nable number. Start by writing down your gross sales for every month for the past 2 years. (You have just created a spreadsheet.) Now go do something else – have lunch, go to a meeting, sleep Setting unreasonable financial goals for your business can make you crazy! You may think you are motivating yourself to achieve more by setting your expectations high, but the opposite is often true.

Big businesses have systems and algorithms for projecting their financial goals, and so should you. Yours can be much less sophisticated and complicated and can yield the same result.

When your business is new, setting your goals is kind-of a shot in the dark. Unless you have some data on which to base your projections, you will most likely be estimating. Talk to people in your same industry to find out what they earned in their first years, keeping in mind how your business differs from theirs.

Otherwise, here are some exercises you can do to get a reasonable number. Start by writing down your gross sales for every month for the past 2 years. (You have just created a spreadsheet.) Now go do something else – have lunch, go to a meeting, sleep o

true.

Big businesses have systems and algorithms for projecting their financial goals, and so should you. Yours can be much less sophisticated and complicated and can yield the same result.

When your business is new, setting your goals is kind-of a shot in the dark. Unless you have some data on which to base your projections, you will most likely be estimating. Talk to people in your same industry to find out what they earned in their first years, keeping in mind how your business differs from theirs.

Otherwise, here are some exercises you can do to get a reasonable number. Start by writing down your gross sales for every month for the past 2 years. (You have just created a spreadsheet.) Now go do something else – have lunch, go to a meeting, sleep

When your business is new, setting your goals is kind-of a shot in the dark. Unless you have some data on which to base your projections, you will most likely be estimating. Talk to people in your same industry to find out what they earned in their first years, keeping in mind how your business differs from theirs.

Otherwise, here are some exercises you can do to get a reasonable number. Start by writing down your gross sales for every month for the past 2 years. (You have just created a spreadsheet.) Now go do something else – have lunch, go to a meeting, sleep

e in your same industry to find out what they earned in their first years, keeping in mind how your business differs from theirs.

Otherwise, here are some exercises you can do to get a reasonable number. Start by writing down your gross sales for every month for the past 2 years. (You have just created a spreadsheet.) Now go do something else – have lunch, go to a meeting, sleep

nable number. Start by writing down your gross sales for every month for the past 2 years. (You have just created a spreadsheet.) Now go do something else – have lunch, go to a meeting, sleep on it. When you come back to it, look at the numbers.

Your numbers will tell a story. Are there any trends? Is there seasonality to your business? How did you do last year vs year ago? How did you do against previous projections?

Next, add your monthly totals into quarterly totals (Jan – Mar, Apr – Jun, etc.). Look at your numbers again. What's the story? By putting your numbers into quarterly totals, you eliminate most anomalies.

Once you understand these numbers, you should be able to set reasonable, achievable financial goals for your business. Take a look at last year's quarterly and annual totals vs the year before. Is your business growing steadily? This answer will help you finalize your annual number for the coming year.

One more w