Latest / The 3Bz Podcast - Building Better Business / EP156 - Sort This Before 5 April or Regret It

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EP156 - Sort This Before 5 April or Regret It · The 3Bz Podcast - Building Better Business

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  Hi there business owner, and welcome to the Three BS Podcast,
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  the place where we go beyond the numbers and dive into the
• 0:07
  strategies to help you build a Better Business one step at a
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  time. I'm your host, Stephanie, a
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  multi awarding entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in
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  the bookkeeping and currency world.
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  If you're a business owner looking to streamline, grow and
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  get back the time that you deserve, you're in the right
• 0:21
  place tackling real world problems, answering tough
• 0:24
  questions and digging deep into business building secrets in
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  just 15 minutes each week. So Are you ready to build a
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  Better Business with confidence and clarity?
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  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, inspiration and education to
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  help you build a Better Business.
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  If we haven't met before, hi, my name is Stephanie Marshall.
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  I am a bookkeeper, business owner and someone who genuinely
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  cares about helping businesses feel more in control, more
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  confident and a lot less stressed when it comes to their
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  numbers. Now today's episode is a very
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  timely one because we are at the end of March already.
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  I know I don't know where time goes, which means we are right
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  at the end of the financial tax year.
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  If you're a sole trader or if you run by the tax year April to
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  April, then we're very, very nearly at the end.
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  And this is the point where a lot of business owners start
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  thinking, I should probably look at my numbers now.
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  I should probably sort a few things or I'll just deal with it
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  in April. And that's exactly why I wanted
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  to record this episode, because your business won't change
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  because of what you think about doing.
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  It changes because of the decisions you actually make.
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  So today I'm going to talk about 5 decisions to make before this
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  tax year ends. And we don't have long.
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  No, not next month, not when things come down right now.
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  Let's start with the one that most people avoid, pricing.
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  We talk about it a lot on the podcast.
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  End of the tax year is the perfect time to look at what
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  you've actually earned this year, how much work that took to
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  earn, and whether it actually felt worth it.
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  Because if you've worked incredibly hard all this year
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  and your profit is not reflecting that, something has
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  to change and it's usually your pricing.
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  So the decision is simple. Are you going to go into the new
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  tax year charging the same? Or are you adjusting your prices
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  based on what you've actually learned this year?
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  Because carrying under pricing into another year just compounds
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  the problem and it doesn't get any better.
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  I think it's also important to note that as business owners,
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  every year that goes by, the more we learn, the more mistakes
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  we've made, the more evidence we have of things that needs to
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  change, the more data we have. As you know, if you've ever
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  listened to an episode of the Three BS Podcast, data is king.
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  Data is so important. I'm a huge data nerd, but that
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  data you are gathering every single year, every single day,
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  every single month in your business, looking back at that
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  is what helps you grow and build.
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  And if you're looking to build a Better Business, which I presume
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  you are by watching or listening to this podcast, now is the time
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  to look at that data decision #2 your clients.
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  Now this is where we have to get honest.
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  And truthfully, this can be a little uncomfortable.
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  I want you to look back at the last 12 months of your business.
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  Make a note of which clients drained your time, caused
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  unnecessary extra stress, paid late, or just didn't feel like a
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  good fit. And on the flip side of that, I
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  want you to look at the clients who value what you do, pay you
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  properly and on time and make the work enjoyable because not
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  all revenue is equal. Some of it costs you far more
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  than it gives you. And I don't just mean
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  financially. I quite often sit back and look
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  at my client base as a whole as which ones light me up.
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  There was ATV advert a few years ago and I think I've talked
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  about on the podcast before and I think it was for Indeed or one
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  of the job hunting sites, and the whole premise of the advert
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  was love Mondays. If you don't love Mondays, you
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  need to look on Indeed for a new job that makes you love Mondays.
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  Building a business can be incredibly stressful.
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  Growing a business can be highs and lows like you've never known
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  before. It truly is a roller coaster.
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  Entrepreneurship is something that is not for the faint
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  hearted, and you'll know that if you're in this world too.
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  But I wake up on a Monday morning and Mondays are my
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  busiest day, so they're my CEO mornings.
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  I have podcast recordings, I have all my catch up from the
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  week before. I'm reviewing KPI data, and a
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  lot of my client calls fall on a Monday, but I wake up on a
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  Monday morning excited to get in the office.
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  I wake up in on a Monday morning just thinking how grateful I am
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  that I get to do this for work. The business owners and the
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  businesses that I get to work with and the impact that I get
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  to have truly lights me up. And whether that's teaching the
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  strategies in the book to children, whether that's client
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  calls with existing clients, perspective discovery calls of
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  new clients. These things make me so excited
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  because everything I do is to help someone build a Better
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  Business. And the minute that I get to do
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  that, I love coming to work. I love having my time recording
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  this for you all. If you don't love your Mondays,
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  then why not? What is it that's making you not
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  love your Monday? Because you're a business owner,
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  you get to choose what your week looks like.
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  You get to choose how you grow your business when you work, how
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  you work, what software you choose, what deliverables, what
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  offers and products you sell and make.
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  You should absolutely thrive and enjoy what you do.
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  And if you're working with clients that are stressing you
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  out, if you are getting stressed out trying to chase payments
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  that aren't coming in, if you don't have the right workflows
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  and the right efficiencies in your business that you're
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  getting stuck on the sticky bits that you didn't start a business
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  to do, Finance is a big part of that.
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  Then it's time to have a look at who to let go, what to carry
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  forward and what to leave behind.
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  So the decision really is who are you not taking into the next
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  tax year? Because sometimes the best thing
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  you can do for your business is Createspace, create capacity,
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  remove some of those things that are causing you the stress so
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  that you don't love your Mondays.
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  Another decision you need to make is your systems.
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  The end of the tax year is where the cracks start to show, and I
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  think this is where more business owners than ever start
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  to notice what took too long, what's messy, what's causing
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  stress, and what you had to fix last minute.
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  And I think they're the clues that you need to look for.
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  Have a rule at ABCSUK that whenever something is sticky,
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  whenever something is not as smooth that I'd like, whenever
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  there's something I've had to go in and change or fix or
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  something that's taken more time than it needs to, then I will
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  build something to fix that. I will look at that and rectify
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  it Now when you're in the middle of busy seasons, so January, for
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  example, when we're doing tax returns, sometimes I have to fix
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  things last minute. I don't have time to go back on
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  them. The end of the texture is when I
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  start to look at things that I haven't been able to fix or
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  things that I just dealt with at the time.
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  But ideally in in future instances of that particular
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  situation, I need something that's going to make that less
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  messy, take less time and cause less stress.
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  Systems and processes are not about being perfect.
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  They are about making things easier next time.
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  And I think it's important to say that your systems and
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  processes are an ever evolving set of documents.
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  Their processes change every single time you do something.
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  Whether the software changes where a button is, whether you
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  realize there's a shortcut that's better, whether you need
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  to find a different software because that pricing structure
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  is going up and it's no longer the right fit for your business.
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  Those little things are the bits you need to look at.
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  So I guess decision 3 is what are you fixing before April
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  starts? And I'm not telling you to fix
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  everything. Pick one or two things that are
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  really starting to cause you a headache and fix those now
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  before the next tax year kicks in.
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  Decision 4, your financial visibility.
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  Now you knew this one was coming because I always talk about it
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  and I always will talk about this because it really matters.
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  At the end of the tax year, you should have a clear idea of what
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  you've made, what you owe, and where the business stands.
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  But a lot of business owners don't.
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  They wait for their accountant to tell them, and that creates
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  stress because you're always reacting.
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  I often use the analogy that if you went to the doctor's and
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  said I had a really bad headache a month ago, there's not an
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  awful lot that a doctor can do to help you.
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  And it's like that for an accountant too.
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  If we're having these conversations in the tax year,
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  we can look at tax efficiencies. We can look at where we need to
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  spend, where we need to save, create budgets, look at data
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  that's actually going to make a difference to your tax position
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  at the end of the year. If you come and see me on the
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  7th of April and want your tax return done, I can only deal
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  with the information that's historical.
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  I can't help make a difference or an impact to the the end tax
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  position once the tax year has passed.
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  So this decision is really important.
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  Are you going into the next tax year still guessing or are you
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  going to start properly understanding your numbers?
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  Because your numbers are not just for compliance.
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  They are for control. And as I said, if you're looking
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  to build a business, which I presume you are by watching or
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  listening to the Three BS podcast, it's time to start
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  looking at your numbers. And finally, the fifth decision
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  you need to make before the new tax year starts is your time,
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  because this is the one that's so often overlooked by business
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  owners. Look back at the last 12 months,
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  the last year, where did your time actually go?
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  And more importantly, was it spent on the right things
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  because most business owners are busy but not always productive.
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  We talked about it a few episodes ago.
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  There is a difference between the two.
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  The decision here is what are you not taking into the next tax
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  year? What are you stopping?
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  What are you putting more of your time and effort into?
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  Because doing more is not always the answer, but doing the right
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  things are. And with this one, when you're
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  looking at your time, where do you want to spend your time?
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  It's not always about what is the most profitable either.
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  As a business owner, it's so important that we strive for
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  that work life balance. And I say strive because I don't
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  think any of us ever achieve it. I think there's always a
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  sacrifice to be made from one or the other, but you also need to
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  make sure time and effort is put into both.
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  If you were working 60 hour weeks, which I know many of you
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  watch and listen to this do, when did you take time for
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  yourself? Next tax year, are you looking
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  to take more time for yourself? Do you want to close in August
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  like I do for the summer holidays?
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  Do you want to take more holidays?
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  Do you want to travel more? Do you want to do more markets?
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  Do you want to do more work? Do you want to take on more
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  clients? Do you want to put more time
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  into the business because you spent more time on life?
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  There's no right or wrong answer here either.
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  It's unique to you and your unique circumstances.
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  But it's important not to just keep plugging along and actually
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  look at this and go, this is what I want to aim for in the
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  next tax year. Here's the honest part.
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  You don't need a new year to make these decisions either.
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  You don't need January, you don't need April.
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  You don't even need a Monday. But the end of the tax year is a
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  natural checkpoint. So it's a chance to pause, look
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  at what actually happened, and make informed decisions on what
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  you want your next 12 months to look like.
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  When you look back at what actually happened, is it what
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  you hoped would happen, or is it something completely different?
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  If you take one thing from this episode, let it be this your
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  next year in business will be shaped by the decisions you make
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  right now. Not in a few weeks, not in a few
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  months, right now. So here's what I want you to do.
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  Pick one decision from this episode.
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  Just one. You've got 5 to choose from and
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  act on it this week because your business deserves better than
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  I'll sort it later. And when you've made that one
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  decision and acted on it, drop me a message on social media.
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  Come and find us on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, and
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  send me Adm and let me know what decision you chose, what actions
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  you've made on it so that I can cheer you along and be behind
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  you and help you be accountable to yourself to build a Better
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  Business. If you found this episode
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  useful, please do like rate and review.
• 12:45
  It really does help more business owners find this
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  podcast so that we can all build better businesses.
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  And if your finances currently feel messy, reactive, or unclear
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  as we head into the new tax year and you want some support with
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  it, that is exactly what we help clients fix ABCSUK.
• 13:02
  You can find links in the show notes to book a discovery call.
• 13:04
  Get a 15 minutes in my diary. Let me see how we can help you
• 13:08
  best. Thank you so much for listening
• 13:11
  to The Three BS Podcast episode 156.
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  I will see you next week for the final episode of series 3.
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  Bye. And that brings us to the end of
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  another episode of The Three BS Podcast.
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  I hope you found it useful and that you're walking away with
• 13:26
  some motivation, inspiration or education to help you build a
• 13:30
  Better Business. Don't forget to subscribe, leave
• 13:33
  a review and of course, connect with us on social media for more
• 13:35
  insights, tips and behind the scenes content.
• 13:38
  Your next step in building a Better Business is just a click
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  away. I can't wait to connect with you
• 13:42
  and I'll see you on the next episode.
• 13:44
  Bye.