Habits and Hustle - Episode 282: Melissa Houston: How to Become Cash Confident as an Entrepreneur

Episode Date: October 6, 2023

82% of businesses fail due to cash flow mismanagement, often mistaking profit for cash flow. In this episode of the Habits and Hustle podcast, I interview Melissa Houston, author of Cash Confident, w...ho shares her unique five-step framework for mastering business finances. The framework starts with developing a positive money mindset, understanding the difference between profit and cash flow, creating a business financial plan, and the importance of being proactive with cash and forecasting financial outcomes for at least six to eight weeks in advance to prepare for any financial shortages. We also discuss specific financial hurdles that women often face, including mindset issues around money, the intense competition in the online coaching world, and the importance of understanding and managing cash flow effectively. What we discuss: 01:10 - What does it mean to be cash confident? 02:34 - Number 1 reason businesses fail 03:55 - Tips for being more aware of cash flow 05:36 - 5 step framework for mastering business finances 09:00 - How to shift your money mindset 11:53 - Financial confidence for women 16:12 - How to determine the strengths and weakness of a business? 17:46 - What businesses are more profitable and cash flow positive than other ones? 22:50 - The truth behind online coaching 25:13 - When does a company need to hire a CFO?   Find more from Jen: Website: https://www.jennifercohen.com/ Instagram: @therealjencohen Books: https://www.jennifercohen.com/books Speaking: https://www.jennifercohen.com/speaking-engagements Find more from Melissa: Website: https://melissahoustoncpa.com/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/melissahoustoncpa Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 I guys is Tony Robbins, you're listening to Habits in Hustle! Crash it! So we have a special guest today because not only are you an author, Melissa Houston, but you're also my friend. And Melissa is a contributor at Forbes and also wrote a fantastic book called Cash Confident, which is I think, would I love about it? It is very simple to understand and grasp, and it basically gives people a blueprint
Starting point is 00:00:32 for how to manage your money within your business. Basically, it'd be more confident about cash, right? Yes, thank you for saying that because that's exactly what I aimed for. There's so many accountants who write books But they can only be understood by other accountants, right? And I really yeah, and it's like that's not very helpful for the average entrepreneur because you're not in accountant Right nor do you want to be right?
Starting point is 00:00:57 Well, yeah, and also it's like this is what I love about it Also is that like it can save people who are entrepreneurs so much money by learning Very basic things that they could be doing and looking out for yes, and so what okay? Why why does your name it cash Confident what is what is it to be cash confidence? Yeah, that's such a good question because My whole premise of shimmy and's profit is I really want to empower entrepreneurs and business owners with business financial literacy. And once you have those skills, you feel like so confident and so unstoppable. So, you know, to the point of cash confident, it's getting you confident with the numbers in your business.
Starting point is 00:01:39 Because like you said, there's so much money, there's so much profit to be made. When you look at your numbers and you tighten things up in your business, right? People think, I don't wanna look at my numbers, they scare me, whatever, but there's so much value in knowing what's going on in your business and knowing your numbers. It's so true.
Starting point is 00:01:56 In fact, actually, so interesting, so many big brands, people look from the outside, perception is not always reality, right? Like, I know a lot of big brands up there, they look like there were billions of dollars. People, it has the perception of so much success, and the truth is, they are drowning in debt, they are actually going to be on the brink of bankruptcy, because they're not managing their numbers properly, they're overspending, they don't know what's really going on, even within their own, like within the own, the company they don't know what's really going on, even within their own company,
Starting point is 00:02:27 they don't know what's going on. And you talk very much about why businesses fail. What is the number one reason? I think it's 82% of businesses fail. What is that number one reason for it? The number one reason is cash flow. Mmm. Running out of cash because people mistake profit from cash flow and they're two very different things. And when you run out of cash, you're basically out of resources and you're forced to shut down at that point. It's too late. Yeah. Totally true. Profiting cash flow are so different.
Starting point is 00:03:02 And people, that's what happens. People mistake one for the other. They think it's synonymous with each other. Profiting cash flow are so different and people, that's what happens, is people mistake one for the other. They think it's synonymous with each other. You can have a huge profit year. A lot of people I know, like on my podcast or a lot of people, like my friends, who had huge businesses, but they weren't managing their cash flow and they ran out of money and next thing you know, it was goodbye.
Starting point is 00:03:21 It was bankruptcy. Exactly. Right? It's like if you're not doing a point of sale business, which is, you know, tap the card and you get the money right away. So if you're invoicing and you're waiting for, you know, big payments to come through and stuff, that's especially important for managing your cash flow because there's a lot of timing differences. So your profit statement may say, you know, let's just say you've got a million dollars of profit, but if 900,,000 of that
Starting point is 00:03:46 profit is tied up, you're still waiting for the cash and you run out, that's a problem. So you have to be very careful managing your cash, even though you're high profit. Totally. So then, can you give us a few tips of how we can be much more cognizant of our cash flow? That is simple for people who are not financially astute or number astute like me. Yeah. Or a lot of people to be honest because you could have a great idea and just this can be your, that, that, that, that, that, that basically drowns you.
Starting point is 00:04:17 So yeah, yeah, exactly. And for smaller businesses, it tends to be a little bit more difficult for them to understand how to manage their cash. Large corporations, they've got their cash management systems where they should nail down. So when you're an entrepreneur or small business owner, medium size, what have you, it's important to be proactive with your cash. So what you're going to do is you're going to forecast at least six to eight weeks ahead of time. So you're looking into the future, you're looking at where your bank balances now, but you're also forecasting what you expect to come in and out for the next six to eight weeks so that you can identify if there's any timing issues and you've got like a shortage
Starting point is 00:04:56 in cash. So when you've got that shortage in cash, it's also important to have reserves ready to use that short, like that cash bucket, whatever you want to call it, that you have. Yeah, so it could be like a line of credit, it could be cash that you've saved up to in your business, like whatever, but you need to be prepared because it's the cycle of business. You're always gonna have low cash months, it happens frequently, business is a constant challenge for changing,
Starting point is 00:05:25 especially during hard economic times. So ensuring that you've got the cash and you've got the resources to cover it when you're short, it allows you to sleep well at night. Yeah, I mean, I agree. So what do you put together this like five step framework work, right, to be cash confident? Do you want to break it down for people?
Starting point is 00:05:45 Yeah, absolutely, because the five steps, they all compliment each other, right? So the first step is your money mindset. And the reason why I put that number one is because I find with a lot of small business owners and medium-sized, like just managed, owner-managed businesses, that there's something holding them back
Starting point is 00:06:05 into making more money, right? We all have money stories, we all have money mindset issues and a lot of especially women are afraid to start making profit because they're afraid of what people are gonna think or how their life will change or whatever. So you don't wanna have a money mindset that's gonna hold you back from being the best and most profitable business that you can be.
Starting point is 00:06:26 And then the second step is to know your financial statements. Because if you're not reading your financial statements every month, like you're doing your business the disservice. And then the third step is to ensure that you've got a business financial plan created. So what that is, is it's looking at where your business is currently, and then you're forecasting the next 12 months And if you've got goals like if you want to increase your the size of your business increase revenues What have you you can map these out each and every month so that you can achieve your goals, right?
Starting point is 00:06:56 And it allows you to grow your business in a managed way so then you can see you know When you put it on paper and you plan it out you can see at that point when you can afford to bring in extra team members or if you can up your advertising budget or what have you, whatever's going on in your business. And then the fourth step is, okay, it's great that you made that plan, but you need to be sure that you monitor what's going on each and every month to make sure that you're staying on track for that plan. And when you look at your plant, like your results every month, you're also going to look at your profit and you're going to estimate how much taxes you need to put aside, right? Because so many entrepreneurs are forgetting that part. It's great to make profit, but if you're not planning for your taxes, then you're going to get a big surprise, right? So I want to tell you about masterclass because I am such a fan of all the various classes that they offer from entrepreneurship to business strategy and so much more. Whether you're watching masterclass on TV, listening in audio mode, in the app,
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Starting point is 00:10:40 a three year warranty on any unit, which is an additional $84 value. Lock the special offer by going to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code hustle. That's airdoctorpro, a-i-r-d-o-c-t-o-R-P-R-O.com promo code, Hustle. I'm so glad that you said that. That is so true, right? Because people do not admit I'm a victim of that myself, right? Because I forget that sometimes I'm like,
Starting point is 00:11:15 oh, I made this money. And I really resentful at the end of the year when I'm like, oh my God, I didn't realize I called that money that I did make. make and actually it's not actually my money. I have to then pay such a big piece. So then what people do is they overspend with not knowing this. Exactly. And then that turns into the, you know, the fifth step, which is the cash management side. Yeah. And it's like, all of a sudden, you're short on cash because you've got this build to pay the IRS. You you've got this bill to pay
Starting point is 00:11:45 the IRS. You don't have any money to pay. So what I always recommend is having two accounts for your business, one for your operating expenses, you know, your every day in and out stuff, and then that special account for your taxes. So once you calculate how much you should be putting aside, you put it into your tax bank account, and it's like gone and paid. So you don't have to worry about it. So when you do get your tax bill, you've got that reserve ready to go and pay. And if you're the type of person,
Starting point is 00:12:14 or if there's a listener, that's the type of person because I hear those often, they get resentful because they have to pay taxes, right? And of course, nobody loves paying taxes. Yes, it does. But I mean, a great way you can reframe it is thinking you know this is actually a privilege because I'm making money in my business. If you're not paying taxes, you're making money. I know. But somebody, my husband always tells that says that to me because I get so mad and he's
Starting point is 00:12:38 like listen, it's better than the alternative, right? Like if you weren't paying anything, if you weren't making anything, right? But you know, a lot of times, like I feel like we get in our own way. And I don't, like we can have all the opportunity. And this is, again, I'm talking from my own experiences. You know, you may know how to make money, but you're leaving a lot of money on the table
Starting point is 00:13:02 if you're not managing it well and making it work for you. And I've learned that so many times the hard way. And, you know, how do we even, like, I guess my question always comes down to actionable, like actionable things, like you gave us, you're a brief summary of the five step framework. But yeah, if someone is just overwhelmed with the idea of all those things, right?
Starting point is 00:13:25 Like, how do we kind of get over our own anxiety? And do we find somebody to help us with it? Like, I feel like a lot of times, we even, I think you talk about it, this idea of a posture syndrome when it comes to the money, right? Like, you don't believe that this is something that you can even, like, this is not you. What do we do about it? Yeah, well, it's such a great question. like you don't believe that this is something that you can even like this is not you. What do we do about it? Yeah well it's such a great question and that first of all is why many mindset is number one. Because when you're feeling overwhelmed that's your many mindset that's speaking. Right. And it's saying oh my god I don't know what to do. How am I going to handle this?
Starting point is 00:14:00 But the thing is it's broken down into the following four steps, right? It's it's step-by-step and if you need help if you feel overwhelmed with that I personally have courses out there I have programs and I have coaching and then there's other business financial coaches out there that you can seek help from an assistance to guide you through those steps to ensure that you can you know get a handle in your finances and get that financial confidence. But the thing is, people think when they come to get coaching from either like, you're telling me it's going to be an eight week program and I'm telling you it's probably going to be at least three or four months. And I hear that often, right? And people think
Starting point is 00:14:40 it's overwhelming, they're slow learner, they're not going to get it. And I have yet to have a client who's taken more than eight weeks. Really? Really? So a lot of times again, we just, we have so much self-doubt around it, or we don't give ourselves enough credit. And that's what's, you know, the truth in the matter is, again, this is like life, right? We basically steer away from anything we don't think we're good at. We don't even give ourselves a chance to even see what our potential is. And you know what I mean? And so I feel like is that why you wrote this for?
Starting point is 00:15:12 I feel like this is a very women friendly, but it's more for women, right? Then it is for me. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, men can certainly read it and get tons of value out of it. But I really wanted to focus on women because that's why I'm hearing out there with a lot of women is that there's so many additional challenges that we have to face and additional, like even mindset issues, women in particular, I hear often when I ask them, how much money do you want to make in your
Starting point is 00:15:37 business? They're like, well, this is my most common response. I just want to make as much as I need to survive. And I'm like, why? Is that why is that really the number one thing that you hear from women? That is the number one thing that women tell me. And I challenge it every time because I'm like, you were not put here on this earth to build a business just to scrape by. Why is that acceptable to you? And then it gets a little deeper. Well, I feel like if I get wealthy, people will judge me. They won't like me. They'll think I'm greedy. All sorts of stuff. There's so many stories tied up with money, right? There's so many. But also, by the way,
Starting point is 00:16:15 I mean, if you haven't heard it, guys, she's Canadian like me. I would. Now, is that mostly Canadian people women saying this or is it women across the board? No, I work in Canada and the US. Actually, most of my clients are from the US. I'm teasing you, I'm teasing you because we always have women in general, though. But I mean, women can be as Canadian as Canadian. But we are, we feel bad, guilty, whatever. But I do feel like there is this thing with women like feeling guilty and
Starting point is 00:16:46 that they're not worthy or they should just be just, you know, more of a supporter role. But I think that it's what's interesting. A lot of research and data now, stuff talks about how women are way more even, they're going to college more than men. They're more educated than men. They're actually more the breadwinners than men now a lot of times. It's actually insane how the tables have turned. We're living in a society that it's not how it used to be, but yet you're still saying of the masses. That's what you hear more than ever. Yeah. And we have that big, I don't know if you've heard
Starting point is 00:17:21 of the wealth transfer that's coming up. No, tell me. The next decade, yeah. So right now with the boomer era and, you know, men are, the majority of boomers are wealthy men who have wealth that they need to pass down. And since women outlive the husbands and, you know, all that's, I can't explain all the economics of it. But basically, as the boomers die off, the money is going to be transferred into women's hands. So the majority of this trillion dollar amount of wealth that's floating around out there will be owned by women. Wow, which is great.
Starting point is 00:17:58 Yeah, and that's why I guess it's even more important for women to understand the inner workings. It's so important, yeah. Of money. And I do also see a lot of women, who, especially business owners, is even more important for women to understand the inner workings. It's so important. Yeah. Of money. Yeah. And I do also see a lot of women who, especially business owners, who leave all the finance and the financial planning to their husbands or their spouses.
Starting point is 00:18:14 And I'm like, that's not a good partnership. Partnerships are meeting each other halfway, both being involved. First of all, it's unfair to the spouse that they've got the entire burden of carrying that. And secondly, it's unfair to the woman who's handing over her power. I had no idea a pillowcase could actually get me a better night's sleep until I started sleeping on Blissie's award-winning, 100% mulberry silk pillowcases. I mean, silk is honestly the best way to sleep. And blissy silk pillowcases are temperature regulating and have naturally insulated properties.
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Starting point is 00:21:15 not walk and check it out. DailyHarvest.com slash hustle. You'll thank me later. Yeah, well I feel with that though like in any partnership right like I don't know you get you kind of do what you're good at and someone else takes the stuff that you're not great at and then like a imbalance itself out really but I do know what you mean because like I go ahead sorry what I was gonna say is you know like your finances are your financial health yeah so you need to know what's going on with your financial health, right? So I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,
Starting point is 00:21:51 I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, therefore they just pass it on to somebody like you said, their husband or whoever. And then they don't know what the hell's going on. And it actually would be who've them to fit, to learn basics and to know this. Because that's how we've learned people get in trouble right later on in life. And then you feel indebted to someone else based
Starting point is 00:22:18 on the fact that you don't think you don't know about money. You can't support yourself. You don't know this. You don't know that. There's so many other things that happen with it. And how about in terms of like, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of a business? How do we kind of diagnose those?
Starting point is 00:22:36 That is a really good question. And the best way to understand what's going on in your business is looking at your profit and loss statement. That statement is the number one most used statement in the business and knowing, first of all, how many sales you're bringing in each month and what your expenses are and what your net profit margin is is imperative to knowing what's going on in your business. That's where you're going to see the results, right? Seeing like, okay, if my sales were down, I'm going to see that when I look at my income statement or profit and loss, however you call it, they're interchangeable. And if
Starting point is 00:23:10 you see that you're overspending on your expenses. And that's a very general way of looking at it. You can get more finite information when you start digging into your finances, right? Like most of us have quick books or whatever and you can drill down on your reports when you're using accounting software. It makes it so much easier. So then when you drill down on the accounts like your sales, well where did my sales like? Was it in the products that I'm selling? Is it the services that I'm selling? Like you have that information at the tip of your fingers. You just have to go and find it. It's really easy once you understand and you can create, you know, past month compared to this month or last year,
Starting point is 00:23:49 same month compared to this month, quarter yearly, whatever. When you know what you're looking for, which really doesn't take long to learn, then you know what's going on in your business and what's working well and what isn't working well. So, you know, you said something earlier that I wanted, I didn't want to interrupt you,
Starting point is 00:24:05 but you mentioned something about, like, direct sales or different types of businesses. In your experience, because you've done, you work with a lot of different entrepreneurs or doing lots of different things, have you noticed some business, what businesses are more profitable and cash flow positive than other ones? If someone's listening to this and they want to start a business They have an entrepreneurial spirit and they just don't know where to start where would you say would be a great place for that? Service-based businesses are the most profitable, right? So if you are offering a service, especially from home where you've got extremely low overhead especially from home where you've got extremely low overhead, then that is profitable. Like, you could also think of a dentist or a doctor as service-based, but they have the office,
Starting point is 00:24:50 they have the physical equipment and order. Yeah, exactly. So if you are online working from home, service-based business, that is really profitable. Now, there's other businesses that can be extremely profitable as well. It doesn't have to be service-based. So it really depends on your industry. So if you're starting a restaurant or a bakery, those are the least profitable industries. They usually make about eight to 10, maybe 12%
Starting point is 00:25:17 net profit margin, which is really low. And then the service-based business that I'm talking about can make about 60% profit margin. And just to break it down for people who are listening, they're like, these net profit margins, what do they mean? So if you're bringing in $100,000, and your profit margin is 60%, you're going to have $60,000 of profit. Whereas if you're a restaurant owner, you would have like $8,000 to $12000 dollars worth of profit from that 100,000 of revenue you're bringing in. So it's a big difference, right?
Starting point is 00:25:48 It's true. So being mindful of the industry that you're getting into and what your expectations are is really smart. So that's why most restaurants fail, right? And that's why most of the business, like, very different, like, and, you know, anything in the food industry is very different. And the wire people going, and let's say you're a chef and get that your passion,
Starting point is 00:26:08 who would open up a restaurant in these days because of that reason alone? Exactly. No, I'm asking you. Who would open up a restaurant like that? It doesn't make any sense. I don't work with restaurants. Yes.
Starting point is 00:26:18 I mean, it's really amazing to me. There's no money in it, nothing. There's no money. Yeah, it's really hard. You have to bring in a lot of revenue to make profit. And there's so much like I always recommend anybody who has a restaurant that comes to me for help. I always recommend them to a special restaurant, CFO, because there's so much going on in
Starting point is 00:26:36 a restaurant. You know, you've got to produce and you know, things that that go bad like they, what's the word I'm looking for? You know what I'm talking about? This is like spoiled. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, that's the thing.
Starting point is 00:26:49 You have to understand the, like, even the app, like, how, you know, to make sure you're not ordering enough food, more food, let's do a lot of balancing of those things. Yeah. Yeah. So you really need somebody specialized to help you. Totally. That industry, yeah. Okay.
Starting point is 00:27:05 And so other than that, what service industry have you seen people make the most profitable? Like is there like a specific area or doesn't really matter? The coaching industry is very profitable when you can get the sales. But only when you can get the sales. And the thing is, it's a good question to you because there's a lot of misinformation in the coaching industry as well Right, so if you're planning your money really well, you can make a lot of money in profit But a lot of times you're gonna see like you know these online course creators and stuff
Starting point is 00:27:36 They're like I had a launch and it was one million dollars and you know people think that that's what they're actually bringing home Is that one million dollars of sales? But when you look at the expenses that go behind these really big launches, they're lucky if they're breaking even. Like, you have to be very financially savvy to make money off these these launches because so much goes into it. Like, that's a great, let's talk about this for a second because I talk about the fact that everybody now and their dog is a coach online, right? Like that's like the new trend. I know I didn't wanna bring that industry on.
Starting point is 00:28:08 I know, I'm glad you did, because I think that is like, that's like, because our whole world now is about social media, right? We buy on social media, we look at social media, and so people are now monetizing on social media and what better, I mean, there's no barrier to entry for being a coach anymore. Any Yahoo can say that they're a self-help guru
Starting point is 00:28:29 and entrepreneur. Most of these entrepreneurs who are on social media have never even built a business or done a business. They're only entrepreneurial thing that they've done is sell you a course that they're making money from. That's their own plan. Probably learn from another coach. Right, and it's basically exactly.
Starting point is 00:28:46 It's copycat, copycat. Yeah. How are these randos who have no business acumen before this besides being like a hustler, you know? How are they making their money as a coach? Like, are they just doing digital marketing constantly? Like, and then how much are they spending up digital marketing to even bring in that
Starting point is 00:29:05 amount. Such a good question. And the thing is, when your coach, if you're to start a coaching business these days, you're competing with so much noise online. Yeah. So you have to have something that's really going to stand out from, you know, your competitors. And how do you do that? Chances are you're going to have to pay a lot of people to help you, right?
Starting point is 00:29:25 So you gotta get those sales in the door really quick and the ugly truth about coaching that nobody talks about, but I love to talk about, is the fact that so many of these coaches are not making money, right? They're taking a lot of their personal savings, they're putting their expenses on credit cards, what have you, and the real hustlers, the real ones that're lucky to figure out how to bring in those sales are You know probably breaking even or you know in a couple of years they could be making a lot of money But when you look at the online coaches now that dominate the space they've been in there for like a decade at least
Starting point is 00:29:59 Yeah, so they're dominating the space and the new ones, they're coming in and out very quickly. So even, yeah, I mean it's interesting because you know you go on that stuff and you think, oh my god, everybody is a millionaire, everyone's making so much money. It's such a lie. Right. And then like you take yourself down this bad rabbit hole, like, oh my god, I'm not, how come I'm so, why am I not making this money, why am I not doing this blah blah blah? And you know, you're technically basically like you're confirming what I feel like I already know
Starting point is 00:30:30 Which is the truth is they're actually not making money. They're spending money and The illusion is that they're making money because if they don't have that illusion of making money No one would actually use them as a coach because then they're not a successful Entrepreneur, right? Exactly. So exactly. It's just a racket that keeps on going and going and no one would actually use them as a coach because then they're not a successful entrepreneur. Exactly. Exactly. It's just a racket that keeps going and going and going. A lot of them feed off each other. It's like, oh, you do the content creation and I do the Facebook ads and they're all just feeding off each other too. A crazy schedule can make it easy to fall back into your dinner time recipe rut. Keep meal time exciting with over 40 recipes to choose from every week, so there's
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Starting point is 00:32:31 People just been there a long time. I personally think so. I don't like I prefer working with traditional business owners. So I work with product based businesses. I work with service based who are brick and mortar, you know, just traditional business owners. I stay away from the coaching industry because it is feast or famine. Exactly. When do you think when does a company need to hire a CFO? When you are starting a business and you don't know
Starting point is 00:32:57 what you're doing, that's a really good time. Even though you can't afford it, but it is the best investment that you can make because you'll be sure that you are going to start your business, understand what your targets are, grow your business, and grow your business profitably. So I always say, there's different, you don't have to start off with a CFO right away. You can start off with a business financial coach who takes smaller clients and helps them grow their business to sustainable levels, and then transfer it over when you need a Fractional CFO and then as your business grows even more you'll eventually have a full-time CFO in there Yeah, but it just depends on the stage that you're at and the type of industry that you're in how much money you're bringing in
Starting point is 00:33:38 Yeah, the fractional CFO is a great idea. It's a great option. So you're not spending a full Great option, right? Like a salary? Yeah. Yeah. I see a lot of friends doing that too. In fact, I might be one of the friends who start doing a professional CFO pretty soon. But that's besides the point. You'll have to tell me about that later. I know. Well, no, in general. Like I'm so over like this is like this is why I love this this topic and what we're talking about this podcast topic. Because anybody who is doing their own thing in a personal brand, entrepreneur, I feel like there's so much confusion, people feel very overwhelmed, they don't know what they
Starting point is 00:34:17 don't know, and it's confusing. And they do mistake cash flow with profit and understand that cash flow, if you don't have it, will destroy your company eventually if you don't manage it well. And I do believe the money mindset piece is so important because we all have such crazy hangups over money that also are very detrimental. That's right, it's so true. And then when you work with a fractional CFO, they help you bring organization to your business and make it leaner and more efficient.
Starting point is 00:34:53 It's not just looking at the numbers, it's not just about the five-step framework. Five-step framework is the core, but there's a lot of things that CFOs do for a business. And I remember hearing, well, you're not generating revenue. And we're helping you generate that revenue by giving you the goals that you need to meet every month and tightening up your expenses so that you have more profit. And the profit is what you get to keep after taxes.
Starting point is 00:35:17 So you want to line your pockets more, right? So investing in that fractional CFO, for some people people they're thinking, oh, that's just a waste of money, but the thing is it gives you a return on that investment. You would make so much more money if you tighten up your controls and your money making system. Totally agree. If you invested in that, right? Totally agree.
Starting point is 00:35:39 I think that a lot of times people are short-sighted, you know, because you don't see that. You're like, why I want it? It's a money hangout. Right. Yeah, because you don't see that. You're like, why won't- It's a money hangout. Right. Yeah, because you don't want to spend it. You don't want to spend it. But you'll spend it on frivolous things like more marketing or PR, which will just kind of drain you more.
Starting point is 00:35:53 Yeah. You know? And the thing is, if you don't know your money links and you don't know what's draining your business, you'll never fix it. Exactly. Exactly. But the CFO helps you figure out what's going on so that you can fix it and bring in that money and save it. Totally agree. Totally agree. So if people
Starting point is 00:36:11 want to know more about this cash confidence, where do they go? Can you tell them? Yes, my website. Yeah, MelissaHustonCPA.com is my main website and there is my book on there where that you can purchase. But you can purchase that book at Burns and Nobles on Amazon in Canada chapters or indigo and target and whatever and I love it you get the Canadian That's amazing. I love it. Chap is chapter still around Like their name chapters, but technically it's indigo Okay, it's indigo still around Yeah, yeah, so when you go online indigo's there, it's confusing right?
Starting point is 00:36:49 Because like I could go down the street and there's a chapters and then across town there's an indigo, but they're the same company. I never understood that. And listen, I love that you came online because you're again not why I love Canadians not because I am one, but because like I, you know, like you're legit person giving you legitimate Canadians, not because I am one, but because like, you know, like you're a legit person giving you legitimate information, not some Yahoo who's just kind of like spewing out something because they took an online course. You know, like you're a real professional who sees it all, you know, like I said, you're doing Forbes still.
Starting point is 00:37:19 What else are you doing besides Forbes? Yeah, just to, well, I do a lot of writing and I do a lot of coaching and have my programs, do my podcast, she means profit. And I'm a CPA who's got over 20 years of experience helping business owners. And I just wanted to take that information because I know it's so valuable. I've been, you know, like the things I've seen over 20 years,
Starting point is 00:37:40 it's crazy. And I wanted to help small business owners. So they understand, oh, wait a minute, this is a great way to understand my numbers and I can grow my business profitably. Make more money. That's the goal, right? Totally. I agree.
Starting point is 00:37:54 Melissa, thank you for coming on. I appreciate it. Thanks so much for having me, Jen. Absolutely. And we'll talk later. So guys, go get a copy of Cash Confident and you won't be disappointed. I promise. Bye!
Starting point is 00:38:06 Thank you! This episode is brought to you by the YAP Media Podcast Network. I'm Hala Taha, CEO of the award-winning digital media empire, YAP media, and host of YAP Young & Profiting Podcast, a number one entrepreneurship and self-improvement podcast where you can listen, learn, and profit. On Young & Profiting Podcast, I interview the brightest minds in the world, and I turn their wisdom into actionable advice that you can use in your daily life. Each week, we dive into a new topic like the Art of Side Hustles, how to level up your influence and persuasion and goal setting.
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