Keep What You Earn

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...

It is not too late to elect to be taxed as an S Corp for your business for 2022! You can still take the S Corp election right now, as long as you are compliant for 2022. You must already have an LLC or Corporation. You also need to have your books covered for 2022, at professional-grade, and be ready to run payroll. With an S Corp you're required to pay yourself a reasonable salary, so make sure y...

Shannon interviews Kat Lee, a trauma-informed spiritual business mentor, on how to use Eastern medicine principles to approach business with a different perspective. In this episode, you will hear:   1. The intersection of Eastern medicine and business 2. Approaching business from a spiritual perspective 3. The importance of cycles and seasons in business Kat Lee is a trauma-informed spiritual bus...

For years I thought I had my marketing strategy dialed in and perfected... but I was wrong. I've been doing this slightly wrong the whole time. These are the lessons I've learned about articulating your value in your marketing. So many business owners are falling short of their full potential because they struggle to explain the problem they solve. Hear my personal experience and case study. * Fin...

It's easy to think of your business as the way you make money to fuel your lifestyle but I'm going to challenge that. Our money can go a lot further when we use it to create passive income or purchase cash-flowing assets. If you can tap into patience and understand the impact of these decisions, you'll see your wealth grow. When your focus is building wealth, you have to play the long game. * Find...

Wondering what you can do in the next month that will change the outcome of your year from a tax and business perspective? These are my three best tips as you're heading into the final month of the year. First, examine your bookkeeping - it should be accurate and up to date. Then, do a bit of tax planning. It really comes down to cash flow; you can start thinking of ways to accelerate expenses and...

These are the keys to getting quality content out into the world! Before you have the means to hire a team, just focus on a realistic number of value-packed posts that you can get out. Once you have the means to hire a team I highly recommend doing so. The teams that I work with work so well together and they do an amazing job capturing my voice to help me crank out the content you see across plat...

Gratitude will change your life and give you power. Financial gratitude (especially in tough times) will change your perspective on the situations at hand. What opportunities have you had that you're grateful for? What opportunities are upcoming that you're looking forward to? When things are hard it's easy to focus on what you lack but it's important to shift your perspective toward the things th...

A CFO provides value In the form of insights, mindset, coaching, and strategy. They help you craft the plan for your goals. So how can you know when you're ready to hire a fractional CFO? One of the indicators is when you want to grow but lack clarity and direction. Another reason you may want to hire a fractional CFO is if you need accountability in your finances. The final sign you're ready for...

Because of my corporate background, I had a really warped view of what core values are and what they're meant to be. You have core values whether you've defined them or not but when you can put them into words, the amount of clarity you can have around your business is amazing! Think about what would cause you to fire an employee OR a client. Your deal-breakers are the implementation of your value...

When it comes to wealth-building, we often tell ourselves stories like, "I don't have the knowledge, skills, or upbringing for this, and it's too late for me." My conversation with Candy Valentino is here to dispel that, you can build wealth, no matter your circumstances! When it comes to business decisions or investing the key is to remove feelings and look at the data. Avoid poor purchasing deci...

My guest Sarah Jansel (The Shopify Queen) is the CEO of Jansel & Co, where she and her team build, brand, and grow awesome websites on Shopify and Kajabi. Our discussion dives into all things holidays and serving your customers. Sarah shares many options for product-based and service-based businesses on how to offer sales, discounts, deals, and more (especially during the holiday season). We also...

Danny and Brianne Hoefelmann are back! They are the owners of podcast production service, The Good in Media. They help clients build, launch, and scale podcasts on the foundation of helping others and building community. We'll be talking about the reality of running a business, their unique perspective on running a business as a couple, and their business journey from the start to now. Whether you...

These three things are the keys to taking your side hustle and making it your main stream of income. First, you have to recognize that you have a business. When you downplay the importance or significance of your business it will hurt you in the long run. Second, you have to prove that your business is self-sustaining financially. No more pulling money from the other job, can your business support...