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Gift biz unwrapped episode 318 Is going to have a thing
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that happens in their businesses like,
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Oh, attentive gifters bakers,
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crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.
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Your gift biz.
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Here is your host gift biz gal Sue moon Heights.
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Hi there it's soon.
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And thanks for joining me here today.
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We are entering into a motivating new season in person shows
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I want to remind you that doing events like craft shows
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And I bring this up because you've told me you're discouraged.
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Just imagine a day where you know exactly what to post
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forward slash content for makers ready and waiting for your immediate
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access. Right now,
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moving into the topic of today's show.
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I have to say,
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I have the utmost respect for you.
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If you love numbers,
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as our guest would say,
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if it's in your human design,
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but my hunch is your more like me and understand that
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numbers are a necessary part of running your business,
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but you'd much rather be creating or talking with customers.
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You're going to hear a down-home honest girl,
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chat all about things.
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Financial that will help you feel a little bit more friendly
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towards your budget.
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Today. We're going to be chatting with Connie Vander.
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Zanden Connie is a cashflow and business mentor.
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And even with her 35 plus years of accounting experience,
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it didn't prepare her for the monster of a business.
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She created,
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it had $50,000
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in debt and she didn't pay herself for six years.
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So what did she do?
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Connie crafted a solution with an easy system that worked to
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turn things around.
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Then she started sharing it with others.
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Now she works one-on-one with women entrepreneurs blending the how to,
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with the mindset to create a healthy,
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long lasting relationship with money.
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It's not about what your top line revenue is.
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It's what you do with it.
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That matters while a budget is the first step.
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You also have to look at what your natural style is
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with money and your subconscious beliefs.
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That way you can call those things out in the budget
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before they sidetrack your efforts.
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Tiny is a true Oregonian,
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born and raised in the Pacific Northwest,
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where she spends time with her husband of 35 years.
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And they're for baby.
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All right,
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you already have me up for a baby Connie.
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Welcome to the gift biz on rapt podcast.
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Thanks you.
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I am so excited to be here,
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but yes,
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my fur baby is just enough for us.
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Love it.
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Love it.
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What kind?
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He or she it's,
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she she's a black Lab mix with the Weimer Amer and
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German short hair.
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So she's got that the lab,
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ears and attention to this playfulness and the winery and her
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body though.
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So it's kind of a sleek body.
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And then the German short hair is like,
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she loves squirrels and balls.
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Absolutely love that.
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And all our life we've always had black dogs too.
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I've just gravitated to the black guys for some reason.
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I don't know if they're so,
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so super cute.
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At one point we were thinking of getting another dog and
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my kids wanted white and I'm like,
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Nope, we're not having two different colors of fur in the
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house. It's one or the other only.
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I like that.
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Yes. Yeah.
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One color is enough for me to handle,
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but anyway,
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let's do,
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what's become a tradition here and that is,
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have you share a different side of yourself by way of
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a motivational candle.
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So if you were to describe a candle that would be
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made just for you,
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Connie, what color would it be and what would be a
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quote on your candle?
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Yeah, so I've always got back to what my first life
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coach and I worked on.
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So when I was reached burnout,
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I reached out to a life coach and the work we
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did, the phrase came,
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the calm that cradles the universe.
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And I was like,
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it was hard to really dive into that piece,
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but that's,
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I think what the candle would be called.
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I think it's like you would look at it and you
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would like,
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just feel into the calm of whatever's chaos of whatever storm
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is around you and then just breathe.
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And there wasn't a full saying around it.
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It's just,
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I felt that that's what the candle wanted to be called
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today. I love it.
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And boy,
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we all need your candle.
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And my calm,
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like when I need to reset is going out into the
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Pacific Northwest,
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into the forest where there's lots of pine Douglas first.
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So it would be dark forest green.
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And the key piece would be getting that first smell because
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that forest smell can be very clingy and overwhelming in some
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candles. So I have to work really well with the smell
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ologist to get that.
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But I think there would also be some frankincense are clove
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and cinnamon and probably some spearmint to round out that first
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smell. Beautiful.
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That would be a candle I would buy for sure.
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You know,
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and there's always that piece in calming of getting into nature.
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We forget that often,
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so, okay.
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I cannot even start this conversation without understanding more about this
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business. They got you so heavily in debt.
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Like we can not just pass over that.
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You've got to tell us the story.
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The story was,
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I got married at 19 and this is kind of a
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little longer story,
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but at 19 I just thought I wanted to be married
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and eventually have kids.
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So I chose a career that was really easy for me.
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And so math had always been easy for me in school.
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And my math teacher was very unhappy with me,
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but I decided to go into bookkeeping and accounting.
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I think he thought I was going to be a teacher,
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which is funny because that's what I do now.
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So I went into bookkeeping,
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accounting, and that's what my mom did.
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And it was just going to be short-term.
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We were going to have kids and I had some infertility
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issues five years later.
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And the problem was,
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is I never changed the career.
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So we changed our dream or life dream.
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And I just continued into accounting and then founded a business
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of 19 years.
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And I was like,
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wait a minute.
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I got to be 52.
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And I was like,
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wait a minute.
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I do not like this.
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How does that even happen?
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Right. How do those numbers creep up?
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And we don't even realize it both in our age,
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but then also in our debt.
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I don't know.
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I don't get that.
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Well, I think it's because in the hustle phase,
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like a lot of times I work with business owners that
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are so much in the hustle phase of growth.
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So this didn't happen until I decided to grow my business,
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to expand what I was doing.
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And so I've been in business seven years before that happened
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and had this big dream.
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And the problem was I didn't create any plan.
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I just dove straight into it.
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And I drove straight into expenses and I created expenses in
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an office and all the things that went with it based
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on what I thought other people wanted.
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And I still continued to ignore the numbers.
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And I would like only pay attention to money.
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Like at one o'clock at night,
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1:00 AM in the morning,
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actually, because that's the only space I had that I wasn't
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running the business or managing the team or doing client calls
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or anything.
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It was very minimal paying attention to what was going on
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and the debt slowly and slowly increased until I hit a
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rock bottom moment.
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And I was like,
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wow, I can't do this.
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I think that the moment was when I pushed a W2
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across the table where my husband had to see it to
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our financial advisor and they were like,
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that's your W2?
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I was like,
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yeah, that's my W2.
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And I had been doing some figures for my business for
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a long time,
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but nothing was coming down to me.
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Everything was going out based on occupancy and to the team
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and everything else.
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But I wasn't feeding myself.
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I wasn't feeding my family and I had debt on the
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family and on the business and it just couldn't continue that
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way. So I had to have a moment where I had
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to pause and breathe and figure out what else to do
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next. And this happens all the time in businesses.
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We just get so busy in that hustle.
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We don't pay attention to what else is going on.
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Well, it's really true.
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And I appreciate you sharing this with us because someone who
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is a number of efficient natto to have that happen to
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you, I think it helps other people who might be listening,
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who are in a similar situation,
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get the fact that it's not about them and their lack
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of whatever the story is that they're trying to tell themself.
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Right? I see.
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So often people who are starting their businesses,
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they're doing one of a few things.
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First, they're saying,
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well, I have X amount of money and I'm going to
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start that way,
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but they're like,
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but I'm going to grow so slow.
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So there's that challenge.
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And then we have people who will say,
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well, I'm going to go and get it,
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take out a loan because then I'll have money.
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And then they run through their loan without really having produced
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anything that can start paying it back.
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So they get stuck there.
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Or there's the whole saying you have to spend money to
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make money.
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So they take savings and keep spending and keep spending and
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keep spending because they think the real turn is right around
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the corner.
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And then it leads into $50,000
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worth of debt.
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Like there's so many ways you can get there.
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And I'm also going to say that I think $5,000
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of debt for some people is way,
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way, way too much.
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50,000 is for some people,
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way, way,
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way too much.
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Everyone is different.
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So you've got to take all the conversation.
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I think in what we're going to talk about,
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Connie, I have no idea where we're going to get into,
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but it's very personal,
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I think.
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Would you agree?
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Yeah, it is.
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Everyone has a different set point for their numbers and yeah,
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5,000 can be just excruciating for one person.
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50,000 to me was the most heaviest thing I could carry
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and the things I had to learn to be okay with
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that and to like learn how to love and understand where
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my debt came from and love and understand the person that
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created that.
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Oh, that's interesting.
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Yeah, that was the interesting piece.
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Was there was no blaming,
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but that person just didn't know enough at that time.
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But now that I do know that I can look back
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and give them compassion,
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just like our younger self,
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when we do inner child work,
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is that understanding and giving love to that person because they
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didn't know anything.
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It took a while to get to this point where I
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could talk about it today.
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Right. But for you,
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we hear this often in the entrepreneurial world,
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don't we is,
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you've created a solution that now you can share forward to
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for others.
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So bring us to the hero.
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Part of your story with your first business,
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how did you get out of debt or just like the
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summary story of what happened with that and what led you
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to where you are today?
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First, my coach at the time gave me a book called
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profit first by Mike<inaudible> and was that light bulb moment.
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Everyone's going to have a thing that happens in their businesses
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like, Oh,
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and that was it.
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And so I started implementing it and then I saw all
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the places where I hit roadblocks.
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I stole from the accounts,
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I didn't follow the plan.
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So I found out that this wasn't the end all solution.
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There was some good pieces in it,
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but it wasn't the end all solution.
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So I had to like take a moment and pause and
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think, okay,
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what's going on?
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And I had to explore my own money habits,
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a little further realized I was a spender.
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I get a lot of pleasure from that.
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And that as a risk taker,
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as an entrepreneur,
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I can't create money.
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As I'm jumping off the cliff,
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I have to create some stability.
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That's such a scary Image,
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Right? Jump off the cliff.
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So the combination of the two is what happened.
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So it took a year for me to figure out,
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okay, what is going on with me?
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And then what kind of structure and pieces can I have
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in place and had to create a brand new relationship with
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me and money.
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And it's different for every business I work with.
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Every person has a different desire and goal.
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We call it their big dream and how is money going
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to show up and support that.
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But overall,
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they just need a little bit of structure,
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a way to talk to money and a way to know
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their numbers so that they can move forward.
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But it's going to look different depending on where everyone is
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in their journey.
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Yeah. What I'm hearing you saying if I were to summarize
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is textbook learning,
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isn't all of it.
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It's part of it,
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but then understanding who you are as a person where your
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sensitivities are,
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what motivates you and how you interact with money,
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wherever that came from is the additional component that you have
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to have to make sure that you're putting in place and
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then taking actions that are going to work for you.
Speaker:
Yeah. That's a beautiful summary.
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All right,
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good. So this is an area that I am not as
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good at.
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I've always been good with money in terms of my Results,
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for the most part,
Speaker:
like we all have our hiccups,
Speaker:
right. But I also take the slow and careful approach.
Speaker:
Most of the time we were talking a little bit as
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we were chatting before I pushed the record button,
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that a lot of the grounding that we have with money
Speaker:
comes unconsciously as we're growing up.
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When we're young.
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Let's talk about that a little bit.
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Yeah. Our actual money mindset is actually put into our subconscious
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by the time we're around seven,
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maybe eight or nine.
Speaker:
So whatever was going on in your family,
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it could be your parents.
Speaker:
It could be your grandparents or your external family unit,
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whatever you saw,
Speaker:
whatever languages you heard or fights you might've seen and heard
Speaker:
that got set in your subconscious.
Speaker:
So for me,
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my dad was actual,
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he stole money and he stole money,
Speaker:
not from my brother and I,
Speaker:
which is why my parents got divorced.
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And so there was a lot of fighting.
Speaker:
And my mom,
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as a single mother,
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there was a lot of lack.
Speaker:
And so those pieces got stuck in my subconscious.
Speaker:
And even though I wasn't actively making decisions from there,
Speaker:
they would always come up and influence those decisions as I
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was going through it.
Speaker:
And so it's interesting to go back and not to blame
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our parents or our family units,
Speaker:
but to actually be aware of it.
Speaker:
My grandparents went through the depression.
Speaker:
And so a lot of the things that I have in
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my household,
Speaker:
I don't know if anyone's else's grandparents did that,
Speaker:
but I always have to have a little extra toilet paper.
Speaker:
Of course we've gone through COVID.
Speaker:
So we always have a little extra,
Speaker:
We were all impacted with this and our children are going
Speaker:
to pay for this future.
Speaker:
It sounds like those things influence Our buying behaviors and how
Speaker:
we interact with money.
Speaker:
And so we have to start there.
Speaker:
And then once we're aware of that,
Speaker:
we can grow from that.
Speaker:
But a lot of us weren't like I had no entrepreneurial
Speaker:
parents, no entrepreneurial relatives,
Speaker:
all of them were employee mindset,
Speaker:
which is very different when you go to being an owning
Speaker:
your own business.
Speaker:
But that's exactly the mindset I came into the business with,
Speaker:
which was hard was that person,
Speaker:
that boss almost killed me.
Speaker:
Well, how did you get raised?
Speaker:
What was the influences around you when you were in that
Speaker:
young developing mindset?
Speaker:
All my life.
Speaker:
And even now,
Speaker:
like there always seems to be money equals tension.
Speaker:
Whether it's talk about money,
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having enough money,
Speaker:
what you will spend your money on.
Speaker:
All of that,
Speaker:
it seems like there's such emotion and conflict around money.
Speaker:
I'm trying to think of anybody who hasn't had,
Speaker:
something like that.
Speaker:
So I guess it's interesting just to understand for yourself where
Speaker:
it came from and define for yourself what your thoughts are.
Speaker:
I'm quite sure some people have never really thought about it
Speaker:
before in that way.
Speaker:
No, we haven't thought about it.
Speaker:
And then we're adults.
Speaker:
Now we get to choose.
Speaker:
Now, if that mindset is serving you,
Speaker:
you may not want to change it.
Speaker:
But most of the time,
Speaker:
if we've created debt and something about our relationship with money,
Speaker:
isn't going the right way.
Speaker:
We're actually using a subconscious belief and we have to like
Speaker:
get underneath.
Speaker:
And it's not always the most happy experience to get under
Speaker:
there, but to get under there and see,
Speaker:
what's really helping us make those decisions and then choose.
Speaker:
What other things would you like to do if you would
Speaker:
like to be more of a giver or more of a
Speaker:
saver, let's say as a spender,
Speaker:
I want to be more of a saber.
Speaker:
What would that look like?
Speaker:
And how could I get there?
Speaker:
And what's that number that I would want to have.
Speaker:
Those are things that we can take action on.
Speaker:
All right.
Speaker:
So let's circle this to people who are listening here and
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thinking about this in relation to their business.
Speaker:
So I think the very first thing I'm hearing is you
Speaker:
don't have some thinking about where your position on money could
Speaker:
have originated.
Speaker:
That could be very insightful and kind of define who you
Speaker:
are. Like,
Speaker:
I think everyone knows if they're a spender or a saver,
Speaker:
right. I told my daughter the other day that I said,
Speaker:
we'd probably be broke if the financial control was just up
Speaker:
to me because of whatever,
Speaker:
I'm not going to go into that.
Speaker:
However, interestingly enough,
Speaker:
all my businesses have been profitable.
Speaker:
Number one,
Speaker:
this is interesting.
Speaker:
So analyze me,
Speaker:
Connie. So on the personal side,
Speaker:
I will spend not to get crazy in debt,
Speaker:
but I will spend without too much worry because if I
Speaker:
want something but not obnoxious,
Speaker:
not crazy,
Speaker:
but when it came to the business,
Speaker:
I was very rigid.
Speaker:
If I didn't have the money,
Speaker:
I didn't spend the money.
Speaker:
And so every single business that I've created is now three
Speaker:
have always been profitable without ever alone.
Speaker:
I have really a different mindset,
Speaker:
personal versus business.
Speaker:
Yeah. And that's pretty common.
Speaker:
I mean,
Speaker:
I think in that mindset is that we get so hung
Speaker:
up. It's kind of the same thing.
Speaker:
Why people have fear around the tax man or taxes,
Speaker:
they want to do it right.
Speaker:
And so sometimes when we get into business,
Speaker:
it's all about,
Speaker:
we got to do the right thing.
Speaker:
We got to be the best steward of money.
Speaker:
We've got to make the right choices with it.
Speaker:
Now I will say,
Speaker:
not a lot of businesses will do that.
Speaker:
Maybe you're in the top 20% of the businesses I've worked
Speaker:
with that,
Speaker:
go in and say,
Speaker:
okay, I'm going to not spend more than I have.
Speaker:
But I think it's that,
Speaker:
I don't know.
Speaker:
Maybe did you have a family member that was like showed
Speaker:
you how,
Speaker:
what a budget was or showed you?
Speaker:
What spin actual steward was Not a family member,
Speaker:
but when I was in corporate,
Speaker:
I was responsible for a budget worth millions and millions of
Speaker:
dollars. And although it wasn't my own money,
Speaker:
I knew my job would be at risk.
Speaker:
If I didn't manage my budgets properly,
Speaker:
I've always thought of it as I love the businesses that
Speaker:
I have so much or else I would be doing something
Speaker:
different that I want to make sure that they're healthy so
Speaker:
I can keep going.
Speaker:
Like I said earlier,
Speaker:
I will grow slower so that I can sleep at night.
Speaker:
Number one,
Speaker:
not be worried about paying all the bills cause that's too
Speaker:
stressful. And then just be healthier overall as business.
Speaker:
I've always done it that way.
Speaker:
So I don't know,
Speaker:
but I understand how companies start and they raise money or
Speaker:
they take out a loan because they have to for the
Speaker:
product or the industry that they're going to be in.
Speaker:
And then they recoup it and end up moving on to
Speaker:
be a very successful business.
Speaker:
That's just not me.
Speaker:
And I'm thinking for our handmade creators here,
Speaker:
that doesn't need to be them either.
Speaker:
Right. It doesn't have to be that way.
Speaker:
If I hadn't grown and gotten my commercial space and had
Speaker:
to buy equipment for our team members,
Speaker:
I could have done it differently.
Speaker:
It's that growth phase of like,
Speaker:
how are you going to get there?
Speaker:
And I also did consider I wasn't friends with dad at
Speaker:
the time as well.
Speaker:
And so I hadn't considered the repayment plan.
Speaker:
And my relationship with credit was interesting.
Speaker:
Like one of my coaches said,
Speaker:
why don't you freeze your credit card?
Speaker:
And I felt like I was going to cut off my
Speaker:
right arm.
Speaker:
I was like,
Speaker:
seriously, I went into some so much panic and that she's
Speaker:
just like,
Speaker:
you're just going to freeze it.
Speaker:
It's still there.
Speaker:
You can the prostate and use it.
Speaker:
But it felt like I was so dependent.
Speaker:
I had a co-dependency relationship with debt again,
Speaker:
that came from how I was raised and how I learned
Speaker:
about debt.
Speaker:
And so my husband has not the same,
Speaker:
a relationship with debt as I do.
Speaker:
And so it was interesting to see both point of views.
Speaker:
Yeah. But businesses don't have to do that way.
Speaker:
And I think with the cash handling system too,
Speaker:
is like,
Speaker:
people are starting their business and they're like,
Speaker:
okay, I don't want to go into debt.
Speaker:
I want to be sustainable.
Speaker:
I want to be profitable.
Speaker:
And so what does mean it could mean like you are,
Speaker:
as every sale comes out,
Speaker:
that you're really exploring your costs.
Speaker:
You're really calling out your value.
Speaker:
When you put a price on your goods and you're creating
Speaker:
some cash savings that will instantly make your business more sustainable.
Speaker:
If you can keep some of the money in the business,
Speaker:
which I think is different than the restaurants or the,
Speaker:
that are just going in there trying to survive.
Speaker:
COVID is that every money that comes in is right,
Speaker:
going right back out.
Speaker:
And they're not creating that savings that sustainability there.
Speaker:
Yeah. We talk a lot about pricing,
Speaker:
a product because as handmade product maker is one of the
Speaker:
things we often leave out when we're just starting is production
Speaker:
time for ourselves.
Speaker:
We're paying ourselves for that time that we've put in.
Speaker:
And considering that as being part of product creation,
Speaker:
which it is because if ever that portion of your price,
Speaker:
you're going to have to job out because you are growing
Speaker:
and you need to hire somebody that would then be going
Speaker:
to them.
Speaker:
But the other portion of that is your margin.
Speaker:
And the way I like to say it,
Speaker:
tell me what you think,
Speaker:
because you might help me.
Speaker:
I'm going forward here too.
Speaker:
But the other way I talk about this is your margin.
Speaker:
Isn't just the dollars that go into your pocket.
Speaker:
Like how profit first talks,
Speaker:
but also a portion that gets reinvested in the company.
Speaker:
And I think both those line items are important salary for
Speaker:
yourself. I don't even care if it's a penny or a
Speaker:
dime to start with,
Speaker:
but like having this specific line items.
Speaker:
So you see them from the start.
Speaker:
And if it's,
Speaker:
like I said,
Speaker:
the smallest number that it could possibly be,
Speaker:
but allocating certain numbers to those lines.
Speaker:
So you get in the habit right?
Speaker:
From the beginning.
Speaker:
I love that piece because that's exactly how I got into
Speaker:
debt is that I didn't consider that I went from being
Speaker:
a solo preneur to having commercial space and team.
Speaker:
And I forgot to add all those costs into my overhead
Speaker:
and I didn't increase my pricing.
Speaker:
And so that's a common thing to happen and I just
Speaker:
fell into that cycle and it took a while to get
Speaker:
back out.
Speaker:
But yeah,
Speaker:
that profit it's about being intentional with how you want to
Speaker:
do your pricing and your resources.
Speaker:
And it's like calling out the lines and don't be afraid
Speaker:
to call it out.
Speaker:
Nobody's going to see it.
Speaker:
It's your work.
Speaker:
When I go buy a really good gluten-free scone at my
Speaker:
local bakery,
Speaker:
I'm not asking,
Speaker:
so what's your market here.
Speaker:
Right? I just want the product.
Speaker:
If I'm really drawn to a piece of artwork,
Speaker:
it's that emotional connection I'm making.
Speaker:
I'm not thinking about what the back end of it is.
Speaker:
So it's really up to us as the maker to call
Speaker:
out what price is good that makes us sustainable so that
Speaker:
we just show up and do it again.
Speaker:
And again and again.
Speaker:
And so I remember one coach I worked with,
Speaker:
she was like,
Speaker:
yeah, that profit margin.
Speaker:
I want you to take all your costs and then add
Speaker:
70% to that.
Speaker:
And I couldn't do it,
Speaker:
but I got up there.
Speaker:
I got to like 40 to 50%.
Speaker:
But there's that covering that?
Speaker:
What if it takes longer?
Speaker:
What if you're not creatively inspired to keep moving forward?
Speaker:
What if there's a big issue?
Speaker:
Is that covered a CYA?
Speaker:
Yeah. Part of the budget as well,
Speaker:
but it's also investing for taxes.
Speaker:
It's investing for the future of the growth it's investing for
Speaker:
the new machinery you might need to buy it's that overhead
Speaker:
profit margin covers all those future things as well as what
Speaker:
your existing costs are.
Speaker:
Yeah. I remember when I started my first business,
Speaker:
it was out of my house.
Speaker:
So obviously the margins were a little different,
Speaker:
but very,
Speaker:
very quickly the business grew and I had to rent a
Speaker:
facility for production.
Speaker:
And luckily that all worked for me because I had landed
Speaker:
a large account and that large account covered the lease a
Speaker:
hundred percent.
Speaker:
So I'm like,
Speaker:
okay, this is great right now I'm at neutral.
Speaker:
But any additional business that I have can go towards all
Speaker:
these other expenses and et cetera,
Speaker:
et cetera.
Speaker:
But seriously,
Speaker:
I was finding hidden costs coming left and right,
Speaker:
like city permit,
Speaker:
business permit,
Speaker:
X amount of dollars,
Speaker:
fire license,
Speaker:
X amount of dollars,
Speaker:
garbage hauling X amount of dollars,
Speaker:
like things you don't even know.
Speaker:
And then that goes to your email list grows.
Speaker:
So all of a sudden your service provider is charging you
Speaker:
more because you've got a bigger email list.
Speaker:
Like there's things that no matter what you do are going
Speaker:
to come out of the woodwork that you weren't considering.
Speaker:
So again,
Speaker:
because I told you,
Speaker:
I like to sleep well at night.
Speaker:
Yes. Having even just a little stash or knowing that you're
Speaker:
going to need to fuel that stash at some point,
Speaker:
because let's also bring it to reality.
Speaker:
Sometimes you don't have the money for the stash yet,
Speaker:
but recognizing that that should be in place.
Speaker:
It just keeps you healthier.
Speaker:
And when something comes up that you weren't expecting,
Speaker:
you're like,
Speaker:
okay, this is why I have that reserve ready to go.
Speaker:
Great. And it depends on people's intention with money as well.
Speaker:
It might be more than one account and you might need
Speaker:
to give money an actual job,
Speaker:
especially for businesses that require inventory,
Speaker:
or they require to buy products to put on the shelves
Speaker:
and like retail or items to build the product that you're
Speaker:
doing. I don't have that as much.
Speaker:
So sometimes you may need a savings counts just for that,
Speaker:
because that will,
Speaker:
especially in restaurants and bakery,
Speaker:
they don't have the cash there to keep reinvesting and supplies
Speaker:
can cause a lot of problems with the business,
Speaker:
but have a savings account and give it a name,
Speaker:
give it a job and break it up if you need
Speaker:
to so that you can visually see it.
Speaker:
And it makes more sense,
Speaker:
okay. The savings accounts for this purpose,
Speaker:
and this is for this purpose,
Speaker:
again, create a better relationship so that you know how you're
Speaker:
going to intentionally use those resources and then whatever number it
Speaker:
is. So some of my clients like to co-mingle everything,
Speaker:
but they have a set number that they need in those
Speaker:
accounts. I need my accounts broken out because I need to
Speaker:
see it that way.
Speaker:
Yeah, no,
Speaker:
that's good.
Speaker:
Give your dollars a job.
Speaker:
And if you need to the separate accounts so that you
Speaker:
know that this is an,
Speaker:
let's just say that this is the one that's going to
Speaker:
be your safer emergencies.
Speaker:
Once the money goes in,
Speaker:
it does not come out unless it's for that particular thing.
Speaker:
So I guess this circles back to our,
Speaker:
I'm going to call it your money personality or your relationship
Speaker:
with money,
Speaker:
whether you need to have it separate,
Speaker:
whether it can be mingled together and knowing yourself and how
Speaker:
you manage money,
Speaker:
being really honest with yourself,
Speaker:
It does.
Speaker:
And that's where the cash handling system works like that.
Speaker:
And they've gonna go back to the profit first system.
Speaker:
The things that it did get right was the cash handling
Speaker:
system is like when money comes in,
Speaker:
can we create paws around it so that we can intentionally
Speaker:
move the money into the intentional accounts that we want before
Speaker:
we spend it?
Speaker:
Because a lot of the time we don't save for taxes
Speaker:
because we've already spent the money to run the business in
Speaker:
which we will get into tax liability issues.
Speaker:
Or we haven't paid ourselves because we paid everybody else,
Speaker:
but ourselves.
Speaker:
So how can you flip those uses and intentionally pay yourself
Speaker:
first or intentionally,
Speaker:
say for taxes,
Speaker:
as many comes in,
Speaker:
creates a smaller bucket for operational,
Speaker:
which again creates more sustainability so that you know,
Speaker:
whether you can grow or not.
Speaker:
And then the savings accounts can help you with those decisions
Speaker:
about future growth and how to get there.
Speaker:
That's where the pause in it.
Speaker:
It helps and money loves that money.
Speaker:
Loves it.
Speaker:
If you hold onto it a little longer,
Speaker:
you could throw some celebration in there with it and it
Speaker:
helps just pay attention to it a little bit more.
Speaker:
And sometimes depending on where you put it,
Speaker:
it makes more money.
Speaker:
Yes. That's a hard one right now,
Speaker:
but yes.
Speaker:
Yeah, for sure right now,
Speaker:
but all right,
Speaker:
so here's a question for you story.
Speaker:
There's a woman,
Speaker:
who's a knitter.
Speaker:
She starts her business.
Speaker:
Online customers are buying product from her in her community.
Speaker:
All of a sudden,
Speaker:
a cute little boutique opens up.
Speaker:
She decides she's going to invest in it because she thinks
Speaker:
it's a great idea to be able to sell her products
Speaker:
there, start selling yarn.
Speaker:
She can do little knitting circles cause she's very social.
Speaker:
So people will come in and everything just sounds beautiful.
Speaker:
So she gets started the first couple of months are pretty
Speaker:
good because she's brand new.
Speaker:
So everyone's coming in,
Speaker:
checking her out.
Speaker:
So she starts building inventory.
Speaker:
So she takes that as a sign,
Speaker:
that things are going really well.
Speaker:
And then as the novelty wears off,
Speaker:
numbers start to drop.
Speaker:
And so she's still got all our costs and she goes
Speaker:
month after month.
Speaker:
And she tries to bring in more people.
Speaker:
Some months are better than others,
Speaker:
but the overall revenue is going down,
Speaker:
which means she's now not covering her costs.
Speaker:
What do you do when something like that happens from a
Speaker:
mental standpoint because the challenge is always do I keep going?
Speaker:
Cause it's just going to get better and I know next
Speaker:
month will be better.
Speaker:
And Oh,
Speaker:
I'm just going to hang on one more month,
Speaker:
but then you keep building up your debt.
Speaker:
Is there any advice if someone gets themselves in a situation
Speaker:
like this,
Speaker:
of when you call it halt or you back off or
Speaker:
whatever your options are that you choose to do,
Speaker:
we'll hear Connie's advice when encountering a devastating situation like this,
Speaker:
right after a quick break.
Speaker:
Yes. It's possible.
Speaker:
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Speaker:
How you ask by offering personalization with your products,
Speaker:
wrap a cake box with a ribbon saying happy 30th birthday,
Speaker:
Annie, or at a special message and date to wedding or
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party favors for an extra meaningful touch.
Speaker:
Where else can you get customization with a creatively spelled name
Speaker:
or find packaging?
Speaker:
That includes a saying whose meaning is known to a select
Speaker:
to not only our customers willing to pay for these special
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company and products.
Speaker:
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Speaker:
make just one or thousands without waiting weeks or having to
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images, even photos,
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perfect for branding or adding ingredient and flavor labels.
Speaker:
To for more information,
Speaker:
go to the ribbon print company.com.
Speaker:
It's a hard space to be in.
Speaker:
So first is really know your numbers.
Speaker:
And oftentimes I will say it is helpful at that point
Speaker:
to bring somebody in who is not so emotionally attached to
Speaker:
your numbers,
Speaker:
but is very tied to your outcome.
Speaker:
I'd be like,
Speaker:
they're your cheerleader.
Speaker:
They're going to support you.
Speaker:
So oftentimes we'll reach out to our CPA or our bookkeeper,
Speaker:
but they are so number focused that you may not get
Speaker:
the exact answer you need.
Speaker:
So usually this will be a coach or a strategic advisor,
Speaker:
or maybe accountability partner,
Speaker:
have them sit with you as you walk through your numbers.
Speaker:
And a lot of it's going to be you,
Speaker:
where is your pain point?
Speaker:
Where is your risk factor?
Speaker:
Are you willing to go four months?
Speaker:
If you were to finance that,
Speaker:
would you be willing to carry that?
Speaker:
Do you have the resources to do that?
Speaker:
A lot of the time it's the answer will be no.
Speaker:
And so that's a good thing.
Speaker:
So like I worked with a lot of clients through COVID
Speaker:
and when it first happened,
Speaker:
and that was what we talked about is like,
Speaker:
well, if you have to be closed,
Speaker:
do you have enough expenses or enough resources to stay close
Speaker:
to pay for these things?
Speaker:
And if the answer still is no,
Speaker:
what would it take to wrap the business up?
Speaker:
Could you find some other type of way to innovate it?
Speaker:
Could you move home?
Speaker:
Could you do it virtually to think about all those things?
Speaker:
And that's why it's so hard to do it on your
Speaker:
own. And especially if you're a woman entrepreneur or business owner,
Speaker:
we tend to need to talk things through more often.
Speaker:
So find somebody that you can do that with,
Speaker:
but look at all the options and you're going to have
Speaker:
to know your numbers to do that,
Speaker:
then play with them.
Speaker:
What would it look like to do this or do that,
Speaker:
and then really look at where your own personal risk factor
Speaker:
is because everyone's different.
Speaker:
Okay. Right.
Speaker:
So the answer really lies in the numbers and how different
Speaker:
numbers could play out and the reality of that actually happening.
Speaker:
Yeah. And so for that client or that story that you're
Speaker:
telling, the things that we would want to look at is
Speaker:
innovation. Of course,
Speaker:
retail is hard because again,
Speaker:
it's about getting people to you,
Speaker:
finding you.
Speaker:
And I think COVID has given us this opportunity though,
Speaker:
that a lot of things can be virtual.
Speaker:
A lot of things we can bring in from outside,
Speaker:
from all over the country,
Speaker:
it doesn't have to be just local,
Speaker:
but finding a good retail spot can be difficult because it's
Speaker:
all about being seen.
Speaker:
So how can you create more innovation to be found in
Speaker:
a wider spectrum?
Speaker:
So like,
Speaker:
I buy a lot of my stuff from a maker in
Speaker:
Canada. I do a lot of apothecaries all over someone in
Speaker:
Eugene for this,
Speaker:
which is about a couple hours from where I live.
Speaker:
So again,
Speaker:
I found them through Instagram and through different channels that I
Speaker:
would never have done because I would not go to those
Speaker:
locations. And that you would have never been their customer if
Speaker:
it was location-based only either.
Speaker:
Yeah. Right.
Speaker:
Yeah. It's interesting.
Speaker:
And I wasn't even thinking about bringing this up,
Speaker:
but in a VIP call that I had this morning,
Speaker:
we were talking about the pros and cons of brick and
Speaker:
mortar, like a commercial production space,
Speaker:
because you've just overgrown your house or home-based.
Speaker:
And part of that conversation was,
Speaker:
and I'll relate it back to the story.
Speaker:
I just told ebbing and flowing and adjusting your business structure
Speaker:
is a solution.
Speaker:
Like, it doesn't mean that if you had a brick and
Speaker:
mortar and all of a sudden you went back and were
Speaker:
home-based for some time that you're a failure,
Speaker:
it's just an adjustment.
Speaker:
And many times people do that because they thought that they
Speaker:
were really going to like it,
Speaker:
but they don't like to have to staff the store 24
Speaker:
six, or how,
Speaker:
you know,
Speaker:
what, what is it like 10,
Speaker:
six, or whenever that equation would be,
Speaker:
or hire staff to do it,
Speaker:
but they didn't want to feel tied down.
Speaker:
So when they thought they would like a brick and mortar
Speaker:
shop, it ends up that they really don't.
Speaker:
And so they do some other type of a model.
Speaker:
So changing the way you're doing business is absolutely fine.
Speaker:
And I think that goes back to though what you were
Speaker:
saying, Connie is looking at your numbers,
Speaker:
understanding what they're saying and being realistic about where it's trending
Speaker:
and whether that could turn around or not.
Speaker:
If it was trending down and then being creative and making
Speaker:
adjustments, it doesn't mean if it's trending down that you have
Speaker:
to close up shop,
Speaker:
there are other options out there.
Speaker:
Yeah. And I think that creativity and innovation is key.
Speaker:
It's how we used to do business even five years ago
Speaker:
is not necessarily how businesses need to react going forward.
Speaker:
There's so much innovation we can do with pop-up shops and
Speaker:
coworking space.
Speaker:
And here we have a lot of shared commercial space for
Speaker:
kitchens. So there's a lot of different ways that 20 years
Speaker:
ago were not available before 20 years ago.
Speaker:
It was,
Speaker:
you had to have brick and mortar.
Speaker:
You had to do it on your own,
Speaker:
but that is not the case.
Speaker:
We are more community Wren.
Speaker:
Now we are more,
Speaker:
if it can't be your own brick and mortar.
Speaker:
Great. But you're just getting to that point of like growth
Speaker:
is like just a few feet out than from where you're
Speaker:
at. There's lots of different options.
Speaker:
We just have to be willing to be creative for sure.
Speaker:
Sure. And especially with this community,
Speaker:
because there are a lot of artists in co-ops where you
Speaker:
have retail space,
Speaker:
your own retail space,
Speaker:
but you're not carrying the full load of the lease and
Speaker:
the building and water.
Speaker:
And like all the things that,
Speaker:
that includes.
Speaker:
So there are quite a few options.
Speaker:
Let's take it back to someone who is starting.
Speaker:
And you were saying earlier that you have to just be
Speaker:
considering everything from the start.
Speaker:
And part of what you've talked about is you need the
Speaker:
budget. You need to figure all that out.
Speaker:
What advice would you give somebody who's just starting or is
Speaker:
a few months in maybe a year in now and is
Speaker:
really kind of going off the cough they're selling money's coming
Speaker:
in. They're kind of applying it where the bills fall,
Speaker:
Call my people,
Speaker:
your people talk to your people.
Speaker:
Oh my gosh.
Speaker:
Yes, no,
Speaker:
I know these people.
Speaker:
Well, yes.
Speaker:
Cause budget to a lot of people that are listening is
Speaker:
a four letter word.
Speaker:
So it is also why I don't use it in my
Speaker:
business. I call it a financial plan.
Speaker:
It's like for any good adventure,
Speaker:
we're going to need some type of roadmap.
Speaker:
If you're going to go from Portland to New York,
Speaker:
you pull the map out.
Speaker:
So you kind of relatively know the way you're going.
Speaker:
The same thing with business and the map is our numbers.
Speaker:
Our numbers help us build that.
Speaker:
And we,
Speaker:
aren't going to know all the numbers for all the places
Speaker:
on the financial plan,
Speaker:
but we can give it a guess.
Speaker:
And that's again,
Speaker:
where bringing in a mentor or a coach or somebody who's
Speaker:
has a little bit experience in your industry can help fill
Speaker:
in some of the blanks.
Speaker:
But I always recommend somebody when they're doing their financial plan,
Speaker:
look at it in three stages.
Speaker:
And right now that's a good,
Speaker:
better, best is the best way I can explain it.
Speaker:
So good would be like your bare minimum.
Speaker:
What do you need today to survive or to keep moving
Speaker:
forward better would be like,
Speaker:
if you've got some growth and you've got some more bigger
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clients in or bigger sales in,
Speaker:
what would that look like?
Speaker:
And then best would be your big dream.
Speaker:
Where would you like to go and just plug some numbers
Speaker:
in play with them a little bit,
Speaker:
a financial plan is not set in stone.
Speaker:
It changes as things around us in our world change,
Speaker:
or as innovation comes into play,
Speaker:
those numbers will change.
Speaker:
So we're constantly going to go back and make them our
Speaker:
friend, and really look at them and change them quarterly or
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every six months,
Speaker:
but really lean into that plan and just have fun with
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it. And I know that's weird.
Speaker:
That's coming from somebody who numbers were easy and that is
Speaker:
actually my human design.
Speaker:
That's my gift.
Speaker:
My purpose in this world is to make numbers easy for
Speaker:
people. So sometimes you,
Speaker:
again might need somebody to help guide that spreadsheet,
Speaker:
but once you have it lean into it and find a
Speaker:
ritual and a habit around paying attention it.
Speaker:
Yeah, For sure.
Speaker:
So I'll be curious to what you think about this.
Speaker:
So I have a program that I introduce annually.
Speaker:
It's called maker's MBA.
Speaker:
It is now closed or just closed like a few days
Speaker:
ago. But when I get to that financial section,
Speaker:
what I do is for brand new people who are starting
Speaker:
their business,
Speaker:
I break it into year one expenses and then moving forward
Speaker:
expenses, some of those are duplicated,
Speaker:
but when you're starting your business,
Speaker:
there are some things that are expenses that are one time,
Speaker:
like when you're registering your business as an LLC,
Speaker:
for example,
Speaker:
or a lot of different types of things that are one
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time expenses.
Speaker:
Only that just to your point,
Speaker:
when you put in numbers,
Speaker:
the first year is pretty much standard.
Speaker:
You know what it is,
Speaker:
you're going to pay it.
Speaker:
You have to have the money to pay it.
Speaker:
And then that goes away forever more.
Speaker:
But then that second year and forward you learn more over
Speaker:
time, right?
Speaker:
And if you overlay that on top of sales,
Speaker:
that's kind of like a P and L statement,
Speaker:
but it also helps you,
Speaker:
like, if you try to anticipate the sales that you need
Speaker:
to cover the expenses that you already know,
Speaker:
you have,
Speaker:
it helps you understand what you need to be doing moving
Speaker:
forward. Do you agree with that?
Speaker:
Oh yeah.
Speaker:
I do agree with that.
Speaker:
A lot of the times people start with the sales and
Speaker:
they randomly pick a number out of the air because it
Speaker:
sounds good.
Speaker:
Or if you're in a mastermind or something,
Speaker:
everyone else says they want to make 10,000.
Speaker:
So that sounds like a great number a month I want
Speaker:
to do.
Speaker:
Right. And actually though,
Speaker:
it's the expenses you have to start with.
Speaker:
How do you want money to support you?
Speaker:
How do you want money to support the business?
Speaker:
And then what does it support you and your lifestyle and
Speaker:
include that because then that generates,
Speaker:
okay, this is the revenue I need to bring in.
Speaker:
So what does that look like then?
Speaker:
And then you can break it into however you want to
Speaker:
create that revenue.
Speaker:
And it can be different streams.
Speaker:
It feels to me like a big puzzle then too,
Speaker:
because if you know how much you can sell,
Speaker:
and for us that starts with,
Speaker:
if you're a one person business,
Speaker:
how much of your product you could even make?
Speaker:
Like if you were to say 10,000,
Speaker:
but there's no way you could make 10,000
Speaker:
worth of your product.
Speaker:
Well, you already know that that's on achievable unless you bring
Speaker:
in people to help you.
Speaker:
Right? So let's start and just say,
Speaker:
you are the only person.
Speaker:
So you,
Speaker:
at some point are maxed on how much you could make
Speaker:
just by the bounding of product you could create.
Speaker:
So then you lay out exactly what you were saying.
Speaker:
It also helps you understand what types of services you can
Speaker:
afford or the variance of services.
Speaker:
So for example,
Speaker:
like a customer management system,
Speaker:
those range from free to hundreds of dollars a month.
Speaker:
So based on the way you play your numbers,
Speaker:
you're able to tell,
Speaker:
well, I don't need that.
Speaker:
Super-duper crazy expensive client management system,
Speaker:
even though some other people I know are using it and
Speaker:
love it,
Speaker:
I'm going to go with something more fitting for where I
Speaker:
am right now.
Speaker:
And I can look at that later.
Speaker:
Or like,
Speaker:
I think of all the social media apps that are out
Speaker:
and all the filters and all the fun,
Speaker:
little things that you can do.
Speaker:
And you know,
Speaker:
it's $50 there,
Speaker:
29 here,
Speaker:
seven 99 a month here,
Speaker:
all that stuff starts to add up.
Speaker:
And so I think that there's a lot of hidden money
Speaker:
that we don't even know is there because some of these
Speaker:
apps we spend money for,
Speaker:
and then we don't even ever use them.
Speaker:
We forget we have them,
Speaker:
but they're coming up on our charge card.
Speaker:
Yeah, it does.
Speaker:
I use my calendar to remind me when those charges are
Speaker:
coming up so I can give some thought to it again.
Speaker:
That's why you create the plan,
Speaker:
right? You can identify what those are.
Speaker:
I also think too,
Speaker:
if you haven't identified that you're a spender and where your
Speaker:
risk factor is when it comes to money,
Speaker:
we will tend to not only buy those tools or buy
Speaker:
that CMS tool.
Speaker:
I'm thinking of one in particular that I invested in because
Speaker:
everyone else was doing it.
Speaker:
And it seemed like it was the perfect fit,
Speaker:
but again,
Speaker:
it was outside what my money could support at the time.
Speaker:
And I didn't think about all the other support that was
Speaker:
needed to implement that big tool,
Speaker:
all the other,
Speaker:
the qualified team member that knew the tool already that can
Speaker:
help support it.
Speaker:
So if you know that you're a spender,
Speaker:
can you put some pauses in your spending as well?
Speaker:
Like for me,
Speaker:
I have to get myself at least 72 hours before I
Speaker:
make a decision.
Speaker:
Especially if it's over a certain dollar amount,
Speaker:
because if it's under $197,
Speaker:
I'll say yes and just do it.
Speaker:
So I need to create some pauses in that for me.
Speaker:
So again,
Speaker:
here we come back to knowing what your style is and
Speaker:
where your risk factor is,
Speaker:
and then also what your numbers can support.
Speaker:
Yeah. I like that pauses in your spending.
Speaker:
That makes a lot of sense.
Speaker:
The other place we're talking a little bit of tips now,
Speaker:
we're just going off the cuff.
Speaker:
Right. And talking some tips.
Speaker:
The other thing I think,
Speaker:
where we can do some,
Speaker:
what I'll call blind spending is when you sign up for
Speaker:
something that's like seven day free trial,
Speaker:
and then you still have to enter your credit card,
Speaker:
but seven day free trial,
Speaker:
you may try it.
Speaker:
You may forget that you should try it,
Speaker:
but then all of a sudden you start getting charged for
Speaker:
it. And you don't know.
Speaker:
So those are things to keep your eye on as well.
Speaker:
Yes. And sometimes,
Speaker:
I mean,
Speaker:
you're like,
Speaker:
Oh, lesson learned,
Speaker:
okay, I'll eat it.
Speaker:
But go back sometimes and ask for a refund.
Speaker:
I did that with one of my tools and they went
Speaker:
back and said,
Speaker:
Oh yeah,
Speaker:
you haven't used it at all.
Speaker:
And gave me a full refund.
Speaker:
So, but yeah,
Speaker:
again, put reminders in.
Speaker:
If you're going to test it out,
Speaker:
there's a new tool we're looking at right now.
Speaker:
And I'm like,
Speaker:
I don't have time to test it fully.
Speaker:
So I'm not going to do the 14 day trial because
Speaker:
by the time we're done,
Speaker:
I'm not going to have decision made.
Speaker:
I'm going to end up paying for it.
Speaker:
And it probably be two months before I make a decision.
Speaker:
So what's your bandwidth.
Speaker:
When you're looking at tools,
Speaker:
how much time we actually devote to figuring out if it's
Speaker:
a good buyer or not.
Speaker:
So maybe a free trial is at your best option at
Speaker:
the time.
Speaker:
Yeah. I did get caught in this where I went through
Speaker:
a, I started this a year and a half ago or
Speaker:
so. And like,
Speaker:
I didn't even remember all that I had out there with
Speaker:
between apps and tools and you know,
Speaker:
all that stuff.
Speaker:
And so what I started doing is every time I'm diligent
Speaker:
on my credit cards,
Speaker:
I look at every single line item,
Speaker:
make sure it's actually mine first off.
Speaker:
And then when something would come up,
Speaker:
I would look at it.
Speaker:
And then I was putting it in my daytimer because of
Speaker:
the auto renewals.
Speaker:
Right. So I was putting in my day-timer like,
Speaker:
what am I paying for monthly?
Speaker:
What am I paying for annually?
Speaker:
So I'd write down what it was and how much I
Speaker:
was paying.
Speaker:
And I did something similar to you in a way,
Speaker:
like, if this is something that's annualizing and shoot,
Speaker:
I really am not using it.
Speaker:
I have asked,
Speaker:
Oh my gosh,
Speaker:
this just auto renewed.
Speaker:
I'm not using it.
Speaker:
I need to cancel this for now.
Speaker:
Love your app.
Speaker:
Maybe back,
Speaker:
sometimes that works.
Speaker:
Sometimes that doesn't work,
Speaker:
but now I have a really good understanding of what I'm
Speaker:
using. But then I think the next layer on top of
Speaker:
that is what's the value and the return for what you're
Speaker:
using. Like I'm thinking of something that I'm using as an
Speaker:
add-on to my emails right now.
Speaker:
And part of me is saying,
Speaker:
you know what,
Speaker:
it's pretty expensive.
Speaker:
Like, do I really need that to get the same result?
Speaker:
Because it's not boosting Results and it costs $37 a month.
Speaker:
So I'm like,
Speaker:
that's a lot of money over the course of a year.
Speaker:
Do I really need that?
Speaker:
So going back and analyzing,
Speaker:
but you can't analyze something you don't know about.
Speaker:
That's just the way I managed it,
Speaker:
because I think there's a lot of hidden dollars that we
Speaker:
just forget about.
Speaker:
And then when you find them and you recoup them,
Speaker:
that's new money.
Speaker:
Yes. That's fun money.
Speaker:
Yes. Yeah.
Speaker:
That's awesome.
Speaker:
And evaluating sometimes in the world we're in right now,
Speaker:
things are apps and things.
Speaker:
A lot of people get stuck in,
Speaker:
Oh, it will take too much time for me to change
Speaker:
this app or change this tool.
Speaker:
And so we continue to pay for these things that aren't
Speaker:
serving us anymore.
Speaker:
I did this with a project management tool recently we're in
Speaker:
the process of changing back to a free tool.
Speaker:
So again,
Speaker:
where's your innovation,
Speaker:
where's your ability to change that.
Speaker:
And a lot of us aren't willing to be that innovative.
Speaker:
So if you are going to buy a tool,
Speaker:
consider that it's not your permanent end all tool,
Speaker:
there may be a time to change.
Speaker:
Yeah. And your business changes over time too.
Speaker:
Your focus may be different.
Speaker:
You may need different tools,
Speaker:
either more weighty tools or lighter tools.
Speaker:
You never know.
Speaker:
I go back to what you said earlier,
Speaker:
which is give your money a job,
Speaker:
but then be very intentional with what you are looking at,
Speaker:
doing next to just being super in control of your business
Speaker:
and having the projection.
Speaker:
Don't let actions of other things or unintentional actions guide your
Speaker:
business, know where you're trying to go be intentional with what
Speaker:
you're doing to get there specifically as it relates to money
Speaker:
for this conversation.
Speaker:
Oh my gosh.
Speaker:
This has been so interesting.
Speaker:
Kind of just had like a little girl chat all about
Speaker:
money, a little less structured.
Speaker:
But I think that that's really helpful because we brought up
Speaker:
different points that I think are going to resonate with different
Speaker:
people. But what would you say to somebody overall about money?
Speaker:
If they've listened to everything we've said,
Speaker:
because we've talked about beginning people,
Speaker:
people who have been in business for a while,
Speaker:
home-based brick and mortar,
Speaker:
like all over the place,
Speaker:
right? What would you say to somebody to make sure they've
Speaker:
got the right mindset coming out of this conversation?
Speaker:
What we were taught about numbers and money may not be
Speaker:
true and you can choose,
Speaker:
you're an adult.
Speaker:
You can choose not always choose a new reality or,
Speaker:
and so money and numbers can be super easy.
Speaker:
And if you would like that to happen,
Speaker:
then make that choice.
Speaker:
And your action step will be to ask for a little
Speaker:
help and then just keep that faith that it can be
Speaker:
easy and numbers can support your lifestyle because that's what they're
Speaker:
here for.
Speaker:
Money is really here to support us.
Speaker:
So it's the way we currently exchange energy.
Speaker:
You have a product or service and somebody else would like
Speaker:
to purchase it.
Speaker:
That's our current exchange rate.
Speaker:
That's all it is.
Speaker:
There's not good or bad there.
Speaker:
And numbers are not good or bad either.
Speaker:
It's just the way we're keeping score for our business.
Speaker:
And so you are in charge of what you'd like to
Speaker:
create, and you have a gift that you'd like to get
Speaker:
out in the world.
Speaker:
So numbers and money are going to be your best friends
Speaker:
to do that.
Speaker:
So lean into that and try to find a new way
Speaker:
of being with them in your space.
Speaker:
And how do you help people like us.
Speaker:
Get that done.
Speaker:
Tell us a little bit more about what you provide and
Speaker:
what you offer.
Speaker:
Sure. Well,
Speaker:
first off,
Speaker:
I always want people to have their next step.
Speaker:
So if you have any questions or anything,
Speaker:
we give them a 30 minute free conversation of like,
Speaker:
okay, I was confused about this,
Speaker:
or I need more steps on this.
Speaker:
That's what I'm here for.
Speaker:
That's my purpose again,
Speaker:
to make numbers easy for people.
Speaker:
So what I normally do is clients will have a conversation
Speaker:
with me and if they need more support in creating their
Speaker:
financial plan,
Speaker:
we do a strategy session.
Speaker:
And then longer term,
Speaker:
I work with business owners.
Speaker:
One-on-one usually weekly to talk about what's going on in their
Speaker:
business, more of a business mentoring role.
Speaker:
And then how does number support that?
Speaker:
And we configure it based on whatever their business model is.
Speaker:
And it could go for six months.
Speaker:
Sometimes it goes longer.
Speaker:
There's not a really big structure there around it.
Speaker:
It's I don't bring a set plan.
Speaker:
We kind of like created as we go.
Speaker:
So that is very custom,
Speaker:
but it's all going to be with knowing your numbers.
Speaker:
First, the financial plan is key.
Speaker:
Being intentional with words,
Speaker:
action, and resources,
Speaker:
the cash handling system will be the next step.
Speaker:
And then nurturing your relationship with money is looking at how
Speaker:
you're interacting with it,
Speaker:
what your mindset is around it.
Speaker:
And what are you saying every day around it?
Speaker:
So like one of my key phrases that somebody else had
Speaker:
to point out to me was just make enough.
Speaker:
And that is exactly what I was doing.
Speaker:
I was just making barely enough to keep the business open,
Speaker:
but nothing extra.
Speaker:
And so sometimes it's about the words we say,
Speaker:
unconsciously, that is stopping us.
Speaker:
And so those are my pillars that I share in my
Speaker:
business. This is so interesting because the combination of numbers with
Speaker:
that overlay,
Speaker:
that personality overlay is so,
Speaker:
so important.
Speaker:
And I don't hear a lot of people talking about that.
Speaker:
So thank you for sharing all that you know,
Speaker:
with us and giving us some little tidbits insights and all
Speaker:
of it.
Speaker:
I just appreciate you so much.
Speaker:
Thank you,
Speaker:
Connie. Thank you.
Speaker:
Bye. See,
Speaker:
I talk about numbers.
Speaker:
Doesn't have to be dry or stiff at all.
Speaker:
That was fun.
Speaker:
Wasn't it take some time to think about Connie's question.
Speaker:
Are you just making enough that can help you squeak by
Speaker:
month after month,
Speaker:
but you deserve so much more.
Speaker:
I'm thrilled to say that after a short delay,
Speaker:
next week,
Speaker:
we'll be bringing Pinterest back up to the top of the
Speaker:
list. It's actually been a good thing that this episode got
Speaker:
postponed because a lot has been going on over in Pinterest
Speaker:
territory, and now you'll have the latest and the greatest that'll
Speaker:
be up and available for you next Monday.
Speaker:
First thing,
Speaker:
thanks so much for spending time with me today.
Speaker:
If you'd like to show support for the podcast,
Speaker:
a rating and review would be fabulous.
Speaker:
That helps the show get seen by more makers,
Speaker:
and it's a great way to pay it forward.
Speaker:
Also make sure to follow the show.
Speaker:
So podcasts automatically get downloaded to your phone.
Speaker:
That way you don't miss a thing.
Speaker:
Do you know that those who subscribe and follow are the
Speaker:
first ones to get downloads and people who don't have to
Speaker:
wait several hours later until the shows are available to them.
Speaker:
You're special.
Speaker:
I want you to get it first and now be safe
Speaker:
and well,
Speaker:
and I'll see you again next week on the gift business,
Speaker:
Unwrapped podcasts.
Speaker:
I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook
Speaker:
group called gift is breeze.
Speaker:
It's a place where we all gather and our community to
Speaker:
support each other.
Speaker:
Got a really fun post in there.
Speaker:
That's my favorite of the week.
Speaker:
I have to say where I invite all of you to
Speaker:
share what you're doing to show pictures of your product,
Speaker:
to show what you're working on for the week to get
Speaker:
reactions from other people and just for fun,
Speaker:
because we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody
Speaker:
in the community is making my favorite post every single week,
Speaker:
without doubt.
Speaker:
Wait, what,
Speaker:
aren't you part of the group already,
Speaker:
if not make sure to jump over to Facebook and search
Speaker:
for the group gift biz breeze don't delay.
