2010: Raise that up a good 15%. I'm not a business whiz, so I don't know how steep a goal that is, but I'm shooting for it nonetheless! Anything higher will just be icing on the cake, and just a bit of an ego booster.
PS--If you're wondering why this is Part 1, it's because sometime, hopefully in the next few weeks, I will be putting up a spreadsheet on my client statistics/demographics. Stuff like what days clients book their appointments on, how they pay and tip, what cities they live in, how old and what gender they are, health ailments, frequency of receiving massage, WHY they are getting massage, pressure preference, what kind of work they do, how they rate their health, and how much water they're drinking. By the way, most of my clients should be drinking more water. I'm sure you've worked up a thirst after reading all this--go grab yourself a drink (of WATER!). I expect part 2 to be much easier to digest, although I may get carried away and work some percentages. Right now, it's basically just a couple sheets of paper with really messy tally marks on it...a true sight for sore eyes.
Don't worry if you click the link and your head starts spinning...believe me, it was no easy task to figure it out as I was calculating the numbers either. Having this completed gives me a much better tool to measure success in this year and years to come. Often, I hear of other small businesses saying things like their sales have increased by XX%, and until now, I would not have been able to see that growth from my own business. Now, at the end of 2010 (as well as quarterly, because I WILL NOT put this off till the end of the year, or beginning of 2011!!), I will have a clear picture of financial improvements, particularly in relevance to marketing.
I've always liked seeing how many sessions I have in a month and had thought that was a pretty good tool of measurement, but as I look at the big picture, that's just one ingredient in my take home dollars pie. The biggest area I need to look out for are my business expenses. These encompass my massage room lease, student loans, continuing education classes, license renewals for Oregon, National, and business, stamps, ink cartridges, paper, business cards and other print materials, the cost of vendor spaces, sheets, oil, etc. Other areas, of course, are increasing my income from the get-go. Part of that means watching how much I discount services. You can bet I won't be offering 30% off for a whole month again!! Whew... October hurt me. But at the same time, I think that's a good way to drum up stagnant clients. Taking a look at August and seeing negative numbers--now there's a month that could've benefitted from a 30% off discount!
Well, anyway, take a look, if you dare, and give me some feedback.
And, as always, I appreciate each and every one of my clients for coming in. Without you, my entire year could have gone negative, rather than just one month! The bottom line: 45% of my income stayed in my pocket for the the year. My hope for 2010: Raise that up a good 15%. I'm not a business whiz, so I don't know how steep a goal that is, but I'm shooting for it nonetheless! Anything higher will just be icing on the cake, and just a bit of an ego booster.
PS--If you're wondering why this is Part 1, it's because sometime, hopefully in the next few weeks, I will be putting up a spreadsheet on my client statistics/demographics. Stuff like what days clients book their appointments on, how they pay and tip, what cities they live in, how old and what gender they are, health ailments, frequency of receiving massage, WHY they are getting massage, pressure preference, what kind of work they do, how they rate their health, and how much water they're drinking. By the way, most of my clients should be drinking more water. I'm sure you've worked up a thirst after reading all this--go grab yourself a drink (of WATER!). I expect part 2 to be much easier to digest, although I may get carried away and work some percentages. Right now, it's basically just a couple sheets of paper with really messy tally marks on it...a true sight for sore eyes.
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