For awhile in my business, I looked at income as the only marker of success. I was completely income focused because it seemed like everywhere I turned other business owners were using income as the top metric to measure how well they’re doing.
Income is the greatest motivator for some people. There’s nothing wrong with this mindset. But if money isn’t your greatest motivator, my coach last year introduced me to an entirely new metric that’s helped me redirect my mission in a way that’s brought a lot of new excitement to my business.
Think Impact Not Dollar Signs
If it seems you set income goals that you’re not truly inspired by, set goals on how many people you want to impact instead. Thinking this way led to a huge mindset shift for me.
It’s easy to get stuck in the, “I want to have four-figure, five-figure, and six-figure income months,” business hype. But achieving this income will be tough if you don’t know how you’re serving people.
Essentially, you’re only concentrated on your own pocket and not the value that you’re bringing to the customer. Don’t get me wrong — you can do both. You can make great money while helping people. But if you’re putting your income first above and beyond anything else people can tell and it’s going to make achieving these income months a challenge.
The “How Many People Do You Want to Help?” Metric
I like to give credit where credit is due and it’s LaTisha Styles who changed my way of thinking. It’s important because in addition to freelance writing, I wasn’t sure where I wanted to take my business. I had a lack of clarity for a while which kept me stuck.
My purpose got much clearer when she introduced me to the “how many people do you want to help?” metric. Focusing on a number of people you want to impact forces you to answer a few questions:
- Who are you helping?
- How are you helping them?
- What results are they getting from connecting with you?
Doing market research and answering these questions helped me create a lead magnet and copy that resonates with my people. As a personal finance coach, I’ve set a goal for the year to help at least 100 people move past living paycheck to paycheck through one-on-one coaching, group coaching, online workshops, in-person workshops, and a printed book.
Knowing who I’m serving and what their results will be helps me better explain my purpose and create relevant products. The number of people I touch is a marker of my success.
So what about the money?
Revenue and profit shouldn’t be your only metrics, but they’re still ones you need to think about. After all, you’re in business to make money. It’s a lot easier to monetize when you’re clear on who you’re serving and you have actual results you’re giving them in mind.
Again, if you’re not clear on who you’re helping, it’ll be harder to reach the aforementioned multi-figure income months. A business is the exchange of goods and services for money. What goods, services, experiences, or results are you offering?
Get highly invested in the impact that you’re having on others and money can follow.
