How to Set Financial Resolutions for Your Business (2024)

Resolutions! Goals! Intentions! All of these are great ways to foster change but…

We often make our financial resolutions too grand and they’re hard to stick to. We can also make our financial resolutions too small and they don’t make a significant impact on our business. In either case, we wind up feeling *really* down about our finances because we didn’t make the changes we hoped to. And everything seems exactly the same.

Friend- it’s not you! It’s just the way you’re setting your financial resolutions.

I’m teaching you my step by step process for setting financial resolutions in your business that are doable, desirable, and will have a positive impact on your finances! Buckle up your seatbelt for this ride because we’re about to have some fun!

Revolution vs Goals (1:10)

Let’s talk about the difference between a resolution and a goal.

A resolution is an intention that you set for the new year. I actually don’t love the word resolution. I used it because I know that’s how a lot of people think about the new year. I prefer to call it a financial intention because it’s how you interact with your finances.

On the other hand, a goal has the end result or is a series of actions that you’re working on to help you get to the end result. And goals are usually specific and measurable.

Rather than talking about how much money you plan to make this year or your sales goals, we’re talking about how your interactions with your finances will change and the intention you’re setting around that change.

Step 1: Reflect on the year (4:20)

Before you can go forward, you want to look back on the past year.

Reflect on different aspects of your finances. You can choose all of the areas I mention or just one. It depends on what you want to change.

You can reflect on your income, bookkeeping practices, taxes, or how you treated yourself as a business owner. You could also reflect on your mindset, your confidence about money, and your knowledge about money.

Here are some guidelines for reflecting:

What went well in your finances?

Make a list of everything that went well. Think about:

• What positive changes did you make in your money this year?
• What do you feel really proud of this year?
• What aspect of your finances do you feel proud of?
• What do you want to brag about?

This is about reflecting on the really awesome things that happened with your finances this year! So don’t hold back with your awesome self!

I’ll use myself as an example within this process (because I love to practice what I preach!). So, here are the things that went well once I stopped impulsively buying courses:

I added two new income streams to my business that I would never would have imagined could happen. It changed my business model, and because of that, I was able to increase my digital product sales by 20%.

What needs some work?

Where can you pinpoint areas that need improvement? Here are some questions to ponder:

• What areas of your finances could use some fine tuning?
• Where do you have room for expansion?

You’re not looking for ways in which you’re bad at your finances, but rather, ways that you can get better.

For me, I could’ve been more consistent with my business savings. It wasn’t that I didn’t save anything, but I was off and on with saving. It really depended on what I had going on that month. I also had a course that I launched once this past year, but I really wanted to launch several more times.

What do you need to change?

This is where you’ll start to list all the things that you sucked at this year. This isn’t a place to beat yourself up! You’re not going to say how horrible you are with money. The point is to understand where things didn’t go well for you.

• What did you plan to do or change this year that didn’t happen?
• Were there actions that you took that were detrimental to your finances?
• Were there any actions that you needed to take that you didn’t?

This can be a tough one but it’s good to be honest with yourself, and know exactly what’s not working well in your finances.

Step 2: Envision what you want (11:15)

This step is thinking about what your ideal vision of your business finances looks like. What do you ultimately want your business finance system to be like? What is your ultimate dream for your business finance system?

Consider your income, your pricing structure, your revenue, how much you’re earning, how much you’re spending, and what you’re spending money on.

What do you ultimately want? It’s not just about what you want in a practical sense. It’s also about how you want to feel about your business finances. You may want to feel at ease, peaceful, knowledgeable, motivated, connected, or settled.

There’s a lot of different ways in which you could feel about your business finances that might be very different than how you feel now. It’s really about how you’ll feel in your ideal version of your business finances.

Here’s an example:

• I earn $________ a year and have a pricing structure that both sustains me and is accessible to all people. My clients pay my prices willings and my invoices on time, with joy.
• I only spend 20% of my revenue on business expenses and I feel grounded when I make purchases. I no longer make impulse purchases or get carried away by good marketing copy.
• My bookkeeping up to date every week and feels easeful when I do it. I know exactly where my money goes every month I review my reports and feel knowledgeable about my money.
• I save $________ every month and have no business debt.
• I pay myself $________ every month and there’s always more than enough left over.
• When I engage with my finances, my overall feeling is ________.

Step 3: Connect your dreams and your reflection (14:42)

Start integrating steps 1 and 2 so you can connect the dots between your personal reflections and your dreams. Go back to the list of what you did well, what needs some improvement and what needs to absolutely change.

Look at what is really going to move you toward the vision that you want. In other words, what do you need to prioritize to get to the place you want to be? What are the actions that need to happen?

For the things that you did well: Which of these things, if maintained, would move you toward your vision? What do you need to keep doing to get there?

For the things you did okay at: Which of these things, if you did them better, would move you toward your vision? In what ways could you improve these actions?

For the things that need to change: Which of these things are preventing you from moving toward your vision? What needs to change so that they stop blocking you?

Here’s my own example:

• What I did well last year- I added some income streams that I really loved doing, and they helped me grow my business.
• What I want to improve on – I want to launch Bad-Ass Business Finance more consistently because if I were to launch it 4 times per year, I would increase my digital product revenue. I need to announce my launch dates publicly to hold myself accountable. I need to get support and accountability from my team and my business buddies.
• What I need to change – I’m doing too much 1:1 work, and can’t achieve my financial goals while also feeling overworked with so many clients. What I need to change is the ratio of 1:1 work I do to the ratio of other income streams.

Step 4: Find the common themes (20:17)

Now you’re going to find the common themes by looking back at the previous steps. There will be strides that you made in your business finances and there will be changes you want to make in your business finances.

What overarching themes do you notice? Try to identify 1-3 themes.

Here’s my own example:

The common theme was my income streams and needing to change my primary source of income. I realized that my service-based income streams were preventing me from hitting personal and financial goals. My theme was to make a shift toward others type of income.

Once you’ve identified 1-3 themes established, turn them into “I will” statements.

For example, my statement is, “I will grow and prioritize my non-service based income.”

Step 5: Doable and desirable (24:50)

Before working toward your intentions, you have to determine whether they’re doable and desirable.

Is your intention doable?

Take a look at your “I will” statement. Is it actually doable? Can you fulfill that intention?

For example, you’re intention is “I will pay off all my debt this year.” But, let’s say you have $100,000 in debt and you’re making $50,000/year. Are you really going to pay off all your debt this year? Probably now. It isn’t doable.

Usually, when something isn’t doable, it’s because you’re setting goals, not intentions.

The reason why we want your intention to be doable is that if it’s not, it’s easier to give up. We’ll repeat negative cycles. We’ll end up back where we started. It’ll impact our mindsets and reinforce limiting belief about money.

Is your intention desirable?

Do you feel excited and inspired by this intention? Your intentions shouldn’t feel like an obligation- they should feel really, really exciting! They should feel like they’re opening up a whole new door of possibility in your business finances.

They absolutely should NOT feel like you’re trudging through the swamps of hell with your money. If your intentions feel like an obligation, you’re not going to stick with them.

If your intentions aren’t desirable, you need to revise, and refine your vision. You may not be dreaming big enough or deep enough. You may be holding yourself back. Don’t be afraid to dream big and make your financial resolutions exciting!

That’s my process for creating financial resolutions. Personally, I like to have no more than 3 financial resolutions. Once you narrow them down, you can prioritize them, and make a strategy for each one. Now that you’ve set your intentions, go ahead and download my business finance survival kit to help you stay on track with your financial goals.