How planning is done today
Most entrepreneurs and managers, when modeling their business operations using a spreadsheet, start with expected revenue by month. Then they calculate cost of sales, and then project their expenses, to find the bottom-line profit or loss each projected month.
One way to think for tomorrow
There is a rarely used twist that makes lots of sense. Add a new row at the bottom of the spreadsheet. Project your revenues and costs as in the original exercise. Then consider that an operating entity should be able to generate a ten percent operating profit based upon revenues – and add a row to your spreadsheet immediately below “operating profit” that calculates 10% profit from sales each month.
Something new emerges
Compare that with the operating profit as calculated, which surely will be lower, probably negative, for months or even years. The difference is something new – a target for reduction of expenses or addition to revenue for each month in which the calculated number is lower than 10% of revenues.
Why this is different and powerful
[Email readers, continue here…] We are not taught to think this way, but rather to find the month in which we break even in our plan, then calculate the accumulated losses to that point, add all the cash needed for investment in fixed assets, and end up with the
The ultimate reminder
And sometimes, this exercise is just a reminder that we are all in business to make money, not to just break even. Just like assuring that your own at-market salary is included in a forecast even if not drawn in cash during the earliest periods, the 10% target reminds us all that the target must be higher than merely breaking even, even if that means reassessing all expenses until the target is met or exceeded.
Curious if the same model could be applied to nonprofits, using revenue from grants, donations, memberships, ticket sales (if applicable), etc., etc. as opposed to revenue from sales. Theoretically, nonprofits that know how to manage expenses wisely should be better candidates for grants and gifts than those who do not…