The Power of Numbers

NUMBERS!!! I love numbers.  Okay, not in the same way that I love my family but numbers are fun.  Numbers are the language of business.  The sooner you learn to read and understand what the numbers are telling you the better off you are.

Numbers are just a way to quantity what is taking place or what has taken place.  Accurate numbers and having the right numbers are key to making better decisions and making the most of your time, talents & money both in your business and in your life.

Numbers you need to Know.

There are very important numbers that business owners need to know.  We all like to look at the biggies: the most important numbers such as sales/revenue and net income.  Then there are the numbers behind the numbers.  The detail numbers, these are the numbers that tell you what really is happening.  Revenue tells you what sold overall but a sales report by SKU or region or sales person, those are the numbers you need to run your business better. 

The detail numbers are what you can use to improve sales, improve profitability, improve collections and improve the quality of your business and your life.

That is the power of numbers.  To give you the information you need to run your business better and run your life better.  Better means fulfillment.  It means efficient, effective and proper use of all of your resources. 

Your main resources are time, money, talent & skill set and people.  The 5th, often overlooked resource is your energy.  That will be a completely separate blog.

More is not always better.  Sometimes a company with less products but a higher profit margin is a company more in line with your goals and your lifestyle.

Some of you maybe very happy with a service based company that nets you $250k per year.  Others want the 8 figure a year business so that they can accomplish all the things that they want to do.  One is not better than the other, it is simply a question of who you are and what you were meant to do.

The place where you don’t want to be is in the struggle zone.  The struggle zone is when you are busting your butt and working all the time but not making enough money to support your family or living the lifestyle that you want.

Going from 6 figures year to 7 figures a year.

All of my clients are doing a healthy 7 or 8 figures year but that was not always the case. I took one of my clients from $750k in revenue to $1.2 million.  His combined salary and draws went from $150k to $380k per year.  The best thing is that he has stayed there for the last 4 years.  This year, we are in the process in taking him to the next level and going for $2 million in revenue, in a year that is supposed to be “bad” for business.

You can listen to the news and all the bad stuff or you can keep your resources & energy focused on the good stuff – helping your clients & customers and making the world a better place.

How do you do what I did for my client?  Read the numbers.  Not just any numbers, the “need to know” numbers.

One mistake my client made was he never looked at his numbers.  He is a very smart guy but he hates the admin side of his business especially accounting.  Sometimes as a business owner, you don’t know what to ask because as my coaching client says – “You don’t know what you don’t know”.  So you don’t know what questions to ask.  You don’t even know where to begin.  That is where a good controller comes in handy.

Determine your KPI’s.

The one thing you need to do is know what the KPI’s for your company are.  What are the key performance indicators for your company and your industry?  These are the numbers behind your revenue numbers.  This is the detail that you need to know to run your company better.

My client had never been shown these numbers in his life.  I showed him what the numbers were.  I identified his weakness and we corrected it.  We did a few different studies on different ways to run the company but came up with a solution that suited him at that time.  Now, we are expanding and hiring people to take his company to the next level.  But it all started with analyzing the numbers.

Set your goals.

Ladies & gentleman, you have to have goals.  No it doesn’t have to be all about making money.  If the thought of a vision board with your “stuff” on it doesn’t appeal to you then create a vision board showing how many people you help, how many lives you have changed or how many people you have fed.  Find the motivation behind your purpose and business (your “Why”) and use that to fuel your growth.

But you need to have goals.  Without goals you flounder.  Without purpose, you don’t spend your time, money & energy on the things that will help you be successful.  Success is not just about the money.  Money is a reflection of your success.  It is a by-product.  Yes, Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx has made a lot of money but she has also made a whole lot of women happy.  She has changed the way women feel about themselves when they get dressed up and she has sponsored a lot of small women-owned businesses through her non-profit organization. 

You cannot reach goals if you never set them.  So take some time to set your goals for the last 4 months on 2020 and for next year.

Measure your progress

The only way to measure your success is to look at the numbers or the smiles on the faces of your customers when they achieve their goals.  Can everything be reduced to a number?  No, but it sure does help to let you know where you stand.  If you don’t know where you are, you can’t get to where you want to be.  No GPS system can give you directions without a starting point and a goal.

So, start by determining where you are right now.  Then set you goals.  Then you can use those to measure your progress.

Be informed.  Be smart.  Make the most of your time, talents and money.

Know your Numbers.  Run your Biz.  Live your life.

If you want to learn how to run your business better using numbers, please come join me in my webinar called The Power of Numbers.

Sign up on the link below.

https://deborah-mousseau.mykajabi.com/pl/215647

Until next time.

Peace, Love & Prosperity,

Deborah