Latest / The 3Bz Podcast - Building Better Business / EP160 - Stop Guessing. Start Running Your Business Properly

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EP160 - Stop Guessing. Start Running Your Business Properly · The 3Bz Podcast - Building Better Business

• 0:01
  Hello and welcome to the Three BS Podcast where we go beyond
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  the numbers and get into what actually makes a business work.
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  I'm your host Stephanie Marshall, founder of ABCSUKA,
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  Multi award-winning boutique finance and systems partner.
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  I help business owners who've outgrown the basics bring
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  clarity, structure and proper systems into their business so
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  things finally feel in control. If you want more clarity, more
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  confidence, and a business that doesn't feel like constant
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  chaos, you're in the right place.
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  Each week we tackle real problems, answer the questions
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  you're probably already thinking, and give you practical
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  steps you can actually use in around 15 minutes.
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  So if you're ready to build a Better Business with confidence
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  and clarity, then let's go. Hello and welcome back to
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  another episode of The Three BS Podcast, your go to place for
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  around 15 minutes of motivation, education and inspiration to
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  help you build a Better Business each week.
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  If we haven't met before, my name is Stephanie Marshall.
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  I am the founder of ABCSUKA multi award-winning boutique
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  finance and systems partner, and I help growing businesses who
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  have outgrown their bookkeeper move from messy reactive
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  finances to clear structured numbers and systems they can
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  actually use to run their business properly.
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  Because I really care about the people behind the business, not
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  just the numbers. Now, today's episode is going to
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  be a little bit more direct because this is something that I
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  see all the time and it sounds like I think I'm doing OK.
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  I feel like it's working. I'm pretty sure I can afford
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  that. And on the surface, those sound
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  fine. They sound confident, they sound
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  positive. But underneath all of them is
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  guessing. Let me be really clear, guessing
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  is not a strategy. It's not planning, it's not
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  control. It's making decisions with
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  enough information and hoping they work out, and for a while
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  that works. And that's the dangerous part
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  because in the early stages of business you don't have all the
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  information, you don't have systems, you don't have full
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  visibility. So you rely on your good
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  instincts, you rely on speed and you rely on reacting quickly.
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  And that is fine. That is a part of building
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  something. But there comes a point where
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  your business is no longer small, where more money is
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  moving, more decisions matter, and more responsibility sits
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  with you. And at that point, guessing just
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  doesn't feel uncomfortable. It becomes risky.
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  Let's really break this down, because most people don't
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  realize how often that they're doing this.
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  Guessing shows up when you set your prices based on what feels
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  about right, what somebody else is charging.
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  You agree to something without checking the impact.
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  You don't make informed decisions, you just make
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  decisions off the cuff. You assume you can afford
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  something because the money's there in the bank.
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  You avoid your numbers because nothing feels urgent.
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  There's no immediate deadline for you, or you make decisions
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  quickly because you don't have the information to think it
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  through. And individually, none of this
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  really feels that dramatic. That's the problem here.
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  It feels normal, and it happens all the time.
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  But there's a compounding effect here because over time, each
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  small guest stacks up, and then suddenly you're in a position
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  where things feel completely unclear in your business,
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  decisions feel heavier, and you're not quite sure where you
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  stand. And that's when stress starts
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  creeping in. There's something I like to call
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  the bank balance trap, and I want to properly talk about this
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  because it's the biggest 1. You open your banking app, you
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  see a number, and you make a decision.
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  If it's high, yeah, I'm fine. If it's low, I need to do
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  something. I need to make more sales.
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  But that number is misleading because it's incomplete.
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  It doesn't tell you what belongs to the HMRC for VATPAYE and
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  National Insurance, your corporation tax or income tax,
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  what's already been spent but not left yet, if you have terms
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  with your suppliers, if you have committed to a sponsorship or an
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  advertisement deal but not yet spent the money or what's coming
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  up. What overheads do you have in
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  the next 30 days that needs to come out of that bank balance?
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  It also doesn't tell you what's actually yours.
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  For example, if you see £10,000 in your business bank account,
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  you think, great, I can invest in that course or that mentor.
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  But what's not visible is that that that's due the tax that is
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  building up. If you're a sole trader, that's
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  your income tax. If you're a limited company,
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  that's your corporation tax and expenses that are still to come
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  out. So that decision to make that
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  investment was based on incomplete information.
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  The other side of this is you log into your bank and you only
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  see £3000 and you panic. You need more clients.
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  You're like, I have to find more clients and I need to make more
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  sales. But actually your costs are low,
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  taxes already accounted for and set aside into a pot and your
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  profit is stable. So now you're making that
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  decision based on fear and not fact.
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  Now what? You should just pause for a
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  second. When you look at your bank
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  balance, are you using it to make decisions or to reassure
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  yourself? Because those are very different
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  things and both of them need a little more investigation.
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  Another problem with guessing is it creates a false sense of
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  confidence. Quite often you feel like you're
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  making decisions, you feel like you're moving forward, but
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  underneath that there is this uncertainty.
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  Uncertainty is exhausting, even if you don't fully realise it.
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  So you're probably thinking to me, Stephanie, OK, So what does
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  running your business properly even mean?
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  And this is the part where business owners get it wrong all
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  the time because they think I need to understand everything
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  and you don't. You need clarity, not
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  complexity. We don't need to make this more
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  complicated. You don't need to be a finance
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  expert. It's unlikely that you started
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  your business to be an accountant or a bookkeeper.
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  That's not what you started to run your business for.
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  I'm not saying you need to know every tax law.
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  What I'm saying is, is you just need to be clear and have
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  clarity. Clarity looks like being able to
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  answer these few questions. What am I actually making?
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  What is this actually costing me?
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  What do I need to set aside and what's coming up next without
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  hesitation? Now, this does not need to be
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  perfect. It doesn't need to be done
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  absolutely to the penny, but it needs to be confident.
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  You need to be confident in the answers to those questions.
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  What am I actually making? What is the sales expected to
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  come in this month? What actual money is meant to
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  come in this month from those sales?
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  Do you invoice out on terms? If the sale is made in April,
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  May, are you receiving the money for that in 30-60 days time or
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  is it somebody or are you going to receive the money straight
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  away? What is this costing me?
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  Is what overheads need to be taken out of that income?
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  What things do you need to spend money on in order to provide
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  that service, to create that product, to ship it out?
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  What are these costs that need to be taken into consideration?
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  And it is not just the cost to make or provide and deliver that
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  product or service. It's your overheads too.
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  It's your staff wages, it's lighting and heating.
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  What are those costs attributed to the income that's coming in?
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  What do I need to set aside? Do I need to set aside 20% for
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  VAT? Do I need to set aside personal
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  tax? Do I need to set aside
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  corporation tax? Do I need to set aside tax and
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  National Insurance for the payroll?
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  And what's coming up next? Is there suppliers I need to pay
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  in the next 30 to 60 days that I have the goods for already, or
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  it's an ongoing retainer service that funds are committed for?
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  Because when you have that clarity over those four
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  questions, decisions become quicker and easier and better
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  and more confidently knowing you are making the right decision.
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  You've got all the information around you to make that
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  decision. Having that clarity means that
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  you will stop second guessing yourself.
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  Can I actually afford this? Can we make this work?
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  Should I invest in this? It stops overthinking because
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  the data and the evidence is there.
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  Facts are there for you to look at and you stop reacting and
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  firefighting and you start thinking ahead.
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  You start planning, you start leading and you start running
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  your business rather than letting your business run you.
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  Now let's bring in the system side to this, because this is
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  where clarity really helps. And despite what it may sound
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  like, clarity doesn't just come from looking at your numbers, it
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  comes from how those numbers are managed.
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  Without systems and processes in place, information is delayed,
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  things are inconsistent, and visibility is patchy at best.
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  And that just pulls you right back into guessing.
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  Systems are important because they create consistency, they
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  create visibility, and they create reliability.
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  So instead of I need to check everything you have, I already
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  know where I stand. And when you systemize and write
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  processes for everything in your business, you're not carrying
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  that mental load with you. You're not holding on to half to
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  remember to do that thing for that specific client.
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  There's this particular nuance with this particular client.
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  This client likes things laid out in this way.
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  This client needs more support, or this client has dyscria and
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  needs help with their numbers. Without systems, you sit down,
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  you try to work things out, and you just piece things together.
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  That's not sustainable if you want to go and build a business,
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  which I presume you do by watching or listening to this
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  podcast. Once those systems are in place,
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  you can look, you can understand and you can decide, and it's
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  that simple. That's the difference.
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  I'm going to be really honest, people often avoid this, and the
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  reason that people often avoid this is because it feels
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  uncomfortable. It feels like something they
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  should already know and it feels easier to leave it or bury the
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  head in the sand. I have so many clients that come
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  to me and say, Stephanie, you make this easy.
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  I know I should know this, but you only know what you know.
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  You are not an expert in finances, therefore you
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  shouldn't already know it unless you've been taught in a way that
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  you understand. At ABCSUK, we use jargon.
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  We are not a company that go. I don't use jargon.
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  I use jargon all the time, but I also explain it in an easy to
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  understand way with examples and until the client fully
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  understands it so that next time they hear inflation being talked
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  about on the news, they actually know what they're talking about
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  rather than just carrying on blindly.
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  And if you are avoiding it, it will work until it doesn't.
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  There is always a tipping point if you are guessing, either when
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  something doesn't add up, something catches you out or
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  something just feels a bit off. And that's when business owners
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  quite often realise that they should have looked at this
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  sooner. The truth is, you cannot build a
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  stable, scalable business on guesswork alone.
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  You can grow on guesswork, absolutely, but you can't
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  sustain it. And if you're looking to build a
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  Better Business, which I presume you are by watching or listening
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  to this podcast, guesswork is just not going to cut it.
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  Ask yourself this, if you had to make a big decision in your
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  business tomorrow, would you be confident or would you be hoping
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  you could figure it out? Because that's the difference
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  we're talking about. If you would be hoping that you
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  could make it figure it out, like a lot of the time it's an
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  off the cuff decision, then we need to start looking at putting
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  systems and processes in place so that you can grow and build
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  this business confidently. The shifts that need to happen
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  is going from saying things like think I'm OK to I know exactly
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  where I stand when it comes to the business.
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  You need to shift from guessing to making decisions confidently
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  and with clarity. And we need to shift from being
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  reactive and firefight in to fully in control.
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  As with every episode of the Three BS podcast, I want to give
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  you one thing to do this week that will make a difference in
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  your business this week and you can probably guess what I'm
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  going to say. I want you to stop guessing your
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  numbers. I want you to actually look at
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  them. Set aside 20 minutes this week
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  and answer these three questions.
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  What did I actually make last month?
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  What sales came in? What costs went out?
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  What profit did I actually make last month?
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  What do I currently owe or need to set aside for bills or taxes?
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  And what's coming up in the next 30 days?
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  That's it. And I'm not asking for perfect,
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  detailed, complicated spreadsheets.
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  Just be clear because clarity starts with visibility.
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  And by this time next week, if you do that, you will feel more
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  in control than you do right now.
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  And if you need some accountability, send them to me
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  on social media. Let me know what your questions
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  are and I'll send back my answers too.
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  So business owner, if you are currently making decisions based
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  on your bank balance, gut feeling, or a little bit of
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  hope, it'll work itself out, this is your moment to change
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  that. Because your business deserves
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  better than guesswork. It deserves clarity, it deserves
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  structure, and it deserves decisions that you can stand
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  behind confidently and wholeheartedly.
• 14:01
  If you found this episode useful, please do like rate and
• 14:04
  review. It takes you a couple of
• 14:05
  seconds, but it really does help more business owners find this
• 14:08
  podcast so we can all build better businesses.
• 14:11
  There's no gatekeeping here and if you want support building
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  clear, structured numbers and systems into your business so
• 14:18
  that you can actually run it properly, that's exactly what we
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  do at ABCSUK. The link is in the show notes.
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  If you want to book 15 minutes in my diary, go and find the
• 14:27
  link and book in and I'll talk to you soon because your
• 14:30
  business really does deserve better.
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  Thank you so much for listening and I will see you next week for
• 14:35
  the next episode of the Three BS Podcast.
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  Bye and that brings us to the end of another episode of The
• 14:41
  Three BS Podcast. If this has helped you think
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  differently about your business, then it's done its job.
• 14:47
  Make sure you're following or subscribe so you don't miss the
• 14:49
  next episode. And if you found it useful,
• 14:52
  please do leave a review. It helps more business owners
• 14:55
  find this and start running their businesses properly.
• 14:58
  If you want more insights behind the scenes and the reality of
• 15:00
  what it actually takes to build a Better Business, come and
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  connect with me on social media. And if you're ready to stop
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  guessing and start running your business with clarity,
• 15:08
  structure, and conference confidence, your next step is
• 15:11
  just to click away because your business deserves better.
• 15:15
  I'll see you in the next episode.