Having a plan and a direction to move in is imperative for business. How else do you make decisions?
When we don’t have a plan we end up spending our time going in circles. Is it any wonder we feel like we make no progress?
It also means that we don’t take the time to check in regularly to acknowledge when we reach a goal or milestone. When we fail to celebrate our success and learn from the things that did not work, we end up in the grind. We get weighed down and bogged in the doing. It is very easy to become unmotivated here. An unmotivated FDC educator finds her work challenging to say the least!
If you have followed us for some time now, you know we love to make plans, but these ones are specifically looking at your financial plans. Now I know not everyone is driven by money, however, you have to make your FDC viable. There are many things that can impact the viability of your business, as the last two years have shown.
We are currently in some murky waters globally too, so putting some plans in place now could very well be the difference to your business's success or failure.
I want to see educators thrive, and that means talking about the financial viability of FDC. We are in a pretty good place, as our overheads are far less than if we owned a full centre. However, we still have to consider tax, super, sick pay and holidays, resources, PD, insurance and memberships etc. You can have a look at our last blog to discover how to work these percentages out for your own business.
Once you have decided on your percentages, you can then make some decisions about the direction you want to take. Do you want to save more money personally for the next few years? Do you want to upgrade your work car? Do you want to invest in new outdoor equipment? Do you need to buy a house?
All of this is more easily done once you have your figures clearly in your mind. The questions you can ask your accountant or financial planner are going to be of better quality, meaning that you can strategically plan for the next 12+ months. Having the plan in mind will help your decision making too. Like, do you really need to spend that $200 at Kmart to buy the new wooden toys that will only chip and look dodgy in the next few weeks anyway? Are you better to wait a few weeks and purchase something of better quality, that will last? Or perhaps you don’t really need to buy it at all. Can you source it second-hand at a fraction of the cost? Or does the idea of that $200 going towards a paid sick day feel more appealing?
When you can ask better quality questions, you can make better quality decisions! This leads to better quality outcomes. It will mean you are in control of your income!
That is the best feeling!
Now, we have to be accountable to our plans and regularly check-in to ensure we remain on track. Just like we do with the children, we have to make sure we are heading in the right direction. It also means that we factor in time to celebrate! Who does not want more celebration in their life?!
