If you don’t have a plan, how will you know where you’re going? Surely you’ve heard similar statements when it comes to running your life and running your business. And, while there are plenty of things that go down that our outside of our realm of control, having some business “projections” for our home-based business can not only guide us, but give us the tools to evaluate whether we are on target or not.
I think of projects as being a bit different from goals. Projections are really more a measurable outcome–a way of setting tangible targets that we can then evaluate at certain points to see if we are meeting projections, are on target to meet projections, or if we are off the path all together. Like a plan, projections are not a promise or something set in stone, but they are a way of approaching business with a sense of purpose and direction.
Business projections are almost always done in numbers. It can be a percentage or a range, but projections involve setting a number goal for where you would like to see your business at a certain period in time. For example, projections might be something like: Sell 25 copies of XYZ book during the calendar year” or they might be “increase overall sales by 15%.” Projections can be applied to revenue, expense (“cut operating budget by 3% during the summer months”), overall growth, customer complaints (“decrease customer complaints to average of one per month for the coming fiscal year.”), etc.
It is important to put some thought into your projections and write them down on a working document. They shouldn’t be out of reach, and should have a practicality about them. Projections should be more based in reality, whereas goals can be a bit more of a stretch and harder to achieve. Make sure you can access them easily and evaluate where you are at in terms of your home business projections.
Also: Unfinished Tasks Equal Stress
Are You Setting Business Goals That Are Too Easy?