Crucial Mistakes Black Women Entrepreneurs Should Avoid

Many women start businesses with passion—but the wrong business structure and messy finances can cost you thousands. In this powerful finance roundtable, we break down the money moves every woman entrepreneur needs to make in 2026.

Host Linette Cottrell sits down with three powerhouse women in finance—Monique Vassall, Rhonda Brown, and Nikki Moteng—to talk about choosing the right business structure, avoiding costly financial mistakes, and claiming tax deductions many women business owners miss.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How to know when it’s time to move from side hustle to CEO
• The business structures every entrepreneur should understand in 2026
• Tax deductions women business owners commonly leave on the table
• How disorganized financials quietly cost small businesses thousands
• Simple systems that help you run your business like a true CEO

If you’re in your first five years of business, this conversation could save you money, stress, and major headaches down the road.

👉 Follow the podcast and share it with a sister who needs this conversation.
We’re on a mission to help Black women make it through the first five years in business—and thrive far beyond them.

#BlackWomenEntrepreneurs  #WomenInBusiness #SmallBusinessFinance
#BusinessStructure #SideHustleToCEO #EntrepreneurMoney #TaxTipsForEntrepreneurs #BusinessTaxDeductions #WomenEntrepreneurship #CEOLevelThinking #FinancialLiteracy #SmallBusinessTaxes #WomenInFinance #EmpowerHERPodcast #BusinessGrowthTips #MoneyMoves2026 #EntrepreneurMindset #BuildGenerationalWealth

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome! You've stepped into a protected space for Black women founders to think, build, and breathe. A dedicated space for those of us carrying brilliance and the challenges that come with it. Here, we honor your time, your growth, and your unique journey. So if you're navigating to year five and beyond, hey sis, you're in the right place. These conversations offer insight, relief, and honest perspective. I'm Lynette Catrell, and this is the Empower Her Business Podcast, where we talk mindset, money, and thriving. Let's get right into another great episode. Today's conversation is a special one because instead of teaching at you, we're gathering with you. Welcome back to the Financial Roundtable, an honest real-world conversation with women in business, for women in business, by black women in business. Bringing insight to you today is our beautiful panel of sisters holding space for you and their finance-focused enterprises. We have with us today Rhonda, the founder of Empowered for Finance. We have Monique, the founder of Impact and Transform. We have Nikki, the founder of Adora Consulting LLC, and myself, Lynette, the founder of Empower Her Bookkeeping and Advisory. You will find our connection information in the show notes to reach out and connect with us on social media for valuable information and deeper solutions. Today, guys, we're talking about financial decisions that quietly shape everything about your business. From choosing the right business structure to tax deductions left on the table to the real cost of disorganized financials. These aren't conversations about perfection, they're conversations about awareness, alignment, and ownership. Because we want your money systems to support your business success. We are here to demystify the financial arena so you are informed for better decision making. So we invite you to take a deep breath and settle in and join us for this round table conversation because what we know for sure is that when black women are supported and understanding their business better, they build stronger businesses. So let's get right into it. Before we get into the specifics of actions, let's talk about grounding women and what they're actually experiencing. So I'm going to start with you, Monique. When you work with women moving from side hustle to CEO or relaunching after a pause, what's the first financial decision you see them delaying?

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Uh I would say that you know, a lot of times when clients are they're starting up and they're like, okay, you know what? You know, I have the side hustle and I want to get into and I want to expand my business. It's have you taken the right steps to put a system in place? Right? So this is before you say, Oh, I need a CPA, which yeah, you get to that point, but before that, it's okay, so you started selling this product or you provide this service. Did you set up a bank account? Did you set up a separate bank account so that you are now tracking expenses for the business, you're not commingling expenses because a lot of the times when we are in that side hustle, we're taking cash apps, it's going into our pockets, we're not, you know, really looking at the income that's coming in as a result. We're also spending money on starting this business, but we're not tracking those expenses, so that means we're missing tax deductions. Um, you know, so the first step really is put, say this is a business number one, right? Be confident in yourself to know that this is not a side hustle. This is not a thing that I do on the side, right? A lot of times we say, Oh, I have this little thing. No, it's not little. Let's think bigger, right? And start with, I have a separate account for this business. And I'm not going to treat it as my personal account because we know there's mess over there, too.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

All right, so I'm hearing you saying that um when we're getting serious enough to shift from side hustle to a full business, that we have to take that seriousness to another level, to every aspect of that business. That now it's not just a small thing that we were kind maybe it it grew from a hobby, maybe it grew from a natural talent, but now it's time to get serious about this thing.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Right. And and don't think that you're not enough, right? You are enough and and treat your business as so.

SPEAKER_00 5:34

I love that. So you're speaking on not just the um structural things that need to be done when you shift from uh uh employee to a business owner, but also the personal, the emotional things that you need to kind of allow yourself to embrace too. And I think that's very important. So I love that you you stepped into that. Thank you so much. So now I'm gonna move to um Rhonda with the question about business structure. Now, Rhonda, we know one of the decisions that we make in those early stages that carry a long-term impact is business structure. So beyond the technical choice of how we choose a business, what does the way we choose our business structure and how we avoid certain other business structures, how's that affect our experience as business owners when it comes to stress and other challenges? What usually transpires in that process?

SPEAKER_03 6:45

I found a lot of times people are excited about moving forward and trying to jump into structures and situations that are a little bit more complicated than what they're ready for. And a lot of times, I mean, even just thinking about the difference between what's the legal structure of my business versus how it's going to be treated for tax purposes, people get caught up in the social media craze of, oh, I've got to jump on, what's gonna save me the most taxes? And it's like it's it's too soon. It's too soon for that because a lot of times I'm running into just having general conversations with folks as they're, you know, getting their businesses off the ground. The first few years, it's not unlikely to be operating and lost. So worried about like where I'm gonna save the most in taxes is not even the right question yet. You know, once you're getting to that point of, okay, yes, now my business is more established, it's more profitable, and I have tackled the foundational concepts, now it's time to start thinking about that. So I usually, if I'm working with folks who are just on that starting edge, keep it very simple. Keep it very simple. If it's just you, keep yourself with a single member LLC. Make sure that you are tracking where your money's coming in, where it's going out, and just keep it just as simple as that. And just like what Monique was saying earlier, make sure you got a business bank account set up. Just make sure that you have those foundational pieces. Focus on that first before we're jumping in to try to figure out the more complex pieces that you're gonna get to eventually. But not once you pass the, you get you got to pass the foundational piece first.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Yes, I love that. So it's so you're giving us permission here to keep it simple and also to be aware of everything that we read on social media that even if it's headlined, if you're starting a business, do this, you know, it's not really the right information for you, right? Because I've seen that. Yes, I've seen that so much on social media. And it and it feels like someone's giving you free information, and if you don't know, because you don't know, then you grab it and you're like, okay, let me do this, this, these five things they said I need to do, right? Without understanding, you made an excellent point, Ronna. Without understanding that in those first years, you probably won't have enough profit to really make a difference, right? For for doing this for tax purposes to really make sense for you, right? You're not at that level yet. So give yourself some grace and get advice from the right places, first of all, and understand that you don't have to start off being so complex, right? It can be simple. Start simple. I love I love that. So my next question is about um something that we face as black women entrepreneurs, and I've seen it called respectability politics, which is the pressure we have to prove that we're credible, right? To show up and we want to prove to everyone the service we're giving or the product that we're offering is top tier, and we're gonna go above and beyond to make sure our customers are satisfied. So when it comes to that, Nikki, how do you feel that we as black women, when we're dealing with that pressure to be seen as credible, how does it influence how we price our services, how we write off expenses, or and even how we structure our business?

SPEAKER_02 10:28

Yeah, so I always say that what I have seen is that a lot of business owners, when they when they start, they want to, you know, that's pressure is there because they want to give them the best of their self. But before you set up your pricing, you also want to make sure that what you are giving, what's the seller, you want to understand the services that you are giving to people. And then when you understand and know your capacity, that will help you to put the chair to price those services. If you don't, if you hesitate for a moment to price those services, that means you there is something missing. You don't have that capacity. First, do you have that capacity, that knowledge to price at that level? If you do, then fine. You can you can price it. So that is what I would say. Before you started struggling on pricing, make sure that you understand your business, your services that you're gonna be offering. Once you do that, then you can price.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

That's a great point. So to follow up on that, I think a lot of times, especially new entrepreneurs, we struggle with defining what we're offering because we want to say we offer everything, right? Because we can be multi-talented. We can there can be uh three or four things that we're good at, right? But instead of thinking, okay, let me start with just this one, let me get this one off the ground really good, then I can expand to the others, right? So instead of doing that, we kind of come out the gate trying to offer as much as we possibly can. And what you said brings me, it kind of opens up the concept of knowing the value of what you're giving to, the value of your service or your product. Like, how can you start with a number for pricing if you don't understand the value? So I think what we're we're hearing is that we probably need to find someone to talk to to help us talk through the process to understand, make sure we're clear on the value of our service or product, and then make sure we're not offering too many things at once, you know, so much that it is a complicated process to price out products and services. So great information, great information. Pause with me for a second. I just want to thank you for being here. And if this hits home, tap five stars, leave a quick comment, and send this to a sister who needs it. You help more women find this space when you share. All right, back to the conversation. The next question is related to how we deal with money. Um, because a lot of times we spoke earlier, uh, Monique, you kind of hit on the emotion, the emotions behind the process of your business. So when we talk about money habits of founders, sometimes we can get praised for doing things the wrong way, right? That things that actually keep us overextended and underpaid. So this question is open to the full panel. What are some things that you can think of that we can get praise for as being entrepreneurs, but they're really detrimental to us building a strong business because they lead us to be overextended and they lead us to be underpaid because of our pricing. So share your thoughts on that, anyone.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

The key word for me that comes to mind is um lack of investing. And I say that because a lot of times you're praised for, or even us as black women, you know, when we have a little money and we tuck it away, because we're like, we gotta save for that rainy day because we know that we're the backbone. We gotta take, we gotta, you know, keep this over here, keep this over here. And a lot of business owners will then have an account sitting there, no interest accruing on it, right? You're not then really investing it back into the business. And so, yes, great, you have this pile of money, but my belief is your money gotta be making money for you, okay? So, what are you then doing with that money? How are you investing? Are you investing in people, right? So that you're not overextending yourself because you're wearing 10 different hats? Are you investing in retirement? Because now you are a full-time entrepreneur and you need to make sure that you still have for that rainy day later on, right? Where's that retirement savings? Did you open up? Did you start a SEP? Did you start, you know, a solo 401k? So the first thing, like I said, comes to mind is investing. What are you doing when you start accumulating, right? Great, but what are you then doing with that?

SPEAKER_00 15:41

I love that. So, as opposed to putting it all in the bank, think more creatively and long term. Um, and at the forefront, it should be is my money making money for me? Right? One, two is okay, how am I planning for my retirement from my business? You know, with because nobody works forever, right? So planning for what's coming ahead down the line. So long-term thinking. Okay, okay, so now let's talk about disorganized financials, um, the invisible costs related to running the business. So, what are some of the invisible costs you see that when financials are disorganized? Um, things that are quietly costing the business money year after year.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

My question is quietly? Is it is it quiet?

SPEAKER_00 16:44

Um You're probably yelling at them, right?

SPEAKER_01 16:48

Well, you know, when I even think of the word disorganized, right? And I think of a business, I go back to like this personal, like every a lot of us, right, as women, we love to carry around a tote, right? And totes normally are big and it because it can hold everything, right? We got everything in that tote. But have you ever had a tote and you can feel good about that tote, right? Like give me my Louis Vuitton tote and I'm walking down the street trying. However, right, when you try to go inside that tote, it's like what I'm looking for. Um what am I looking for? My hands digging, throwing all over there. And the thing is, is that if you stop and buy an organizer for your totes, right, you can easily go inside that tote and know where your keys are. You'll know where your wallet is. And that's the same thing when it comes to a business. And when you have that organization, right, you know what bucket of money that you have to go for this expense. You know that. So now we're talking about budgeting, something as simple as that. Think of that as that piece of organization, right? That you know what you have so that you are able to, yes, reinvest in my business in this way. I'm able to hire people this way. And understanding that without that organization, you can be crumbling. And it doesn't even just end or start with the business, but it will trickle down into personal life, right? The kids will start asking for stuff and you're stressed out over here because you you weren't organizing up here, you know. So the same thing as the business. If my purse is a mess, then I know I personally know a whole lot of other stuff is going on. So it's just it that's why I said is it is it really a quiet thing that happens? Because it really gets loud because it is like a domino effect, right? That it impacts so much more than just the business.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

Great point. So I I think what we're saying is that it's not that it's so quiet as it is being ignored, right? Like as we are constantly just dumping new stuff into that tote bat, right? We know it's a big mess in there, but we just dumping more stuff in there instead of saying, Oh, I need to pause and I need to straighten this out and find out how I can organize this. I love that analogy because I know we all can relate to that. I remember having a post purse and my husband would pick it up. He was like, What do you have in here? Right? Because it felt like you got pounds of stuff in here. I'm like, I don't know what's in there. Everything. Yes, everything I can imagine I might need, which is not a good way to carry things around with you, right? Right, right. Wonderful, wonderful. So let's um talk about tax deductions for a minute. So um, and I want you, Rhonda, and Nikki, to kind of weigh in on this one. So let's um shift for a minute. So when it comes to taxes, what are some deductions that you see women who they're qualifying for these deductions, but they're not claiming them? So uh let's say they've been in business for several years now, they've passed the stage where they were just breaking even or even operating at a loss for those first couple of years, and now they're actually bringing in profits. They're they're um at the end of the year when they look at their total financial situation, they have money there, right? It's a positive. What are some of the deductions do you see them they qualify for, but they're not taking advantage of it? And usually it's because they're they're not aware of it. What comes to mind?

SPEAKER_03 20:28

I find a lot of times people are not investing in themselves, um, continuing education, um, retirement planning, just like Monique was talking about earlier, um, other employee benefits, they're just not taking advantage of the things that they can do to make sure that they are taken care of. Like, yes, you know, once you're getting to that point where the structure is proper for you to be paying a salary to yourself, yes, that's great. But what is your long-term goal? What's what's the end state? You know, how how long do you intend to run this business? And when you're no longer running it, then what are you doing? Are you going to be able to sustain financially afterward? Have you taken the time to grow yourself? I mean, you're coming from an in a situation where you're working for someone else. A lot of times you're that's forced upon you or you have a plan for how you're going to grow. But a lot of times, especially if you're starting out as a solopreneur, you don't always have those things to encourage you. So you got to be able to take that time to make sure that you're continuing to develop yourself and not missing out on those opportunities to be able to do so.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

I think that's an excellent point. And that's something that we don't think about often as uh new business owners, like investing in myself as it comes to education, as it comes to um going to a conference, um, taking a workshop, you know, anything to up level what I'm currently doing. That's Um, can pour a lay into uh the advantage of tax deductions. But if I'm thinking, you know, every dollar I spend on this is another dollar out of my business versus knowing what the tax benefits is, that could totally change how I approach it. So that's an excellent point. I love that you share that. Um, wonderful. Anything to add to that, Nikki? Anything comes to mind for you?

SPEAKER_02 22:27

No, I think she said everything. So investing on yourself under the continued education and also your retirement. And I know that a lot of business owners that talk to when they come to me for tax deduction or tax strategy, and they don't want they don't want to invest on themselves. They just want to reduce they are worried about reducing the tax liability, but they're not worried about setting up a solo work for one game. Oh, this cost me a lot of management fee, but it saves you, it's you are saving for your retirement, you are investing on yourself normally, definitely. And I think um that said she said everything.

SPEAKER_00 23:17

Wonderful. I love that. So, ladies, let's um bring this together. So, if a woman is listening today and we're thinking about one financial shift this year she could make that would create a ripple effect in her business, what would you advise her to focus on first as that one financial shift?

SPEAKER_02 23:43

Okay, so you were talking about you asked about the financial um shift that some a woman can make when her business is growing.

SPEAKER_00 23:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 23:56

So the first thing I will say when your business is growing, first the first thing is to review your business structure. Because when you review your business structure, that will help you to see where to make the shape of your financial. So besides that, you won't take you won't take a better decision. So that is my advice. First, review your business structure first, and then see what what type of financial um decision you will make that fit your business specific uh specification.

SPEAKER_00 24:40

So talk to a review your business structure with a professional to see what you know what needs to change or what you need to adjust within that structure for your business.

SPEAKER_02 24:53

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 24:54

Wonderful. Anyone else?

SPEAKER_01 24:58

I I would like to add, and this is not even so much financially, um, but I would like to see us as black women just increase that level of confidence. Um, you know, there are other people out here in this world that will walk up, take the head seat, um, you know, at the table, put their arms behind, you know, their heads and stretch those legs out. And, you know, we started off with talking about side hustle. Let's look at our business as a business and not as a side hustle. Like I said from the beginning, like we are enough. Okay. You Nikki mentioned earlier, um, even looking at the value. Well, what what value when we talk about pricing, right? Know what our value is and what we are bringing to the table and understand that, you know, we can do this. We can do this. So let's start off our businesses and continue on running our businesses with that level of confidence. Like, I got this, I can run this, these are the services that I provide. This is the product that you know I provide. Like, let's have more confidence in what we're doing.

SPEAKER_00 26:08

Wonderful, wonderful. I love that. Anything you want to add to that, Rhonda?

SPEAKER_03 26:13

Uh, that that's that is huge, Monique, that you bring that because so many business owners struggle with that imposter syndrome.

SPEAKER_01 26:21

Yeah. Right?

SPEAKER_03 26:22

You're you're out here and you have this great idea, you're you're doing wonderful things, you've got huge skill, but then you get in a room and feel like, oh, I don't know, maybe I'm not good enough, or I'm not as good as you know, so and so, whatever it is that you're comparing yourself to, and not realizing the value that you bring to the table. And you're right, there is there are several others that will walk in the room and and not even be able to do half of what you can do, but will have that confidence and say, you know what, it's fine. I'll figure it out as a go. Like we can all have that kind of confidence with the skill behind it.

SPEAKER_00 26:58

Wonderful, wonderful. I love that, I love that. So we've talked about a lot of great information today. We've talked about uh the cost of delaying financial decisions. It's common, but it's really neutral. We've talked about business structure, it's not just about the paperwork, and it's not information you should get from social media. We talked about disorganized financials and the stress they can create in the blind spots and how they can cost you real money. So I want to um kind of wrap this up, and I want the takeaway to be for our listeners that you don't need to know everything, but you need to see things clearly enough to choose differently, right? To make sure you're making the right choice. And another point that we've kind of um talked about again today is that confidence, right? So we're hoping that this great information that we're sharing with you and giving to you and these steps, they're helping you to build that confidence to keep your business going, to understand that you're in the right spot at the right time, whatever your journey is, and we're here to assist you in getting to the next step in your journey. This episode is brought to you by Empower Her Merch, thoughtfully designed pieces created to support women in business. From journals and mugs to t-shirts and everyday reminders, each item is rooted in clarity, intention, and care. They make meaningful gifts for the woman entrepreneur in your life or a beautiful way to honor yourself. You can explore the collection at your pace and carry this support with you wherever you work and create. Visit empowerherbusiness.us and shop today. You've been listening to the Empower Her Business Podcast. And before you go, I want to thank you for being here. If this episode supported you, please pay it forward. You can do that by hitting the follow button, rating us five stars, leaving a comment, and sharing us with others. This is how we ensure the podcast reaches more sisters in business. Until next time, I wish you the very best of joy, health, and wealth. Be well.