Keep What You Earn

Accountants are insanely valuable and versatile professionals. So much so, that it's actually really confusing what the hell an accountants job is and what it isn't. It can feel like the accountant is the Swiss Army knife to any business solution, but that isn't always the case.   I want to clarify a couple of things, I have a pretty strong opinion about this. I believe that there are certain thin...

Your mindset is incredibly important, especially when it comes to your mindset towards your business and life as an entrepreneur. Being able to shift your thinking to the appropriate mindset can help you not only endure the toughest hardships, but grow from them. Chris Felton joins me to unpack how to get your mindset right and explain some of the key points to his new book, "Think and Grow You"....

As a business owner, we're always chasing growth, we're always chasing that next thing, it feels like no matter what we do, we're always hungry for that next level. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes we can feel like we're starting to plateau when it comes to our income; like we can't break free from a certain level and we're not sure how to unlock that next step.   It can make...

We're all absorbing so much information and advice every single day, from social media, our friends and family, our business colleagues, mentors, and so much more. We're being told constantly what we should be doing. Sometimes as business owners, that's really helpful, because it's in the name of service and the name of helping us. But sometimes it can be really overwhelming and really exhausting....

I firmly believe that one of the key components to unlocking scalability in your business is having a recurring revenue model that allows your customers to make purchases from you time and time again. Relying solely on a product or service that generates a one-time sale per customer can quickly lead to burnout. The constant need to market and acquire new customers can be exhausting, making it chal...

As entrepreneurs, we always get this advice that we need to know our numbers, right? I want to be clear, this advice isn't suggesting you memorize your exact numbers. Yes, we should know some of these things, especially in a product-based business, but I want to talk about the three different dimensions where you should be focusing your attention if you're looking to get to know your numbers a bit...

Lindsay Dotzlaf, the founder of The Coach Lab and Coaching Masters, shares her journey from being a novice in life coaching to mastering coaching skills. With her background in psychology and ability to connect with people, she founded her own coaching business after being coached for a few years.   Lindsay shares her insights on how to articulate the problem that coaches solve and how to meet cli...

We all know that making more money in business is really a function of two key variables, sales and costs. Most of the time, we're really focused on that first number, our sales. Not just calling in the right people getting your messaging right as we've talked about before, but also how to increase your revenue.   If it feels like you're hustling so hard, trying to get new customers in the door an...

What's the next level of freedom that you're hoping to unlock? Our individual definitions of freedom are subjective and constantly evolving. I'm thrilled for this conversation because we have the privilege of hearing from Mike Ayala about his journey, how he dared to challenge conventions, and unapologetically forged his path towards financial freedom.   Mike's life experiences have led him to dis...

Let's talk about relationships - business relationships, to be specific. As your business grows, you will inevitably need to bring in additional help, whether in the form of employees or contractors. Although it can be somewhat of a gray area, it's crucial to accurately categorize the individuals who work for you.   While hiring contractors may offer more tax advantages, there has been a rise in t...

Nowadays, your office can be wherever your laptop is, but you may be unaware that having a home office can lead to tax savings. Let's explore how you can legitimately and legally claim the home office deduction without any disputes from the IRS.   One of the requirements for claiming a home office deduction is that the space must be used exclusively for business purposes. This means it cannot be y...

If you're just starting out in the area of financial management and you haven't received formal financial education it can seem like there's so much conflicting advice out there. It can be confusing to know what to do with your money and it may even become so overwhelming that you do nothing and you're missing out on opportunities. I wanted to go back to basics with today's guest, Mark Russell! Ma...

It can feel really daunting to be selling all the time, marketing all the time, launching all the time. And yet you're not getting the results that you want, you're not getting the results you expect. It's not for lack of trying, it's not for the lack of effort, but it's really tempting that when these things don't work, to blame the offer itself or to give up completely. It's tempting, because yo...

In case no one's told you lately, building a small business and intentionally choosing to stay small is actually a really good strategy. I think that we can get really caught up in expectations that are put on us and the types of pressures to grow and to scale and to do better, more and more and more. Sometimes, it really comes down to simplifying and really understanding your goals and what you w...

When you start a business, you may think your taxes will get very complicated or that you'll need to find a new accountant to handle your taxes. That may not be the case! When you're a sole proprietor of single-member LLC, your taxes tend to be pretty simple (as long as you've kept up with the books). You don't even need to file a separate tax return for your business. You'll be adding a Schedule...

If you have an S Corp or Multi-Member LLC, the tax filing deadline for your business is March 15th. You're basically reporting how well you did last year; your expenses, income, profit, and distributions. If you need to extend, you can, up to September 15th but you may not want to. Why? You and other partners in your business need a page from that return called the K-1. So if you extend the March...

You may be tempted to think that Twitter is not the greatest place to monetize your brand, or the greatest place to show up right now. But we're going to be talking about that in today's episode and how you as a business owner can actually monetize your Twitter, use it a little bit more thoughtfully and actually create a strategy that is built around Twitter if it is a preferred platform for you....

These are the fundamental building blocks of any business, whether it's online, brick-and-mortar, service-based, or product-based. It's your job to create systems and structure that allow your business to thrive, you are the nurturer and sustainer! You need to decide whether you'll operate as a sole proprietor or not, if you opt not to, you'll need a business entity. Then you need a payment proces...

When it comes to Facebook ads, I feel like it's the Wild Wild West. I get super confused by how to strategize with them! It almost feels like trying to win a game at the casino; it feels like the house always wins or that you're trying to somehow fight this uphill battle. This is why I've brought Daria Kotenko on. Daria is a Facebook and Instagram Ads Strategist and the founder of Yellow Iris Mark...

You would not believe how often I get this question. It's often hard or unclear how you should end things with a service provider, but especially a finance pro! Ideally, your accountant has an engagement letter or contract that lays out the terms of your agreement, that you can reference when you're ready to move on. But many accountants don't, they opt to have an implicit renewal instead. In this...

This one is for the business owner who thinks that their accountant may be a little too old school or too hesitant when it comes to approaching new tax strategies and deductions. Many accountants and tax professionals are actually extremely conservative and I think that doesn't really come as a surprise. You cannot expect your tax pro to grant every wish and accept every strategy you bring to the...

It's hard to not get the real estate investing bug at some point, it feels like everyone is investing in property and short term rentals. There's just an overall buzz around real estate right now as an investment! I think as more people are wondering what's going on with the economy, interest will pique even further. Maybe you're looking for places to put your wealth and real estate is on your rad...

What you may not realize as an online business owner, is that you're being weighed down every day by this thing called overhead. So what is overhead? It's all of your indirect costs: the cost to keep the lights on, the cost to operate. They're required for you to stay in business but not necessarily directly related to the thing that you sell.   If you have a physical location, it's probably rent,...

When I started my business, I honestly didn't even know what copywriting was. I immediately jumped to the context of the legal jargon, trademarks, etc. Then I realized that copywriting is the fundamental art and science behind the way everything is worded. Nothing is really by accident when we're talking about a successful business owner and how they're deploying copywriting on their websites, the...

So many accountants have a love hate relationship with QuickBooks! You'd think they'd love it; it's so common, it's widely utilized, and it makes bookkeeping easier, right? Sort of...   There always seem to be hiccups and things that can slow us down along the way but it all depends on how your account is set up!   What do you need to see on a regular basis in terms of metrics and measurements? I...