This is for you if you are a Sole Trader, or Small Independent Business.
What it is
The Sales Strategy and Pricing Planner designed to be easy to use, clear to read and automated for stress-free Financial planning. This spreadsheet is a way for you as a Small Business, Sole Trader or Solopreneur to keep track of your Sales Forecast, Actual Sales, Action plan, Business Budget and setting the correct Hourly Rate for your hard work.
This is an essential part of running a business and I advise to keep it up-to-date on a Weekly, or at the very least, Monthly basis.
Created in collaboration with Wendy Garcarz a Business Mentor, Strategist, Futurist and Founder of Refirement.uk – to find out more about Wendy’s Workshops check out www.WendyGarcarz.biz
What you get:
Pricing Strategy – based on a formula developed by Wendy Garcarz. This is an essential part of your business you need to address before setting up your services. Setting your Hourly Rate can feel awkward, icky and tricky, without a straight-forward strategy taking into account what your annual salary is, your overheads, all the extra costs you may not even think of taking into account, then this is the perfect sheet for you.
Wendy runs regular Pricing Strategy Workshops where she guides you through this process. I have completed the workshop and it is a real eye-opener and well worth doing, especially if you find it uncomfortable. Once you know your Value, talking about prices becomes inconsiquential. Find out more from www.WendyGarcarz.biz
The Sales Forecast & Actual Sales sheet – this covers 3 years. Of course it is optional to use all 3 years to plan, you may just want to start to plan out Year 1 and see how it goes, by the end of Year 1 you will start to see a pattern and can plan more effectively for the following 2 years. It is an organic document for you to keep changing based on your capacity and circumstances.
Sales Action Plan – Planning your goals for Sales gives you a target so you can plan how much you earn each month and over the year. Having an annual Turnover / Income gives you a tangible target to aim for. This needs to be updated weekly or at the very least Monthly. When forecasting your sales and then adding the actual sales, the automatic formulas calculate any variance so you can see how you’re getting on. You have the opportunity to change any offers or services that aren’t working for you, and focus on what is bringing the money in to hit your targets.
The Business Budget sheet – this shows you all your outgoings and expenses. This allows you to keep tabs on any expenses which become unnecessary over time. Also the expenses that are essential to making your business succeed.
Variable Cost  Plan – All of your variable bills which are covered by policys and contracts that can be changed or upgraded can be tracked here. There is also a column at the end where you can add last year’s Annual cost so you can compare the prices when renegotiating.”
Why you need it
“Having a plan, or goals or targets is all very good but until you write them down they cannot be planned out and put into action efficiently. By having your Sales plans and Financial goals laid out, you can see where you make the most money, how much you can physically do yourself in the time you have, and if there are services you offer that don’t move your business further (or as Wendy says does it make the boat go faster!)
By having all this information and data in front of you, being updated regularly, you can start to see patterns and adjust your strategy on-the-go, in real-time. Rather than reacting in hindsight when it is too late.
How you will benefit from updating it regularly
“Reviewing this sheet weekly, and updating it at the very least monthly, you will feel more in control with your business decisions, and have a regular overview of how well you are doing, and be able to make decisions as you work on a regular basis, rather than looking back over the year when it is usually too late to change.
When you set goals you create a space for you to set measurable targets for your business. What you want to achieve will be more realistic if you plan in writing. Giving yourself something tangible as a guide, not set in stone, but fluid as your business grows. There is a real space for learning whether you hit your goals or not. You will see from your data what works and what doesn’t, what you love doing vs what actually brings the money in. Also remember even if you don’t hit your target, you are still way ahead of where you started from.
This Template was created in collaboration with Wendy Garcarz a Business Mentor, Strategist, Futurist and Founder of Refirement.uk – to find out more about Wendy’s Workshops check out www.WendyGarcarz.biz
This Spreadsheet includes: Instruction sheet, Pricing Strategy Guide, The Sales Forecast & Actual Sales sheet, Sales Action Plan, The Business Budget sheet, and Variable Cost  Plan
Please note – this is an excel document, please do not import into another software as it may corrupt the formatting and formulas.