Keep an eye on your money,honey

This article originally appeared in Inside Small Business


If you are not meeting sales targets, it could be because you do not understand who your customer is; your product/service is not a right fit for your ideal customer; your leads are not managed properly, and sales are missed; your sales teams are not responsive or are under-resourced; your sales targets are too high and are unrealistic; or you are unable to deliver and you over-promise.

You do need sales targets. You also need to be able to measure the effectiveness of your sales process. This enables you to evaluate your marketing and to develop your product or service. Importantly, you need to measure and put a dollar value on every lead that is generated from different activities. Once you can do this you can clearly see what aspect of your marketing is leading to sales.

If you are meeting your sales targets and your business is still not profitable, you need to consider the cost to produce your product or service; your business’ operational costs; the effectiveness of your marketing spends; whether all members of your sales team are suited to the job; and the turnaround times for delivery and for receiving payment.

So, business mum, treat your business like a business – not a hobby. Put on your big girl panties and face your negative money beliefs, and take emotion out of the money picture. Dream big, budget like a bad-ass, and get financial planning advice. Remember that you’re in business to make money, and that you need to know your numbers and the value of your time. Be realistic and do not put pressure on yourself to perform at your pre-baby level. Business is not easy – get out there and “work it, baby”! Do it for your business, do it for your why, do it for your children, do it for yourself!