Business planning: Before you try pricing, hiring, or marketing… DO THIS

Business Planning

How much time and money have you wasted doing things in the wrong order? How much brain power and frustration have you invested in pricing, hiring, or marketing? Business planning is something you can be good at, once you understand where everything needs to go.

4 ways MANY bookkeepers do business planning

1. They look at what others are doing and then try to copy that
2. They react to pressures that are building inside of them and do what they think will relieve their stress…
3. They try random things without thinking it through
4. They ask other people who also have no idea

Reality check >> That’s not a business plan. That’s a recipe for stress!

Don’t believe me? Let me give you a few examples of how this approach to planning has gone wrong.

3 Common bookkeeper business planning problems

Problem #1: Hiring

So, you feel the pressure with too much work on. What’s the default reaction? Hire someone, of course.

The problem with that approach is that:

1. You didn't realise how long it was going to take to hire them
2. You had no idea how much time you’d need to invest in training your new employee

Result? You’re MORE stressed than ever.

Problem #2: Pricing

So you notice that everyone else seems to be doing “value pricing”. Or perhaps your clients are underpaying you and just can’t seem to appreciate your (amazing) value.

So you get this brilliant idea to price your packages using spreadsheets and it takes you hours, but you’re still not sure if you’ve landed on the right price. Or worse, you spend bucketloads of money on some pricing expert’s course, only to feel like you still don't know how to do it.

The problem with this approach is that you aren't clear about what solutions you offer, who you offer them to, and why. You’ve got a bunch of problems that aren’t going to be solved by a pricing expert OR a spreadsheet. And with where you’re at right now, it's IMPOSSIBLE to price your services.

Problem #3: Marketing or developing your website

Okay, so you need more clients to boost your income. Or maybe you need a website because someone said you should. You get together with your designer or marketing person and they ask you, “so who are we designing this for?” and you go blank.

And then they ask, “who is your target client?”

And you say, “Ohhh anyone really. I don't want to limit myself.”

And then your designer has no idea who to make this thing for, so they do the best with what they’ve got. They go with a generic type of product that’s totally ineffective and a waste of your money.

The problem is that if you don't know who you’re marketing to, you won’t be able to attract anyone, let alone your “ideal audience”.

So, what’s the solution?

Do the proper planning and prep work BEFORE you fall into these traps and mistakes. This means figuring out your niche, doing a proper written business plan, and getting your pricing strategy sorted.

Solution #1: A business plan

This will help you first to understand the bigger picture of where you are headed. You will become clearer about the clients you do, and don't, want to work with. Then you can refine your client base so that when you’re ready to hire and train, it’s much less chaotic. You’ll be able to set aside the time to do your hiring and training (and do it properly).

Solution #2: A pricing strategy

Figure out what you’re basing your pricing on. Write down the solutions you offer, who you offer them for, and why. Then design packages for those people. And design those packages with YOUR business goals in mind too. Always zoom out to the big picture, and you’ll become much more confident with pricing your services and packages.

Solution #3: Figure out your niche

Before you do any serious marketing activities, you need to work out your niche. I cannot stress this enough. Work out your niche. Work out your niche. WORK OUT YOUR NICHE!!

If this freaks you out a bit, don’t worry. It is possible to niche and have variety – honest!

When you follow my business planning method, you’ll know how to niche vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. So you can focus on the people who need you the most without limiting yourself to a single category.

So what's the next step? Would you love to free up your brain-cells, prepare for the future and spot gaps in your business? Join me online for my free Business Planning training. 

Learn more about the savvy Bookkeeping Business Plan 

Join me for the Business Planning Basics webinar. It's FREE!

During this 35 minute webinar presentation, you will learn;

• why it’s important to have a written business plan
• what’s involved in business planning
• which is the best stage of business to start a business plan
• why more people don’t have business plans
• how to get started with your business plan
• and earn a CPE point (happy dance!)

Find out if a business plan is right for you – book in for the webinar, or watch an instant replay now.

We've given our take on business planning.
NOW Over to you…

Have you experienced any of these three problems in your business? And what’s worked to help you get your hiring, pricing, and marketing right in the future?

I’d love it if you could leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Stay savvy,

Amy 🙂

PS: See you on the webinar >>

+++

• If you are a Bookkeeper who otherwise needs help with Savvy's other services, such as; Sales, Marketing, Website, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Business Logo and more, please get in contact.

This page may contain affiliate links. That means that if you click on a link and buy something, we may get a portion of the sale at no cost to you. We recommend products based on their tried and tested, proven reliability and usefulness. Helping our clients is our primary motivation and earning commission is only an added bonus. We recommend products and services because they work.