Keep What You Earn

As an entrepreneur, it may feel like you never know how much money you're making! When you don't know how much you're making, it's hard to make good decisions in business and in life.   When can you take time off? Can you afford to hire a new employee? Will you make enough to pay yourself?   It all come down to cash flow. We're covering how to manage and track cash flow so you can make informed de...

I'm not going to lie, when I started my business, I was super skeptical about joining LinkedIn as a business. I've since gotten into a good rhythm but this interview with Katie McKiever still reframed my perspective on how LinkedIn can be used for small businesses and entrepreneurs.   Katie McKiever has vast social media, communications, and content marketing expertise. For more than twelve years,...

EBITDA is something you may have heard in the finance world. But what is it? And what does it tell you?   EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. When you take your earnings and add back in interest expense, taxes, depreciation, and amortization you'll get your EBITDA.   For many of you this number may be the same as your net profit (earnings) because you...

Julia Boorstin is CNBC's Senior Media & Tech Correspondent and has been an on-air reporter for the network since 2006. In 2013, she created and launched the CNBC Disruptor 50, an annual list she oversees, highlighting private companies transforming the economy and challenging companies in established industries.   She also helped launch the network's 'Closing the Gap' initiative covering the peopl...

One of my favorite parts of having this show and connecting with all of you is getting to answer your questions. Today we're talking about the common question: Will anyone actually buy my offer? Am I actually ready to make this investment and bet on myself? If this is where you find yourself, tune in for ideas for your business and how you can make it work.   We're talking about the ways that you...

This year has been a great one for Keep What You Earn! I love getting to share wisdom, answer your questions, and give advice on this platform.   We've got a 2022 recap and 2023 mindset reset for you in this episode with some excerpts from our three top downloaded episodes of the year! These excerpts should help you get your mindset dialed in for the new year and get started on the right foot. Lis...

One of the barriers I often see to entrepreneurs unlocking their next level of success and confidence is embracing sales. Don't look at it as an obligation or something you HAVE to do. That's why I've brought Ashley Frank on the show today, to share how you can step into sales with a whole new mindset; without feeling sleazy or manipulative.   For over 15 years, Ashley has partnered with innovativ...

Today we're going through how to deduct medical expenses and self-employed health insurance as an entrepreneur or business owner. I know this is a burning question for so many, especially if you've left a full-time job and now find yourself navigating insurance on your own. We're going to cover the difference between medical expenses and insurance expenses, when you can deduct medical expenses, an...

Some of the challenges with boundaries, especially as a business owner, are not only understanding how to define and establish them but also how to enforce them. You want to minimize conflict and resistance in the process but hold firm to what you have decided upon. We're breaking it all down with Woodrie Burich.   Woodrie is the founder of The Integration Group and Boundaries Before Burnout® grou...

It's goal-setting season! I wanted to drop in and remind you that your goals are supposed to be based on what you really want. If you're setting goals in your business, they're likely financial ones, and that's great. I love measurable goals using metrics.   But as you set these metric-based goals, make sure they're anchored to your true goal. What's the "why" behind it? When you know the "why" be...

We hear a lot about marketing around pain points and I 100% believe you should be doing this, but you need to understand that a pain point and a problem are not the same things. The pain points are the stakes of the problem, the result of the problem.   If you can articulate that to clients, relate to them, and create stakes around the problem that you're going to help them solve, you'll be able t...

A lot of people think that you're either on the strategy or spiritual side of things and that there's not really an in-between. Our guest today balances both sides of this really well.   Angela Christian is a manifestation expert who has studied astrology, mindfulness, various rituals, sciences, and arts, that circle around the spiritual side of business. Even if you don't feel spiritually incline...

I always say it's important to maintain your financial power when it comes to your business, your taxes, or anything in that realm. If you let your tax advisor take the wheel and start driving, you have no control over where you're going or how you get there.   Your tax professional should be trying to find you every tax deduction you're legally allowed to take but you can't take unjustified short...

Now that we seem to be in a post-COVID era, many people are back to scheduling events to promote their businesses. So much goes into the preparation for hosting an event so I wanted to help you learn from the best!   Sarah Brush is a 20+ year Corporate Event Professional in the Technology industry and the owner of EVENTive Brush, a business helping entrepreneurs build community, make an impact, an...

Continuing on our dive into the two most common financial statements, today I will cover the balance sheet. The three sections of a balance sheet are assets, liability, and equity. In order to correctly read a balance sheet, you need to know how these sections correlate.   In this episode, I will explain how to properly understand the data portrayed and help you figure out whether or not your busi...

The two most common financial statements that you will encounter in your business are a profit & loss statement and a balance sheet. In this episode, I will be focusing on the profit and loss statement. Understanding how to properly read this statement can help you know how well (or not so well) your business is doing.   The most important thing to remember when reading your statement is that reve...

My husband Jason is back on the show to share what he would do differently if he were starting a business from scratch. He is an expert business owner who has 16 years of experience and over $40 million dollars in sales under his belt.   When he started his business things were very different from what they are today. Some of the things he would consider changing if he were starting fresh today wo...

I recommend that people hire a financial professional into their business from day one. The number one objection is always, "I can't afford to hire an accountant." Believe it or not, that may not actually be the case.   There are a couple different ways that accountants can bill you. Many old school accountants bill by the hour but I prefer value-based pricing. It may not be as much as you think a...

A lot of people are starting businesses right now! You may be starting a business, incurring all of the startup costs, but you aren't making money yet. The big question is: can you deduct those startup costs even if you won't be making money until the next calendar year?   The good news is, there's a whole section of the tax code related to startup costs. You can deduct up to $5,000 in startup cos...

There are different dimensions to how you can sell more. You can increase the number of customers you sell to, increase the duration of time they remain clients, or increase the number of times customers buy from you. If you're having trouble finding clients you may just be looking in the wrong places.   It's not always about cold messaging people or buying salesy email templates to add to your em...

There's a lot of talk online about audit red flags and how to avoid them. I've heard every form, deduction, and strategy thrown out there as something to avoid. My best advice is to cancel out the noise and file your tax turn as accurately and honestly as possible to avoid an audit. However, there are some things that may cause the IRS to flag you for an audit. Some of these include deducting more...

Amber Frankhuizen is the founder and CEO of AFMKTG. She started my business in 2018 and has become known as the "intern whisperer" because of her focus on mentorship and education for young professionals. She believes that college is broken because a lot of theory is taught but not many practical skills. Amber decided to start offering internships as a way to give back and also build her business'...

It may be tempting to lower your prices right now to accommodate people who can't afford your services. I'm not a fan of this tactic because when you reduce your price, you reduce the perception of value for your service. You want the price of your product or service to be rising because the value of it will naturally increase over time. So what can you do if somebody offers the same product or se...

Jessica is back for part two of our discussion on retirement options for business owners and entrepreneurs! We're running through all of the nitty gritty details of the Solo 401k and SEP IRA including the tax benefits and options available with each. We also took a dive into the best ways to get started with the many different options if this is your first exposure to them and you want to learn mo...

This episode of Keep What You Earn helps listeners understand the different options available for retirement savings, so they can take action and plan for their future. "The more you do now for your future self, the more you'll be able to take action early and often." Jessica Searcy Kmetty is the President and CEO of Searcy Financial, a fee only registered investment adviser and financial planning...