Nina Tulio's Budgeting and Growth Tips

It's still the beginning of a new year, which typically means the big-time goal setting and planning start to set in. You may feel excited for the new year but at the same time feel overwhelmed. You have 10 things you want to accomplish, and you may write them out and feel stuck. Where do I even begin? I can relate to this so much. I am a big-time goal setter and think it is incredibly important. However, I am all about simplifying things these days and I wanted to share 2 tips with you to settle that overwhelm.

Tip 1: Feel free to set goals but maybe we dial it in to 2-3 goals instead of 10. Want to simplify even more? Pick one or two areas of focus and become so laser-focused on them. I suggest in business pick the 1 or two areas that are of challenge to you.

Example: Maybe you have a low retention rate for new clients... so, that would become your focus. Maybe it’s selling retail. Maybe you want to increase your revenue by 10% this year. Let’s keep it simple when setting goals and or choosing an area of focus.

Tip 2: Create a plan of action and make the commitment to yourself and stick to it. Achieving your goals doesn't just happen overnight. It takes a solid plan to start. And an investment in time, energy, and in some cases money in order to make it happen. When writing out your plan of action I would love for you to write out a few steps you are going to take to make this goal happen. 

Example: You want to increase revenue by 10%. Great!  Step 1. How much do you have to bring in each month, week, and year to make that happen? Step 2. List out how your action steps. Example: I will do this by creating a referral program, dialing in my social media content, spending 25 minutes a day connecting with potential clients on IG, and I will send a follow-up email to all new clients to increase my client retention. Boom! Now you have a plan all laid out. The key here is to be consistent in your approach!

Let's move on to budgeting, one of my favorite subjects to talk about. Budgeting is one of the most important parts of a business that will help you increase your profit. I highly suggest pulling a profit and loss report once a month. And then doing a quarterly assessment of your sales, expenses, and profit. Looking at this each month will help you stay on track and allow you to see what is going on in sales, in the expense area (are you overspending?) and are you close to hitting your target profit.

The target profit for independent artists is at least 50%. This is net profit and of course, you then pay tax on that. If you pull a profit and loss statement and you are at a 40% profit. Now we want to look at your expenses and your revenue. Do we need more volume, AKA clients? Do we need to look at your pricing to increase your revenue? Or are you lacking in a budgeting system to help you keep your expenses line? If you can’t quite afford to hire out a bookkeeper and accountant/CPA, no worries! I suggest using Quickbooks.

Let’s talk about KPI’s – Key performance indicators – because I am on a keep it simple kick. Here are the 3 areas I would love for you to pay attention to when it comes to growing your business.

1. Increase average ticket
2. Increase FOV (frequency of visit)
3. Increase volume (more clients)

Pick one area to focus on and let's hit the ground running. The average ticket is add on services and or a price increase. FOV is pre-booking your lived-in looks in between their 5-6 month service for a gloss and a haircut. Increased volume is attracting new clients that are your target client or hiring an assistant, if that fits into your brand and your budget allows.

That is it my friends! Growing your business doesn't have to be so complicated. Let's keep it simple and crush it this year. 

Photo by Katie Harp on Unsplash