A Plan, a Budget and Smart Choices

Part 5 in Right from the Start Series

There is no Fate that plans men’s lives. Whatever comes to us, good or bad, is usually the result of our own action or lack of action.

Herbert N. Casson

I believe there is some fate that drives our universe, but the word usually takes that into account. Another  quote that guides my world is from  another wise man regarding business and money: When the cash runs out, that’s it” (Alexander Mashour, my father) I love occasionally memorializing him and his ever so black and white truisms, but there was one thing I/we have to learn without any famous quotes or parental guidance: Discipline. Every year, I write a budget for my business and my home and damn if I don’t find myself eyeballing those numbers and asking “Where did I get THAT number from, I’m not even close”.

A budget is not something you write out and then do a historical look back, but a meaningful guideline to which every decision relates back to that plan of action. The plans could be this: I’m saving money for new equipment, I am paying off the loan, I am taking aim at that income number or I am reducing these individual operating costs. Therein lays the true meaning of the word budget. I have planned on these outcomes so my budget , or my guidelines for receipt and disbursements, must be follow those ideas and I will live according to those rules.

All of these thoughts have been reiterated in a million hours of webinars and conferences along with great business books and podcasts. But no matter how much you study or how many books you read its all about that discipline. How can you have this plan RIGHT FROM THE START? You start by asking questions that lead to a plan of action. Here’s a few I’ve noticed myself asking:

• How many hours do I want to work in a week, which yields XX of dollars?
• How many hours do I want to donate to a good cause?
• What should my regular/fixed expenses look like based on historical data?
• If I am trying to go mobile, what laptop would best replace the one from 2008 (I’m serious)
• What type of interest am I paying on loans or credit cards when I didn’t have cash for big events?
• What conferences are a must attend and what is the best way to plan reserves?
• Do I need to afford help and will my profit margin afford this?

I just finished reading The Outliers and Unbroken on my trip to Mexico. Both books had endless amounts of examples where individuals had the skills, determination and discipline to be at the top and stories of our WWll men fought hard to survive. Inspiration for anyone’s life or business and a must on your books to read. I also read Profits First, by Mike Michalowicz. I set up my Live Plan with my budgets and my cash flow numbers and I’m almost done paying for a college Parent Plus loan and life is good. But it will take discipline to make all the rest of it work.  I want to have money for a great trip to my Little Caesars Conference and I want a new Mac that is small but mighty! I’m also hoping to hire another subcontractor and get more administrative help. What do you want to plan for the make this year a success?