There’s no time like the beginning of January to prep for the year ahead! Are you ready for 2022 to be an impactful year in your business? I want to share with you how I set goals and plan for success in both my photography and education businesses in the beginning of each year, and I’m giving you all the details in this video. Be sure to use the guide below to assist with your planning and goal-setting to help you stay organized!
How To Plan And Set Goals For Your Photography Business
Step 1: Reflection of Where You’ve Been
I start out my goal planning with a reflection of where I’ve been has been instrumental for my business and gives me the chance to really think about what I have accomplished. To do this, I use my client management software, my planner and notebook, and acknowledge things I spent time learning over the past year that helped get me to where I am now.
Questions to ask yourself to reflect on what was and was not working:
- What are some things I am most proud of that I accomplished over the last year?
- Where did I invest my time this past year?
- What are some limiting beliefs that were holding me back over this past year?
Step 2: Finances – Products and Offers
Step 2 is all about numbers and finances. This is where I breakdown profitability, analyze my cost of doing business, what was going on with the numbers in my business, and what kind of products and services I offer.
Some key elements to think about:
- The products/services you are offering and which are your most profitable
- What marketing efforts were the most profitable for your business?
- Which months of the year were you the most profitable?
Step 3: Profit Planning
This is where I begin to project my finances for the year ahead and plan out my gross revenue and profit goals. Having the numbers in front of me from Step 2 is super helpful for this part!
Tips for when you’re profit planning:
- Follow along the line by line format in my free guide so you can plan everything out
- Utilizing the numbers from last year will help you be specific about your goals and understand if you’re aiming to 2x, 3x, etc. your revenue this coming year
- Establish your business work hours here as well – so you can be realistic about what can actually get done and what realistically can’t
Step 4: Quarterly Planning
This gives you an emphasis for each quarter of the year, which breaks it down nicely and gives you smaller goals to reach for. Breaking it down in quarters helps you focus on the quarter you’re currently in and the goals you have for that specific quarter. I love finishing my planning with this because I can see the quarter at a glance and know with confidence what goals I am working towards.
Some examples of quarterly focuses:
- Booking and marketing yourself for the rest of the year; booking out photography
- Relationship building, brand building, hiring on team members, and growing your business
- Creating YouTube content, getting into podcast interviews, and press, etc.
Compartmentalizing your goals into quarters will help you break down the year ahead and think about what money you want to be making in your business, the clients you want to be serving, and the goals you want to reach.
There it is – how I set goals and do quarterly planning in my business! This is such a great exercise to set aside time for because it allows you to get a big picture and set goals for yourself for the coming year. I challenge you this week to set aside time for yourself to do this in your business. You can also utilize the guide to do this personally as well. Let me know in the comments what some of your goals are for your photography business and how I can be cheering you on!
