The end of quarter 3 has ended, so it’s time to review how my business has done!
I’m a very detail-oriented person, so I love record keeping and analysis. That’s why the end of months and quarters are a lot of fun for me.
If you want to see last quarter’s review you can do so here.
So, if you want to see how I did, then continue reading. Just know, I believe in full transparency and honesty (former Girl Scout here), so I’m not holding anything back.
Some of the links contained in this post are affiliate links. This means that I may receive a commission if you click on the link and make a purchase from the affiliate. I only recommend products and services that I know or trust to be of high quality, whether an affiliate relationship is in place or not.
How I Organize My Business & Goals
One of the most important business books I’ve ever read was the The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael Gerber. It was eye-opening and changed how I looked at my business.
It gave me a clear structure and a plan in place, and if you’re an entrepreneur, you NEED to read this. Period.
Using the book’s guidance, I split my business into 4 main categories:
- Operations: day to day work on client’s web design, maintenance, and my own website
- Sales & Marketing: how to increase revenue and all marketing tasks
- Finances: money management
- Human Resources: creating systems to eventually hire out tasks
Having a clear organizational structure in a business is key. Share on X
Then, I create projects in Asana that correspond to each category and put my tasks for them in there. And lastly, I create a daily schedule that tells me when to work on each category, so nothing gets overlooked.
Operations Goals
I didn’t really have any concrete goals for FY17Q3 (Fiscal Year 2017, Quarter 3). I had a big to-do list of little projects I wanted to complete, so I put finishing that list as my goal.
I did work on some of them, but I still have a few more left to do.
So I’ll mark this as a miss, but I’m a lot happier that I got the big ones of my list!
Sales & Marketing Goals
Since this is a large category, I split this one into sub-categories.
Sales Goals
My FY17Q3 goal was to sell another custom website package…and I made it!
I’m in the process of designing a website for another Amazon consulting company and it should be done in the next few weeks.
Update:
See how this website turned out in 180Commerce’s Success Story post!
So stay tuned for updates on that, as I’m really excited and love the design! Here’s a sneak peek at their color scheme…
I look forward to helping you out!
Social Media Marketing Goals
My Pinterest goals for FY17Q3 were:
- 1500 followers (missed!)
- Join 10 more group boards (achieved!)
So I came into another great resource with multiple Pinterest group boards, and finally got to join more boards! I also was invited to become a contributor for others, so I achieved this 10 group board goal this quarter.
However, I didn’t meet my follower goal (about 100 short). But I’m ok with that, as I got close. And I’m still happy I’ve done so well since starting in February with only around 50 followers!
My goal was to continue learning how to use Twitter. And I’ve still managed to learn more about it.
However, I’m no expert and I only have a couple hundred followers. But, I’ve gotten a few more resources to read so I can feel more confident in it.
For my Business page, my goal was 800 likes. But I only managed around 730, so 70 short. I think I would have made it if Facebook hadn’t changed their page display in comments to not have an easy “Like” button. But luckily, they changed it back after a few weeks and my likes grew.
While this is great and I’m more familiar with Facebook, I want my next goal to be more about connecting with others or improving my engagement. I don’t want another vanity metric.
Linkedin & instagram
I wanted to learn more about using these successfully for business, but I didn’t. Will have to make these next quarter’s goals.
Content Marketing Goals
My FY17Q3 goal was to publish 6 posts (missed!).
Unfortunately I only did 5 posts this quarter, as I got really busy at the end of August/September with client work. And my blogging was sent to the back burner.
However, I’ve recommitted to blogging and I’m excited for a few of my next posts I’m going to publish as I think they’re really going to help you!
Email Marketing Goals
My FY17Q3 goal was 350 subscribers, and I achieved this one. Actually have over 360 now, so I did better than expected.
One of my latest posts about my blogging process did really great with getting new subscribers, so at least that made up for not blogging that much last month!
And I’ve gotten to know more of my subscribers and their stories, which is always more important to me!
Finance Goals
My goal for FY17Q3 was $4,000 in gross revenue.
And I achieved this goal too, doing more than $2,000 better than that anyway.
Most of this was from my custom website design projects, and then I had graphic design work from my retainer clients and some affiliate income.
And I actually had fewer expenses this quarter than last time, only around $600, which makes me happy.
I’m also transitioning away from hourly graphic design work to a retainer based system soon, so I also am looking forward to a more stable income on that side of my business!
Human Resource Goals
One of the big takeaways I got from The E-Myth Revisited was creating systems. So, I’ve created a list of all the “jobs” that are done in my business.
From Custom Website Designer to Blogger to even Social Media Manager, I’ve listed them all.
So to be able to eventually hire out some positions, I need to create systems, processes and standard operating procedures for each one.
My goal for FY17Q3 was to finish 4 positions (as I still didn’t achieve this last quarter).
But I didn’t do this either this quarter.
So to stop this cycle, I’ve analyzed my problem and realized it was just because I wasn’t being reminded enough.
So, I’ve set up a repeating task on Asana to do every Wednesday (usually a slower day for me). Now I’ll just set a timer for 20 minutes and make sure I’m making progress for next quarter!
Conclusion
So to recap what goals I’ve met or not, here’s a quick look:
- Operations: Finish to-do list (missed!)
- Sales & Marketing: 1 Custom Website sale (achieved!)
- Sales & Marketing: 1500 Pinterest subscribers (missed!)
- Sales & Marketing: Join 10 more Pinterest group boards (achieved!)
- Sales & Marketing: Learn more about Twitter (achieved!)
- Sales & Marketing: 800 Facebook page likes (missed!)
- Sales & Marketing: Feel confident in LinkedIn & Instagram (missed!)
- Sales & Marketing: Publish 6 posts (missed!)
- Sales & Marketing: 350 email subscribers (achieved!)
- Finance: $4,000 in gross revenue (achieved!)
- Human Resources: Finish 4 positions (missed!)
So stay tuned to see how next quarter goes! And leave a comment below with how your business did this quarter. What were your highlights or problem areas?
And if you’ve found this post helpful, please share it with your friends!
4 thoughts on “Behind The Scenes Look At My Business In FY17Q3”
Really cool blog post . Reading about how organization is such a key for you inspired me to get more organized myself ! It’s amazing how fast things can get disorganized when your an entrepreneur !
Thanks so much Sara! Yes, you definitely have to keep on top of so many different aspects being an entrepreneur, but I love the challenge lol. Thanks for reading.
I love your blog and this post .Organisation is key for sure. I am working at it. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much Oby! Keep up the good work on working on your organization lol. Thanks for stopping by.