Editor’s note: This 9 part series is specifically designed for coaches, consultants, strategists, and service-based business owners who are in the scaling phase of their business. The JoyFueled™ Journey success path graphic will serve as your visual anchor and teaching tool for this content series. The EXPAND™ Method is our unique process we use to help our clients expand their already-working-business without burning out or imploding. All 9 parts of this series are linked at the end of this post.
Today we are diving into one of my all-time favorite things—MATH.
Numbers are vital to the success of your business. And yet, most service-based business owners and entrepreneurs focus on all the wrong ones.
They get caught up in things like website traffic, social media followers, and email list size. But those are just vanity metrics. They might make you feel good, but they don’t actually tell you anything about the health of your business.
In my world—and the world of our clients—we track revenue and expenses and celebrate profit.
Three Key Aspects To Numbers That Sing
Many service-based business owners don’t actually have a handle on their numbers. They’re overwhelmed at the idea of tracking everything and don’t know where to start.
The good news is that I’m here to tell you that it’s not as complicated as you might think. In fact, there are only three key aspects of your business that you need to focus on that will make making friends with your numbers easy as pie.
Elimination and Delegation
While many business coaches shout these two phrases from the rooftops when it comes to scaling, there’s a major problem with what is being taught: “Just delegate it by hiring it out” (Which may or may not be the right answer). “Just eliminate it” (Which may or may not be the right answer).
Both of these pieces of advice are causing more harm than good to business owners. In many cases, delegating or eliminating certain tasks is impossible or advisable. And when you try to do so without understanding the numbers and what they mean for YOUR business, you can end up in a whole heap of trouble.
Profitability
I often tell clients that I don’t care about their revenue. Instead, I want you to tell me about your profit. We start all calls with this question when we are interviewing potential clients to work with us in our Joy Fueled™ Program: What is your monthly revenue–and what is your monthly profit?
Most can answer the first part, but many struggle with the second. It’s okay—but as we like to say: It’s time for a NUMBERS makeover!
Time Off
Many service based business owners can’t figure out how to have extended chunks of time off (like weeks off at a time) while the business grows and expands. Instead, they end up checking their email, working behind the scenes, or meeting with clients when they’re supposed to be off the clock.
And if they DO unplug, their sales and marketing go downhill, and they have to double-up with client delivery before or after their trip.
This struggle is real!
If you’re relating to this a bit too much, then your business model is not set up for you to be away from it for one day a week. You’re still at the center of it all—like the hub of a wheel. When you try to take time off, the spokes, tube, and rim all feel the pressure and can’t work without you.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Making Friends With Numbers
When we work with our Joy Fueled™ clients on their numbers, we help them identify their most profitable offers. Only then do we decide what to delegate, what to eliminate, and what plan to put in place for extended time away. When you’ve got all the pieces of The EXPAND™ Method in place, with an eye on all the parts, the business profitability increases—and you can enjoy more time off.
Here’s how people mess up with numbers:
- They don’t know what offers are actually the most profitable
- They haven’t determined the costs of services for each offer
Having both of these in place allows the math—and not your emotions—to make strategic growth decisions.
Your next level of business growth is going to require something different from you.
Do you know what that “something different” is? You might be thinking this “thing” is elusive to you–but not on my watch!
I’ve created a tool to help you you determine which part of your business needs your focus now, so you don’t burnout trying #allthethings at once.
The Business Expansion Scorecard will help you score your business as it is now–so you can celebrate what’s working–and identify your current blindspots.
Part 2: E is for Energy in The EXPAND™ Method: Understanding the Energetic Capacity of Your Business
Part 5: A is for Alignment in The EXPAND™ Method: Who does your brand want to be when it grows up?
Part 6: N is for Numbers in The EXPAND™ Method: Forget the vanity metrics—and instead dial into PROFIT, baby.
