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As entrepreneurs, nobody really teaches us (unless you come from an accounting background) about finances, and there is so much that goes into this. When I onboard new clients I actually gift them one of my courses which is called The Money Mindset Journaling Journey that literally prompts on journaling about your money mindset. You might think that your mindset is completely irrelevant but the truth is that your mindset, when it comes to money, is crucial.
Michelle Cooper, the High Priestess of Profit
Michelle Cooper is the High Priestess of Profit, a spiritual gangsta, CEO of Alchemy Accounting & Bookkeeping, a Profit First Professional, and author of several books. Michelle took her small accounting firm in rural British Columbia to a thriving online business encompassing coaching and consulting, speaking, and writing while balancing the management and growth of a brick and mortar office. She has built a solid team of bookkeepers, accountants, tax professionals, and business coaches who support impact-driven entrepreneurs to have highly profitable, sustainable businesses while creating the peace of mind that comes from a solid financial foundation.
Should we only focus on revenue generation?
In business, we focus on revenue generation. We're in business, and we need to generate revenue. But sometimes, we focus solely on that, and we put other things aside because as human beings we only have so much capacity. We say to ourselves: “I’ll deal with that later”, but later usually doesn't come until we are facing some type of urgent situation.
So, Michelle’s first advice is to hire someone to help you with your numbers. Get a good bookkeeper or a tax professional. There are people out there that handle the technical aspect, and they're really good at what they do. So, let them do their thing while you, as the business owner, work on your thinking. Work on your mindset, understand your history, your relationship with money, understand the stories that have become ingrained in your brain and are now living out in your experience. Don't judge yourself and don't be afraid of judgment from people you hire. Get rid of shame around money, because all it does is get in the way of having accurate, detailed financial records, it gets in the way of progress and moves you into self-sabotage.
Tidying your money
In her coaching, Michelle talks about the magical art of tidying your money. She explains that it all begins when you allow yourself to be supported and you look at your numbers with gratitude instead of shame. You can have gratitude and still desire something more, but the key is to be grateful for both the money in and the money out. A lot of people can be really grateful for all the money coming into their business, but you have to have gratitude for both directions of the money and look at where you're receiving money and where you're spending money, and does that actually bring you joy, does it bring you happiness. And if it doesn't, don't do it.
When it comes to money, there are three key things to keep in mind:
- Understand where your money is coming from. Make sure that you understand your revenue streams and if you have multiple streams of revenue, make sure that you divide them so that you are able to see the percentage of your revenue based on the whole
- How much does it cost you to fulfill your services? What is the cost that is directly tied with delivering your service? Once you deduct that from the revenue you generated, you will get your actual revenue
- Understand your breakeven expenses. These are the expenses that have to be paid regardless of whether you have 0 clients or 100 clients. Because until you've covered this, you haven't made any money.
Is Your Mindset Keeping Your Bank Accounts Small
Another important topic that Michelle covers in her coaching is: Is Your Mindset Keeping Your Bank Accounts Small. Michelle shares that growing up in a commercial fishing family, they had to work hard for money and there was a feast or famine cycle present. Her father wanted her to go to college and to have an office job, so she didn’t have to work hard. So, she did just that. But, she still made it hard for herself: she would overwork, she would be the first one at her desk, the last one to leave at night, she would experience burnouts. She created her own feast or famine cycle. Growing up, our mindset gets imprinted by stories we are surrounded with. So, it’s important to have self-awareness and realize that you don’t have to make it hard, difficult and painful in order to be deserving. Because your value doesn't come from that, your value comes from what you provide for other people.
Michelle created an amazing practice called Money Date which you can use to start to develop and nurture your relationship with money. If you are interested in learning more and connecting with Michelle, head over to her website Alchemy Accounting or DM her on Instagram.
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