Welcome to Always and Never About the Money. Are you ready to embark on a journey that will forever change the way you perceive money? Well, get ready because we're about to dive deep into the fascinating world of finances and human behavior. I'm your host, Chelsea Williams and Money Whisperer. I'm here to help you realize what your money story is telling you and how you can change it.
But hold on tight, because this is not the dull black and white talk about money. We're gonna splash all the color into this typical nap inducing conversation. On Always and Never About the Money, we're gonna explore the intricate relationship between money and our daily lives. From the impact history has left on us and how we still manage it, how your habits shape your money, and what beliefs are driving your habits, choices, and relationships, to the deeper values and emotions we've come to attach to it, we're going to unravel it all through insightful conversation and personal anecdotes.
We'll bring you the expert insights, real life stories, and meaningful thought provoking ideas that will inspire you, educate you, and initiate some serious perspective change when it comes to your money. Remember, money is just a tool. Together, we'll untangle the web of emotions, beliefs, and values we've come to attach to it, and find a new perspective on how it can enhance our lives.
So whether you're looking for motivation, practical advice, or a good laugh, Always and Never About The Money's got you covered. Thank you for joining us in this transformative journey. Get ready to challenge your beliefs and embark on a financial exploration like no other. Without further ado, let's kick off the episode of Always and Never About the Money.
Good morning money whisperers, how is it going for you? Well, it's morning where I'm at anyway And i've had my coffee and i've zenned out i've done my meditation And I am ready to bring you a topic that we've already gotten a few people asking about and it's so I'm going to share with you today, the five keys to setting your business up for success.
So whether you're thinking about starting a business, whether you have just started a business, and honestly, if you have a business that maybe is even bringing in some pretty decent revenue, but it doesn't feel Systematic. It doesn't feel scalable. Look, I've seen businesses make a million dollars and spend 1.
2 million just because you're making a lot of money doesn't mean that you're keeping a lot of money. But if you are in the position of thinking about a business or having just opened up your business, This right here is going to lay a solid foundation to make sure that you are setting yourself up for success.
So we're going to talk about five key things that I've seen in my experience. Number one is define what success means to you. Now we hear a lot of this. About like, what is success to you? Success is very subjective. It's like asking what's your number. What's a lot of money to you. You're going to ask five people and get five different answers.
And so what I want you to think about first is what does success mean to you? And. Replace success with abundance, with happiness, with being content with your life. I don't even know if I like the word success. It gives you that feeling of you have arrived, right? And if you've been in business for any amount of time, it's important for you to understand that there is no destination in business, in life.
Everything is always changing. I use the word milestone. That's kind of some money accounting jargon. But instead of goals or what is success to you, like what is that milestone where you can just, you're looking in your mind's eye, you close your eyes and think about what does this look like for me? What does this happy place look like for me.
And for most of us, what that means is the things that we're struggling with right now, the things that we want to do and want to have right now are beyond our reach. And so success is when we can have these things, right? Effortlessly. But I want you to consider a few things when really defining your success and take this seriously, right?
Like write this stuff down. Journal about it, take notes, ask yourself, like sit on this question for a while, because the thing is, even when you define your success, you're going to get to a certain point where that success is going to look different for you. Right? I talked to so many people and they're like, Oh my gosh, I'm at this place that I never thought was possible.
I need to set new goals. I need to think bigger. Right? So really sit on this question and figure out what does success through, because your business is a vessel, your business look like for you. And what I want you to do so that we can make this real for you is figure out what your number is. What is your number that you need in your personal life to be able to live out this version of success that you can identify at this time, right?
Because. Money is what we exchange for things and time and experiences, right? So we need to get real with this success thing and figure out what is success. What do you want to do with your life and who do you want to do it with? What experiences do you want to have? Do you want to be able to go out and eat dinner three times a week?
Do you want to be able to travel five times a year? Do you want to be able to go out of the country, right? Do you want to be able to support that family member with finances out of love, right? Whatever it is that you want to do, write it down and put a number to it. And I want you to keep this in mind too, because this is a journey.
Right? This doesn't happen overnight. Don't wait for the money to find enjoyment in the life that you are living. Now, in this day and age, I believe that the most important thing for us to protect is our minds. We are so inundated with lifestyles and material items and these extravagant experiences that we see and hear about all over the place, right?
And it can make us feel some type of way to be like, Oh, I can't do these things. This makes me feel sad. But I guarantee you, and this is why meditation is becoming such a thing. They have done so much research on the effectiveness of meditation. After just 10 days of doing it five to 10 minutes a day, what meditation does for you is it helps you to slow down your mind and be present in the moment.
There are so many pieces of happiness and enjoyment in the moments that you have in your life. And you don't need money to be able to enjoy. the things that you have and the people that are in your life. So do not wait for this money to come in to find those moments and to find that enjoyment in those moments.
Because I guarantee you when the money comes, if you still can't find happiness in the moments and the people in your life, the money is not going to change that. It'll help you stay distracted, right? So that you don't have to actually find that stuff. But it will not make you happy. And when you're starting a business or you're brand new, or maybe you have a business that's making money on the revenue side, but it's spending more that it's making, so you're not really getting any of it.
Sometimes we have to adjust our personal finances as well, right? So you have three types of spending in your personal finances. You have your needs. This is things like your home, food, utilities, gas, cause you gotta get around, right? You have your negotiables, things that you can sacrifice temporarily and be okay, right?
Things like that streaming subscription, maybe shopping a little bit less, buying a few less pairs of shoes, right? And then you have your wants. These are the things like the vacations and the wanting to support family members and the spending that you don't really need it It's not really a requirement.
It's more like an extra experience or thing that you want to be able to have When your money gets there And so when you have a business that has not quite scaled is not quite bringing into your home the money that you would like Sometimes we have to control our personal finances in the short term so that we can Make sure that our business gets there in the longterm.
So number one, define your success. What is your number? Because that is the target. That is the target. Whatever you need to bring home personally to finance the lifestyle of your choosing, that is your number. That's what we can take from defining your success. So at least you have a direction, you know, where you're going.
You can't measure what you can't see. Now you can see what is your number because your business is your vessel to getting to that number. And the second key is start with good habits. Don't tell yourself that I don't need to do this until I get to a certain place and I don't need to worry about that until such and such happens.
Start from the very beginning with good habits. So get your pricing right from the start. Right so often when a business is brand new We are so desperate to get customers or sell product that we will discount our services Or provide services that aren't really our core services will mold it around what that person wants in such a unique way That you're actually losing money in the long run, right?
Or setting a false expectation to your customers and clients as you grow. So get your pricing right from the start and check out our website. We do host workshops on how exactly to do this. Track your money. Don't wait to keep a set of books. Don't say, Oh, I don't need to do the books. I don't make that much money.
It's not about how much you make or even how much you spend. It's about having eyes on where your numbers are at. And if you wait and trust me, I've seen this so many times. If you wait to keep a set of books and, and monitor and measure your numbers, it will get out of control. And you're going to miss things.
You're going to find yourself. You know, looking at bank statements and saying, I know I'm making money, but where the heck is it all going? And guess what? You can't answer that. Unless you keep a set of books, do not wait to track your money. You can make a million dollars and have nothing to show for it.
And financial statements. As much as it may feel like nails on a chalkboard, financial statements will communicate to you how your money is moving and if it's moving in a way that you can have a profit. On top of that, manage your cash from the very beginning. And save, set aside profits. And here's what I hear all too often.
I don't have enough money to save or I don't have enough to save. Saving is a habit in your personal life and in your business life. I don't care if it is 50 cents, save it on the regular. And there is a system called Profit First. If you have not heard of it, it is a book by Mike Michalowicz. The system is, I kid you not, flawless.
And it will help you control your cash and control your spending without ever looking at a financial. Now, I'm not telling you don't look at a financial. I'm not telling you that. But what I'm saying is, if you convince yourself that you don't need a set of books or financials, at the very least, use this cash management system to manage your cash in hand.
And prioritize setting aside profits. That is a habit, right? Part of tracking your money is also identifying your financial boundaries. We all have financial boundaries personally and in our business. There is, you know, a belief out there that says you have to make money to spend money. That is not necessarily the case.
I think when you, when you believe that, you are underestimating, first of all, how many free softwares and things there are out there that you can utilize. And number two, your creativity. When you are forced to work within your means, you can get really creative. That's where some of the coolest ideas come from, is not having money to throw at a problem and coming up with a creative solution that is cost effective.
Do not operate in the red thinking that you have to pour money into something. If you have not exhausted all options, all ideas, If you have not sat down and really thought creatively of how can I achieve this without dumping hundreds or thousands of dollars into a software platform, then you have not done your due diligence and you have to honor your financial boundaries because there is too much debt in this world and most of it was completely unnecessary and avoidable.
So identify and honor your financial boundaries. And know who and when to hire, right? So when we're talking about building your business and scaling from the very beginning, start to think about who your next hire is going to be and what they are going to do. And more importantly, make sure that in your thinking and in your planning to scale, that you stay in your zone of passion, your zone of strength.
Because the last thing you want is a job Working for yourself, right? There's a there's a saying that says entrepreneurs are the only people who will leave a 40 hour work week. To work 80 hours and make less for themselves, don't fall into that trap. And just because you are good at something does not mean that that is your zone of passion.
You know, when I started my accounting firm, I don't get me wrong. I love accounting. We are number nerds. We are puzzle wizards. We love the chase and the organization, right? I love doing bookwork. I love doing accounting. I love finding discrepancies and problems. But realistically, that is not my zone of passion.
It is my zone of strength, 100%. It is not my zone of passion. And so very quickly and early on in my business, I delegated the technical accounting work. When you start tracking your numbers from the very beginning, what you're doing is gifting yourself data, right? So after your first three months, six months, one year, whatever that looks like for you, you now have historical data.
In your numbers, in your business, your money story. And what you can do is you can learn from that. And that is so valuable. You can see if you're charging enough, if you're spending enough, where you're spending too much, how much to anticipate. There's so much that you can get from historical data. Even when you don't feel like you're big enough to be doing this.
It is one of the most valuable things that you will ever have in your business. What this also allows you to do is reverse engineer your number. Your definition of success, how much money you need to live the lifestyle you want to live and dedicate time to the people and things you want to dedicate it to.
You can now reverse engineer your number and scale those numbers with a little bit of simple math to say, once I bring in this much revenue, I can bring this amount home into my, into my life, into my world. And I can live this version of success for me. It tells you exactly when you need to get there.
It's like having a shortcut, a roadmap, a cheat sheet, something to work towards, and that will inspire you when you can say, Hey, I need to triple in size and then I can live the exact life that I see in my mind's eye right now that I want to live. That is so concrete and it will motivate you. Another good habit is always be looking for shortcuts and ways to be more efficient.
We have a saying in my team and my business that every 1% matters. Every, even if it seems so small, if anybody sees a shortcut or a way to be more efficient, even if it's only 1% more efficient, bring it up. Let's talk about it because it matters. And in a world where we have A. I. and all these softwares and this amazing technology, There is always going to be a new and better way to do things.
So even if you find something that works the best right now, make it a habit to always be looking and reviewing and not assuming that what you're doing is the most efficient way to do it without sacrificing quality. And the last good habit I want to share with you is negotiate on the regular. Okay, once a year, this is a good example, once a year, you should be calling your phone company, your internet company, your merchant processor, whoever you work with to process credit card payments for revenue, and trying to negotiate that coming year's rates.
Right, and this is not just in these areas. There are a lot of different ways to do this. Negotiate on the regular, and that includes what you're charging. Look, inflation is real. Cost of the supplies and the things that you need to run your business going up is absolutely real. Negotiate your prices means look at them on a regular basis and make sure that you are maintaining those margins that you want to maintain.
Do not just do all of these things once. And be done. It is something that you need to revisit consistently. Always be looking for shortcuts and efficiencies and be bold and negotiate on the regular. So key number three to setting your business up for success is create scalable processes. There is a really good book that if you have not read yet, you must read.
It's called the E Myth And get the revisited version, the E Myth Revisited. This book will set your mind straight on exactly how to do this. But what we're doing when we're creating scalable processes, when you first start your business, even though it's only you, work as if you are representing a position and a person in a seat.
Right? Think about delegation. Document your processes. My company uses a software called Asana, and we'll link that in the show notes. Asana works so perfect for us, and it's a free version. We haven't even had enough motivation to upgrade to the paid version. It looks nice. It would be cool. But. And we will eventually, but right now it's not a need.
It's not something that we can't live without. It's, it's working as is. There is no reason to put money in it for us right now, right? So, you know, back in the day, we would write this down and you would have your employee manual at your desk, right? And it was this big binder that was like five inches tall, but it told you how to do every single function of your job.
Right? So take the time, especially in the beginning. You will thank yourself. I promise you will thank yourself. There is nothing like the feeling of handing over your job duties to someone and everything they need is right there without your input. Right? So document your processes. Think about how to systematize the work that you're doing in your business right now.
But that eventually you're going to delegate when you bring on a team member or hire someone so that you are giving them the tools they need to succeed because processes create consistency and that in your business. Is beyond valuable right now when you're documenting these tasks and these processes when you do go to think about who to hire group these tasks into a position, so that you can think about who is it exactly that I need to hire right so if it's a.
Admin tasks, right? Managing email, managing appointment scheduling, doing administrative software input, things like that. Group those tasks together so that it makes sense in one position. And know that you don't have to hire a full time employee. In 2023, we have so many remote options, including outsourcing overseas, which is incredibly cost effective.
So create scalable processes from the beginning. Do not wait. Key number four is anticipate the process. Nobody said this was easy. There may be a simple blueprint, But nobody said that this was going to be easy. This is like when I create a new budget for somebody and the numbers are very simple, but following it, that is not so simple, right?
So know right now that this is a process. And usually it's about two years before this process. Smooth out or, you know, kind of levels out and it becomes more clear and more manageable. This is an absolute process. Don't fool yourself thinking that this is going to be a slow uphill journey. It's not. So be prepared, be prepared and be prepared to fight for it.
Be prepared to dig in and figure it out because I promise anything you run into it is figure out a bull. I promise. But it's that saying what got you here won't get you there. Okay, you may find something that works really, really well in your business and it is smooth for a while too, right? But you're going to hit this point as you scale.
Where that no longer works, anticipate it and plan to figure it out because it's a cycle. It's a flywheel. One of my other favorite business books is by Tom Corley. The overall gist of it is that successful businesses who stand the test of time, they have a flywheel. They are always refining and pivoting and analyzing.
They are not stagnant. Good to great. That's the book. Good to great. Brain fart. But they are never stagnant. This is a flywheel. It is a cycle. Everything is always changing. That is the only constant thing in this life, in this world, is change. And if you are not on top of anticipating and managing change, it is only a matter of time and you are falling behind.
I promise. And your business and processes are not the only thing that's going to change. Okay? People around you will change. How many times have we heard people saying they were going to start a business and nobody taking them serious, right? Or even trying to talk them out of it. As you scale your business, those people will change their tune and it could be in a few different ways.
Know that this will happen. Be prepared for it. And just like you're setting boundaries with your money, be aware of your boundaries with people in your life. If you haven't heard yet, the five people that you spend the most time with are the five Beliefs and personalities and energies that you take on yourself.
Sometimes you need to change your circle. And that does not mean that you need to be rude. That does not mean that you need to make them feel like they're not good enough. You can love and respect people even while and after you remove yourself from that circle, everything else is on them. If they choose to be mad, upset, jealous, try to take you down, try to knock your mental game off, don't let them.
People will change. They will. Anticipate it. You will change. Building, scaling, and having a successfully growing and profitable business will change you. And this is why a business will only grow to the extent that you are willing to grow personally. You have to manage your personal growth. You have to be aware of how you are changing.
That saying, money is the root of all evil. Money changes people. Money is not the root of all evil. People are people before the money, but money has the potential to bring out what people didn't know that they were capable of because their change went unchecked or they weren't concerned with their ill intentions.
Right? So as part of your success, your vision, which principles do you still want to maintain in your life? Which principles personally do you want to live through? What is important to you now? Establish that because in this journey, you will absolutely change. Keep tabs on how you change and make sure you are changing into a person that you can be happy with.
And tip number five is that you have to want it. You have to want it. This is simple. It is not easy, and it takes a lot. It takes a lot. You gotta want it. You gotta be willing to get in the trenches. You have to be motivated to do things that you don't want to do. It's like going to the gym, right? We can say we want to go to the gym and get a better body or just be healthy all day long.
But if you're not willing to go to the gym on the days that you don't feel like going to the gym, you don't actually want it. Not really. Like it sounds good to you, but In reality, you're not willing to put in the work. You have to want it because the truth is you can't fail if you never quit and this entrepreneurial journey is like Highs highest highs and lowest lows and highest highs and lowest lows and just when you think you have it all figured out Something comes crashing down and you have to manage it and bring it back up and then this thing over here starts getting shaky It is a lot but it is doable And if you do not quit If you do not give yourself that option, I promise you won't fail, because it is only a matter of time.
When I first quit my job at the tax and accounting firm here, I was still married to my son's father, and I started my, my online accounting firm, and You know, people would ask me all the time, including in him the most, like, what are you going to do if it doesn't work? And dang, you're not bringing in that much now or shoot.
You didn't get that client. And I would just repeat to people and myself, cause self talk is real, right? It's only a matter of time. It's only a matter of time. People need what we're offering period businesses need this. So if I do my part. It is only a matter of time, and I believed it, and it was true, and it happened relatively quickly, to be honest, my business hit six figures in its first calendar year.
Tell yourself, write it on the mirror that you see every day, in your bathroom, in your bedroom, wherever you look, on a sticky note, on your monitor, it is only a matter of time. Of time, tell yourself and tell other people when they doubt or question you. And that's a big piece of it. Check your self talk, the self, the mental chatter that goes on in your mind.
Be so aware of it because your brain works to make your self talk real. Your brain is a machine. What you tell it, it's its job to make sure that it happens. You have to be aware of your self talk. You have to keep your self talk in check. Don't tell yourself things like, oh, no, maybe this won't work, or you know, I shouldn't do this because it's just too much of a risk, and I'm not good enough, and I'm not worth charging that.
Like, check your mental chatter. Be aware of it. Because I promise you, your brain is gonna work to make it real. Tell your brain what it needs to hear. To get you to where you're trying to go and where you're trying to go. That's the vision. That's number one. What is your definition of success? What is it that you're wanting out of this and keep it in focus?
And that's why it's the first step. You have to call your shot. If you don't have a direction of where you want to go, you are going to be pulled in the direction of everybody and everything else in your business, and you're going to end up running circles. You have to keep that shot. In focus all the time, every day.
If you don't have a planner or a journal where you can visually just run through it every day and program your brain to be so intimately in tune with your vision, with that shot that you called of where you want to be and what that looks like and what that feels like in your life, you are more likely to Thank you.
veer off track. So keep that vision in focus at all times. Because to sum it up, there is proof everywhere that you can do this. The brain gets what it looks for, right? If you tell yourself all the reasons why you could fail, all of a sudden in your life, you're going to see proof that you're going to fail.
It's not going to work. Like you are going to go find reasons why it's not going to work. The same applies. For if you choose to focus on why this will work, there is proof. Everywhere. There are so many success stories everywhere. So be intentional with what you choose to focus on.
Okay, listeners. Here's the deal. We're on a mission with this podcast and I need your help. It kills me inside that people are not being taught about money and they are suffering because of it, especially our younger generations who are in school and not learning about it. My big hairy audacious goal is that I want to be something like the female Dave Ramsey and spread financial literacy like wildfire so we can change the course of history together.
So now I'm recruiting you to help me in this vision, and I'm incentivizing you to spread the word with some pretty cool giveaways. Once we reach 50 subscribers, we are chucking out some goodies to the world. So here's what you need to do. Subscribe to our podcast and turn on those notifications. Repost or share wherever you're hearing or seeing this.
And submit the form for our giveaway. That form will be either in the show notes. If you're hearing this on the podcast, social posts, we'll have them in the comments and we also have it in our link tree, the literal day that we reach our first goal of 50 subscribers, we've got three chances for you to win.
Our first giveaway is going to be your choice of air pod pros or Samsung buds, a t shirt and a free money strategy session with yours truly. The second giveaway is an Amazon gift card, that same t shirt and the free session. And the third giveaway is the t shirt and the free session. I am so grateful to have all the listeners of always and never about the money.
And I think that together we can change the world's money story.
If you liked this episode, be sure to show us some love by subscribing and turning on those notifications. You can find me on Instagram under The Money Whisperer, and also where we encourage you to contribute, to join the conversation, ask questions, and share your thoughts, so we can create more episodes tailored exactly to what you want to know about money.
I'm your host and your personal money whisperer. Until next time, remember it is always and never about the money.