This Report will provide you with a pathway to increase your business success. The first step in the
process is to know the Turnover and Activity you require to maintain your personal income and pay
business expenses, we refer to this as your Present Breakeven or maintain the Status Quo.
The next step is to set new personal income and company profit goals for the next 12 months, and then
establish the Turnover and Activity required to achieve the desired goals.
Note: The term ‘Activity’ means the activity steps required to achieve
the Turnover (revenue) goal, this includes the number of sales required, the number of Quotes/Proposals
submitted, and the number of Leads required (people interested in your product or service).
For many the hardest process in developing a Business Plan is ‘goal setting’ and establishing the
Activity required to achieve the desired outcomes, you may have heard the saying ‘Businesses do not plan
to fail, they fail to plan’.
Once you have established your Turnover and Activity goals the next step in the planning phase is the
‘how to’, which is how you are going to achieve those goals.
In this report the ‘how to’ is referred to as your ‘Action Plan’.
This report will list your goals for the next 12 months and the Activity required to achieve those goals.This is your recipe for success.
We have divided the report into 4 sections as follows;
The first step in developing your Business Plan for the next 12 months is to establish the Turnover
(total sales/revenue) required for the business to Breakeven. The Present Breakeven, for our purposes,
is based on your previous year’s business performance, it will include Owner Income and it will also
include business Operating Profit (as stated on your end of year Profit and Loss Statement), for an
established business it is maintaining the status quo from last year to the next year.
Definition: In this report when I refer to the term Present Breakeven,
it is the amount of Turnover (revenue) required for the business to Breakeven based on your ‘present’
business activities, that is making no changes to Turnover Drivers, or in other words, business as
usual.
The Present Breakeven Analysis is based on the following
information:
Note: Annual Expenses include an annual inflation adjustment of … 8%
Explanation: Months of selling activity. Many business operations do not actively sell every month of the year, for example some may close over the Christmas (holiday) period, or a salesperson may take annual leave, and as a result, selling activity may only take place over 11 months (or less) of the year.
Note: Monthly Turnover is for 11 months of the year.
Note: Activity (sales, leads and Quotes/Proposal) numbers are for 11 selling months of the year.
Note: Annual Expenses are the expenses to run your business, it does not include any Cost of Sale items, which are attributed to the direct cost of selling a product or service, not the running of a business.
To Achieve Present Breakeven
Congratulations, you now know the annual and monthly Turnover required to breakeven (or
maintain the status quo). The next step is to discover the activity required to achieve your revenue
target (Turnover).
The Following ‘Activity’ is required to achieve Present Breakeven
Activity is the business functions from which income (revenue) is the result, and in our Business Plan we
want to know the number of Sales required (based on your Average Sale Value), the number of Leads
(people interested in your product or service) and the number of Quotes/Proposals submitted to obtain
sales. By knowing this data, you can them plan your Activity to achieve your Sales and Turnover goals.
The Activity numbers below are based on the following:
You have a Sales Conversion Rate from Quotes/Proposals submitted of
30.0%, and you have an Average Sale Value of
$28,000
The Activity required is provided below:
To achieve your monthly sales goal (individual sales) you require;
You now have the information required to achieve Present Breakeven for the next 12 months. This is based
on your present Activity and business functions.
To help you evaluate the impact of setting goals to increase Turnover Drivers, we have also provided a
comparison between Present Breakeven and Breakeven with your Turnover Driver Goals having been achieved.
By making small changes to your Turnover Drivers, will have a significant impact on your
Turnover (revenue) and the Activity required to achieve your Breakeven Goal. In the
Questioning phase you made some Turnover Driver Goals, so let’s look at the impact these goals would
have on the Turnover required to achieve Breakeven (Status Quo) and on the Activity required to achieve
the new Turnover Goal. But first, here are your Turnover Driver Goals.
Gross Profit Goal
You stated you wanted to Increase your Gross Profit by
5%, this will increase your Gross Profit to
52.50%
Sales Conversion Goal
You have stated you wish to increase your Sales Conversion Ratio from Quotes/Proposals submitted by
1, which is winning
4 sales from 10 Quotes/Proposals
submitted, which equals a new Sales Conversion Goal of
40.0%
Average Sales Value Goal
You have stated you want to Increase the Average Sales Value by
5%, additional to a price increase due to an
increase in Gross Profit (if any), the Average Sale Value Goal has increased to
$30,873 a total percentage increase of
10.26%
First, the impact on the Turnover Required:
New Breakeven | Compared to Present Breakeven | ||
---|---|---|---|
Annual Turnover = | $722,286 | Decreased by | $36,114 |
Franchise Fees Included = | $0 | Decreased by | $0 |
Monthly Turnover = | $65,662 | Decreased by | $3,283 |
Now, let’s look at the impact on the Activity required to achieve the new
Turnover Goal:
New Breakeven | Compared to Present Breakeven | ||
---|---|---|---|
Sales Per Month = | 2.1 | Decreased by | 0.3 |
To achieve your monthly sales goal (individual sales) you require:
New Breakeven | Compared to Present Breakeven | Net Result | |
---|---|---|---|
Number of Leads = | 8 | Decreased by | 4 |
Quotes/Proposals = | 5 | Decreased by | 3 |
As you can see, Small Changes = Massive Results.
By achieving the goal of making small increases to Turnover Drivers will decrease the Turnover and
Activity required to achieve Breakeven.
You are now aware what is required to achieve Breakeven (Status Quo) with and without changes to your
Turnover Drivers. However, as a business person your goal is to grow the business to increase your
income, and develop a valuable asset which later can be sold for a good sum of money (Exit Strategy),
during the Questioning process you were asked to set an Owner Income Goal and an Operating Profit Goal.
Setting Income Goals are self-explanatory, after all we all like to increase our personal income each
year, however, some people do not necessarily understand the reasoning behind setting Operating Profit
Goals, I have provided an explanation to stress the importance of achieving an Operating Profit.
When a person looks to buy a business, they are looking for a business which will provide a return on
their investment. Some people will argue that having a reasonable income within the business is a
compelling reason why a person would buy the business, but this is false reasoning. Purchasing a
business on the basis of obtaining a good income when working the business is akin to buying a job with
overheads.
A business in general will have 2x factors under which it is valued, 1) The asset value, that is the
value of any assets the business may have, and 2) The Operating Profit, which will become a dividend to
the owner (or shareholders) of the business. It is the Operating Profit which provides the ‘Return on
Investment’ to a purchaser. This is one of the reasons why it is important for a business to have an
Operating Profit, the larger the profit the more valuable the business will be when it is sold. And in
general terms, depending on the type of business a multiplying factor of between 2-4x the Operating
Profit will be applied to provide an Intangible, also known as a Good-Will, value.
There can also be a Future Opportunity Value when selling a business, but this is another matter.
Building a successful business requires goal setting and planning, and it should be a yearly process.
Each year, you build upon the success of the previous year, set new financial goals, increase Owners
Income, increase Operating Profit and you will create a valuable asset, your business (wealth creation),
which one day you will sell.
From a goal setting perspective, aiming to increase Operating Profit will also increase Owner Income (end
of year owner dividend), and increase the value of your business, which will provide a valuable asset to
be sold at some time in the future. By providing you with an indicative business value, may be
subjective, but knowing you will gain Hundreds of Thousands of dollars, or even more, in personal wealth
is a strong motivator for you to achieve your goals.
Another good reason for having an Operating Profit Goal, is to develop a financial buffer, should it be
required.
Our first task is to look at the Turnover required to achieve Owner Income, and Operating Profit Goals,
plus any additional expenses to increase Spare Capacity and additional Marketing (if selected), followed
by the Activity required without an increase in Turnover Drivers. Then I will provide the Turnover and
Activity required with Turnover Driving Goals having been applied. Both sets of numbers have been
compared to the Present Breakeven numbers (without changes to Turnover Drivers). You may be pleasantly
surprised to discover the additional Turnover and required Activity will not be significantly more than
your present Breakeven numbers, and easily obtainable.
But first, below are your stated Personal Income and Operating Profit Goals, and additional budget (if
required) to increase Spare Capacity within your business, and any additional Market budget you may have
provided in the Questionnaire section.
Below are YOUR financial goals:
Spare Capacity – ‘Spare Capacity’ summary below:
Note: If Spare Capacity is not an issue, then this section does not
apply. If Spare Capacity to handle additional sales maybe an issue, you would have set a budget to
increase Spare Capacity. This a budgeting exercise only in case Spare Capacity needs to be increased.
Often when Turnover Drivers are achieved and depending on the type (e.g. require additional staff) of
Spare Capacity required, the need for Spare Capacity diminishes, but it pays to be safe.
I have provided Income and Business Value information with and without the need to increase your Spare
Capacity.
You have indicated your present Spare Capacity to handle additional sales is
10%, it is estimated to achieve your financial
goal you would need to increase your Spare Capacity by an additional
21.65%
You have set aside an additional budget of
$50,000 The expected increase in Capacity to
handle additional sales is estimated at 30%
Additional Marketing Budget
An additional monthly Marketing Budget of
$0 has also been set aside to increase
Leads if required.
Increase in Gross Profit required to achieve Financial Goal
Increasing Owner Income, Operating Profit, budget to increase Spare Capacity and Marketing will also
increase the Gross Profit required to achieve your Financial Goal , see below:
Note: The following numbers have been compared against your Present Breakeven (Status Quo) results (excluding any changes to your Turnover Drivers).
To achieve Next Year’s Goal – Excluding any changes to Turnover
Drivers
Next Year’s Goal | Present Breakeven | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Annual Turnover = | $998,400 | $758,400 | Increased by | $240,000 |
Franchise Fees Included = | $0 | $0 | Decreased by | $0 |
Monthly Turnover = | $90,764 | $68,945 | Increased by | $21,819 |
The following ‘Activity’ is required to Achieve Next Year’s
Goal
Next Year’s Goal | Present Breakeven | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Sales Per Month = | 3.2 | 2.5 | Increased by | 0.7 |
To achieve your monthly sales goal (individual sales) you
require:
Next Year’s Goal | Present Breakeven | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Number of Leads = | 15.4 | 11.7 | Increased by | 3.7 |
Quotes/Proposals = | 10.8 | 8.2 | Increased by | 2.6 |
Setting goals to increase Turnover Drivers should be included in your next year’s business plan. Small changes to increase your Turnover Drivers will have a significant impact in lowering the Turnover and required Activity to achieve your Next Year’s Financial Goals.
First, the impact on the Turnover Required:
Next Year’s Goal | Present Breakeven | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Annual Turnover = | $950,857 | $758,400 | Increased by | $192,457 |
Franchise Fees Included = | $0 | $0 | Decreased by | $0 |
Monthly Turnover = | $86,442 | $68,945 | Increased by | $17,497 |
Now, let’s look at the impact on the Activity required to achieve the new Turnover Goal:
Next Year’s Goal | Present Breakeven | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Sales Per Month = | 2.8 | 2.5 | Increased by | 0.3 |
To achieve your monthly sales goal (individual sales) you
require:
Next Year’s Goal | Present Breakeven | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Number of Leads = | 10.0 | 11.7 | Decreased by | 1.7 |
Quotes/Proposals = | 7.0 | 8.2 | Decreased by | 1.2 |
You will notice the ‘Activity’ required to achieve Next Year’s Goal when applying Turnover Driver Goals
is very favourable when compared to the ‘Activity’ to achieve your Present Breakeven (without Turnover
Driver Goals being applied). The difference between both Next Year’s Goal with and without an increase
in Turnover Drivers is huge. Small Changes truly equal Massive Results.
Now, let’s look at the financial Impact of achieving your business goals for the next year.
The following provides the Financial Gain and Business Value when achieving your goals. While providing a
Business Value is speculative, we believe it is an important part of business development as aiming for
an indicative business value is a great motivator, plus, it would be very useful in developing an Exit
Strategy for when you wish to sell the business.
Your estimated financial gain by achieving your business
goals.
Additional Income & Business Value | |
---|---|
Increase in Owner Income = | $30,000 |
Increase in End of Year Operating Profit = | $40,000 |
Total Combined Increase In Owner Income = | $70,000 |
Business Value Increased by = | $140,000 |
Total Financial Gain | $210,000 |
Estimated Value of your business when you have a total Operating Profit
of
Total Operating Profit = | $60,000 |
---|---|
New Business Value
|
|
Multiplying Value Factor = | 3.5 |
Estimated Intangible (Good Will) Asset Value = | $210,000 |
Plus Estimated Asset Value = | $30,000 |
Increased by | $240,000 |
Income Summary
You have increased Owners Income by $30,000, and you have
increased your Operating Profit by $40,000, plus increased
your Business Value by $140,000, making for a total financial gain
of $210,000
The Spare Capacity Factor
By achieving your Turnover Driver Goals, you may not need to increase your Spare Capacity, therefore,
your Spare Capacity budget of $50,000,
unless spent elsewhere, will be added to your Operating Profit Goal, providing an overall increase in
Operating Profit of
$90,000
This would then increase both your income and business value calculations as follows;
Your estimated financial gain by achieving your business
goals.
Additional Income & Business Value | |
---|---|
Increase in Owner Income = | $30,000 |
Increase in End of Year Operating Profit = | $90,000 |
Total Combined Increase In Owner Income = | $120,000 |
Business Value Increased by = | $315,000 |
Total Financial Gain | $435,000 |
Increased by | $225,000 |
Estimated Value of your business when you have a total Operating Profit
of
Total Operating Profit = | $110,000 |
---|---|
New Business Value
|
|
Multiplying Value Factor = | 3.5 |
Estimated Intangible (Good Will) Asset Value = | $385,000 |
Plus Estimated Asset Value = | $30,000 |
Total Estimated Business Value | $415,000 |
Increased by | $175,000 |
You now know what is required to stay in business (maintain the status quo) and you now have Next Year’s
Goal to drive your business to more sales, income and profit, the next step is to establish an practical
‘Plan’ to increase your Turnover Drivers, and monitor progress, Profit Accelerator can help you develop and implement a ‘Plan’ to achieve Next Year’s Goal.
Note: The Mark-up Factor required, should you wish to increase your
prices to reflect a Gross Profit margin of 52.50%, is a factor of
2.1053
You have a decision to make based on the choices below:
Which of the 5 above have you chosen? If its number 5, congratulations, you are now on you path to
achieving greater business success, increasing your income and creating a valuable asset. Increasing
your Turnover Driver Goals are your key to success, and it is considerably easier than you would likely
expect.
If you have chosen number 5 above, your goals for the next 12 months are listed in the following section.
Business Income Goals
Owner Income Goals
Turnover Driver Goals (to achieve Business and Owner Income Goals)
Monthly Activity Goals – 11 (selling) months
Additional Budget
You now have your Goals for the next year, they are not difficult to achieve, however, the next Section will hopefully provide you with a path to move forward.
Profit Accelerator can help you develop and implement an ‘Action Plan’ to help you achieve Next Year’s Goal, including Turnover Driver Goals, plus we can provide a practical and easy monitoring system to help you measure your progress.
Your Financial Goals are dependent on making the required number of sales, however, in order to achieve your sales goals you must obtain Leads, from which you will present either a quote or proposal to make a sale.
On this basis, you may wish to evaluate your Marketing program and make changes if required (see ‘Marketing – Leads required from which to make additional Sales’ below).
BUT ….
What if you could obtain more sales from the same number of Leads, Quotes/Proposals submitted? That is increase Sales (from ‘Quotes/Proposals’) Conversion Rate, in other words your Sales Success Ratio.
By increasing your Sales Success Ratio you will require less Leads to achieve your sales goal (see ‘Increase Sales Success Ratios’ below).
Turnover Drivers
In the BGA-Calculator we have suggested setting goals to the following Turnover Drivers;
There are more, but these are the easiest drivers to increase and have the greatest impact. Below I have provided paths to follow to achieve Turnover Driver Goals
Increase Gross Profit Margin
Increasing the Gross Profit Margin is not difficult. You have the following options;
The above solutions would require a Competitor Analysis for increasing prices, and provide a good case to a supplier to provide a better deal. Improving your Selling Process can also come into play as it will help in both options 1 & 2.
Increase the Average Sale Value
Increasing the Average Sale Value is not difficult. You have the following options;
The above solutions would require a Competitor Analysis for increasing prices, however, improving your Selling Process can also come into play as it will help in both options 1 & 3.
Increase Sales Success Ratios
‘Improve your Selling Process’ can have a tremendous impact on achieving your Turnover Driver Goals, this cannot be overstated.
Improving your Selling Process is a key component in making it easier to achieve your ‘Activity Goals’ which is converting more Leads, and Quotes/Proposals into sales.
Many business owners are not aware that ‘selling’ is like any other business function, it can be done well, or not so well. We are all aware a business which does not have ‘systems’ will not do as well as a business who has ‘systems’, the same applies to ‘selling’, yet very few business’s do not have a system for ‘Selling’.
I developed a system of selling which increased my sales success rates from winning just 3 from 10, to winning 8 from 10 Quotes/Proposals submitted when I first developed the system, this is increasing my Sales Conversion Ratio from 30% to 80%. My clients who follow the system have reported huge increases in sales without any extra effort.
Below I have shown the impact of making just 1 extra sale from 10 Quotes/Proposals submitted.
Sales From 10 Quotes | By making just 1 extra sale from 10 Quotes will have the following result |
---|---|
3 Sales | 33% Increase in Revenue |
4 Sales | 25% Increase in Revenue |
5 Sales | 20% Increase in Revenue |
6 Sales | 17% Increase in Revenue |
7 Sales | 14% Increase in Revenue |
8 Sales | 13% Increase in Revenue |
I suggest you evaluate the way in which you ‘sell’ to a prospective customer, what is your process? Do
you have one? And, does your method engender the ‘Know, Like and Trust Factor’ with your prospective
customers? Or, is your system just a case of meet, greet and provide a quote, or maybe a show and tell
process? If it is, then the opportunity to significantly increase sales, the value of the sale, and sell
more per sale, cannot be over stated.
Quotes/Proposals required from which to achieve the desired number of sales.
First, let’s explain the difference between a Quote and a Proposal.
Quote – A quote is a simple document which outlines the job, product or service to
be provided and provides a Price.
Proposal – Is a selling document which provides details such as the features and
benefits of a product or service to be provided (plus more) and it contains the quote.
Depending on the industry you are in will depend on which of the two you should use in your selling
process. Some industries use both, for example, a business who sell kitchen renovations would use a
Proposal to ‘sell’ the kitchen, as it would be of significant value, but if a person simply wishes to
purchase a benchtop, and then a quote would suffice.
We can help you to evaluate which is the best solution for you, and why we recommend our solution.
Marketing – Leads required from which to make additional Sales.
Earlier I mentioned in order to make Sales you must have Leads, and this is where Marketing comes into
play.
Marketing is what brings people to you, and Selling is what converts them to a customer, this applies to
any business including retail. Acquisition of Leads is marketing, and you will see from the ‘Activity’
goals you have a monthly Lead target. If you require additional Leads, the question becomes ‘How do I
obtain extra Leads?’.
I suggest you evaluate your Marketing, ask yourself – Where do my Leads come from? ‘How many Marketing
Pillars do I have to acquire Leads? How do I know which marketing mediums provide the majority of my
Leads? Knowing where your Leads came from is covered in the heading titled Monitoring.
Note: Marketing Pillars, these are the number of ways in which you
market your business, e.g. Website, Google Ad Words, Social Media are examples of Marketing Pillars.
Our team can help you to evaluate which is the best solution for you, and why we recommend the solution.
Monitoring
Monitoring your business, including KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) is a key to success. If you don’t
know where you are at, then how can you plan on where you want to go?
A number of business owners look at their Profit & Loss (P & L) statements provided by their book keeping
system, provided the P & L statement is correctly presented, it will give you good historical data as to
the financial progress of the business. P & L’s should be an important part of monitoring the progress
of your business, but it should not be the only measuring tool.
Measuring KPI’s is critical to business success, they tell you what is happening in real-time, and
provide a warning of potential issues, both in the present and in the future. The question is ‘How do we
measure our business KPI’s?’
The measurement of KPI’s can be achieved with CRM Systems, but unfortunately for many SME business
owners, the process is not so easy to follow, and as a result KPI’s are not monitored.
Profit Accelerator has simple KPI Monitoring Systems to help to keep a closer eye on business
performance, which in turn will lead to greater business success, you can see what is happening in
real-time as to the acquisition of Leads, Quotes/Proposals submitted and more. If this is of interest,
let us know and we will be happy to discuss KPI Monitoring with you.
Where To From Here
Hopefully I have provided some insights as to what to look for in order to help you achieve your goals,
the next question is, ‘Where to from here?’
You now have the first part of a Business Plan, I suggest the next step is to develop an ‘Action Plan’.
The plan will provide the steps to follow to implement the changes required to achieve your Financial
Goals.
If you would like help to develop an ‘Action Plan’, please contact us for a free discussion of
possibility, and we will be in touch.
Thank you for using our BGA-Calculator, and wish you all the best for the future.
Profit Accelerator Limited
DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY
Although every effort has been made to ensure that this publication is free from error or omission, readers and users should be aware that the laws and financial environment are subject to change at short notice or without forewarning.
Profit Accelerator Limited , the Author and all persons associated with the preparation and distribution of this publication do not accept any contractual, tortuous or other liability whatsoever in respect of its contents or for any consequences arising from its use or representations made in relation to it. Readers and users are advised therefore that this publication is not a substitute for professional, legal and accounting advice in appropriate circumstances and situations.