The Profit Pillars Show by Evolved Finance

When COVID-19 started to hit in full force in early to mid-March of this year, I had a wave of panic wash over me. I found myself thinking… "Will our client's businesses get through this shutdown?" "Will our clients have customers who can still afford their products?" "Will Evolved Finance have to prepare to downsize?" Luckily, those doubts didn't last long. Corey and I had always speculated that...

At its core, bookkeeping is about keeping score in your business.  The financial reporting that a bookkeeper puts together for their clients is the scoreboard that shows if a business is doing the right things from both a sales and operations perspective to keep it profitable and thriving. But what if things aren't looking as good as you want them to on your financial reports? You have two options...

As I write this scheduled email, it's June 3rd, 2020. It's the day after #blackouttuesday. Doing a podcast about business right now does not feel right. Staying silent about the current situation in America doesn't feel right either. That's why for this episode, we at Evolved Finance acknowledge the struggles of our fellow black Americans and reaffirm our commitment to being a company that welcome...

Before I joined forces with Corey at Evolved Finance back in late 2014, I had spent the last 5 years at adidas, specifically working in the golf division. adidas is a company with an extremely recognizable and powerful brand. Likely one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Although I tried to resist drinking the Kool-Aid, the power of the adidas brand has me likely wearing adidas shoes fo...

Nobody starts their online business because they're excited about getting deep into the weeds of their finances. Entrepreneurs want to build their audiences and them into customers. And to be fair, is there anything better than making money by helping people with something you are really good at helping them with? Unfortunately, your online business isn't just about sales, marketing, and customer...

Money has got to be one of the most interesting inventions humanity has ever created. It is a core component of every civilized society and the driving force behind every economy in existence. However, if money is such a fundamental piece of the systems that we all live in, why do we each prioritize money differently? Evolved Finance spends all day organizing, tracking, and analyzing money for our...

Thanks to everyone who attended our free Know Your Numbers Now workshop last week. One of the big themes that came up time and time again was profitability. If you've been listening to this podcast for a while, then that shouldn't come as a surprise. When entrepreneurs think about profitability, they usually think it's all about cutting expenses or even creating more revenue streams. But it's not...

I genuinely believe that the first step to addressing any negative feelings you have about money as a business owner is to look at your financial situation head-on. Without looking at data and hearing feedback, you will never have a real understanding of your actual financial situation. That being said, I cannot deny the fact that despite all we do for our clients to make them feel financially emp...

509…that's the number of online entrepreneurs who have reached out to us about our bookkeeping services. Across all of these email conversations and discovery calls, there is one big theme that keeps coming up. These entrepreneurs feel shame, guilt, frustration, or stress over how they manage their finances. It doesn't matter if they have been managing their books themselves or if they've been usi...

Online entrepreneurs of all sizes love to complicate their businesses—why? Because they think it's supposed to get more complicated, more sophisticated, more like a big corporation over time. After years of watching successful online businesses thrive, we've come to realize that simplifying and streamlining is the real path to building a business that operates smoothly and builds wealth for the ow...

If I were to start a new business right now, the first thing I would do is create a spreadsheet and map out its financial structure. What are our software expenses going in? Will we need to outsource or hire for initial projects? Do I need to go through any business training? Will there be any cost of goods associated with the product? If the numbers look good, then I'd move on to product developm...

What COVID-19 is teaching entrepreneurs about financial risk  Being an entrepreneur is inherently risky. I honestly don't think you can be an entrepreneur without being comfortable taking risks. It's the primary reason EVERYONE isn't starting a business. What many business owners realize too late, unfortunately,  is that entrepreneurship is also about managing and mitigating that risk as much as p...

If you've listened to this podcast for a while, then you know I'm a huge proponent of getting your personal finances in order. When you're not clear on your household expenses and long-term goals you can put undue stress and pressure on your business. That's why I broke away from our normal discussions around online business strategies and am sharing an interview I did with Colin Exelby, a Certifi...

I don't know about you, but last week shook me more than I was expecting. The reality of COVID-19 hit the US hard, both economically and socially. We've never really experienced anything like this before, and I think it shocked a lot of us to see our realities change so rapidly with school closures, offices shutdowns, and empty grocery aisles. This is the type of situation that can leave you feeli...

If you've been paying even just a little bit of attention to the news headlines over the last couple weeks, you'll know that the US economy is not looking good. Between Coronavirus and a huge downturn in the US stock market, Americans are feeling a bit on edge about the immediate future. Economists are in agreement that a recession is on the way (I think it's here already). What does that mean for...

There is so much about running an online business that you just have to figure out as you go along.  One of those things is learning how to protect your business from a legal standpoint. Like with finance and taxes, you can only get so far managing this aspect of your business without having to go and get a new degree. Unless you already have one, I don't think most business owners are rushing out...

Running an online business can be crazy hectic. So much so that it often doesn't feel like you can address all the needs of your business quickly enough. One of the first things online entrepreneurs neglect on that list of to-do items is their finances. Why? Because if you're generating revenue, the numbers will work themselves out…right? Wrong! The numbers for a small business are just as importa...

The internet is awesome! It's connected the world in ways that very few could have ever predicted. The impact it's had on entrepreneurship and business, in general, is monumental in its own right. However, despite all the benefits the web has had on our ability to find and connect with our customers, we're seeing a growing number of our clients put an emphasis on getting in front of their customer...

Making decisions is what being a business owner is all about. Sometimes those decisions can feel small and easy, and other times they can feel complicated and daunting. When the decisions start to revolve around money, many online entrepreneurs start to seize up and lose confidence. At the end of the day, you need to know where you stand before you can make a decision about which direction your bu...

It's probably not surprising, but most business coaches would not recommend starting your business with a business partner. Do I feel the same way? Yes and no. Yes, in that we've seen several business partnerships go sour due to the relationship complexities that come from running a business together.  No, in that my personal experience of participating in a business partnership has been extremely...

If you've been listening to our podcast for a while, then you know how much I talk about how profit is underrated while revenue is overrated. Going into 2020, I still stand by that sentiment.  However, with the online business space changing so much with each passing year, what will it take to make your business as profitable as possible in 2020? That's why in this episode, we discuss: The key exp...

I recently joined a Facebook group that one of our new clients hosts (a group for course creators), and one of the top posts was a Youtube video from an entrepreneur named Alex Becker (apparently he's pretty well known, but I'm not familiar with him). In this particular video , Alex shares his thoughts on why he thinks the online business industry is collapsing and why it's going to get worse.  I...

Everyone wants to grow their businesses. It's kind of the point of entrepreneurship.  We're also always looking for easier ways to drive revenue for our businesses. If we're going to make more sales, why not take the easiest route possible? That's where revenue sharing relationships can come into play. It can seem like an easy way to create a new revenue stream or grow a revenue stream that alread...

It's been a great year for Evolved Finance.  Our business has grown, our clients' businesses have grown, and our podcast has grown… so much growth! As we've grown, one challenge that has emerged is figuring out how to hire the right people to expand our team and scale our bookkeeping business. Doing the books for so many online businesses, we also see patterns in how our clients are approaching th...

The more experience I get as an entrepreneur, the more I realize that I'm playing a weird and complicated game. And while it can be a frustrating and scary game, it can also be highly rewarding and lucrative if played properly. If we break down the core functions involved in running a business of any kind, then we're actually playing two games at once.  Game #1 is all about generating revenue and...