Last night I was sitting with Misty Fowler, our grooming department manager at one of my companies, Whiskers Resort & Pet Spa. It was our annual Christmas party.
Our conversation touched on the amazing growth that company had accomplished in the past few years. Misty beamed as she reported, “The grooming department is only $2,800 short of achieving our annual goal. And we still have the entire month of December to go!”
I was intrigued. She went on to explain how they did it.
A year ago she determined what she wanted for a growth rate in the grooming department. She figured out what that number would be based on the current year’s annual sales for the grooming department.
Once she had her annual target, she divided it by 12 to give her a monthly goal. Taking it one step further, she divided that monthly number by 4.3 to give her a weekly goal to aim for. Finally, she divided that weekly number by six to give her a daily target. She now had a clear road map. She, and her team, knew what they had to do to reach their annual goal.
As we go into the early part of December, most grooming salons have a lull during these few weeks. This is a great time to set some goals for the following year.
Misty’s numbers were broken down annually, monthly, weekly, and finally daily. You can do the same thing for any financial goal you want to track.
Take a moment to think about what you want to do next year financially for your business and/or for yourself. Figure out a goal. Map out a plan. And follow the written road map to your goal.
So here’s the 5 step formula.
- Look at the previous year’s sales.
- Work out a realistic growth rate for your situation. Do it in a percentage format.
- Times last year’s annual sales by that percentage to come up with an amount. Add that amount to last year’s sales give you a solid goal amount to aim for. Take that total goal amount for the year and divide by 12. That will give you a monthly goal.
- Take the monthly goal amount and divide by 4.3, the estimated number of weeks in each month.
- Finally, divide your weekly amount by the numbers of days you work or your salon is open.
Now you have your own custom road map to follow to achieve your personal financial goals. Keep it in an area where you can see it all the time. Refer to it regularly to ensure you are on the correct path.
This is what it would look like if we put real numbers to the formula.
| last year’s sales | $100,000.00 |
| next year’s increase target -8% | 0.08 |
| total amount of annual increase in dollars | $8,000.00 |
| total annual sales goal for following year | $108,000.00 |
| divide total annual sales goal by 12 months | $9,000.00 |
| divide total monthly goal by 4.3 weeks | $2,093.02 |
| divide weekly goal by 5 days for daily sales goal | $418.60 |
(Note: if you take a two-week vacation and your salon does not stay open, drop the weeks to 4.2 for a closer calculation)
By breaking the numbers down to a weekly target, the easier it will be to follow. If you are wavering off the path, your daily and weekly targets will make it easy to recognize. You’ll be able to realign yourself before you go too far off base.
As Brian Tracy says, “Goals give you that sense of meaning and purpose, a clear sense of direction. As you move toward your goals you feel happier and stronger. You feel more energized and effective. You feel more confident and confident in yourself and in your abilities. Every step you take toward your goals increases your belief that you can set and achieve even bigger goals in the future.”
So what do you hope to achieve financially for your business or career next year? Take the time to set the goals and create a step-by-step map to achieving YOUR personal goals, today.
Happy Trimming,
~Melissa