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.
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