I know, I know. LOL. Chip seems to be perpetually stuck on our last book, “Profit First!” But I keep finding reasons that it was a really good pick for us/me. Here’s another.
It is reasonably certain that I’m going to be opening a second Piper’s Ice Cream Bar. But, of course, now is the time to run the numbers and projections to be sure that I won’t be biting off more than I can chew, AND to be certain that I’m going to be able to ensure consistent owner draws from the outset.
A few days ago, I started that process and am using the same budgeting procedure that I used for my current operation this year. So, first, I set an owner draw “goal” for the first year of the proposed location. That money is now out of sight, out of mind, and I’m analyzing the new location with the only funds available to me for operations after my projected gross sales LESS my desired owner draws.
It’s a very interesting way of budgeting. Instead of finding that the numbers don’t work with the desired owner draw, I’m finding that my initial operational budget was entirely unreasonable and needed a lot of tweaking. Honestly, the new budget (and the operations that budget supports) have turned out to be better. There’s no fat, no waste. There IS a built-in emergency fund, though.
I feel so much more confident in the numbers I’m seeing so far, especially knowing that I am guaranteeing draws that are satisfactory to us, as partners.
Sweet.
