How do you make a plan?
I’ve come to realize that most people start the same way: they just pick a number. Ten percent growth. Twenty percent growth. A revenue target that sounds ambitious enough to motivate the team, without much behind it beyond hope.
That kind of plan doesn’t really drive growth.
Start With Your Life, Not a Number
Here’s where I usually start with clients: What do you want from this business, for your life? Your owner pay, your time freedom, your long-term wealth goals? What are the actual reasons you built this thing in the first place?
Then we reverse engineer what the business needs to deliver to fund your answers.
Get Granular About the Numbers
That means getting granular about what it costs to retain your current clients. You need to think about when you’re launching new products, and at what margin. Think about the initial cash outlays, and when they actually hit your account.
This kind of planning is more than just picking a number out of the air. It’s the only version of a plan you can actually measure.
Check It Against Reality Every Week
Once you have it, put a stake in the ground for where you’re going, then compare your plan to actual performance every single week.
That’s how you catch a problem early instead of discovering it ten months down the road.
The real plan starts with your life, and works backward into the business. It gets checked against reality often enough that you can adjust before a small miss becomes a big one.
Quick Summary
- A revenue target picked out of thin air isn’t a strategic plan — it’s a guess.
- Start with your personal goals: owner pay, time freedom, and long-term wealth.
- Reverse engineer the business numbers needed to fund those goals.
- Get specific about retention costs, new product margins, and cash outlay timing.
- Compare your plan to actual performance weekly to catch problems early.
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One question before you go I am revising my current book, Profit First for Ecommerce Sellers, and I don’t want to write it from research alone. I want to write it from what is actually happening in your business. Could you help me out by answering the below question?
How would you describe yourself? (If not one of the answers below, please reply to this email with what you would use instead.) |
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FAQ
What’s wrong with setting a revenue growth target like 10% or 20%?
A flat growth percentage sounds motivating, but it isn’t tied to what the business actually needs to produce for you. Without that connection, there’s no way to measure whether the number is even the right one to chase.
Where should a strategic plan actually start?
It starts with your life, not your P&L. Owner pay, time freedom, and long-term wealth goals come first. From there, you reverse engineer what the business needs to deliver to support them.
What details matter most when building the plan?
Client retention costs, the margin on new products you’re launching, and the timing of cash outlays versus when that cash actually lands in your account.
How often should I check the plan against actual performance?
Every week. Weekly check-ins are what let you catch a small miss while it’s still small, instead of finding out ten months later that you’re off track.
If you’d like help building a real strategic plan for your business, reach out and get on our waiting list. As soon as a spot opens up, we’ll reach out.
Cyndi
