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197: September Revenue Reality Check: Are You Profitable? · Early Childhood Business Made Easy

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: The most expensive thing you can do in September is keep your head down and assume your fall finances are working.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: October and November, well, they do not fix problems that could have been caught in September.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: They actually compound them.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: And the CEOs who finish the year with profit in the bank and clarity about what comes next, well, they are not the ones who worked harder in Q4.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: They are the ones who stopped in September to honestly look at their Q3 numbers.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: They identified what needed adjusting and they made those adjustments while there was still time.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: Now, in this episode, we are going to talk all about your September financial reality check and your Q4 profit strategy.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it starts here, my friend.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Kelly Peake.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: I've spent the past 26 years growing multiple million dollar early childhood businesses.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm here to help you navigate both the messy and magical seasons of your early childhood business with simple, actionable strategies.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: It is my goal to make your life a little easier working with our most prized possessions in life.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: If you're ready to control the chaos, ditch the exhausting overwhelm, and keep the joy, then be sure to join us at KellyPeak.com.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome, CEOs.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Early Childhood Business Made Easy podcast.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Kelly Peak, your hosts.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: And as you know, I love to help you find more of that time, freedom, and profit.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: The most common thing I hear right now from early childhood operators in September.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's not that things are going great financially or even that they're struggling.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's something much more unsettling than either of those two opposing answers.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's actually, I have no idea.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: So they may have full enrollment, families are happy, the team is in the building, programming is running.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: September is super busy.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: And if you asked most operators right now whether their fall season is actually profitable, the honest answer for many of them would be some version of, I think so, or probably, or I haven't really had time to look.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: Here's the problem with not knowing September.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it could be one of the more important months of the year, especially to look at your numbers, because by September, you have some real Q3 data.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Summer is over, you're headed into your fall, you have three full months of expenses, you might have some actual enrollment revenue, and you have a picture of what it's going to cost to run your program in this next season.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the big thing here is that you have just enough runway left in Q4 to do something if there is a change that is needed.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: So depending on what you find, you still have enough runway left to change or address it.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: By November, that runway, well, it's shorter.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: And by December, it's almost gone.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: So the CEOs who finished strong financially, they're not the ones who worked harder in that last quarter.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: They are the ones who looked at their numbers in September and they made some smart decisions with enough time for those decisions to matter, for those results to actually happen.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: So today I'm going to give you the framework for your September financial reality check.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: Three strategies.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, why September is the right moment for this review.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: Number two, the specific numbers to look at and what they're telling you.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: And number three, how to turn whatever you find into a Q for profit strategy that's going to set you up for your best year end ever.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: Now, fall is busy and fall could be profitable, but those are not the same thing.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: The CEOs who finish the year with cash in the bank, they do not work harder in Q4 than the other operators in their industry.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: They stop in September to look honestly at where they stand.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then they use that time that they still have to close the gaps that matter.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: Now, before I get into it, I do want to share something exciting.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: We are approaching episode 200 of the Early Childhood Business Made Easy podcast.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: I cannot believe we're almost there.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: And to celebrate this milestone, I have a free gift coming for every podcast subscriber, a complete pre-recorded coaching week that you can access whenever you need it.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: All you have to do is be subscribed to the podcast.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: So details are going to be at the end of today's podcast.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're not already subscribed, please do.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: Now's the time.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: That also I want to remind you our free resource for today it's the quarterly audit checklist.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: You'll find that at KellyPeak.com where you're going to find information about podcast episode number 197.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: So download that because those are the strategies I'm going to go over today and the tool we're going to be working through together.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: So let's go look at your numbers.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: Here is something, though, that I've observed consistently across many early childhood businesses at this point in the year.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: The operators who feel most financially secure heading into Q4, well, they're almost never the ones who had the most successful full enrollment.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: They are the ones who know their numbers.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I know for many of you, you've heard this before and you know it.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: There is a version of full enrollment that is also highly profitable.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: And there is a version of full enrollment that still results in super thin margins, cash flow stress, and an owner or leader who does not pay themselves adequately because the numbers have never been scrutinized closely enough to reveal what's actually happening.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: And the difference between those two experiences, well, it's not the programming, it's the financial visibility.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: An operator who looks at their numbers in September and discovers that she's running a 4% margin.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: Well, she can do something about it before December and get that margin up.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: An operator who discovers the same thing in January, well, they can't get those months back.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: So September, my friend, September is your window.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: What you do with it is going to determine how you feel about your year in January.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: The financial reality of early childhood businesses, well, that makes this September check-in especially critical.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: The national average, the profit margin for early childhood businesses, that national average hovers between 1 and 4%.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yet the industry benchmark for a financially healthy early childhood program is a profit margin of 10% or higher.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: That is a big gap, my friend.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: With the most strategically operated programs, achieving margins between 15 and 30%.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: Those are well-structured and well-priced programs.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: So where's the gap?
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: Why the gap?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's between the industry average of 1% to 4% and that attainable target of 10 to 30%.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's almost entirely explained by two factors: pricing that was set without a cost analysis, and expenses that have never been reviewed against revenue benchmarks.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: A study from the Childcare Finance Forum, well, they found that early childhood programs that conducted quarterly financial reviews and adjusted their operations accordingly were significantly more likely to achieve positive cash flow and sustain profitability over a three-year period compared to programs that reviewed finances sporadically.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: So those successful programs, they reviewed those finances on a quarterly basis.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: The ones that didn't were annually or maybe reactively.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the quarterly review, it's not an extra task for financially sophisticated operators.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: It truly is the foundational practice that's going to make the financial health of your business possible.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: There's a preschool director that I worked with, and she had operated for seven years.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: She had never done a formal quarterly financial review.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Her program was well regarded in the community, really good reputation.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: Her enrollment was consistently strong, and she genuinely loved her work, but she was not paying herself consistently.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: She did not have a cash reserve, and every slow enrollment month sent her into financial anxiety.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: When she completed that first September reality check using our quarterly audit checklist, she discovered something that changed everything.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: Her payroll, it was running at 67% of revenue.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: That is seven points above the healthy benchmark, entirely because she had added a part-time administrative role the previous spring without adjusting her program pricing.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: One staffing decision, unmeasured against the revenue it was supposed to support.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it had been quietly eroding her margin for months.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: So by October, she made two pricing adjustments and restructured that administrative role to a part-time contractor.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: By December, her margin had improved by 9%.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: By the following spring, she was paying herself a consistent salary for the first time in seven years.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: And none of that was possible in January.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: It was only possible because she looked at her numbers in September.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, friend, let's move on to our three strategies for this week.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: And we're going to begin with strategy number one, why September is the right moment for this review.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: There is a specific reason why September is an important month to look at your finances.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not just because the quarter is ending, it's because September is the first month where you have some real data.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: You have your fall enrollment coming ahead of you, and you have some expenses and things that have happened over the past three months.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's enough runway ahead of you to actually respond to what you find.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: So by September, those enrollment decisions are made.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: You know how many children you have enrolled, you know what they are paying, you know what the revenue for fall looks like in actual numbers rather than projections.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: And this means your income side of the equation is no longer a question.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: It is real.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: You will see whether you have enough enrollment to actually cover your costs once you figure out what those costs are.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: So by September, you also know what your fall expenses are.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: Those are real.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: You've been paying your team now for a couple weeks, or maybe months if you started back to school in August.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Your facility costs are established.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: Your programming expenses are visible.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: The cost of running your full pro fall program, it's no longer estimated.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: You really have now by September, you should have documented in your bank statements or your bookkeeping records, whatever system you use, you know what those costs are going to be now.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: You're not guessing.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: And by September, here's the key you still have October, November, and December to respond to what you find.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: You have three months of a meaningful runway.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: So you can adjust pricing if you need to.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: You can launch a new program if you need to.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: You can cut non-essential expenses if you need to.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: All of this before another month passes.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: You can identify a revenue opportunity and launch it before the year ends.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: Do a big special event.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: You cannot do any of those things in January.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: So what most operators do in September is keep their heads down.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's a tough time of year.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's busy.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's back to school.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: You've got a lot of new families, maybe some new team members.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: You're just doing your best to get through that first month of back to school.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: They tell themselves they're going to look at their numbers when things slow down.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: But really, do things ever slow down?
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: Remember, in our industry, the chaos is always there.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's not about eliminating the chaos, it's about controlling it.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: October arrives before those numbers get reviewed, then November, then December.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then it's January and the year's over.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: And whatever financial position you are in or that you ended up in is the one that you're starting the new year from.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: Now that's going to happen whether you choose it intentionally or just simply arrives by default.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the CEO approach, that's different.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: You are the CEO, the confident early childhood operator.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: You are leading your team, you are leading your business.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: And you're going to treat September as a month where the fall season gets evaluated rather just than just experienced.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: She's going to look at what the numbers are telling her about the choices she has made, the prices she has set, and the expenses she has incurred.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: And she's going to use that information to lead the last quarter of the year with intention rather than just hope.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: So your two action steps here.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, I want you to block two hours on your calendar before the end of the month, specifically for your financial review.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: Not a general administrative block, a financial review appointment with yourself and your business.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: Label it September reality check and protect it the way you would a meeting with your most important client.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't schedule it, my friend, it's not going to happen.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: And the two hours you invest now, they are going to be worth significantly more than the two weeks of anxiety, of financial stress, financial surprise, all of that could that could happen in December.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't do this, that's going to cost you.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: Action step number two.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: Before your review appointment, gather three documents: your bank statements for July, August, and September, your enrollment list with the tuition rate for each kiddo enrolled, and any invoices or recurring expenses you have set up for the fall season.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: These three documents are going to give you raw material for your calculation in strategy number two.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: Have them ready before you sit down.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: And this is what's going to make your two-hour review actually productive rather than a two-hour search for all the paperwork.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: So that moves us on to strategy number two, the numbers that tell you the truth.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: Now, again, just a reminder: this week's free resource is that quarterly audit check.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: You're going to find it at KellyPeak.com, where you find information about podcast episode 197.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this free resource, it's going to walk you through four specific financial areas.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I want to teach you the logic behind each one so you understand not just what to calculate, but what that number is actually telling you when you find it.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: So that first area, it's going to be revenue versus gold tracking.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: So take your total revenue for the year today.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: Everything that's come into the business from tuition camps, events, and resort programs, birthday parties, cafe food costs, any source of income and compare it to where you expect it to be at this point in your annual plan.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: Remember, we've talked a lot about planning.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: So look at that.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if you didn't have an annual review goal coming into this year, this is the moment to set one for next year.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: But even without that formal goal, you can ask is the revenue I'm generating consistent with what I need to cover my expenses and most importantly, pay myself appropriately.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: If yes, what percentage of my annual income do I need to have fulfilled?
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: If no, what is the gap and what would it take to close that gap in Q4?
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's area number one.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: Area number two, this is going to be your KPI check.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: These are your key performance indicators.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: This includes the three expense ratios that function as health indicators for any early childhood business.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: And they are worth memorizing, my friend.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's your payroll, facilities, and programming.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: So payroll, that includes your wages, your benefits, taxes, and that should all run between 50 and 60% of your total revenue.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: If it's above 60%, you either have a pricing problem or you have a staffing structure that your revenue cannot support.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: Your facilities, those are your expenses that include rent, mortgage, utilities, insurance, anything you use to operate your physical building, your space.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: That should run between 15 and 20% of revenue.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: And then finally, number three is your programming expenses.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's your supplies, your food, your curriculum materials, your enrichment costs, anything in case that it takes to actually execute offering the quality services that you provide.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: That should run between 5 and 10%.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: So when you look at your actual September numbers and compare these ratios to what you find, the numbers that are out of alignment are gonna tell you exactly where to focus your Q4 attention.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: Now that's one and two.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: Number three, your third area is your net profit margin.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: So you're gonna take your total revenue for the quarter, you're gonna subtract those expenses and divide the result by your total revenue.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: The percentage you get is your Q3 margin.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: Again, the industry average, unfortunately, for our industry is one to four percent.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: But a healthy program that is operating and operating the way that we teach and coach here at Shine and in our Clarity Collective, that should be at a 10% or higher.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: So if you find yourself at 8 or 9%, you're close.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: And some of the Q4 adjustments, those can get you there.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: If you find yourself at 2 or 3%, my friend, you have a meaningful gap that's gonna require a real response, not just optimism about Q4, not just hoping to get enrollment more enrollment.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: So if you find yourself at a break-even or below, you have a crisis.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: And that's gonna need your full attention, ASAP.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the fourth and final area, this is your cash flow health.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: So you look at your cash, your current cash position in your business account.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have enough cash to cover your October payroll without stress?
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: Your November payroll?
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Are there any large expenses coming in Q4 that you have not yet planned for?
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: Do you give your end bonuses?
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have a big equipment purchase you need to make?
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: What about your licensing specific things that need to happen?
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: A cash flow check is not just about the current balance, it's about matching your current balance against knowing any upcoming obligations that you have for this next quarter and then identifying the gaps before they arrive.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: So this four-ary review done with the quarterly audit checklist, will it take two focused hours and it gives you a complete picture of your financial position.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's one of the most important two hours you can invest in your business this month.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: And honestly, you should be doing them four times a year.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: So your two action steps here, my friend.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, complete the quarterly audit checklist.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Again, go get that free resource at KellyPeak.com, episode number 197.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna do this for your Q3 financial data this week.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna walk through all four of those areas: revenue tracking, KPI ratios, profit margin calculation, and cash flow health check.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: Write down what you find without immediately trying to solve it.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: The first pass through this checklist is about seeing the reality, seeing it with clarity.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: The response, that's gonna come next in strategy number three.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: Action step number two.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: I want you to calculate your payroll percentage right now.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: Payroll is the biggest make or break factor.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: Add up your total payroll expenses for Q3, those wages, benefits, taxes, maybe any contractors you're paying.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: Divide that by your Q3 total revenue, then multiply by 100.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: What percentage is your payroll consuming?
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: Again, if it's above 60%, that single data point may be the most important financial insight you're gonna have this quarter.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: So write it down and bring it to your strategy three planning.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that moves us on to strategy number three from September data to Q4 profit strategy.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: So the reality check is only useful if it leads somewhere.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: And the place it leads depends entirely on what you found.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: So let me walk you through the four most common September findings and the Q4 response that each one calls for.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: Because the response to I'm behind in revenue is completely different from the response to my margins are healthy, but my payroll ratio is out of line.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: If your Q3 audit reveals that you are behind on your revenue goal, your Q4 priority is revenue acceleration.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: That means looking at three specific moves.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe launching or promoting a service that families are ready to pay for in Q4.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: So think holiday programming, enrichment programs, maybe a January enrollment campaign that you start marketing now, reactivating lapsed family relationships through personal outreach and increasing your referral activity with your most enthusiastic current families.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: Now, Q4 does not have to appear because you wish for it.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: It appears because you make a specific documented plan in September before October and you execute it through November.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if your Q3 audit reveals that your revenue is on track, but your margins are thin, well, then your Q4 priority is expense optimization.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: So look at your three key KPI ratios.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: Remember, we talked about um payroll facilities and programming.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna identify if any of those categories are out of alignment, then you're gonna make one specific change before October 1st.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: Not three changes, not a whole restructuring.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's gonna throw you completely off track.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: Just really focus on one meaningful change.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: One change that addresses the most significant misalignment that you found.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: So if payroll is above 60%, the response might be a pricing adjustment for Q4 services or a scheduling restructuring restructuring to reduce hours without reducing quality.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: If facilities are above 20%, the response might be a lease renegotiation conversation, or maybe a subletting arrangement for underutilized space, or maybe really looking at the costs and restructuring or renegotiating contracts with other things that you use on your facilities, like your window cleaning or your servicing for any lawn care or yard you might have, et cetera.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: One specific response here, executed before October is going to be key.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if your Q3 audit reveals healthy margins and a positive cash flow, your Q4 priority is protecting that momentum.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: This means two things.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: First, make sure your Q4 pricing and service structure is positioned to maintain or improve on what Q3 delivered.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: If you have any services that are underpriced relative to their cost more value, Q4 is the right time to make that adjustment.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: Second, start building your cash reserve intentionally.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: If Q3 was strong, September is the moment to designate a small percentage of Q4 revenue to a reserve account if you don't have one.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: That reserve is what gives you that financial flexibility in January or at any moment of the year when enrollment is lower, or maybe there's some unexpected cost that comes up.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if your Q3 audit reveals you are break even or below, that Q4 response is very, very urgent and specific.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: This is not the time for general optimism or plans to.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Work harder.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: It is the time for a direct conversation with your numbers about what has to change.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: That conversation is worth having with maybe a business coach or a financial advisor.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: We love to help in those situations that are Clarity Collective.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: If you need any more help with that, please join us.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: Find out more at KellyPeak.com, a Clarity Collective.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: This is a coaching environment designed specifically for this level of strategic financial intervention.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: Now, before I close in strategy number three, I want to mention the milestone we're approaching together.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: We are about to hit episode 200 of the Early Childhood Business Made Easy podcast.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I started this podcast because I believed early childhood operators deserved better business support than what existed.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: I could not have imagined we would reach 200 episodes and over 20,000 listeners.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: So to celebrate, I'm giving every podcast subscriber access to a complete pre-recorded coaching week.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: My some of my best frameworks for revenue, operations, marketing, and team, they're delivered in one intensive experience and you can access them at any time.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to do them all at once.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: They are uh five different training videos.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: All you need to do is make sure that you're subscribed to the podcast.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: And when we get ready at the end, we're going to go through all of our subscribers and get that information to them.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: So your action steps here for strategy number three.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, based on those Q3 audit findings, write one specific Q4 priority sentence using this format.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: My Q4 financial priority is because my Q3 audit showed this one sentence written down, it's going to become the filter for every financial decision you make through December.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: If a decision does not support that priority, then it's got to wait till later.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: So let me repeat it.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: My Q4 financial priority is examples here.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: It could be revenue acceleration, expense optimization, momentum protection, urgent restructuring.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: Then you're going to add because my Q3 audit showed, and then list what you found.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: Your action step number two, schedule your Q4 monthly financial check-in appointment right now.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: Put that financial review on your calendar for the first week of October, the first week of November, the first week of December.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: Set three appointments.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: Just make them 30 to 60 minutes, three check-ins.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: Just make sure you're on track.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: Keep them consistently.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: This practice is going to turn that September reality check into the foundation of a financially intentional Q4.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: So if you do this just once a month, when you get to Q4 and you're ready to do your Q4 financial check, everything is going to go so much quicker, so much smoother.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: So, my friend, those three strategies why September is the right moment, the four area numbers to review, and how to turn what you find in Q4 into an action plan.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: That's your complete September financial reality check framework.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: So here's what you need to do next.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, block those two hours and gather your financial documents.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: Number two, complete that quarterly audit checklist.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: Get that free resource.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: Number three, write your Q4 priority sentence.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: So schedule your three monthly Q4 check-in appointments.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if your audit reveals thin margins or a structured financial issue that feels too big to address alone, don't forget the Clarity Collective is there for you.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: Go find more information at KellyPeak.com.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: Now, one more thing before we close.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: Again, I've said it several times now.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: Episode 200 is almost here.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: So be sure to be on our subscriber list so we can send you that free coaching week.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: We are so excited to celebrate 200 episodes with you.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so I really want to make sure that you have that time, freedom lifestyle that you so deserve.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm so excited to help you create that kind of freedom.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: Here is what I want to close with.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: If you did not build this program on your own, if you had a team, if you had families, you had this momentum, you had a dream, my friend, you did not do it to scrape by.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: You built it to make a difference and to build a life that includes some freedom, some profit.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that September reality check, it's not about judgment.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's about choosing to lead your business and lead your finances with the same intention you bring to your curriculum, to your team, to your families, to those birthday parties, those special events.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: You are or becoming a confident early childhood operator, a CEO.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: So lead your fall like it.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I am excited and looking forward to seeing you next week.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: Don't forget to subscribe.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: Take care, my friend.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for tuning into our podcast.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: Are you ready to take your early childhood business to the next level?
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: Then head over to KellyPeak.com to join a community of other early childhood professionals who are ditching the chaos and the overwhelm and creating a business they love.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: I can't wait to see you there.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: Bye for now.