Latest / Online Business Uncovered: Simple Strategies for Female Entrepreneurs / 190: Why more revenue doesn’t mean more freedom

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190: Why more revenue doesn’t mean more freedom · Online Business Uncovered: Simple Strategies for Female Entrepreneurs

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to Online Business Uncovered.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: This is episode 190, and in today's episode, we're going to be talking about why revenue doesn't necessarily mean more freedom and how to turn the money your business makes into real financial freedom.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: So let's jump right in and let's get started.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Online Business Uncovered, the show that lifts the lid on what it really takes to turn your brilliance into digital products, passive income, and time freedom.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Karen, an online business strategist, course creation expert, and your go-to for building a business that works for you and not the other way around.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: If you are an ambitious entrepreneur feeling overwhelmed or burnt out, or maybe you're just ready for a smarter or sustainable way to grow, then you're in the right place.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: Because each week I'll be bringing you inspiring conversations, practical topics, or step-by-step guidance to help you create sustainable, repeatable digital products that well even while you're playing.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're ready to stop waiting your time for money, reclaim your time, and finally build a business to give you the freedom that you deserve, subscribe and tune in every Thursday.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Let's uncover what's really possible for you starting now.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to Online Business Uncovered.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Karen, and I really do appreciate you hitting the play button to listen to today's episode.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: So today I am joined by wealth and money coach Ray Armand for another conversation in my special online business growth summit speaker series.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: We are talking about something that I think gets overlooked far too often in business, and that is what actually happens to your money once you've made the sale.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: We spend so much of our time talking about growing our audience and generating leads, making more sales and increasing revenue.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: But more revenue doesn't automatically mean more profit, and it certainly doesn't guarantee more freedom.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: So in this conversation, Ray shares why we need to stop looking at the revenue as the ultimate measure of success and start thinking about what we actually want our businesses to give us.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: So if you've ever looked at your business and thought, I'm making money, but I'm not sure where it's all going, then this is definitely an episode that you want to listen to.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: So let's jump right into my conversation with Ray and let's get started.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Today I'm joined by another incredible expert who'll be speaking at this year's online business growth summit in October.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: Now, throughout this special series, I'm chatting with our speakers to give you a sneak peek into the knowledge that they're going to be sharing and more importantly to help you discover practical ways to build a business that gives you more income, more freedom, and less reliance on selling your time.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: So let's jump in.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: Now, today I am joined by um a lovely lady called Ray Armand, who is a wealth and money coach.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: So, Ray, thank you so much for coming onto the podcast and um you know talking to me on this episode.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want to start by sharing with the listeners who you are and what you do?
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I mean it's funny.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: I was at a mastermind recently, actually in America, and we were discussing how different countries approach this like topic of like when people ask about you, some countries default to like what defines me is my career, my business.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Other people don't even other countries don't even ask about that.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: So when you say what about me, I feel like only one element is in the business that I do.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll just go a bit broader for a few seconds.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm a mom of four, um, originally from South Africa.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: I live in the UK, and so that's just a bit about me.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I my background is I'm a chartered accountant with a master's in finance.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: But I've never identified as an accountant.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: I've always so like whenever I go to like networking events or speak to people, like I never want to say I'm an accountant because that's yes, that's my qualification, but it's absolutely not the way that I think about business or approach business at all.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so I've got that background.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: I built up an accounting practice over the last sort of eight years, but I built it always with the intention of getting other people to deliver the accounts, tax, and compliance.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: I can do it, but it's just not my like area of passion.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: And my intention was always to work with people around their money and wealth and like more strategic stuff, you know, stuff more the part that I find interesting, like how we actually make decisions to improve profitability, to get more wealth, to get more money rather than just the compliance stuff.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: So did that for the last eight years and realized that although my intention was to work on like outside of tax and compliance, I kept getting sucked into it.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I actually sold and successfully exited my business now in March 26 to really focus on the digital course space because I started my digital course back in 2025, and I just really wanted to focus on serving in that space because I've always loved education and helping people like Maya back on it.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Is I also was a lecturer at the University of Cape Town and um ran like a program here in the UK.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I've always enjoyed educating and helping people gain knowledge around numbers.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: So that's me.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thank you for sharing.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's interesting, isn't it?
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: Because what you do is so vital, it's vital in business when it comes to kind of being able to know your numbers, but it's interesting that you are pulled into the educational side.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because it it's I think that's something that people don't realize is often we are an expert at what we do because that's what we're doing.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: But when we're in a position when we're providing a service, we're sort of stuck in that, you know, trading time for money.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: But when you step into the becoming the educator, you know, the the person that you know provides the information and teaches others and and helps them to do whatever, that then kind of expands what you're able to do because it means that you get to teach one to many as opposed to serving one client at a time.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: Because we we know, we know one of the pitfalls is that there's a capacity issue there.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: So it's interesting, like with everything you've done, you've kind of arrived at this time now where you you are in the online space and you're very much building things out in order to help more people around their money mindset.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: And what I've found in building my accounting practice where where I was delivering you're delivering services, done for you services rather than education, is I think what I've seen inside hundreds, if not thousands, of businesses.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so many people, and people might see parallels in their own um done for you service business.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: But if I just talk to the to my experience, and then you might be able to draw on parallels in your own um service-based business, is that so many people in business um sort of outsource the money decisions to financial advisors, to accountants, and just think, okay, my job's done.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: But I think there's a better balance.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: I think I think done for you services like accounting practices and financial advisors have their space, but you still need a level of education because at the end of the day, the ultimate responsibility falls on you to make decisions with your money.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so there's a piece of like that you should be educated on so that you can make these decisions.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: So when you have the conversations with the accountant and they specialize in the super technical tax elements, that you kind of are confident in those decisions.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Because I see so many business owners who get handed a set of financial statements, and it's like the only time they're looking at their numbers and they they don't understand them.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so, like, there's such a huge theme in the business space, and I see it across all industries where everyone talks about, oh, look at my revenue, look at my sales, but that's not what gives you freedom.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so I like I think it's so important that there's an education piece because your accountant is not engaged to help you optimize profitability, to help you invest your money, to help you build wealth.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so you need to kind of bridge that gap.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and I think if you translate that, if we think about your the audience that's listening to this podcast, if you look at your service-based business, I think it's not saying in the digital course that it's necessarily about fully replacing the done for you services.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like in my education, I'm up here to turn people into accountants.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, people people don't want to become accountants, okay?
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: But I think it's identifying where there is an opportunity for education to put you in like a much stronger position and then knowing where the line is that you hand it over to the experts.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, 100%, 100%.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: I love this because um that it's exactly how I feel with what I do, um, and and how so when I had um you know my branding um studio, which was my service-based uh business, um I would work closely with clients and in it, we do deep dives, we'd get into the hood of their business and really find out who they are, what they're doing, what their vision, mission, goal, all of that stuff is.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: And often they would look to us for answers.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: And it's almost like by placing that expectation on the supplier or the person that you're working with, it's almost like you're relinquishing control.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like you, it's it's okay not to know.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I think in business, and I was having this conversation, it feels like probably last week, and if you know, with someone, like before we outsource anything, we need to understand what it is that that thing is, what it means to the business, what we're looking to achieve from it, so we have that deeper understanding, so you know that when that person's working with you, you know what you're looking to achieve, so you can measure the results effectively.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: So if it's working with an accountant, an accountant can do so many different things.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: So, what specifics are you looking for, and where do you need that help?
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I think I it's funny because I often because I like to know everything in my business, and I I'll say to my husband, I'll say, I think I'm a bit of a control freak.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like I need to know about it before I get anybody to help me, and it's so that I can have this conversation with them and I'm not just blindly handing stuff over, not knowing if what I'm getting back is right.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's a fine line because I I have a program that I actually I don't like actively promote anymore, teaching business owners to do their own bookkeeping using zero.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: I do not believe that any business owner should be doing their own bookkeeping.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: I strongly believe that.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: So there is a very fine line.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: I think you have to be like you don't want to become so controlling that you do everything in your business because if the activity that you're doing can't you can pay someone else to do it and they can do it well for I don't know, it depends what country you're in, but let's say like 20 pounds, then you shouldn't be doing it because if you're stuck doing 20 pound value activities, you're never gonna escalate yourself beyond that point.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: But then, like you say from your example, or I can give another extreme example.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: I know when my husband first got into business from what from being employed to then being in business, he paid an um external like marketing agency to run his socials, and he kind of then was like, okay, my job is done.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: And they were like, No, we need content, we need to put your face, and he like avoided doing that and avoided being involved in it because I think you can default to thinking, well, I paid the service provider, so now I'm just gonna hands off.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then that service provider is also restricted with what they can do because you're it's it's not like I paid your money, my job is done.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so there is a balance, and that's where I think there's the beauty in the digital core space, in that you can, whatever your expertise is, you can really find that gap where you know that it's gonna add so much value to someone's life if they they it's not about fully outsourcing it, but I don't believe um in fully doing everything yourself either to find balance, and it's also about like what are your strengths and what do you enjoy doing, etc.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely, yeah, absolutely.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: But I think just going back to your point with bookkeeping, you know, I I I've worked with sort of a few bookkeepers, and I know when I was at the start of my business journey, I had literally no idea.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: They could be telling me all kinds of stuff, and I would make a huge mess.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: I know, I know, and I I wouldn't have a clue because I've not got that education around what's needed.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's like it's like anything in life, isn't it?
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's like you want to kind of find out the the sort of the the the sort of the the basics so you can have a conversation that ultimately gets you the results that you want.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: So even when you do hand it over, you know what to expect back.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I think when you're like you can temporarily do that, yeah.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: You can temporarily do bookkeeping to make sure you understand it if it's going to give you the confidence and then hand it off to a team member or outsource it.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um because I know people get absolutely screwed over by their bookkeepers, and it's just like there's just a huge mess because like their bookkeepers doing the bare minimum or doesn't know what they're doing.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I know it is a fine balance.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: I I got I I had that I had that happen to me.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um so it's it this and I think this is why I probably like now my non-negotiable, I don't do everything myself, but my non-negotiable in my business, my business is my responsibility, I'm on the hook for it.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I need to understand before I then pass it over.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I think because I've had enough experiences of uh realizing that not everybody operates at the same level and delivers the same care and attention, and when things go belly up, because they're will, you know, in business, there's so many highs and lows, and you know, good partners are really hard to find.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: So when you find a partner that really supports you in an area, then you really have to value that relationship because when you don't get the response you want and you're left high and dry in whatever it can really derail you and your business.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I hear so many people that say, My social media is not working, just go back to what you were saying about this whole social media thing, and it's because again, they've handed it over and they've removed themselves and they've relinquished all control, and then they have high expectations on the results that they're then gonna get without understanding what's involved in getting those results.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: So, so I I I that that's why, like you, I think the education piece is so so important um in in all aspects of business.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 100%.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think until you get to about, it does depend per industry, but let's say it's about the like half a million mark, like 400,000, four to five hundred thousand pounds mark.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: Up until that point, you probably, as a business owner, have had your finger in a lot of like all the different powers around the business.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say once you get to about the half million mark is when you can really say, right, I am gonna hire someone who's completely responsible for operations or sales or marketing or whatever it is, and that you can step away because you probably had experience in, or you should have had that up to that point, had experience in running that area of the business so that you know what good looks like, so that if that person ever leaves, you can step back into that role.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, like I said, I've seen inside so many businesses.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: If you are trying to build a logistics company or a construction company or something, then the advice we're giving here is not as relevant.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, I'm not saying a like a tradesperson should be going and doing their own bookkeeping and their own sales and marketing.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: But what we are talking to here, we are talking to service provider businesses who are maybe trying to move to the digital course creative space.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: And in that type of business, you are like the business as a service provider business typically starts with you delivering the service, and then you move out of that role of a technician into a role of like a manager, team leader, etc.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: But I think it is a different type of business compared to loads of others, like I say, construction or logistics or whatever it may be, where I think there is a lot more like you do need to know how every part of your business works and be able to step back into it if someone leaves and be able to put procedures and and um processes and checklists in place so that you can know things are happening and that you can step away and just know those are operating.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, a good book to read on this if you haven't read it before is EMyth.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: The um it's called E the letter EMyth.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great one just to kind of give an idea of how service-based business can run um without and with you still having like an idea of what's going on in all the different parts of the business.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I often find it's the shift in mindset, though, isn't it?
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think when people start businesses that they're they're often not in that employee mindset because that's what they've known.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: So, so over time, when when they start to kind of run these businesses, it's kind of stepping into the owner space where it's like this is my business and this is what I'm looking to achieve, and this is what needs to be done, and then looking for the right partners to support you in that, and then kind of but but it but it but I feel like because often there's there's an identity shift that needs to take place for people to be able to relinquish control because otherwise it becomes all about, you know, like I say, staying in that that employee mindset.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I know with a lot of companies that I've worked with, you can sort of start to see it is the fact that they, you know, they know that they're at capacity, they're doing everything, they're they're trying to move forward and they're trying to grow, but they can't because they're they have no time.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but they know the route they're on is not going to give them what they're ultimately looking for.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's scary how many businesses because as an accountant and having run my zero hero program, which is teaching business owners to do bookkeeping.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: And when I say a business owner should never do bookkeeping, I know so many business owners who want to because they've been burned, and that's why I put the program in place and I've worked with so many business owners in that capacity.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: So, but I say ultimately I'm trying to also give them the tools so that once they've learned that they can pass it on to someone else.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, just as an aside.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: But looking inside so many businesses, I see it's incredible how many business owners, because of the crazy number of hours they're working and the small amount of money they're taking out their business, they are working for minimum wage or less, and they got all that stress and all that responsibility.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, one of the most powerful exercises you can do, like a simple exercise to kind of shift your mindset if you're struggling with this, is to say, Well, how much?
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just a bit of like a numbers exercise.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: You say to yourself, How much do I want to earn per year?
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, and make sure, go go like Google a UK tax calculator as like an to plug in as an estimate.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure that like you're like, okay, to live per month a beautiful, comfortable lifestyle, I need X amount, okay, like 5,000 pounds after tax.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure when you say how much you need to earn per year, it's that like before tax figure, okay?
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: So work out what your you need to be earning per year.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then where I think as people move from that like technician employee mindset to business owner and bring on a team member, what people forget is that they are not gonna work 40 hour weeks, 52 weeks a year.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: And if they are, they're gonna be miserable.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: So what you need to do is work out how many weeks a year you want to work.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: So let's say it's 48 weeks a year, so you're getting four weeks off a year.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: You should be probably taking more than that, but let's say 48 weeks, and you actually realistically cannot be responsible for delivering client work 40 hours a week because you have admin, you have to, there's other you have to be working in the business.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: So let's say you can only deliver 25 hours of client work a week.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: Take that 25 hours times by the number of weeks, say 48 weeks, and those are your available billable time.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: I know even if you don't bill per hour, this exercise is just saying, okay, that's your available billable time, and take what you want to earn per year and divide it by that.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: And if it if it comes out at 50 pounds an hour, 100 pounds an hour, then any time that you are spending doing tasks in your business that are worth less than that value, if it's 50 pounds, you are holding yourself back.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: You're making your life more difficult.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: So those are the first tasks that can go.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: And another sort of useful little exercise that isn't as money technical, is to everyone has a to-do list, right?
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: My favorite thing is what I call a stop doing list.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: So I keep like a spreadsheet or a piece of paper at my desk.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: And as I go about my week, if I feel like I'm in like a tight space where I just don't have any free time, on the that stop doing list open.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: And as I go through my week and I'm doing a task, I think to myself, oh, I really don't want to do this task, I really shouldn't be doing this task, or I know someone else can do this task, I add it to that list.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: And after a couple of weeks, you will then have written a full list, and essentially that's a job description, and you can go out and recruit someone and hand it over to them.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, they are great tips.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: I love those.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for sharing.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, yeah, no, absolutely.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think in a space of a week, you you get so consumed.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: being busy and and it's that 80 20 isn't it it's like probably 80% of what you're doing it's not moving the needle because like you say you're probably doing tasks that you know are are less than really what you're worth and and so being able to kind of capture that you can't um argue with evidence you know if you're if you're actually listening it down so yeah no thank you for sharing that they're great tips because I think I just think that people do like we all get caught up don't we like my biggest thing is um and and I don't know because I'm a I'm a graph designer so I love being creative I probably spend way too long designing but I have to have that because that's me that's who I am and that gives me it feeds me it gives me joy I'm a creator so I love doing that but what I I do have a VA and I've I'm having I've been kind of passing things over that that doesn't feed my creative yeah it's like okay you know she can do this because it doesn't require that that next level design um but yeah it's kind of identifying and being made aware isn't it where your time's going and the other your time is worth as well.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah and the other place you can look is don't just look inside your business look at your your personal life too if mowing the lawn fills your cup and lights you up crack on.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: If it doesn't and you know you can pay someone 20 pounds an hour to do it for you then why are you doing it?
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: I know I love baking and cooking or but I cleaning no thank you so actually if I don't spend my Saturday morning cleaning and rather get someone in during the week that is more I don't know downtime time with my family whatever it is and then I'm able to bring more to my business.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: So you can also look to your personal life and be like what what tasks am I doing in my personal life that don't light me up and that are low value tasks that I could hand off to someone else.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah absolutely 100% agree 100% we we've got a cleaner and it's because I could end up spending my weekend cleaning when actually I want to spend time with my kids like you say and enjoy it because that's the that's what it's about isn't it I think I think sometimes people forget you get one life you get one life you're running a business often it's a dream for people to have a business but the business is a vehicle to build a life you want but then we get busy and we get caught up with doing stuff and then before you know it you're you're you're working such long weeks late into the night and it just takes over and sometimes I think just remembering why you're doing this what is it for who is it for and what can you put in place to support you as you're building this stuff out I think I think it's really important um 100%.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: And when I always used to have conversations with business owners in in the capacity of my accounting practice I would say to them okay we're getting we get very clear on like where their business is now and then where they want to take it to and I'm like so where where do you see things like I would always ask the question like where do you see things in two three five years whatever timeline resonates with you and people will always be like revenue sales I want to double the revenue I want to do that like that's like and I'm like hold on though the whole reason you are doing this business is to is to serve your personal life like you're you built this because you wanted something in your personal capacity.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yes I get it you might be passionate about the work you do and helping people but if you aren't fulfilling your personal life you will burn out you will be unhappy and then the business won't exist in five or 10 years' time.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: So you need to make sure you're getting what you need in your personal capacity to make sure that you can sustain this for the long term and continue to deliver the amazing work that you do for your clients.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: So I always encourage people to be like tell me what your personal goals are is it retiring your spouse?
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: Is it sending your kids to private school?
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: Is it being able to book holidays a couple of times a year?
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: Is it only working 20 hours a week but maintaining the same pay like what is it in your personal life and be clear not only on the amount you earn but the number of hours you work because that's a big one.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: Be clear on both of those and from there build the business around that build the business around your personal goals and that's going to get you in the right place.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so yeah I've seen it so often where like in my accounting practice again seeing inside so many businesses I'll see two almost identical businesses in the same similar industry and either one grows or just there are different sizes and I will often see a business with a turnover of 2000 versus one of a million okay and the business owner with the 2000 turnover business is working less hours taking home more money than the one who's doing a million.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not saying that chasing more revenue and sales is wrong but chasing it for the for just for the sake of getting bigger without like ensuring that profitability follows like how do you ensure that that same profitability margin follows and how do you make sure that you don't just get busy and become a headless chicken and actually find yourself miserable unable to enjoy your life it's a it's a big it's an important conversation.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think so and I think it's a conversation that doesn't happen probably as often as really what it does need to to happen.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think sometimes when people come into business it's like head down let's let's let's just like you say let's just make money let's let's sell sell without without having context around why they're doing it.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like our businesses you know we're in this time now where we can have these amazing businesses that support our lifestyles and we can the the the thing that I love about the digital product space is is um you could be you could be a digital nomad you know I that that's basically what I do is it's me and my laptop I rock up wherever wherever I am you know everywhere's a different day and I work for my laptop and I've got that sort of sense of freedom and that is a lifestyle choice.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: So we have these this ability now to kind of really control um what the output of what we're looking to to build um but but like you say it's knowing up front what that looks like so they can be intentional um with what you're doing rather than kind of getting caught up in the in the wrong stuff and like you say leading to burn out I mean how many people have run successful businesses but they've ended up having to walk away because they're just in burnt out state and that's what I'm saying people are like oh like they feel selfish for focusing on their personal desires and needs because they're like I'm here to serve my clients to deliver amazing product or service but I'm always like but for that amazing product or service to still exist in five or 10 years time you are the human behind it that has to have your cup filled and then you will have a far greater longer wider reaching impact if you ensure that like you are getting serviced like your personal needs are being met does that make sense yeah yeah 100% um so that leads me really nicely to your session at the summit because you're going to be delivering a session do you want to just share with your audience um what you're gonna be talking about and what they're gonna walk away with sure so the really I've I've just got my page open here just to remind me of exactly how I phrased it because there's so many things I could talk about.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: And really what I wanted to focus on is this question that goes through so many business owners' minds where it's like where has all the money gone?
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: I've made these sales I made this revenue and now I'm sitting six 12 months later staring at a disappointing bank balance my accountant hands me financial statements that show profit but I'm not seeing that in my bank account like what has happened or maybe I've grown my business doubled it in size and the profits haven't followed and so it's just this thing where people are like I'm working my backside off and I'm just not seeing the money.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: And there's so many things we can put in place and so in this session I will give like a practical takeaway like go and like actually do this method and it's going to help you already to get so much clarity.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: But I think there's also a really big mindset shift that needs to take place and I've already obviously alluded to it where business owners focus so much on the revenue or sales.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: But actually there's this whole piece like if you've built a successful business and you're listening to this you probably got the sales and marketing nailed a bit and like delivering the client services but you kind of just assume that the profit follows automatically instead of like really making sure that you know your numbers and like understanding how decisions that you've made in the past have impacted your profitability so that you can make informed decisions going forward.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it's that piece like I want to show explain to you that piece between like from when the sale happens how do you make sure that the profit follows consistently especially as you scale the business and then so there's that piece from sale to profit.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: Then what I've also noticed is that what business owners are doing is they think that their business is going to give them financial freedom.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that is a mistake.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: Your business is not designed to give you financial freedom your business gives you cash flow and it's what you do with that money that creates the financial freedom.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: So like the visual that I create or like that I sort of lay out is that like if financial freedom is this like is this planet in the distance okay it's not actually your business.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: Your business is like the rocket or the rocket fuel that's going to get you to that planet.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: So what a lot of business owners do is they're like oh I've generated this profit and maybe I don't know like they they end up taking the profits and I don't know spending it on all of it in today.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not necessarily on like spending you must enjoy spending your money I'm not saying don't spend your money and enjoy it.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: But they like it they either they well one of the biggest places is they reinvested in their business and I'm not saying reinvesting in your business is bad either but there's a balance I think what I'm trying to say is this perspective that understanding that your business is not there like I said to give you financial freedom it gives you the options to create that freedom and you need to understand what your options are and you need to be very clear on where you're heading to what financial freedom looks like so that when you make the money in your business you are making a very clear decision of okay I'm gonna spend some of this on my enjoyment now I'm gonna reinvest some of it in my business but I'm also gonna put some of it towards that future financial freedom because really the magical point is if you've invested enough money for profits generated from your business you can develop a portfolio of assets.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now that's technical terms it's just basically means it could be property it could be investing in stocks and shares it could be crypto if that's what you love.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever it is like there's various ways of investing your money you can get a a like a portfolio of assets that you have that you could live off of just like you just take the cream off the top just like a a bit of the dividends or a bit of like sell some of the assets like a 4% a year basically and live forever more without your business needing to earn another center to be in because if you can get your business to take you to that point of financial freedom in let's say five or 10 years time then you have a business that you are just doing for fun.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: And that is cool.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: If you can get to that point where you've you've got the business generate the profits to build the wealth and you are then financially free you can then have the ultimate freedom to decide what you do.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what I help businesses do.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's that that sales to that profit piece and then the profit to the wealth and I want to shift the mindset around that and give some practical tools to start stepping towards that place of freedom.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah I love that I love that because it's it's funny isn't it because we we still talk about sort of making money making sales making profit all of that stuff and then it kind of falls off it's like okay so people just know they just know what to do with the money that they're earning um you know whereas actually what you're doing is you're gonna be like okay once you have it this is the way you're gonna get your return to give you that freedom which which again it's not a conversation that I feel like happens you know freely it's it's it's things that it's you know I remember when um my husband and I we we kind of bought bought our house and I remember we had a meeting with a financial advisor and there was a he was like we were we were sort of told you know like you have your short term your medium your long term you know you're not just you're not just building for like tomorrow you're building for the future but you're you know you're also having these different pots and so like you say you've got the balance all around and that always sort of stuck with me.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: I always remember that conversation because I thought that's when freedom absolutely comes your way where you put your money rather than just money comes in money goes out it's spent and then you don't get anything from that so I think I think what you're gonna be talking about is going to be such an important piece of the conversation after people are making sales and and and give them a real kind of insight into what to start thinking about yes you know because the thing that I yeah because what I what I often say to people especially in the online space is opportunity is limitless.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_01: The only restriction is ourselves and what we think is possible.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: So when you start to generate then then it's starting to look out okay so like as an employee you have a set amount that you can put away into pension each month and the government or your your company might match some of it and great but as a a business owner you have this potential to generate big chunks of money at a time and so you can reach this financial freedom point way quicker than you ever imagined like people inside of my program called Wealth Lab they are just blown away like one of the biggest takeaways is that like they always thought that like retirement was an age but it really is just a number and that you can reach that number at any point like yes you often hear like oh retired in my 30s and like it's a and everyone's like it feels so far fetched but if you actually sit down and just crunch a few numbers and I've got a really cool tool that I'm gonna share in that session called my financial freedom timeline calculator um and I've got another tool that I also share that is going to just really highlight you just plug in a few numbers and you're gonna get an idea of when your business can take you to that point of financial freedom.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that can be really motivating so that every time you're making the decision of okay do I we need to buy a new car.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_00: Do I use it the cash that I have or do I you know like I'm trying to decide between between a cheap car and a more expensive car.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: And you can and it's okay to buy the expensive car.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: I just want you to make that decision through the lens of okay if I go for and I have it in the calculator this tool that I have you can put in an two things you're considering buying at different price levels and it will show you how um based on the option you choose how much time that's going to add on whether it's months or years to the point that you reach financial freedom.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're choosing between the 6000 car and the 1500 car you can be like okay if I go with the 1500 pound car I reach financial freedom one year earlier.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: Is that valuable to me?
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_00: And you can make decisions through that lens and that can be really powerful.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_01: Amazing that that sounds really really useful and and I and I suspect sort of like you know people are going to love that because you can't argue with evidence and stuff that's in front of you and sometimes we have all this stuff going in our head but when you're given sort of tools that really kind of support what you're thinking and give you that that sort of insight back it just becomes so empower so powerful so um thank you thank you you know I'm excited to be sharing that with everybody because it's gonna be really useful.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_01: Just before we finish I have some quick fire questions that I would like to ask you.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm asking all my guests um are you a coffee or tea drinker?
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: 100% coffee coffee although I used to be I remember I was thinking back to a few years ago I used to be obsessed with tea but I I'm definitely being coffee for at least five ten years now it's funny because because um I think most people have said that um so it's just interesting isn't it like you shift back your taste buds over time yeah and I think it tells me a lot about somebody so yeah um what's the one business book that you think every entrepreneur should read now I know you allude you spoke about the emyth but is yeah is that is that the book my number one book and it's one book that we gave to all um clients who sign up to my accounting practice once they were beyond like about 25000 turnover the book you need to read is Traction I think it's by Gina Wickman.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_00: And um that's like if you want to scale your business beyond like the half a million mark the other one that's really good written by the same author that like has similar principles is called Rocket Fuel.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_00: And it's so if you haven't ever heard of this principle of like a visionary and an integrator rocket fuel is going to explain that.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then the follow on to that is traction where how you implement a whole lot of those principles but in a bigger team and it's just it's golden if you're gonna grow a team it's just really powerful.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_01: Amazing what's the one tool or app that you can run your business without so it's a really like simple one but it's just so fundamental to everything I do.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_00: And that is my Google calendar honestly it's because with four kids I also have multiple businesses.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_00: I have my accounting practice I actually have I sold the one I have another accounting practice I have a swimming pool hire business I have the digital course I have lots going on um lots of team members reporting to me so like without my calendar I have a color coded time blocked I I couldn't function without my Google calendar and I share it with my husband we even have I don't know if you've heard of a Skylark calendar where the Skylight calendar is advertised on um now that I've mentioned it's probably going to come up in your like Instagram algorithm yeah yeah yeah it's like how it's like whiteboard it's it is it's like like an it's on the screen it's like a TV screen but or like a big tablet you can put on the wall and like the kids have tasks they can take off and they can see the calendar.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_00: So now my 10 and 11 year old I just put I used to have to manage them a bit but now they can see the calendar they are just managing their own lives because they can see everything in there they like know exactly what's happening Google calendar like a digital calendar for running everything in your life couldn't live without it brilliant I think I have seen those and they do look really cool so it's so great.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_00: What's the one best piece of business advice that you've ever received this is a tough one because there's so many good ones but the one that kind of jumped into my mind is anything that happens it could apply to business or life you need to say what where or what is the gift in this because you can have like the shittiest worst thing happen in your business like losing your major client or something and okay take a moment yes it's it's horrible it's whatever it is but there is a gift in everything that's given to you whether it's a lesson you needed to learn or an opportunity that you are now going to explore that you wouldn't have otherwise there is truly a gift in everything that happens oh I love that and yeah and absolutely a hundred percent um in one sentence what does building an online business mean to you probably just freedom and like fun and creativity I feel like for me personally it takes me out of the box like it takes me out of the box of like an accounting practice or other businesses and you have there's just so much potential to put yourself out there.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yes it can be intimidating but you can kind of package up a piece of yourself or something that you're passionate about and like share it with the world so yeah and I think one is freedom and freedom and fun.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_01: Freedom and fun oh I love that um thank you so much for joining me today this has been amazing and I've loved speaking to you um now if you've enjoyed this conversation you're going to love the online business growth summit because this is just a small taste of what there is to come now alongside today's guest you'll hear from over 18 incredible experts covering everything from digital products marketing automation sales ai visibility audience growth and so much more and it's all designed to help you build income beyond selling your time now you can register for free head on over to my website www.sellyourbrilliansonline dot com or click the link in the show notes um and go and register for free it's free tickets at the moment the early bird um cost for lifetime access is only£27 it will be going up shortly to 197 nearer the time but come along experience these amazing speakers and learn how you can build a business that works for you and not the other way around Ray thank you very much and um yeah I I look forward to your session.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's been great to be on Karen thank you.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode I really hope it's given you something to think about and perhaps inspired you to look at your business a little bit differently.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_01: Now if you've enjoyed this episode then I'd be grateful if you could go with a friend or a fellow entrepreneur.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_01: It really helps more people discover the podcast and you never know who might need to hear this message today.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_01: And if you already start building a business that gives you more freedom then I would love to invite you to join me at the online business group summit.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_01: Now this summit is taking place on the 6th to the 8th of October online it's completely free to attend and it's going to bring together over 18 expert speakers who will be sharing practical studies to help you create a business that you love a business that truly supports your lifestyle.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_01: You can register your free place today by visiting wwwntaonline dot com I will be back next week with another episode but until then have a wonderful week thanks for tuning in to today's episode of Online Business Uncovered if today's conversation has sparked an idea or gave you a dose of clarity then please make sure to check out the show notes for all the links and resources mentioned new episodes land every Thursday so hit follow or subscribe to stay in the loop and if you're loving the show a quick rating or review goes a long way in helping more brilliant entrepreneurs like you find this show.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time keep showing up keep sharing your brilliance and remember freedom in business is possible and it starts with taking the next right step