At the end of last year, I decided to give myself a raise. It had only been 14 months since my last price increase and I have typically waited 24 months between changes. But Square announced a rate hike and I wanted to contribute more to my household. So I raised my prices in January, and at the same time I adjusted my automatic withdrawals to increase my 401K contribution and my take-home pay.
Flash forward to the last week in February and… Nope, the numbers don’t work. I cannot increase my retirement savings and take home pay at the same time and still have enough to cover the business bills.
I failed at business repeated over and over in my head. I kicked myself for getting the numbers wrong. I considered how to fit another client or 2 in each week. I wondered how soon I could raise my prices again. And then I moved away from the numbers and took note of my actual life over the last 12 months. Turns out I didn’t really fail at business (but we knew that).
In the last year my partner’s job changed to become more demanding and less flexible. We launched a kid out of high school and into college. I got married. There's a kid at home with some increasing needs. A high energy dog that just had knee surgery. Parents who are aging quickly and requiring more care. You get the idea. You are also living some version or another of this scenario, I'm sure because WTF Sandwich Generation.
And with all the subjective variables of life in mind, I ran the numbers again. Shaved a little off the 401K contribution and the take-home pay. Reminded myself that I spent the first 15 years of my career as a single, full-time, self-supporting massage therapy business owner. It was hard. It was necessary and worth it. But that is not who or where I am anymore.
The numbers are fine. Not ‘smooth in 2019 great’. Not ‘hustling in 2010 good’. But the numbers are ‘surviving 2026 just fine’.
What's my point? I don't know for sure. But I think the lesson for me here is that how I measure success in my business must change year to year and month to month, even.
How do you measure success nowadays? How has that changed over the years? Reach out, I would love to hear from you.