Stop Winging It: The Quarterly Planning Process Every Mom Entrepreneur Needs to Scale

Let me hit you with a truth that most people don’t want to hear: Too many of you are just winging it in your business.

I know this because I was you.

It’s so easy to wake up every day, run from one thing to the next, check client boxes, and feel like you’re “productive.” But when you zoom out, you realize you’re spinning in circles. You’re missing the bigger picture. You’re not asking yourself the deeper questions like:

• What am I actually doing this all for?

• What am I striving toward?

• What are the long-term goals — and how am I getting there?

And if you’re not asking those questions consistently, here’s the hard truth:You’re leaving money, impact, and peace on the table.

This is exactly why I want to take you behind the scenes of my quarterly planning process.

I use this myself, I teach it to my clients, and I promise you — it will change the way you run your business and your life.

Why Winging It Will Always Cost You

Let’s talk about where “winging it” really comes from.

As entrepreneurs, we crave freedom and flexibility. We started businesses because we didn’t want someone else dictating our schedules or our income. But here’s the trap:

When we refuse structure altogether, we either:

1. Recreate a scattered 9–5 job that keeps us in chaos, or

2. Avoid all systems and stay stuck in reactive mode.

Both put us in constant fight-or-flight.

And when you’re in that place long-term, you’re not doing your best work. You’re exhausted. You’re chasing, not leading. You’re serving at half-capacity, which means your results — for your clients, for your family, and for yourself — are half as good as they could be.

That’s why planning isn’t just nice to have. Planning is profit.

Why Quarterly Planning Hits The Sweet Spot

Now, don’t get me wrong — I love a good vision board. I believe in long-term goals. I believe in looking out three, five, even ten years.

But here’s what I don’t believe:

Spending hours mapping out a hyper-detailed ten-year plan when the economy, the market, and your life will all change 50 times before then.

That’s a waste of your energy.

Quarterly planning is different. It’s the perfect balance between long-term vision and short-term execution.

• Weekly planning? Too reactive.

• Annual planning? Too far away.

• Quarterly planning? Just right.

It forces you to pull out of the daily grind, reflect, and set intentional goals for the next 90 days — but it’s still close enough to hold yourself accountable.

And for moms running businesses? Quarterly planning is gold.

Because life happens. School calendars, sick kids, vacations, partner schedules - all of it shifts every few months. This rhythm lets you adapt, without abandoning the bigger vision.

How To Set Up Your Quarterly Planning Session

Here’s how I recommend you do it:

• Block two hours on your CEO Day (if you don’t have one, stop right here and listen to my episode about creating a four-day work week).

• Schedule your quarterly planning sessions out for the entire year in advance. Yes, you can move them if something comes up. But get them in the calendar now.

• Protect that time. This is not optional. It’s as important as any client meeting.

And when you sit down to plan, here are the three pillars you need to cover.

Pillar 1: Know Your Numbers (Revenue + Profit)

The first step is financial clarity. Because if you don’t know your numbers, you’re not really running a business - you’re running a hobby.

Here’s where we start:

1. Define your “dream number.”

This is not your revenue goal. It’s the amount you need to bring home personally to create the lifestyle you want.

Ask yourself:

• What number would allow me to cover my family’s expenses with ease?

• What would give me freedom for vacations, Target runs, or a bigger house?

• What number feels like peace?

For example: let’s say your dream number is $30,000 take-home each month.

2. Reverse engineer your revenue.

If your average profit margin is 50%, you’d need your business to make about $60,000 a month in revenue to bring home that $30,000.

See how simple that becomes once you know the margins? No more guessing.

3. Set “good, better, best” goals.

Rigid goals set you up for disappointment. Instead, give yourself a flexible range:

• Good = Baseline goal that pays the bills and sustains the business.

• Better = A stretch that feels motivating but realistic.

• Best = The big win — if everything clicks, this is where you land.

This framework keeps you from spiraling when you don’t hit a rigid number, and it creates space to celebrate progress.

Pillar 2: Audit Your Marketing + Sales

Once you know your financial goals, the next question is:

1. Forecast Revenue

Look at what’s already contracted. What recurring clients or renewals are guaranteed? How much new revenue do you need to generate to hit your quarterly goals?

2. Evaluate Your Sales Funnel

How many new clients do you need? How many sales calls? What’s your average conversion rate? Do the math instead of guessing.

3. Audit Your Marketing Performance

Every marketing effort you put out should feed your sales funnel. Social posts, podcasts, blogs, email newsletters - they should all connect back to your offers.

Ask yourself:

• Which platforms are actually converting?

• What’s underperforming?

• Do I need to change my strategy or cut something altogether?

Example: If 50% of your sales come from Instagram, but you’re also posting daily on LinkedIn and have never landed a client there, why keep pouring time into LinkedIn?

This is where data sets you free.

Pillar 3: Check Your Capacity

This is the one most entrepreneurs skip - and it’s why they burn out.

You can have the clearest revenue goals and the smartest marketing strategy, but if you don’t have the capacity to deliver, it all falls apart.

Capacity includes:

• Time capacity: Travel, family schedules, vacations, school breaks.

• Energetic capacity: Which offers drain you? Which lights you up?

• Team capacity: Are you the bottleneck? Are there gaps in your team’s support?

Example: Maybe you offered a new VIP service and realized it’s emotionally draining. Instead of doing three per month, maybe you cut back to one. That’s capacity planning.

This is also where you evaluate efficiency:

• Where did I waste time last quarter?

• What bottlenecks slowed my team?

• What frustrated me that could be fixed?

Without capacity planning, you’ll keep adding goals to a plate that’s already overflowing.

Bringing It All Together

At the end of your quarterly planning session, you should have:

• A financial snapshot: Clear revenue/profit goals.

• A marketing/sales roadmap: What’s working, what’s not, and where to focus.

• A capacity check: What you can realistically handle this quarter.

Now here’s the key: Condense it all down into two or three top goals for the quarter.

Not ten. Not twenty.

Two or three.

Example:

• Increase social-driven sales by 20% with a new content strategy.

• Improve profit margins by 10% by cutting expenses.

• Take Fridays fully off and protect family time.

Each of these goals can have multiple action steps underneath, but keeping the focus narrow prevents scatter.

The Implementation Gap (Where Most CEOs Get Stuck)

Here’s where most entrepreneurs fall short: they don’t implement.

They binge podcasts. They read the books. They hire the coaches. They collect the strategies.

But then? They don’t actually do the work.

And listen — I get it. Implementation requires change. It requires discomfort. It requires going against your default habits.

But nothing shifts until you execute.

That’s why having quarterly planning sessions baked into your CEO rhythm is so powerful. It forces implementation. It makes you face the hard questions. It keeps you from slipping into Groundhog Day.

Reflection: Don’t Skip This Step

One last piece most CEOs overlook: reflection.

Quarterly planning isn’t just about setting future goals. It’s also about:

• Celebrating what worked.

• Noticing what drained you.

• Acknowledging what you actually accomplished.

That reflection fuels better decisions moving forward.

Because sometimes, the best strategy is not adding more — it’s cutting what doesn’t serve you anymore.

Planning Creates Peace and Profit

Here’s what I want you to remember:

• Winging it will always cost you.

• Structure doesn’t kill your freedom — it creates it.

• Quarterly planning is your best tool to create profit and peace.

When you step into the role of visionary CEO and stop reacting to everything around you, your business transforms. And so does your life.

Because at the end of the day, this isn’t just about revenue. It’s about building a business that supports the life you actually want to live.

Ready to create your most profitable quarter yet?

If you’re nodding your head right now — if you know you’ve been hustling without real clarity, or working nonstop without the results to show for it — I want to personally invite you to join Multiply, the 10-week accelerator to help you scale what’s working, ditch what’s not, and multiply your revenue without adding more hours to your plate. Learn more here.