As we creep into Q2 of 2023, it’s time to check on how the planning and execution of your budget has been going. I wanted to take this opportunity to take you back and remind you of the basics when doing your budget or revisiting it. Maybe you need to make some adjustments?
I do understand that this is a potentially daunting prospect and can sometimes lead to it being put off to a point where it actually becomes too late to do it effectively, or it doesn’t get done at all.
But without sticking to a budget and a financial goal for your business, the question must be asked: How do you really understand how your business is performing throughout the year?
To help you with this, I’ve put together a simple set of plans that are easily actionable and take the fear and trepidation out of setting your annual budget
1: Start At The End
We need our financial target: how much money do you want your business to make in 2023? Making money in a business is a byproduct of various things such as team behaviours, customer activity, processes, systems, etc. But there needs to be a target and, more importantly, it needs to be realistic. If you made $250,000 in 2022 and you decide you want to make $25 million in 2022 it may be a stretch…
If you don’t know what you want to make in 2023, then your first port of call is your 2022 numbers. Take a look at these, factor in your growth plans, and set your target from there. Remember there is no right and wrong, but keep it realistic. If your business in 2022 made $400,000 in revenue and you want to increase that by 20% in 2023, that seems fair. So we start with a target of $480,000.
2: Understand Your Expenses
It goes without saying that your revenue target must be in excess of your expenses. Nobody wants to run a business at a loss. Again, if you do not have your expenses to hand then please refer back to 2022; this may involve a conversation with your accountant or bookkeeper.
Put yourself in a position where you know how much it costs to run your business, whether that be salaries, rent, bills, etc. Once you have that figure and are confident it is as accurate as you can get it, remember it will never be perfect. We’re trying to give ourselves the best chance.
Step 3: The Big Picture
You should now have two numbers: your revenue target and your predicted expenses. Let’s keep the focus on the revenue target and start by taking that annual target and dividing it by 12 to give you your average monthly revenue target. In our example we aimed for a $480,000 revenue, therefore we now have a monthly revenue target of $40,000.
Step 4: What Does That Equate To?
Now we need to work out what exactly $40,000 equates to. It’s a simple formula: the number of patients required, multiplied by the patient average spend. To keep it simple for this exercise we will say that our patient average spend is $1000, therefore we need 40 patients per month to hit our $40,000 revenue target. This can be from both new and reactivated patients.
Step 5: Seasonality and Trend
Every business has busier seasons and quieter times. Now we have our big picture of $480,000 divided by 12 to give us our $40,000 a month revenue target, we now move on to look at the variance. The $40,000 is either unachievable or could be achieved with the majority of the month to spare.
Again the place to look for this information is in your previous year of revenue. Chances are you’ll have a good idea of when the busy times are and when the majority of your income comes in. For these months and based on your trend and again to the extent of your understanding, $40,000 of a target may need to be increased.
Look at your new patients acquired on average per month and use this information to forecast what you would need each month with your adjusted monthly target. Some months will be more than 40 and some less.
Step 6: Don’t Work in Isolated Months
By now you should have a really good idea of how much revenue you want to make, how many patients you need on average per month with a certain spend that will generate that amount, as well as the seasonality and trend inside your business based on previous years.
Now take the full 12 months, divided into four quarters, and look at your quarterly revenue target. This will enable you to work against what it’s called a rolling 3. EG: If the January target was 50 new patients, and we achieved the 50 new patients, this gives us a rolling February target of 30 patients, as 50 + 30 will give us 80, which is our average per month required.
Let’s say February wasn’t as successful as we’d hoped and we acquired 25 patients, this gives us 75 so far in 2023. All we now need to do to get back on track is take the five short and add that into March. So then revise the target for March to add to the five patients we missed in February.
This is a very straightforward and simple way of doing it. You may want to add one patient per month extra for the five months, and you may increase one of your more successful months further in the year by 5.
The beauty is that you are managing your budget and manipulating your forecast to keep you on track with your rolling averages and therefore not working on single months in isolation. Instead, cumulative efforts throughout the year will help you make better decisions, help you manage the required behaviours and outcomes from the team, implement better hiring and recruitment, and ultimately see you achieve your goals.
If you are part of the 4% Club and are not doing this please get in touch and get a call booked with Simon ASAP! If you are not part of the 4% Club and want to learn more about how to budget effectively how to make better decisions and plan forecasts which will ultimately lead you to be a more well-rounded business owner that works at that higher level, email Simon at simon@paulgough.com
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