How I Prepare for a New Year: Part 2

As this year comes to a close, I take an assessment and begin planning out my next moves. I’ve found that a few moments of research and reflection are imperative to plan for the next year with intention and wisdom.

First things first: We Audit (if you missed part 1 of this series, click here)

Next: We Plan + Prepare

Revenue

I begin by setting an annual revenue goal. Then, I break that number into monthly revenue goals. I write out exactly how I’m going to get there. What will I keep doing to maintain revenue? What new things will I do to increase revenue? Month by month I plan out my revenue-generating ideas. Some months I may book more sessions, and other months I may offer discounts on prints to past clients. If I need to add new lines of revenue, I plan which months I will launch or roll that out and how.

Profit

There are multiple ways to make more profit: increase revenue, decrease expenses, or decrease tax liability. I do a tax strategy session with my CPA to gather a plan for the upcoming year. This includes things like making sure I’m maximizing write-offs, planning contributions to retirement accounts, evaluating my business structure, and more. If I have any major investments to make in my business that year, I want to strategize how to do it the most efficiently.

The place I put the most focus and intention here is: what will I do with the profit? At the beginning of my business, I used most of the profit to pay off personal debt (student loans, car loans, etc). When I went full-time, I used the profit to replace my salary and benefits and pay myself. As my business grew, I used the profit to add to savings and retirement and plan for purchases I want/need. When I visualize the end result, it is easier for me to stay motivated and put in the work.

Session Averages

If increasing session averages is a goal of mine, I plan how I will do that. Will I sell more printed products a la carte? Will I increase my package prices?

If you’re not sure how much you need to be charging per client, check out my Pricing course.

Marketing

I plan out my annual marketing level at a very high level. I’m not writing the actual posts, but more of a loose roadmap of themes and ideas to follow. I like to brainstorm some content ideas and then plug them into a calendar.

Looking at a calendar, month-by-month I am planning:

What will I attend in-person? Which events, horse shows, conferences, or meetings are available? What will I do to promote myself at these places?

What will my online presence be? What will I blog and post on social media? Where do I want to be featured? How frequently am I emailing my list? How will I be seen by new people? What do I want to communicate to my current audience?

If you want help planning your marketing strategy, I offer a marketing basics course and an advanced marketing course.

Breaks + Scheduling

By nature, I tend to overwork. I plan my vacations, breaks, and rest periods first and then schedule my sessions and work trips around them.

I try to be thorough in my planning for the year but also understand that I may need to pivot and be flexible. Some goals I might exceed, some I might hit on the nose, and some I might miss. Some goals I might need to tear up and throw away in the trash as I make space for new goals or a new direction for the business. I don’t look at this business plan as hard and fast rules, but more of a launching pad for January and a source of inspiration when I’m in the thick of busy seasons.