Your Rewrite Your Money + Growth Story character is…

You, my friend, are Rey.

You’re creative and plucky, you take care of others, and you have dreams to build and fight for.

But that also means you can often feel money is what you get as a reward for doing things right. Yet no matter how hard you work and try, money always seems out of reach, and the money you do get, well, it’s still not enough to support your dreams. You’ll save what you can get because you don’t know when you’ll get more, but without releasing it, you can’t make more- scary to keep, scary to release, like being stuck in a scarcity loop.

You’re a business owner. Whatever stage of business you’re in and no matter your business size, it’s a wild ride with money, and our thoughts around money often take center stage.

Your path getting to this point- school, adulthood, job searches, business creation often comes with a mixed relationship between money and debt — the kind of debt needed to pay for training and eating and living, but debt can feel like it hangs over your head. What happens internally during this turmoil, to your mindset and your sense of worth, creates a loop of negativity. Sometimes subtle, sometimes overt.

What you’ll notice is behavior that’s risk-averse because you have obligations to pay for. But you also feel you need to stretch and take a leap of faith to move forward, hoping to get a new project or the next big gig to make it all better.

So there’s this internal fight between safe choices to take care of obligations and big leaps to get where you want to go. Repeated over and over again.

Sound familiar?

You’ve become a master at working with what you have, but there’s a part of you that yearns for what you could do if you had more.

More to create
More to contribute
More to give

But how if you’re not one who has access to money?

It’s not destiny that’s the problem. It’s the system.

A system you can learn,
then put to work for you.

Change your money story, change the system

A money story is what we tell ourselves almost subconsciously. It’s what instantly comes to mind when we think about money for better or worse. Our programming that’s carried deep and has to become an acknowledged thought so we can let go and let money work for us.

When you feel like money is a reward waiting at the end of a long quest, and what you have until then isn’t enough, like there’s some unseen force working against you- That’s a money story, and through this story, money is cast in a role and will play the role it is given in our lives.

Money does have a role in your life and business. But when it’s cast in the wrong role, a negative role, it’ll restrict your growth. What I’ll teach you is that money is not the reward after an epic battle, nor is it the villain corrupting everything it touches.

Money is the Ally

Money can be given a new role. Money can become your sidekick who has your back when things look rough, who can work in tandem with you, and open your eyes to new opportunities when you free it to be the best it can be. Money can be the Finn to your Rey.

You’ll have more challenges ahead on this journey, too many to face alone, and you need something loyal acting in your corner. Money can be that ally when you learn to listen and speak to it, giving it a mission that aligns with yours. And when the ally works with you, you move into sustainable growth and a more enjoyable journey.

Come along, and I’ll show you how through 3 expansion exercises built to give you wins now.

Embracing Chaos

Your life and money may feel chaotic at times, but to that, I say Embrace It!

We’re stepping out of the starving mindset to fully embody a business owner’s mindset. To do this, we’ll take a step back and observe where you’re at and what your goals and values are, why you’re where you’re at, the current system it runs on because intentional or not, you’ve got a system going, plus how it needs to run.

Let’s pull back the curtain and shift how you think about money so you can LET it work for you.

step 1

Getting into the LET Money Mindset

We’re breaking the loop of negativity and declaring money won’t control you anymore.

You let money work for you when you learn money’s language, feed its energy, and make it your teammate.

Language, Energy, Teammate

Understanding these three facets of how money communicates with you in its own language, how cash flow works as an energy that’s always moving, and how money needs to be put to work as a teammate, not just a tool, to create a relationship of mutual respect is the first step.

Language

We can take the power back and not allow Money to be scary when you realize it’s just speaking another language- as in its own jargon.

You don’t know money’s language inherently. Just like any language, you’re not born knowing how to speak it. You have to be exposed to the language, its meaning, usage, and study. You can learn enough to get by and have access to a translator.

Forgive yourself for not being fluent and free others of the shame as well! Then invest the time to understand the basic language of money, so it at least sounds familiar, and you’ll know when to call in an expert.

energy

Have you heard the accounting term or seen the financial statement called Cash Flow? Cash Flow describes the ins and outs of money within your business. 

A flow you can embrace and control!

Money itself doesn’t have any power; it’s just a current of energy. It’s how we give and take from each other in an agreed symbol of value. 

Money acts as a current, such as electricity or water. Without a purpose, electricity and water can be dangerous and can cause disasters when stopped up. But just like electricity and water, you can direct cash flow and control it in your favor.

teammate

Money creates a strong emotional reaction within us. We’re going to turn this in our favor to personify money, make it your teammate, and put it to work for you so you can remain calm and excited about money’s natural energy flow.

You need money to show up and work for you, and you need to be a good leader. To understand and nurture money beyond a resource to create a healthy relationship. 

From the impacts of the community we were raised in, we have baggage around money. We’ve brought that baggage into this business relationship, but talking to money in its language will make money a teammate and free up headspace so you can take action.

Shifting your mindset to LET money work for you, takes practice but starting will move you and your business along as you grow. You’ll feel in control, like money is working with you, you aren’t fighting it, you don’t resent it, and it’s not controlling you any longer.

As you grow in your mindset, we’re going to grow your business owner skills. How? We’ll start by getting really clear on your values and dive into what matters to you and where you want to align your spending. After all, where your money goes is what you’re working towards.

step 2

Creating a Value-Centered Business Plan

Let’s dive into your Goals—both for your business and yourself. Whether you’ve thought about what you’re working towards as goals or not, that’s how you’ll think about it as you work through these questions. 

Think deeply about where you are, where you want to be, and what you want the journey to be like. 

What do you dream about, or what do you want to get away from? Really flesh this out, do the research on what it takes to achieve it, and discover the money needed to make it happen.

That’s your starting point for a plan. Not just any plan, but a plan based on your values,  your mission in life, who you are helping, how you are helping them. It’s okay to want to grow your wealth because you can take care of more people. It’s okay if this process stirs up some butterflies in your belly too 😉

  • What’s my vision for the future? 
  • In 5 years? 
  • How am I going to change my business? 
  • My lifestyle? 
  • My team? 
  • The world?

Money is something we use to do other things. Money is how you find your physical freedom, and being fiscally responsible keeps you from strings attached. So what are the other things you want to do?

As a business owner, you are positioned to be a community leader.

step 3

Your Financials Reveal the Role Money Plays

You’ve made your vision, so we know where you want to go and now have to look at your current reality. How do we turn your Vision into Money? As a taste of what accurate accounting can do for you let’s look at pricing. 

We’ll start with the vision of your lifestyle and work, ideal salary (money for you), ideal time away from the business, and ideal hours working a week. We’ll walk through the formula to create a pricing strategy. 

Starting with your lifestyle, how often do you want to work each week? 

How many weeks off each year? 

How much money should the business pay you? 

You've got money coming in; what do you do with it? Now think beyond the business to yourself.

You are not your business! Your personal goals and money should be separate from the business’s. What impact did you want to make as a person when you dreamed of having the chance?

Charity, scholarships, community, family. It’s personal, but it drives your business forward and keeps you focused on your vision. It’s why you want to make money, the impact you can have, and everything you can do.

Let’s take an example of $80,000 take-home pay, working 6 hours a day for 30 hours a week, and having 4 weeks off a year means out of 52 weeks a year you’re willing to work 48. 

48 weeks at 30 hours a week gives you 1,440 hours to make $80,000. Or $56 an hour. 

Mathematically, the above looks like $80,000/(48 work wks * 30 hr a wk) = $56 a working hour. 

$56 an hour to you, not including your team, overhead, taxes, etc. just the amount you need to get you to your financial goals. So with that number, let’s look at your favorite offer. Yes, you’ll want to do this for everything you sell and include all the other costs, but for today, we’re just looking at 1 offer and the cost of your involvement– I say your favorite, but feel free to pick your least complicated offer to start!

With your hourly rate known, and your offer selected, we next need to list out everything that goes into the offer. 

Everything involved in getting people to buy during the sales process, onboarding the client, admin involved, what you do to deliver on the offer and do the work, delivering the offer including time with clients and emails, and finally offboarding the client.

Example of a $47 online workshop

A 90 min workshop actually takes 15 hours and costs $840 in your time alone. At a paid workshop at $47 a person, you’d need 18 people just to cover you.

So, how did your offer stack up? How close was your price to cover your cost? Please know, this is not meant to be an exercise of doom and gloom. Rather it’s an exercise to show you how to not price on feeling or what others are charging and to base it off of math and your values and desires. 

The $56 in this example is based on the life you want to live and how you currently operate because of the time chosen to work and the money you want to take home. When I do this exercise with my clients, it’s a starting point to know what prices need to increase to cover yourself, have a team, pay for overhead and taxes, see where you should delegate the work to a team member whose hourly rate is less than yours- like a VA or project manager, and structure your offer strategy to make your goals a reality. 

If you were to truly pull out all your costs versus the money it brings in (revenue), the costs should be no more than 30% of the revenue ($30 out for every $100 in) for each offer. Remember everything you provide and sell to people creates your revenue, but you only have a set number of hours to work a week. This exercise is about seeing where you need to make changes and celebrate what’s already working.

What you spend money on shows you the role money is playing and how close it’s aligning with your values and the role we want money to play.

Money is only going to do what you tell it to. It follows your script to the letter- no ad-libbing. You have to know where you’re going and why you’re headed there to direct it, so keeping your mission and values visible is a good idea.

As a business owner, you need to focus on creating, sales, connecting with your audience, and actually doing the parts of your business you love. You also need to listen and talk to your money, not be the expert, but understand its role, and who to ask for help.

When you're ready to play big,
you’re ready to get your systems in place!

step 4

Casting Money as an Ally

In the last exercise, you declared the lifestyle you want and looked at what it would take, through the lens of one of your offers, to make that lifestyle a reality. The time you spend on yourself, your team, the offers you create is money being sent to work for you and come back to you through the clients brought in. Is money working where you want it to? Were there any shifts needed?

You’re beginning to hear what your money is telling you about your cash flow (money in and out) and how it aligns with your values to really know what your teammate is saying. What script it’s reading from.

Does money have the script of an ally, or is it time for some rewrites?

Think about everything you offer. Is money coming in through work you enjoy or work you have to do to pay bills? Where is money going? Is it funding new skills, community support, paying you, a team member, or is money going towards things you’re not even sure why you pay for it anymore or because you’ve been told you should be in the membership or buy “the thing”?

Money should leave the business to support you, the business, and your values. Money should come into the business through ways that make you proud, and you enjoy. This balance does not happen overnight, but it is possible to recast money into its new role as an ally and then see the business make more money than it spends and create profit. 

Profit matters because that’s how the business takes care of itself, you, your team, and your community! It’s not a fairytale, and it’s not a dirty word.

Profit exists to continue to support your values and mission!

Having a simple, easy-to-implement financial system in place ensures you don’t lose money, you gain clarity, and you feel less overwhelmed with money issues.

The system steps in when you’re having strong feelings around money. So no matter whether you’re feeling nervous or excited, the system directs money towards the goal to think strategically and be savvier.

You can get to a point where you don't resent money and know you direct it, no longer feeling like it controls you.

step 5

The key to it all:
Keeping up communication with your new ally

Imagine it’s been a couple of weeks since you first took the quiz and begin the mindset shift and refocusing how you work so money is more and more your ally. Then an unexpected charge comes up, a celebration, a bill you forgot, a client falls through, an opportunity that needs a cash infusion. 

And you think, I made money, even more than I spent, but I’m not certain I can handle this change. Can I pay for it? Is it safe to spend what I have? If I don’t have it, is it safe to acquire the money? Do I really have to rely on debt?

Does money have the script of an ally, or is it time for some rewrites?

In this case, you need to open your computer and make a decision- quick. You need to understand cash flow and have ownership of your numbers with a peripheral understanding of how the business works, how it’s doing, and what’s going on.

You need to review your actual numbers in real-time, know what it costs you to perform your job so you can charge better, and know when money is coming in next.

You should also be talking to your accountant. Yes, more than just when it’s tax time! They know so much that you need to understand, even though you don’t need to be carrying out the actions yourself.

When you have an understanding and regular maintenance in place, the uncertainty goes away. Even with big things like taxes, growth, or a change in finances and the economy happen.

Having a good conversation with your money helps with everything. You can measure your most successful products, identify why products aren’t selling well based on what your money is telling you, and understand where your money is being put to good use.

Your financials will tell you everything you need to know about your business and help you plan for profit and plan out the categories of support that go into your budget (aka chart of accounts)
according to your industry and what’s important to you.

Those categories direct your money’s focus and what you’re driving towards

Here’s a checklist to help you speak to your money regularly:

You now have an open dialogue with your money and a system in place to continue to get the work done to continue to scale and grow.

You know where your money is, where it’s coming from, and where it’s going, so if there’s a financial crisis, you know you’ve got this and where to go for support.

A Note from the Narrator

The idea is not to work hard to make money. It’s to let money work hard so you can help more people. 

Money is a resource that isn’t limited; it’s created.

There is not a set amount of money floating around that’s doled out to certain people and then circulated. It doesn’t work like that anymore. Money is created anytime and every time we make more than we spend. 

Business owners create money through the work they do. When you sell an offer that allows someone else to make something like their service or product, you’ve made money. When you make more money than you spend, you create profit. 

How you spend your money to create more money is by investing. When you’re buying small portions of a company, and getting a part of their profits in return you’re creating more money.

When savings and investments are allowed to be used by others (like your bank) you earn interest and interest added to your original investment amount equals a new larger investment amount you’re now earning interest on and it that keeps building, which is compound interest and new money being created.

People pay for what helps them, small or large, and then they help someone else through what they do. More money is created, more people are helped.

The system breaks down when people forget it’s their job to take care of others.

What I wish for you is a healthy journey with money as your fearless ally. Where you return to this information and implement it step by step into your life and business. If you ever need a mentor to join you, I’m here, always in your corner.

Be profitable,
Katherine

Meet Your Money Mentor

Hi, I’m Katherine, and I have a strong belief that artists are only starving because no one has taught them how to be business owners and run their business as the CEOs they are. This realization hit me hard, and something snapped, so I decided to change it.
Less than 25% of Americans expect to retire comfortably. If I help just 1% of Americans understand their money and create a positive relationship with it, that’s 3 million people living well then retiring well.
Financial growth is my specialty, and changing the world’s thoughts about accounting is my mission. You can make plenty of money, but if you don’t know how to use it to support your goals, you’re going to end up cash-strapped and feeling really stressed your whole life even if you become a millionaire.
There’s no more pretending around money. No shame, but no hiding either.
Stop partying hard when your bank balance is up and depressed when it’s down. Instead, solidify your financial foundation so you can experience exponential growth authentically and sustainably. Then have a party dress day when you want and a comfy pants day when you want.

Resources for you

LISTEN TO:

Create Financial Growth to Do More Good Interview

LISTEN NOW

Systemize to Make More Money

LISTEN NOW

Make Money Work for You

LISTEN NOW

READ:

A Smart Artist Guide to Income Taxes

read now

From Poverty to Owning an Accounting Firm

read now

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P.S. By now, your welcome email with a link back to these results has made its way to your inbox, so be on the lookout, but also feel free to bookmark this page. In addition to that email, I’ll also be sending you a few more to tell you how I ended up finding money as my ally and a couple more accounting tips to boost your path to sustainable growth. 

You can always hit reply,
and I’ll be just on the other side.

Copyright © 2022 KATHERINE POMERANTZ

All Rights Reserved.

DESIGN BY TIFFANY NEUMAN CREATIVE

Copyright © 2022 KATHERINE POMERANTZ – All Rights Reserved.

DESIGN BY TIFFANY NEUMAN CREATIVE