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How Do You Calculate Selling Price?

Posted on July 14, 2020 by dawnk

If you have followed me for any length of time, you know that my number one rule for business is “Don’t Lose Money.” Now, this doesn’t mean we never make money mistakes, this means that we are deliberate in our pricing and costing, so we are moving into profit with everything we sell. So, how do we calculate selling price, so we don’t lose money?

First, I want to acknowledge that there are many different ways to price goods and services. There are Value Pricing, Cost-Plus Pricing, and Market Pricing to name a few. There are great free pricing calculators on the web, if you like excel spreadsheets there are some calculators with pricing formulas available as well.

I am honestly just a “Keep it Simple” kind of girl, and unless you are manufacturing or have a multi-tiered pricing structure, you can calculate the selling cost of your product and service fairly simply, and come up with pricing that won’t allow you to lose money. Here’s my quick step-by-step method.

Step 1: List ALL of your costs.

I mean ALL. Do you print labels for your handmade goods or buy tags for pricing? It counts. Gas to get to the flea market? It counts. Pay for an online platform or storage for all of your digital products? It counts. In your pricing I want you to recover ALL of your costs. I have worked with too many entrepreneurs who were leaking profits 10 cents at a time because they forgot to add in some actual cost and break it down for each product or service sold.

Step 2: Add a Profit Margin.

Go ahead, add 10%. I’m not saying your costs plus 10% is your price for everything, but I want you right now to start thinking about profit margin. So, add a profit margin.

Step 3: Calculate Your Business Operations Cost.

I want to know how much it costs you every day and every hour to be in business. Add up your Breakthrough Number, other costs, and get a total monthly amount. Include your paycheck. I also see many creative entrepreneurs lose money on their time and labor when they are creating goods for sale. Take the monthly total and divide by the number of days you are open each month, then number of hours. To see this calculation, visit my blog on this topic.

Once you know your costs, your profit margin, and your hourly cost of business operations, we can calculate what you should sell your goods and services for. Let’s say your costs to produce your jewelry is $35.00. You want a 10% profit margin ($3.50) and it costs you $23.00/ hour in operations costs, and it took you an hour to produce. The price for that piece of jewelry should START at $61.50. So, if you are selling for $40.00 (costs plus a little bit) you are probably losing money. And we need to fix that. There are several ways to do it, through pricing, cutting expenses, etc. But you need to address this if it is you. Because you are probably losing money if you don’t. And rule number one is, “Don’t Lose Money.”

Ready to take your First Steps to Profit? It’s not about what you make, it is about what you keep!

How Do You Manage Your Personal and Business Finances?

Posted on July 8, 2020 by dawnk

My short answer: separately. I get this question a lot. Because your personal and business finances are different. But you should have a management system for each. And the systems do not have to be complicated. They need to be separate, but not complicated. Here are a few simple steps for managing the personal finances when you have a business.

Step 1: How much do you need? Know your numbers.

Personal: First tally up your “four walls” because these expenses get paid first, always. Food, utilities, housing, and transportation. This is the minimum number you need to eat, cook, sleep in a real bed, and get to work so you continue to make money. Know this number. Next, add together your minimum debt payments. You will have two numbers, the “four walls” number and the “total I need to pay everything” number.

Repeat for your business.

Business: Four walls of business, your Breakthrough Number. The Four Walls are rent/utilities and internet/ phone (access to buyers), Critical Operating Expenses, Minimum inventory and product spend, and payroll (and payroll expenses). These four walls will secure your business and allow you to keep the doors open and making money. Next, figure in any debt payments and other business areas (marketing, projects, team). You will have your Breakthrough Number (minimum amount) and total “All In” number.

Step 2: When do I need it? Know when things are due.

Personal: To make things smoother in your personal finances, schedule your paydays. Say NO to co-mingling! Do not pay your car insurance form your business account (unless you are a delivery service). Take the time to pay yourself on regular days and then you can begin to count on that regular income. I advise my clients to pay themselves every other week. This way, they can arrange their personal expenses the way they likely would if they were employed somewhere.

Business: On the business front you can do two things; Pay business bills as they come due, not early and know which bills can be halved. In business cash is king and protecting the cashflow is critical. Since you are now only paying yourself on regular paydays, the next thing is to preserve cash by paying expenses when they are due. Some of my clients pay bills weekly. Some twice a month. They key is to get into a rhythm and know when you need and how much you need available for expenses.

Step 3: Begin to plan your spending.

Personal: Once you have regular paychecks scheduled, you can create a personal spending plan (or budget) for what need to be paid and when. You can plan your personal spending for everything. My only rule for my clients is write it down. Your plan. It may change, but you will have the baseline to refer to.

Business: For your business if you don’t know what you are going to spend in a given month or know how much you need to plan for projects and growth, you will stunt your business. Again, my only rule is that your plan must be written. If you are new to this, it may take a moment to set up. How much did you pay for ads last month? How much are you going to pay this month? That’s really all you need to do to have a general spending plan that you can refer to when you work your business the next month.

Following these few steps will get you on a good path to managing both the personal and business finances every month. If you’d like more tips and strategies for taking and keeping control of your money stuff, join my Facebook Group, “Stacking the DECK for financial success.”

So, What Should I Spend On… Evaluating ROI

Posted on June 30, 2020 by dawnk

Ah, setting the plans for things and questioning whether you are spending the right amount, in the right order for your business, is a problem we all face. I haven’t yet met an entrepreneur who hasn’t second guessed the decisions to spend money. The cost of the additional team member, marketing plan, or ad spend in her business. We want to be mindful of our resources, especially when we are starting to make money consistently, because we fear that one misstep will set us back again. Time to evaluate the return on our investment (ROI).

The good news, because it is a universal thing, we don’t have to lose sleep over our budget decisions. In fact, when we make a money decision, we need to stick to it until we decide to change. It is easier to say than do, I know, because money is involved. And most of us measure our successes on the amount of income we are making. Why that’s not always the best idea is for another blog post. Once you’ve made your decision, you can make decisions based on whether your Return on Investment (ROI) is satisfactory.

Evaluating Return on Investment

I’ve been guilty of evaluating my return on investment in pure dollars and percentages. The fact is, any investment has effects on time and energy as well. I budget for and hire different people on a project basis because they are doing the things that zap my time and energy. Things that may not be in my zone of genius, have a steep learning curve, and honestly wear me out to do. When you have a written plan for your business, you can more easily put expert help where it is needed.

The simple fact is that we have to be honest with ourselves first about what is important to us. We can monetize our time and compare how much we are spending versus how much your time is worth. I hired a cleaner once a week in March to help me tackle the house. Honestly, Andrea has been a Godsend. I made that decision by monetizing how many hours I spent cleaning, vs. how much it really cost to have someone come in and support.

Another recent decision of mine was made, NOT through monetizing my time, but rather through evaluating how much time and energy I was spending outside my zone of genius. The hours it took me to perform these tasks, and the energy drain was brutal. I was able to regain some productive time and have much better the results now that I outsourced the project.

You Can Always Change If it Isn’t Working

My coach has a great expression that, “You aren’t getting a tattoo on your face.” And, unless you really are, you can change anything once it starts. As your business matures and grows you may find some processes or team members don’t fit your current ROI evaluation. You shouldn’t feel bad about that. I have seen some business owners who hold onto a business decision a little too long. Typically because they don’t want to “upset the apple cart” and hurt someone’s feelings. You can change suppliers. And you can change social media managers. You can do all the things you need to as you are staying true to your vision. You should re-evaluate ROI regularly as you are making the next set of decisions to move forward.

If you are struggling to make these types of business decisions or are wondering if it is time to make a change in your company, you don’t have to do it alone. Grab a spot on my calendar for a free 30-minute support call, and let me support you in making the changes you must to move your business to the next level! Use this link https://dawnkennedy.as.me/support to book your call.

Is it Time to Give Yourself a Raise?

Posted on June 23, 2020 by dawnk

If you have been paying yourself this year regularly, the next question is, “Are you ready to give yourself a raise?”

This week is the last week of June and marks the end of the first half of the year. Be honest, have you really been writing yourself a check every time I send an Entre Pay Day newsletter? If so, congrats! You have written 12 paychecks so far! If you haven’t yet started to make your paydays a thing, put them on the calendar and start this week. Even a $10.00 to $25.00 paycheck feels great and is a tangible reward for all of your entrepreneurial hard work.

If you aren’t thinking about a raise yet right now, that’s fine, but let’s define what the conditions are for you to go ahead and boost your own paycheck. You need something a little more concrete than, “someday” or, “next year” or the elusive “when we make more.” The six-month mark is a great time to plan our next salary move.

First, what calculation did you use to determine your current check amount?

Think back to when you first wrote yourself a check this year. Did you figure your personal four walls (food, utilities, rent or mortgage and transportation) as your first goal? Or did you take a percentage of your “goal” salary, say 40% of your desired $1,000.00 per week? Note how you came up with your current paycheck amount.

Next, try a bump up a bit to a percentage that feels good and is sustainable.

Go ahead, let’s play with the numbers. What does 5% look like? How about 10%? If you write yourself a $500.00 net check every other week, what if you bump it up to $550? Remember to have a purpose for the money. So, take a moment and think about what you would be able to do with an additional $100.00 per month in this scenario? Hire a cleaner part time? Get a massage? How about that food order service you wanted to try? Or to pay a bigger chunk of the personal expenses if you still do the side hustle thing?

Don’t forget the bump in taxes.

Your business should be paying your taxes as well. In our example above of a $500.00 net check, the gross check that you write adds in the 25-30% that you deposit for self- employment taxes. If we add 25% to this example, the gross paycheck every other week is $625.00, with $125.00 for taxes and $500.00 for the next paycheck. Do a quick, back of the envelope calculation, and refigure the taxes and your new gross paycheck amount.

If You Don’t Start Now, Calendar your raise.

Maybe you aren’t quite ready to make this bump. But when will you be? Set a date on the calendar. Perhaps it is August 1^st. Or maybe 4^th Qtr. Whatever you decide, try not to let it go into next year. You want to relook your own compensation a few times a year as you are growing your business. Remember that as soon as you start writing that bigger check it is time to celebrate!

If you are struggling to pay yourself, or you are unsure if this is the right time for a raise, you may need to get more clear on your numbers and design a strong money strategy that encompasses the six pillars of business finance. The doors to Profit 101: The Creative’s Guide to Managing the Money are still open for our July 1^st start. Visit https://entremoneycoach.com/profit-101 to get into the simple money management program creatives love.

Why You Should Plan Your Spending Every Month

Posted on June 16, 2020 by dawnk

I don’t like the word, “budget.” I think it seems restrictive, and many people agree. Prefer to use, “the spending plan,” because you are truly free to decide how to spend. I find, however, the monthly spending plan causes some real stress for people. Sometimes it is the idea of planning out the money (particularly before it’s made) and sometimes it’s the feeling that your plan must be perfectly executed to be any good. BUNK. Having an idea of what you will spend, and when, makes it easier to make decisions. Because you have set a limit. A written limit. Your spending plans. And the plan is designed to be dynamic. As dynamic as your business.

Having an idea of what you want to spend every month in different areas of your business is smart. It’s way too easy to just hand over the debit or credit card without counting how the amount you spend reflects on your overall business income and expenses. You are in business to make money and earn a profit. You have to have a plan for your spending.

Know what You Will Spend and Write it Down.

Think of you spending plan as a helpful guide. Beyond the expenses in your breakthrough number (the four walls), you should consider your spending in other areas, such as your marketing, projects, supporting persons (not employees), and business processes. Creating a marketing budget, creating a budget for contractors, and a budget for things like accountants and payroll allows you to make decisions throughout the month on where to maybe spend more, or where to cut back.

How much you can afford to spend will be something you need to work out based on your business’s goals and income but have numbers down. I’ve seen one too many businesses hire people or launch a campaign and then run out of money before things could be completed. Because they bought into what sounded awesome, not what was really affordable at that moment in their business.

Plan to Make Changes Throughout the Month

Guess what? My spending plans RARELY go unchanged throughout the month. Typically, at least one thing changes. Maybe I made a small investment into a resource or course that became available. Or I decided to move a project forward sooner than planned because of an opportunity that I wasn’t expecting. The thing is, having a written plan allows me to make those decisions.

Unexpected changes are, well, to be expected. When you have your plan in front of you have a baseline. Then consider what comes up. You can ask yourself, “Can I afford this? Is it moving us towards the vision? Does this work better now or later?” Your answers will then guide whether you want to spend now or not. But with a good written plan you will already know what money has been allocated, what’s left, and how much extra has come in the door to guide you.

If you need some guidance in creating your spending plan, and getting your business money stuff straight and stress-free, join me in the live Profit 101 course starting July 1^st 2020. For more information on what we cover in the course, including the six pillars of your business money, visit https://entremoneycoach.com/profit-101 . Doors close on June 30^th.

Money Truth: We Aren’t Supposed to be Starving Entrepreneurs

Posted on June 9, 2020 by dawnk

Talking to my third creative this week about profit. And again, it’s someone who is netting under $7.00 an hour. Not because they aren’t talented. Not because they aren’t absolutely excelling in their zone of genius, but because they don’t know their numbers, they don’t know where the profit is all leaking out, or they feel too guilty to charge more.

The truth is, we wouldn’t work for someone else for the rates that we pay ourselves. The days of “breaking even” need to be behind us, because you are worthy of earning an amazing paycheck and keeping profit in the business AFTER you get paid. Here’s a little primer on profit.

There are several ways to figure your profit margin, but without getting too “mathy” I want you to do two things really. Make sure you are not losing money. Add a little profit margin to your products and services if you don’t already.

Rule #1: Don’t Lose Money

The first rule of business. But it is easy to do. You can forget to figure in all of your costs. Perhaps we don’t account for all of our hours. Or, we offer “add ons” without considering what those bonuses cost our business. And we all do it. If you want to offer something for free and not recoup the cost, that’s fine. Or, if you want to offer something at less than cost, that’s fine. But, if you do it for everything in your business, it’s not a business. It’s an expensive hobby. And you will only get more and more frustrated as time goes on. Because you work so hard and make no money.

Here’s a simple way to figure your base costs. You can figure them by day, or by week, or by hour. To figure by week, take your total and divide by 4. To figure per day, divide by the number of days you are open (M-F is an average of 20 days/mo.) and by hour, first divide by day, then by the number of hours you are open.

Add up all of your costs. Start with your Breakthrough Number, all four walls of your business (if you need to calculate your number, visit here). Don’t forget to add your other costs, such as, your marketing, debt payments, everything.

Take that number and choose your frequency (week, day, hour) and divide. This is the base cost you have to stay open for the period of time you chose. For example:

My true costs are $3500.00/ month.

For weekly costs: Divide by 4- $875/ week

Daily costs to stay in business, divide by 20 (I am open 5 days a week): $175/day

Divide the daily number by the hours I am open (8): $22.00/ hour.

So, for this example, I need to make $22.00/ hour or $175/day or $875 week to not lose any money in my business.

Rule #2: You Are in the Business to Make Profit.

You need to make more than the hypothetical $22.00/ hour example above to have any profit left over after all of your costs. How do we do this? First off, it is an average. You may have a day that makes more, and a day that makes less. You know your Breakthrough number (that’s the start) and all of your costs (that’s how we figured the base) now we look at your products and offers and add profit.

If you are a service provider: add a profit line. You can add whatever feels right for you. Add 20%, 50%, 100%.

– Start from your offer. How many do you need to sell a day, week, month, at the current price point to get to profit?

– mix up your offers, how many of each do you need to sell?

– you can decide what offers get which profit margins, because they don’t all have to be equal. There’s no issue if you charge a 30% profit on one thing, and 10% on another. As long as you have a net profit margin when you look at them all together.

If you have a product: add a profit line. You can add to every product evenly, or add to them individually, do what feels right.

– I see products from creatives often lose money, because you don’t charge to recoup the time it takes to manufacture things, like shirts, prints, jewelry, etc.

– Add a small percentage to your true wholesale costs, like 2-3% if you are worried about charging more.

– Add a flat fee for your time if you don’t already. $8.00/ item to manufacture or perhaps $100/ hour (divided by the number of things you make an hour.) to recoup the cost of your time.

– If you are a wholesaler or reseller, use a flat percentage if you want- and siphon it off as pure profit, not to be co-mingles with the other income for expenses.

– Again, your profit margins do not have to be equal across products, line of business, or offers. You can have a smaller number on bulk sales, higher on individual for example. As long as at the end of the day you have a positive profit margin.

You Don’t Have to Do the Math Alone. Grab a spot on my calendar for a free 30-minute support call, and let’s take a look at your numbers, and where your profit leaks are. Just visit https://dawnkennedy.as.me/support to grab a spot on my calendar. I am passionate about seeing small businesses succeed and maintain profitability for the long term.

What to Do When We Miss Goals

Posted on May 26, 2020 by dawnk

It doesn’t ever feel good to make goals, work hard towards them, and miss them. A lot of people like to use the “miss the moon, fall amongst the stars” analogy to describe missing your goals, but the fact is, most of the time, it hurts. However, sometimes missing your goal can be a great thing. It opens your creativity. It forces you to look at your path, planning, and approach. Missing and reaching goals teaches a valuable lesson in every attempt and every victory. And with the right perspective, you will see that in your efforts you either meet your goal or learn something that changes you.

Why We Need Goals

First of all, goals tell us our desires. Goals help us to separate the wishes and dreams from the thing we are willing to work towards. Without goals, we can’t channel our ambitions. And goals are often tangible, so we can stay motivated through the progress, as we reach different milestones on the path to the ultimate achievement we want to attain.

If you aren’t in the habit of setting goals, I encourage you to do so. Start small if you like. A financial goal. A project goal. An increase in followers. More people visiting your website. Pick one to get started. One of my favorite sayings is, “if you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.”

How Do We Set Goals?

I don’t align myself with the “SMART” goal strategy exactly. That approach requires all goals be “specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timebound.” I have no problems with the specific and measurable parts of this style because progress is motivating. I think if we talk “achievable” too narrowly, people won’t undertake a “stretch” goal, one that is just outside the obvious reach and forces us to work a little harder or be a little more creative to hit.

Personally, I start from the end state of what I am going to do and backwards plan, putting steps on the calendar and wherever else. I do give myself a deadline, but in reality, I have realized that rigorous time limits can stifle creativity and the ability to add a valuable step or process into the mix. My approach isn’t always great for very time specific goals. I’ve become a little “soft” on deadlines as I’ve spent more time as an entrepreneur. If I am not striving for a project goal, I would rather work in “windows” of time. I am padding the calendar at times to leave room for those sparks of inspiration.

Once the goal is set, however, it must become non-negotiable. I recently started reading, “The Audacity to Be Queen” by Gina DeVee, and she explains it as, “being unavailable for anything else.” When you have your goals set by your desires rather than working from a position of “I wish, I want” we start from “it’s happening, this is what I am doing.” We commit to taking each action step with unwavering determination and belief. And then start moving.

When we miss goals

There are people who believe that if you don’t hit a goal, you didn’t want it badly enough. Maybe. I think if you don’t hit a goal, any number of things could have happened. Have you ever gotten halfway to a goal and then lost your passion for the result? How about external forces that interfered? Ever have a goal that you reach at another time? How about something that needed to be tweaked- something you will correct for the next round?

Whatever we discover our reasons to be aside, when we don’t hit our goals, it cannot be the end of the world. Because we made the goal non-negotiable and we are unavailable for anything else. Any perceived “miss” is a timing issue. Or an approach issue. We need to find the lesson. We need to evaluate what went well, what didn’t work, and we need to be willing to make adjustments and to continue moving forward. And we need to replace any disappointment with a celebration of our progress. A genuine celebration. Happy Entrepreneuring!

You Still Need an Accountant, But Not to Control Your Income

Posted on May 19, 2020 by dawnk

Many times, I speak with entrepreneurs who have “turned all that stuff over” to an accountant. Meaning, they don’t look at or control their business money. I get it. The money stuff isn’t as sexy as a new logo or website. The truth is, your bookkeeper, accountant, or payroll company is NOT responsible for your bottom line. They are responsible to keep you compliant and out of trouble. Here is my take: You control the income, let your accountant do the accounting.

These small business professionals SHOULD take care of the reporting and advise you on the best way to manage your responsibilities as it pertains to taxes, withholding, unemployment insurance, etc. But they are NOT invested in making sure your profit margins are “right.” That’s YOUR job. The thing is, YOU have to control your income. Don’t delegate that part of your business.

You know what comes in, and decides what goes out, to whom, and when. That’s it. Let your payroll company cut the checks and deposit your taxes. Let your accountant file your taxes and help you stay compliant and legal.

First, don’t ignore the money and just let it flow in and out without intention.

Make managing your money an intentional act. Take the bills off autopay to protect your cash flow and put dates on the calendar for your paychecks and for tracking your money. It’s so easy nowadays to just let it run on it’s own, but when you aren’t looking at the money management, you aren’t looking at the health of your business.

Second, prioritize your expenses and pay them in the right order to keep the doors open.

It seems like everything points back to your Breakthrough Number, doesn’t it? This is because it is the simplest way to holistically look at all of your expenses and to calculate the minimum amount of money you need to bring in every month. If you don’t have your Breakthrough Number yet, it’s free to do and typically takes under 30 minutes! Grab your workbook here.

Third, Track every dime that comes in and give every bit of money a job to do.

This is the part many people don’t embrace. You have to write everything down. It is way too hard to try and remember where your money went, what got paid, and how much is being used for different things in your business. It is also very simple to do. Just write down your total income for the week (in a log, on the computer, in an app, wherever) and everything you paid or funded for that week. The number “in” needs to equal the number “out.” Meaning, just note where it all went. You may have some left in the operating account. Cool. But note how much came from that week’s sales.

Finally, have your accountant do your reports and taxes and compliance stuff.

Small businesses need accountants. I would never try to navigate the tax stuff on my own. This is why you hire professionals. You still need your accountant and bookkeeper and payroll person. Particularly if it takes you away from your business and outside your zone of genius.

You do not want to make a mistake here. Use their reports to help you make financial and tax decisions. Just know that they aren’t going to tell you how to make more profit every month or to find opportunities for growth.

Upper Limit Problems- Your Brain’s Safety is “ON”

Posted on May 12, 2020 by dawnk

Your brain likes to keep you safe. It likes to talk you out of doing things that are new and perceived as “dangerous.” Like opening a new business, meeting a new income milestone, or launching new products and services. If your brain doesn’t have a point of reference for the “new” thing you are doing it defaults to believing you are in “danger” and it takes immediate steps to talk you out of it. Putting doubts, fears, and sometimes self-sabotaging behaviors into your head. To make you stop. To keep you, “safe.” It’s all laid out in The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks.

It’s happened to you before. It has happened to all of us. You get a great new idea and immediately you think, “this will never work.” Or you have repeatable patterns of self-sabotage every time you are ready to launch something new into the world. It’s frustrating and confusing. Why does the brain work so hard to derail anything new? Even if the new thing is good for us, like making more money?

It’s actually quite simple. Our brains haven’t adapted to the fact that we aren’t physically in harms way when there’s something happening the brain doesn’t recognize. The ego wants to keep us in the status quo where it can predict everything, and nothing is going to harm us. This is the part of the brain that watches for cheetahs chasing us. And it hasn’t adapted to life today in 2020. But you can get past an upper limit problem. We need to get past the brains safety switch so we can level up past our previous “set point?”

First, acknowledge that this is new, and you know the brain is feeling fear.

Recognizing an upper limit problem is the first step. Paying attention to how you feel and what’s going on around you as you begin to do or attain something new and different is the first step. Fear may show up in different ways, but the consistent thread is that your brain is trying to talk you out of moving forward and is making excuses for you not to continue. We’ve all done it, had those inner conversations that talk us out if ideas.

Second, reassure your brain that you are safe.

Give it a little attention and thank it for trying to protect you. I thank my brain all the time, and remind it that I am safe, and that we are doing this thing. By paying attention and not ignoring it, the negative voices in my head do quiet down a little. It is okay to feel scared when we try something new. Anything new in our business may feel scary, and in many cases we are unsure of the outcome, no matter the projections and plans. Acknowledge it. Remind yourself you are safe.

Another trick is to trace and minimize the fear by asking, “what if (this negative thing) does happen?” and answer the question. For example, “what if we don’t sell any?” then honestly examine the consequence. By answering the questions you give yourself a point of reference. By giving yourself a point of reference, the brain can calm down.

Third, do your thing. Just do it.

Your brain will create a new set point as it experiences your new level. As you try and succeed (or learn) different things, the brain adapts and knows “how” to do it, and it isn’t seen as automatically dangerous.

I have my own upper limit problems. We all do. I tend to self-sabotage when “new” things are happening, and the business is readying to break through a level. In fact, as I write this, I am on bed rest from an odd back injury. I didn’t fall and don’t remember hurting myself, but I have a bulging disk in my lower back. Is this my body and brain telling me to slow down? I think so. So, I am going a little slower. But I am not quitting, which is what my brain really wants me to do.

Fourth, recognize the growth place and celebrate it.

When you grow and reach the next level, celebrate it. You’ve done it now, your brain has a frame of reference, you are not going to struggle to that level again. Congratulations on staying the course and growing into your next thing.

Finally, rinse and repeat.

Every time you come up against something new, scary, your “growth edge” you will likely have to calm your brain and give it reassurance. It is a part of growing and making permanent changes in your life. And once you are aware of them and take the steps to grow around them, your growth potential is limitless. Happy Entrepreneuring!

What I Learned About My Business When I Revisited My Mission Statement

Posted on May 5, 2020 by dawnk

One of the first things many entrepreneurs do is to create their mission statement, vision statement, and values. These three statements anchor the brand, the business plan, the map for the business itself. If you have never taken the time to define these things for your business, it’s definitely an exercise in clarity.

A surprising assignment.

I learned the importance of this exercise with UNEQ Consulting. We were late with this process though and we worked with an amazing business consultant to guide us. Since that experience I have made a point to create these three statements for every venture. But I didn’t revisit them before now. Revisiting them was an assignment from my coach.

I honestly never thought to review the “big three” statements once I got them written. I guess I always thought that was such a “corporate” thing to do. Not a small business thing. In reality, small businesses change and evolve and pivot and serve different audiences much more frequently than large corporations.

I had created this first mission statement back in October 2019 as Entre Money Coach was fully separating from my law practice and personal financial coaching business into its own entity:

“My mission is to empower and support entrepreneurs making powerful, positive changes to their money management approach, to protect and grow their businesses into the vision they were given, with understanding, enthusiasm, and without judgment.”

Niching Down

So much happened between October and March! I worked with many more people on their businesses. Through those clients I refined the process of calculating my signature Breakthrough Number approach to money management, so it was more streamlined. I definitely niched differently. I thought that start-ups would benefit from getting their financial sh*t together from the beginning, but I realized very quickly that these entrepreneurs were so excited about just, “being in business” that the money stuff hardly entered their mind.

Rather the clients calling me were entrepreneurs who have been in business for a bit, and who are making money and not keeping much of it. This segment required much more strategy to create income and increase profits. It was less about “open your operating account” and more about, “we need to change this package because you are losing money on this.” The consistent results for my clients was that they made more money and kept more profit. Financial organization and positive changes to money mechanics were byproducts of my approach. Not the reason I was being called.

Time for a Change

So mid-March I revisited my mission, and realized a lot had changed. So, I refined it, taking into account all of the stuff I already talked about above. Here is the March 2020 version of my mission statement:

“The mission of Entre Money Coach is to help small businesses make more income and keep more profit with a money management approach that starts with their Breakthrough Number and prioritizes protecting the business and paying the entrepreneur so they can grow into their business vision. We do this with understanding, enthusiasm, and without judgment.”

Much more specific as to who and how. I plan to revisit it again in October. It’s already on my calendar to take time to review. If you haven’t looked at your statement in a while, or never created one at all, I encourage you to take the time to do it this week. Happy Entrepreneuring!

Your Business. Thriving.

Author: dawnk