So you have your SWOT Analysis and your Values & Goals, it’s time to get those finances planned out!

First, let’s pull in what you’ve made in past 2 years if you’ve been in business already or have been doing this as a hobby.

List out the year, the dollar amount you brought in (nor your cut, but what money that came into the business/hobby itself), and the break it down, if you can, by how many of each service/product you sold.

Here’s what this looked like for me when I wrote this out for the first time in 2016 (I feel a bit vulnerable here! Obviously I had no idea how to price myself yet.):

Now it’s time to list our your expenses and spending goals.

Start by listing out known expenses. This doesn’t have to include down to the paperclip, but list out costs you know (education, subscriptions, licenses, insurance, transportation, rent, utilities, equipment, etc.) This is your cost of doing business, and you need to know what you need to bring in to know what your financial goals need to be.

Now lets see what the past years were like!

2014-    $3,000
2 weddings (1 at huge discount for cousin)
            31 portrait sessions (8 free or trade sessions)                                       

2015-    $4,000            
2 Weddings
            33 portrait sessions  (5 free or trade sessions)

Once you have each year listed out, and looking at your cost of doing business, set goals for the future year (or rest of the calendar year) with what you need to bring in at a minimum to stay afloat, your target, and your ideal/pie-in-the-sky goals. List quantities of your services/products needed to reach that goal. Take your income goal and divide by 4 for quarterly goals, and by 12 for monthly goals. Like this:

MINIMUM
$15,000, 5 Weddings, 10 Portrait Sessions. Breaks down to 1 shoot a month.
$3,750 per quarter. $1,250 per month.

TARGET
$25,000, 8 weddings, 20 portrait sessions, 2 shoot a month
$6,250 per quarter. $2083 per month.

IDEAL/PIE IN THE SKY
$40,000, 12 weddings, 30 portrait sessions, 3 shoots a month
$10,000 per quarter. $3,333 per month.

Next list out your purchase options, and divide them between top priority and low priority. Do you NEED new equipment or just want new equipment. Have a class you want to take that will be a game changer? List those.

Whew! That was a lot, I know! But it’s important and now you have all the pieces you need to put your business plan together! Come back tomorrow to get the final piece!