How to Plan Your Month for Profit When You Have Big Business Goals
Have you ever gotten to the end of the month, looked at your business bank account, and realized…
“I didn’t actually make any money this month.”
Sure, income came in. But your business didn’t really move forward.
You stayed busy, delivered the work, checked things off… but your business wasn’t actually growing.
And that becomes a real problem when you have big goals for the year.
When I sit down with my SYS Support clients, I always ask about their quarterly goals.
But the very next question I ask is what they’re actually doing to make money THIS month.
Because here’s the truth most business owners miss…
Hitting your goals doesn’t come from just checking things off your to-do list or hoping sales just magically appear (you KNOW this).
It comes from knowing how to plan your month for profit… in a way that accounts for your life outside of your business, the limited time that you have, and the work that actually grows your business (not just keeps you busy).
And there’s more to it than just picking a goal and filling your calendar.
If you want a profitable business month after month, you need a monthly plan that connects your time, your priorities, and your income.
You Don’t Want a “Productive” Month… You Want a Profitable One
Most business owners I work with aren’t confused about what they want.
They want consistent income.
They want momentum.
They want to feel like their effort is actually adding up to something and actually moving their business foward.
And they’re already doing a lot of the “right” things already, like setting their goals, planning out their week, serving their clients.
But what they really want is a month where they can look at that business bank account AND their SYS Planner and say, “That moved my business forward.”
That’s the difference between planning to stay organized and learning how to plan your month for profit.
Because a profitable month isn’t about being busy or checking off your to-do list… it’s about making sure the work you’re already doing is pointed in the right direction.
Why Your Current Monthly Planning Might Feel Off
Most people plan out their month by looking at their calendar, listing out their to-do list, and trying to fit everything in.
And then…
You get a new client that takes up your time.
You decide to sign your kids up for the track team, and now you’re shuttling them to practice 3 times a week.
You get sick or you have less energy than you normally do.
A bunch of “urgent” tasks get thrown your way that you weren’t expecting.
The issue isn’t your effort or discipline. It’s that the plan was never designed around capacity, priorities, and revenue in the first place.
When you plan your month without anchoring it to profit FIRST, it’s easy to stay busy without building momentum.
That’s why a different set of questions changes everything, and how I teach my clients to plan their month so they’re profitable, not just busy.
ONE || Start With the Life You’re Actually Living This Month
A profitable month starts with being honest about your calendar. Not every month has the capacity to be a big launch month.
So, before you plan anything new, look at what’s already happening.
This month might include:
Travel or time off
School breaks or packed family schedules
Heavy client delivery
Low-energy weeks
Personal commitments
When you acknowledge what’s already on your plate, you can plan realistically instead of optimistically.
TWO || Anchor the Month to One Clear Quarterly Priority
You don’t need a brand-new focus every month.
In fact, I encourage my clients NOT to focus on a new goal for 90 days at a time.
Instead, what is the one goal you’re working toward this quarter?
And then your monthly plan should support that goal.
When the month is connected to a clear quarterly priority, decisions get easier:
What deserves your time
What can wait
What actually matters right now
It will probably feel repetitive and like you should be doing more (or something different or new), but business SHOULD feel boring.
It would be like trying to read a book while listening to a podcast while trying to cook dinner. You can’t do all 3 of those things well because you can only focus on one at a time.
And that’s the same with your business. If you’re constantly shifting the focus, you’ll never be able to grow the thing you actually want to grow.
THREE || Decide How Money Is Being Made This Month
This is where monthly planning becomes powerful and important.
Ask yourself: What is bringing in revenue this month?
It might be:
A promotion or launch
Ongoing client work
Renewals or referrals
Sales conversations
Strategic content with a clear purpose
Some of these things you can do multiple times throughout the month (I’m having sales conversations almost daily because it’s part of my routine), while you might only do a promo or launch one time this month.
The point is, you need a way to intentionally be making money this month, instead of just hoping a new sale will come in the door (unfortunately that’s just not how business works).
FOUR || Focus on the Actions That Support That Revenue
Once you know what you’re doing to make income this month, you need to lay out the actions to support it.
What actions directly move that revenue forward?
These are usually fewer than you think.
Writing the email matters more than tweaking the graphic.
Following up matters more than reorganizing your files.
Creating that sales page matters more than a full on rebrand.
When you identify the actions that actually matter, your to-do list gets a lot more easy to manage (and probably will take you less time to complete it as well).
That’s how profitable monthly planning reduces overwhelm instead of creating it.
FIVE || Put the Important Work on the Calendar First
Now that we have the plan, it’s time for the follow-through (which is typically the hardest part for most people).
Once you know:
Your capacity
Your priority
Your revenue focus
Your key actions
You put them on the calendar. You add them to Asana or Trello. You assign them due dates. You delegate what needs to be delegated TODAY (instead of waiting until the last minute and doing it yourself).
This is how your time becomes aligned with your goals, and how you turn your time into actually PROFIT in your business.
Now, instead of being overwhelmed and stressed, you’re going to feel sustainable progress in your business.
What Changes When You Plan Your Month for Profit
Now that you’re actually planning your month around profit, you’ll probably start noticing some differences…
You feel calmer going into the week.
You know what deserves your energy.
You stop second-guessing what to work on.
And at the end of the month, you can see the connection between your effort and your results.
That’s what most business owners are really after.
Not a perfect plan. A profitable one.
This Is How Profitable Months Become Repeatable
This framework works because it’s simple, realistic, and grounded in real life.
You’re not forcing productivity.
You’re creating alignment.
When your time, goals, and revenue are connected, growth becomes something you can repeat… month after month.
And that’s how big goals stop feeling overwhelming and start feeling doable.
