What’s Keeping You from Your Profit Goals

Episode 41 transcript: What’s Keeping You from Your Profit Goals

Why profit goals can feel harder than they should

Hey there, and welcome to episode 41 of Your Fun and Profitable Online Business. This is the podcast that helps you grow your business with intention, momentum, and of course, a sprinkle of confetti. I’m your host, Wendy Muzzy, a certified money coach and online business strategist. And I help women entrepreneurs create businesses that feel as good as they look.

Last week, we talked about the three Fs, fear, fuzziness, and fatigue, and how they block your momentum. Today, we’re zooming into one of those areas that’s impacted by those Fs, your profit goals.

Because let’s be honest, setting income goals sounds simple, but actually reaching them, that’s where they can feel really hard. And there’s a spoiler alert. It’s not your prices, your effort, or your offers. It’s something so much simpler and totally fixable once you know what to look for.

So let’s dig into why your profit goals might feel harder than they should and how to make them work for you instead of against you.

Most people set money goals emotionally

All right, here’s what I see over and over. Most people are setting their money goals emotionally, not mathematically.

And listen, I get it. Your goals are coming from possibility and excitement, a vision of what your life and business could look like. You might say, okay, this is the year that I finally make X dollar amount, or I wanna double my revenue.

But if that number isn’t grounded in real data, it starts to feel like a moving target instead of a plan. It’s like deciding to drive across the country without a route or whether or not even knowing if your car can make it. Sure, you may make progress, but you’re probably also going to be lost or stressed or maybe even stuck on the side of the road.

Signs you are disconnected from the real numbers

Here’s how you know this might be happening for you. You avoid looking at your bank account balance or credit card statements, or you keep adjusting your sales goal, or you’re doing all the things, but somehow things don’t seem to add up.

This isn’t laziness, and this isn’t an issue of not being good with money. It’s simply that you’re disconnected from your real business numbers.

Your revenue, your expenses, your time, and your energy all tell a story. And when these prices aren’t aligned, your brain can’t find its footing. It starts whispering, maybe I’m just not cut out for this.

But that’s not the truth. You are cut out for this. You just need data that supports your business plan.

Where mindset meets math

And this is where mindset meets math. Because your brain doesn’t need just motivation. It needs evidence too.

That’s what allows you to look at your numbers and goals and think, yes, this is doable. and here’s exactly how, or I just need to make some small tweaks. I’ve got this.

Let’s fix this together.

The basics of profit and loss

For this, you don’t need a finance degree or endless spreadsheets, although I do love spreadsheets and I could have 20 in my back pocket right now.

Here, you just need to understand the basics of profit and loss. Profit and loss, also called P&L sometimes, is basically a snapshot of what money came in, what money went out, and what was left over.

If more money came in than went out, you made a profit. If more money went out than came in, you have a loss. That’s it. It’s super simple. This tells you how your business is doing.

Group one: target monthly income

So let’s get your numbers on the table. The first group, number one, what’s your target monthly income?

This isn’t what would be nice to have. This is how much you actually need to keep your life and business running. Think of it as your minimum comfort line.

Now, most people skip the step and jump straight to, I want 20K months. But if the real target is 7K, you’re just chasing a number. And you’re feeling behind on goals that were never aligned to you in the first place.

Now, if you have a partner, ask them for their input in this stage. If it’s just you, dig through your records and find your minimum comfort line. What does it take realistically for you to say, okay, I feel stable, I can breathe here.

Group two: monthly business expenses

The second group of numbers. What are your monthly business expenses?

If you don’t know this, this is your homework. Go through all of 2025 if you have time. This is your bank accounts and your credit card statements and find everything that was a business cost. Software, subscriptions, coaching, courses, contractors, all of it.

Add it up and divide by 12. That’s your monthly average. This number is your break-even point for your business. This is the minimum that you must make before you even think about paying yourself.

There’s no guessing here, no rounding up or down. No, oh, I think it’s about, look at your real numbers. Know what they are.

Group three: monthly revenue

Third group of numbers. What’s your monthly revenue?

Now, this is your second piece of homework if you don’t know it. Same process, gather all of your revenue from 2025 and divide it by 12. Now you have your average monthly revenue.

This includes straight payments, PayPal payments, invoices, retainers, affiliate income, any money that came into your business goes here.

Now, if you find yourself saying, oh, I forgot about that one. I promise you’re not alone, especially whenever you’re doing it in hindsight after the end of the year. Business owners forget to count income almost as often as they forget to count expenses. And that missing data affects everything.

Group four: energy baseline

Fourth group of numbers, what’s your energy like most days?

Let’s call this your energy baseline because it’s not all about money in and money out. It’s also how you feel when you’re earning it.

Here you ask yourself on a scale of one to 10, where one is I’m completely drained and utterly exhausted to 10 is I feel energized and excited. Where do I land on an average workday?

Oftentimes I suggest my clients start tracking this. Don’t guess on this either. But if you’re doing in hindsight, you’re doing the best you can. Here you can even track it for a week or two if that’s all you can do.

And this leaves you with answers to questions like what makes you feel lit up? Which tasks leave you exhausted, even if they pay well? And are your profitable offers actually costing you energy you don’t have?

Your energy is a resource, just like your time and money. And if your numbers look great on paper, but you feel exhausted all the time, your profit goals still aren’t gonna feel sustainable.

Bring the numbers together

All right, let’s wrap this all up and bring it all together. Here, we’re going to connect the dots.

First, I want you to calculate your monthly profit or loss. Take your average monthly revenue and subtract it by your average monthly expenses. That number, positive or negative, is your starting point.

Next, compare that number to your target monthly income. Are you above it? Are you close to it? Are you miles below it?

From there, bring your energy baseline in the conversation. If you’re hitting your numbers, but you’re a three out of 10 on energy most days, that’s a sign you may need to adjust how you’re earning that money, not just how much.

And if you’re under your target, but your energy is like a seven or eight, that’s actually good news. You have capacity to tweak and grow.

Use the data to make grounded changes

And from this combined picture, you get real insight. Maybe you can drop some expenses. Maybe your offers need a price adjustment. Maybe you need to shift your focus to your high profit, high energy offers.

Maybe there’s something draining your energy and your profit that you can gently start to phase out.

This is where strategy becomes grounded. And grounded strategy feels so much better than guessing.

Because when you know your numbers, you stop hoping your business is working. You know where you stand and what’s getting in the way of your money goals.

Watch out for comparison

Okay, so now that you have your numbers, there’s one big thing I want you to look out for. Comparison.

You see someone’s 10K a month or 100K launch and suddenly your perfectly reasonable goals start to feel tiny.

Notice I haven’t shared parameters or even my numbers here. It’s not because I have negative feelings about my numbers. It’s actually quite the opposite. I’m incredibly proud of them. I just don’t want my data to cloud your thoughts and your numbers.

At the core of it, when you start to see someone else sharing their success that feels way far away from you, it’s really easy for your brain to decide that your goal is just not enough or too small or too hard to ever make it.

And in that space, I want you to remember this. Their business has different systems, different expenses, and different support levels.

So instead of saying, I should be further along or Susie is doing so much better than me. Try shifting it to, I’m learning what works for me and my business.

Your numbers aren’t judgment. They’re just information. And the most powerful thing you can do with that information is to make your own decisions.

Your action step

All right, let’s get to your action step this week.

Take 30 minutes to review your numbers. Maybe it’s from last month, or if you have more time, maybe it’s last year.

What’s coming in, what’s going out, how close are you to your target, and what’s your energy level like most days.

If you want a little help, let’s hop on a call and talk about it. You can find out more at wendymuzzy.com/call.

Coming next: information overload

Next week, we’re talking about something juicy, the hidden cost of information overload and why buying more things is keeping you stuck.

We’ll get honest about what’s driving that cycle and how to build the habit of creating before consuming.

Until next time, happy number knowing!