So, when I get
new jewelers, I have always tried to emphasize the importance of paying of your
initial investment before you start buying or paying for anything else. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way how
easy it is to fall into the trap of zebra print goodness. When I first signed,
I went “gotta have” crazy insisting that I “neeeeded” this or that to make my
business work. Well, here are the cold hard facts: you DON’T need cutie accents
on your table, or hostess gifts from Premier Incentives, or even lots of
jewelry! You came into Premier to meet a financial NEED in your home. So do you
see that happening? Or do you work for a few months and wonder where in the
WORLD all your money went? Well, I do. On a regular basis I think, “I did so
well last month! WHERE is that money?” I’ll tell ya where it is: as soon as I
get money, I’m excited to buy cuter gifts for my hostesses, or that one piece
of jewelry I’ve been wanting for months. I convince myself that so many of my
customers have wanted to see “this” necklace, or the girls wouldn’t be able to
resist booking shows if I had “that” gift. Well. No more.
Two things have
helped me to come to this mini-lesson today. One is Hood & House. Last year
I bought the Hood & House program, and I have worked really hard since then
to keep up with entering my data. Of course I enter all of my home shows there.
But I also enter all of my commission checks, mileage, and receipts/expenses.
This has helped me truly see where all my money goes! I am embarrassed to say
how much I spend on returns/exchanges. Simply because I don’t always enforce
asking my customers for that $5+tax…
The other thing
that has helped me is the business planning Brian and I are currently doing. We
have been listening to a book on tape called The Millionaire Next Door.
The book is about successful millionaires and how they came to be there. LoL...
that sounds funny. We are not on a quest to be millionaires. BUT we do want to
know how the minds of successful business people work, and what we can do to
help our new business be successful. One of the things that the author reports
is that financially independent (wealthy/affluent) people know where EVERY
PENNY goes. They don’t just spend haphazardly! They have detailed budgets that
plan where their money will go, and holds them accountable for getting it
there.
Today I sat down
and set some goals, and looked at the numbers. I set a goal of 36 home shows
this year, averaging $500 each. Then, I listed all of the expenses I could
think of anticipating for the next year. I set a goal to only spend 30% of my
home show income on business expenses. The other 70% (plus all of my
commission) will go toward our current goal of paying off our last student
loan. It was harder than I thought to get my expenses down to 30%. There are so
many things I love to spend money on: Jewelry, Rally, mailings! But no more!
According to my initial budget, I would spend 39% of my income on business
expenses. So I needed to cut 9% to reach my goal. Instead of rewriting, you can
see I simply crossed things out, and made notes about the adjustment. I thought
of ways to become more cost effective in my communication with hostesses, in my
quest for more jewelry, and in other every day responsibilities.
Now it’s your
turn! Of course yours doesn’t have to be as detailed as mine, but I encourage
you to look at your spending. Before you buy some stamps and think, “oh, it’s
only $6 for post card stamps,” take a look at the big picture! What percent of
your income is that $6? And is there a better way to relay the same message?
