She Owns It

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Learning to Overcome Challenges in collecting client payments by Danielle Hayden of @KickstartAcct

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by Danielle Hayden | Featured Contributor

Let’s get real and talk about our fears over money and more importantly how do we get more of it back in our business.

This interview I did with our bookkeeping client provided her with so much clarity she asked me to share it with you.

Here is what we conquered:

  • Learning to overcome challenges in collecting client payments
  • Overcome mindset issues around money and why that contributes to your ability to collect payments from clients
  • Strategies to increase cash collections
  • Practical accounting strategies to use in your business

 

What are the mindset issues around money that contribute to our inability to collect payments from customers? 

We all have mindset issues around money from our childhood. Some of us were taught not to discuss money and that asking for money would come off as rude or unprofessional. We lack the confidence to know our worth and that we performed the service or will perform the service and invoices NEED to be paid in order to perform the service. Take a moment to reflect right now on how your parents spoke about money? Did they speak openly? What was there overall tone? 

 

 

What strategies can I use to overcome these mindset issues? 

There are so many mindset books and strategies out there in the entrepreneur’s space so I want to keep this simple. Remember that you are in business to make a PROFIT! Yes, you heard me. There are so many business owners out there that are so passionate about what we do and helping others that we forget that if we only help other people for free we will not be able to create a sustainable business that generates profits and is able to support your family. You are worth the prices that you laid out for your customers, now hold firm to your mission.

 

 How can I increase the profits and cash in their business? 

I firmly believe in the 1% theory. If you can increase your prices by 1%, increase your volume by 1%, increase your collections by 1% and decrease your expenses by 1% can you imagine the amount of profit you would generate in your business? Start taking one action step every day to increase your profits. If you need ideas you can refer to the Profit Planner.

 

 

What are some practical strategies that I can use today to increase my cash?

Automate your bookkeeping systems, t ake payments or partial payments upfront before services are performed, accept credit card payments at time of service, automate monthly subscriptions so that they are billed automatically, send automated collection reminders, send out personal messages monthly to any clients who have not paid and stop servicing clients who are not paying their bills.

 

How do we overcome the mindset issues that creep up when clients do not pay?

This is something that we struggle with. We all know the value that we are providing to our clients/customers and most of us could never imagine not paying our vendors but there are people out there who don’t understand the value or do not have the ethics in themselves or their business to uphold their debts. This is not your burden to carry. That person has their own issues that they need to work through and it likely has NOTHING to do with you and your service or product. Remember to spend more time and energy on your ideal clients who value you and your service and less energy on the people who will not value. Terminate those relationships quickly!

 

How does a paper planner help you grow your business? by Danielle Hayden of @KickstartAcct

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by Danielle Hayden | Featured Contributor

Do you download every new app and tool hoping that it will help you get organized and finally set you up to grow your business?

I know, me too! I get so excited and I try really hard to use the new fancy app but I always go back to my tried and true methods. I noticed I wasn’t alone in this. This year, we took all of our clients’ questions and the tools that we have implemented in our businesses and created a 12-week profitability planner.

Finally, a planner that you can use as an accountability partner to spend time every day working on your business as the CEO, setting goals, priorities and taking the daily action task to find the profits in your business all in a high-quality notebook that you bring with you everywhere.

 Why does a hardcover planner work so well as your accountability partner?

  • Have a regular planning session that does not include screen time. Yep, you heard me, walk away from your email and spend time working on your business. Having a separate place that I use to schedule my day away from my computer has given me the opportunity to focus on what’s important.
  • Weekly planning- When you schedule your week schedule time each week to have a planning session. I recommend using a financial dashboard to guide your session. If you can determine your financial position (cash, who owes you money and who you owe money to) you can determine what activities you need to focus on next week. For instance, I have a client who really struggles to collect money from her clients so the weekly dashboard is a reminder to her that if her cash is low and her accounts receivable is high than she needs to spend her time collecting on her client invoices. I also have a client who has been increasing her revenue month over month but she still has credit card and loan debt from when she started her business so this client is using this time to determine if she should be using her surplus of cash to decrease her debt or increase her marketing efforts to continue to increase her revenue.
  • Easy setup and easy to use- even when we are so technologically savvy there can be such a learning curve to every app, they never have all the features I need and they can be difficult to use, can I get an amen?
  • Writing is proven to help you remember. Studies have shown that writing down things by hand actually allows you to think and process better and as a result, you are more likely to follow through and really focus on your goals and tasks to complete those goals.

It’s time to get to know your numbers so you can use that information to grow your business. Review your accounting, pull the reports and get ready to get down to the details.

Bookkeeping checklist-What do I need and when? by Danielle Hayden of @KickstartAcct

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by Danielle Hayden | Featured Contributor

Congratulations you are finally running the business of your dreams! As you may have realized by now as a business owner you have to learn how to understand your financials and how to use them. I know you didn’t go to school for accounting and that this can be very confusing for most business owners so we are here to help. We are asked by clients every day what needs to be done? How do I improve my bookkeeping processes?

No matter your stage here is your checklist for you: 

New Business-No Bookkeeper

  • Separate business and personal expenses
  • Ensure you are set up as a business with your state
  • Establish your EIN
  • Open Business checking account
  • Set up Accounting Software
  • Choose the right point of sale system
    • Sync your point of sale (where you are collecting payments) to your accounting software
  • Keep track of your inventory and costs by product-Choose the right system for tracking.
  • Determine your goals for this year and spend your business dollars strategically in order to grow revenue and increase profitability

 

 

You finally hired a bookkeeper so you can focus on your business. Remember you need to communicate with them, what do they need to know?

What do you need to communicate to your bookkeeper?

  • What are your goals for the next quarter and the next year?
  • What information do you need in order to help you determine if you hit your goals? 
  • Do you have any new revenue streams?
  • How will you be accepting payments for any new revenue streams?
  • Example: You are a business coach who offers private coaching, this year you launched a new group coaching program and an online course. Next quarter you will be launching in a live in-person event. Determine how you will be accepting payments, make sure they can be differentiated and communicate this information with your bookkeeper
  • Report any new business credit cards
  • Congratulations on your new funding, this needs to be reported to your bookkeeper to be accurately tracked
  • Did you accidentally use your business credit card for any personal expenses? List those items so that they can be categorized correctly.
  • Do you have any large expenses or deposits that have occurred that are out of the ordinary?
  •  Are you accurately tracking your inventory?
  • Are you ready to calculate your cost of goods sold within your accounting software

 

 

Do you need additional assistance? Consider taking your business to the next level with the following exercises: 

  • Create an annual budget
  • Outsource invoicing and collecting from clients to increase efficiency
  • Improve your cash management
  • Use a weekly cash dashboard

I know accounting can be confusing and overwhelming for most people so please know I am here to help you. Let’s learn from each other and grow together.  

I want to see you succeed and I cannot wait to see what you and your business do as you get a better understanding of your accounting and how that can grow your business.

New Quarter, new goals and fresh outlook! Let’s make the most of Quarter 4- September by Danielle Hayden of @KickstartAcct

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by Danielle Hayden | Featured Contributor

You will hear from so many gurus that you need to refocus on your goals for the 4th quarter but here is a challenge for you let’s take this one step further. 

Reality check: first we need to understand our financial health so we can make BETTER decisions this month. I know this is not what you wanted to hear, you have cash in the bank so why do you need to do this painful exercise?

We hear it from clients all the time: Here comes the dreaded email from your bookkeeper (yes that bookkeeper is my team for our clients, I love you all anyway) with your financial statements, monthly overview and key performance indicators but instead of opening the email and reviewing your numbers you quickly press delete or hide the email in a folder labeled “need to look at but probably won’t happen”. So another month goes by and you run your business like you do every month not knowing if your business is profitable, how much you’ll need for taxes or where in the world are you spending all your money and therefore will go another month without a paycheck or really knowing if your business is financially stable.

I’m here to tell you this month it needs to be different! Take the time this month to work ON your business not just in your business. Use the financial statements you receive this month to analyze your business. 

  • Is your business making money? 
  • Are you profitable? 
  • Where are you spending the most money? 
  • Where are most of your sales being generated from? 
  • What do you need to do differently this month to make this month more profitable?
  • Review your expenses to eliminate anything that is no longer serving you in your business

If you’re not sure where to start, you’re not alone. We documented our analysis process and the tools we used to create a profitable business and help other business owners create a more profitable business for you. Check out our step by step book accountability journal for free:

 

 

How do I get out of accounting overwhelm? by Danielle Hayden of @KickstartAcct

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by Danielle Hayden

Close your eyes and imagine a time where it is the end of the month and your bookkeeping is complete, accounts reconciled and you pull your reports and you actually enjoy the process of reviewing your numbers and you are excited to see how well your business is doing. This scenario feels so out of reach for so many business owners and it doesn’t have to be this way.

 

This year I worked with a client who was a very successful wellness coach, her business was scaling by leaps and bounds this year but she didn’t understand why she didn’t have enough cash to pay all of her contractors and bills every month. Jenna hid from her accounting because it was confusing to her and she didn’t have time to learn a new skill. After several months of the same circle of confusion, Jenna reached out to us for help. After 3 months Jenna has been able to confidently make more strategic spending decisions so that she can decrease spending and increase her profits (this also means Jenna is taking home a bigger paycheck). Now I promise you this is not magic.

 

How can you use these same strategies that we taught Jenna in your business?

  • (1 of 5) Set revenue goals
  • Determine your financial goal for this year?

 

For example, will you be increasing advertising costs in an effort to increase your revenue or will you be decreasing expenses in order to maximize your profitability?  

  • Make business decisions with your financial data
  • Review your sales by asking yourself
    • What percent did your revenue growth year over year?
    • What product or service has the highest sales?
    • What product or service has the highest profit or lowest cost of goods sold?
  • Review your expenses
    • What percent did your expenses grow year over year? Why?
    • What expenses are consistent month over month?
    • Are your expenses growing faster than your revenue? What changes can you make to prevent this from continuing?

 

Use these questions as a guide to review your financials this month and every month. Share with us your success stories and contact us with any questions. We love to support other women business owners, let us know how we can be a resource to you. 

You can find us here:

www.kickstartaccountinginc.com

5 steps to own your role as the CEO of your business by Danielle Hayden of @KickstartAcct

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by Danielle Hayden

As a women business owner, I understand the ups and downs that we all experience in entrepreneurship. One minute we are flying high and the next we are down and out thinking that this business idea that we came up will never get to the next level. Over the past 15 years, as I moved from corporate accounting as a chief financial officer to working with women on their bookkeeping, I have seen so many women struggle to feel empowered and really own their role as founder and CEO of their business. I am here to tell you that you deserve it! You founded this company and now it’s time to grow your organization! But how you say? Let’s break this down for you in 5 steps that can help you move into your leadership role: 

  1. Delegate-We CANNOT do it alone and that is OK! I give you permission to give yourself grace and ask for help. Help can look like this: 
    1. Consider outsourcing tasks that are not your specialty 
    2. Ask your team to work on additional tasks 
    3. Ask your family for help around the house
  2. Set strategic goals-You need to know where you are going so you can measure your progress along the way. 

Use the following questions to guide your strategic goal setting: 

    1. What are my current tactics including sales, marketing, team and key partners?
    2. How am I remaining competitive in my industry? How is my company different? 
    3. What are my goals and milestones? Take time right now to write out your:
      1. 10 year target
      2. 3 year picture 
      3. 1 year plan 
      4. Where do you want to be in 3 months? 

 

  • Work on your business not just in your business using daily ceo time

 

When I worked in corporate accounting we sent the CEO a series of daily reports to help keep her focused, and I use the same strategies in my business today. I call this process my daily CEO review. 

  1. Daily-State your goal.  Ensure daily activities are connected to your desired result. Keep your goals top of mind.
      1. Set your intentions daily. Where do you want to see your business go? 
      2. Magnetize your mind toward the goals you want to achieve. When you do this every day you signal to your subconscious mind that your thoughts, actions and decisions should be directed to that goal.
      3. Define what success means to your business. If you don’t determine what success looks like how will you know when you have arrived? 

 

  1. Targets-Determine your top 3 priorities you need to accomplish that day to achieve your goal.
  2. Plan your day! Use the daily schedule to plan your day
      1. Determine what time of the day you are the most productive
        1. Do a self-analysis today and note when you felt you had the most energy and concentration. When did you have the fewest amount of interruptions and distractions? 
        2. Remember there is no right way here. Some people feel the most energy in the morning and will enjoy getting the most demanding tasks completed in the morning to have a sense of completion, and other people feel the most energetic at night and enjoy working against the pressure of the clock and their deadline.
      2. Group each of these tasks logically by the type of tasks. 
        1. Segment one: Phone calls
        2. Segment two: Client calls
        3. Segment three: Content generation
        4. Segment four: Training/Team meetings

 

  1. Analyze your financials-Perform weekly financial checkups, a monthly financial review and a quarterly financial goal review. If you don’t review your books weekly, you can end up with bounced checks and overdue invoices. Then at the end of each quarter, review your bookkeeping and accounting records thoroughly. Look for trends such as an increase or decrease in sales.
    1. What percent did your revenue grow year over year?
    2. What percent did your expenses grow year over year? Why?
    3. Are your expenses growing faster than your revenue?
    4. Does your spending align with the goals you set for your business?
    5. What is the net amount of cash in/out of the business?

 

  • Continuously learn and develop You cannot expect to grow your business if you are not growing as an individual. There are so many aspects to entrepreneurship, and you need to decide on one topic at a time and really dive in and learn. 

 


My challenge to you: Take the next 90 days and learn to love reviewing your numbers. I know it sounds crazy, but if you take one goal and one action step at a time you will feel empowered and confident in your business like you’ve never felt before. 

 

If you are lost on where to start, I welcome you to download the first seven days of our profit planner for free here: www.profitplannerbookkeeping.com