1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:02,600 Hello and welcome to EPISODE. 40. 2 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:06,520 Eight of Design Curious Podcast, I'm your host and mentor Rebecca 3 00:00:06,520 --> 00:00:10,000 Ward. Today on the podcast we have a 4 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:15,480 virtual bookkeeper and CFO who definitely is probably one of 5 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:16,560 the first. People. 6 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:20,080 You're going to need to hire for your business if you're going 7 00:00:20,080 --> 00:00:23,560 out on your own. Is an extremely important role, 8 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:26,560 and it's not one that you usually can cover all by 9 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:28,730 yourself. You can do a little bit of the. 10 00:00:28,730 --> 00:00:33,290 Daytoday, but you really should. Hire a bookkeeper first thing 11 00:00:33,290 --> 00:00:35,690 when you're starting out of business to help keep you in. 12 00:00:35,690 --> 00:00:39,650 Order keep track of your. Revenue Your profits. 13 00:00:39,770 --> 00:00:41,770 Because profitability is really just. 14 00:00:41,770 --> 00:00:46,210 The main thing about a business if you're not making money, then 15 00:00:46,250 --> 00:00:48,730 why are you in business, right? Unless you're a nonprofit. 16 00:00:48,730 --> 00:00:51,610 So we're going to talk up to Lori Ann in a little. 17 00:00:51,610 --> 00:00:54,210 Bit but before I. Tell you a little more about 18 00:00:54,210 --> 00:00:56,730 her. I want to remind you that my 19 00:00:56,730 --> 00:01:00,490 design mentor is taking on students for the summer. 20 00:01:00,770 --> 00:01:03,970 I'd love to see you in there. We have some great discussions 21 00:01:03,970 --> 00:01:08,530 going on and a lot of content for you to consume to really get 22 00:01:08,530 --> 00:01:10,530 you on your feet as an interior designer. 23 00:01:10,970 --> 00:01:12,850 So go check out the links for that. 24 00:01:12,850 --> 00:01:14,690 I'd love to. See you in there with us. 25 00:01:15,010 --> 00:01:17,450 And now let me tell you a little more about Lori Ann. 26 00:01:18,250 --> 00:01:23,050 Lori Ann is a virtual bookkeeper and fractional CFO for the 27 00:01:23,050 --> 00:01:25,980 Creative Entrepreneur. Her goal is to bridge. 28 00:01:25,980 --> 00:01:29,300 The gap between traditional accountants and business owners. 29 00:01:29,940 --> 00:01:33,940 With 35 plus monthly DFY bookkeeping clients in the 30 00:01:33,940 --> 00:01:37,420 industry, she has the insight and experience to help you. 31 00:01:37,420 --> 00:01:39,660 Up level your. Business while removing the 32 00:01:39,660 --> 00:01:42,540 stress and burden of managing your finances. 33 00:01:42,900 --> 00:01:45,860 Whether you're just starting out or you've been in business for 34 00:01:45,860 --> 00:01:48,900 years, her mission is to help. Creatives feel peace about 35 00:01:48,900 --> 00:01:51,220 their. Finances while growing their 36 00:01:51,220 --> 00:01:54,940 profit and confidence. So let's hear from Lori Ann. 37 00:01:59,260 --> 00:02:02,900 You're now listening to design. Curious a place where you? 38 00:02:02,900 --> 00:02:05,780 Creative One are here to learn about what it. 39 00:02:05,860 --> 00:02:09,020 Really is like to. Be an interior designer and I'm 40 00:02:09,020 --> 00:02:12,820 your host and mentor. Rebecca Ward, if you're worried 41 00:02:12,820 --> 00:02:14,780 about how to. Succeed in a creative. 42 00:02:14,780 --> 00:02:18,460 Career if you're ready to. Learn your next steps to become 43 00:02:18,460 --> 00:02:22,580 an interior designer. And if you want the satisfaction 44 00:02:22,580 --> 00:02:24,700 of doing something you love. Every day. 45 00:02:25,300 --> 00:02:28,100 You are in the right. Place grab a coffee. 46 00:02:28,180 --> 00:02:31,220 A notebook and let's dig into today's episode. 47 00:02:32,940 --> 00:02:35,420 Hi, Lori Ann, Thank you for coming on Design Curious 48 00:02:35,420 --> 00:02:36,460 Podcast. Today. 49 00:02:37,180 --> 00:02:38,460 Hi. I'm so excited. 50 00:02:38,460 --> 00:02:40,940 Thanks for having me. Yeah, my pleasure. 51 00:02:41,420 --> 00:02:43,300 So for. Our audience let's just. 52 00:02:43,300 --> 00:02:46,660 Talk a little bit about what it is that you do and how. 53 00:02:46,660 --> 00:02:48,610 You got into that? Yeah. 54 00:02:48,610 --> 00:02:53,010 So I am an owner of a basically like a boutique creative 55 00:02:53,010 --> 00:02:56,250 bookkeeping firm to where we specialize and done for you 56 00:02:56,250 --> 00:02:59,930 monthly bookkeeping, fractional CFO work as well as helping 57 00:02:59,930 --> 00:03:03,010 people just getting started off the ground and what they need to 58 00:03:03,010 --> 00:03:07,090 do to keep track of their numbers and kind of back story 59 00:03:07,090 --> 00:03:11,370 is, I feel like I have always been a numbers lover. 60 00:03:11,370 --> 00:03:13,210 I've always known like I was going to do something with 61 00:03:13,210 --> 00:03:16,250 numbers even from like a very young, like elementary age like 62 00:03:16,250 --> 00:03:19,710 math was always. My topic that I liked and so 63 00:03:19,710 --> 00:03:24,310 obviously of course what do you go into an accounting path if 64 00:03:24,310 --> 00:03:27,870 you like numbers most of the time I also had entrepreneurial 65 00:03:27,910 --> 00:03:31,870 family members and parents and I saw from a very young age 66 00:03:32,190 --> 00:03:35,910 finances was a huge part of running a business and. 67 00:03:36,380 --> 00:03:39,100 I remember thinking and listening to discussions between 68 00:03:39,100 --> 00:03:42,100 my mom and my dad. This is about finances and 69 00:03:42,100 --> 00:03:44,940 running a business and business plans and strategies and stuff 70 00:03:44,940 --> 00:03:47,180 like that. But it always was centered 71 00:03:47,180 --> 00:03:51,340 around what was happening financially because without that 72 00:03:51,340 --> 00:03:55,300 financial back foundation, you can't make good decisions. 73 00:03:55,300 --> 00:03:57,980 So I saw that and I was like, that's really good. 74 00:03:57,980 --> 00:04:02,410 Like, I I really like that. So Fast forward, I decided to go 75 00:04:02,410 --> 00:04:05,130 down the typical accounting path, be a tax accountant, 76 00:04:05,130 --> 00:04:09,170 become ACPA. And after I got my first job at 77 00:04:09,250 --> 00:04:13,690 a local CPA firm, I realized I'm like, I hate this. 78 00:04:13,690 --> 00:04:17,730 This is not for me. I didn't as much like hate the 79 00:04:17,730 --> 00:04:22,330 tax strategy part, but I did not like seeing clients come in one 80 00:04:22,330 --> 00:04:25,490 or two times a year. And we would hurry up, get their 81 00:04:25,490 --> 00:04:29,250 taxes filed and then send them out the door and they would be 82 00:04:29,250 --> 00:04:32,490 like, left like not sure what was going on. 83 00:04:32,610 --> 00:04:35,370 And we're like, hey, bye, see you in another 12 months. 84 00:04:35,850 --> 00:04:39,330 I didn't feel good about that. People would also come to us at 85 00:04:39,330 --> 00:04:41,760 the end of the year. At the time we're recording this 86 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:45,800 podcast, we just came out of tax season and people to come to us 87 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,760 being like here's a shoe box of receipts or here's a bunch of 88 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:51,520 random like E documents of her bank statements. 89 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,400 And because I was kind of a newbie in the firm, I would be 90 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,160 in charge of like cleaning up the books and. 91 00:04:57,610 --> 00:05:00,450 I was very shocked at how many businesses were running just so 92 00:05:00,450 --> 00:05:03,890 blindly because there's such key valuable information in your 93 00:05:03,890 --> 00:05:06,650 finances. And I'm like, you know what I I 94 00:05:06,650 --> 00:05:09,890 want to do that like I want to help the people month to month 95 00:05:09,890 --> 00:05:13,330 throughout the year, on business, on understanding their 96 00:05:13,330 --> 00:05:16,650 finances, on cash flow, how to make strategic decisions. 97 00:05:16,930 --> 00:05:18,890 So I left there. I went back and worked for my 98 00:05:18,890 --> 00:05:22,330 parents for a few. Years, part time. 99 00:05:22,330 --> 00:05:25,010 That's whenever I had my daughter, She's 3, 1/2, she's 100 00:05:25,010 --> 00:05:27,450 almost 4 now. And I started gathering clients 101 00:05:27,450 --> 00:05:31,130 on the side and I really don't know how I got into the space, 102 00:05:31,130 --> 00:05:33,450 but I'm where I need to be. I like stumbled in the online 103 00:05:33,450 --> 00:05:35,970 space, stumbled in the creative space. 104 00:05:35,970 --> 00:05:38,730 So I work with a lot of photographers, brand and web 105 00:05:38,730 --> 00:05:42,210 designers, interior designers, a lot of people that. 106 00:05:42,590 --> 00:05:45,990 Have that creative mindset, that creative brain that's amazing. 107 00:05:45,990 --> 00:05:48,590 And I love to work with them because that's kind of part of 108 00:05:48,590 --> 00:05:50,910 who I am too. Like I like creative stuff. 109 00:05:51,310 --> 00:05:53,870 I like designing or doing a house renovation right now. 110 00:05:53,870 --> 00:05:56,790 So all you interior designers like I'm I'm loving doing this 111 00:05:56,830 --> 00:06:00,790 right now but a lot of times numbers and finances are very 112 00:06:00,790 --> 00:06:03,950 scary and overwhelming and I want to make it as simple and 113 00:06:03,950 --> 00:06:08,110 easy to understand for you and take that just anxiety and that 114 00:06:08,110 --> 00:06:10,950 not clear picture and just present it to you in a way 115 00:06:10,950 --> 00:06:14,150 that's like pretty and. Understandable, so that you know 116 00:06:14,150 --> 00:06:17,350 exactly what's going on instead of feeling all stressed out and 117 00:06:17,350 --> 00:06:19,110 anxious whenever you just think about numbers. 118 00:06:19,470 --> 00:06:23,150 Yeah, that's so fun how you just fell into that niche. 119 00:06:23,430 --> 00:06:26,110 Which is really like a. Passion for you as well, so I'm 120 00:06:26,110 --> 00:06:30,070 sure that comes across when you're helping your clients. 121 00:06:30,230 --> 00:06:32,430 So do you do a lot of the bookkeeping? 122 00:06:32,430 --> 00:06:35,270 Work or you're more in the analysis and pulling reports and 123 00:06:35,270 --> 00:06:37,870 like helping the the owner understand what where their 124 00:06:37,870 --> 00:06:39,530 business is going. Yeah. 125 00:06:39,530 --> 00:06:43,050 So I started out to do more of the bookkeeping work. 126 00:06:43,290 --> 00:06:46,290 The business is about three years old now and I started out 127 00:06:46,290 --> 00:06:49,730 of just mainly doing bookkeeping work and now we have moved into, 128 00:06:49,730 --> 00:06:53,050 we have a team of 6 now and I have assistant bookkeepers that 129 00:06:53,050 --> 00:06:55,650 do a lot of like the data entry in the behind the scenes and 130 00:06:55,690 --> 00:06:58,190 I'm. More of like the fractional CFO 131 00:06:58,310 --> 00:07:01,310 and ICO and do analysis and budgeting and projections and 132 00:07:01,310 --> 00:07:04,550 stuff. So my job is more so like the 133 00:07:04,910 --> 00:07:09,310 analyzing the finances, but the firm as a whole is like a one 134 00:07:09,310 --> 00:07:11,990 big picture. Okay so I'm sure. 135 00:07:11,990 --> 00:07:14,590 That you see. You said you have interior 136 00:07:14,590 --> 00:07:17,070 design clients and. So that you. 137 00:07:17,070 --> 00:07:19,710 See, the businesses set up a lot of different ways. 138 00:07:20,090 --> 00:07:22,890 And there's a lot of like moving parts and so. 139 00:07:23,090 --> 00:07:25,010 What do you see? Specifically about interior 140 00:07:25,010 --> 00:07:28,890 designers that might be challenging or something that 141 00:07:28,890 --> 00:07:32,250 they maybe that they're good at keeping track of or do you have 142 00:07:32,250 --> 00:07:34,770 any like analysis around the industry? 143 00:07:35,370 --> 00:07:41,010 Yeah, I would say designers in general, whether you're online 144 00:07:41,170 --> 00:07:45,730 brain web designers, interior designers, most of the time I 145 00:07:45,730 --> 00:07:47,690 see them start doing a side hustle. 146 00:07:48,430 --> 00:07:51,830 And then they move into leaving their corporate job or their job 147 00:07:51,830 --> 00:07:53,630 that they're designing for somebody else. 148 00:07:53,910 --> 00:07:56,310 So they start the side hustle and they are just and it's just 149 00:07:56,310 --> 00:07:58,910 going to be a little bit here and there and they don't 150 00:07:58,910 --> 00:08:01,430 prioritize their business and treat their business like a 151 00:08:01,470 --> 00:08:03,590 business. I would say it's the biggest 152 00:08:03,590 --> 00:08:07,030 thing that I see is that they don't, they don't treat their 153 00:08:07,150 --> 00:08:09,390 boundaries like a business between them and their clients. 154 00:08:09,390 --> 00:08:11,070 They don't treat their finances like a business. 155 00:08:11,070 --> 00:08:12,430 They don't have separate bank accounts. 156 00:08:12,430 --> 00:08:15,350 They're not having systems set up, they're not budgeting and 157 00:08:15,350 --> 00:08:17,670 projecting and really diving into those numbers. 158 00:08:18,140 --> 00:08:20,100 A lot of times because they're scared too, and they don't know 159 00:08:20,100 --> 00:08:22,900 what they're doing. And then those things get pushed 160 00:08:22,900 --> 00:08:24,660 aside. And then all of a sudden you're 161 00:08:24,660 --> 00:08:26,500 like, hey, you know what? I want to leave my corporate 162 00:08:26,500 --> 00:08:30,100 job, and that's now your sole income. 163 00:08:30,340 --> 00:08:33,659 And you really need to be honing in on those finances because 164 00:08:33,659 --> 00:08:36,020 that's what's providing the life that you want to live and the 165 00:08:36,020 --> 00:08:39,580 things that you need to survive. I think it goes back to my first 166 00:08:39,580 --> 00:08:41,700 point of just like it's not taking your business like a 167 00:08:41,740 --> 00:08:44,660 business and treating it whether you have one client right now or 168 00:08:44,660 --> 00:08:46,380 you have 50 clients you're working with. 169 00:08:47,700 --> 00:08:49,820 Yeah. And I think most designers, when 170 00:08:49,820 --> 00:08:51,340 they're starting their own business, they're starting out 171 00:08:51,340 --> 00:08:53,820 as a solo purneur and they don't have employees or anything like 172 00:08:53,820 --> 00:08:56,980 that. But I believe solidly like the. 173 00:08:56,980 --> 00:09:00,380 First person that you're going to need to hire even if you 174 00:09:00,380 --> 00:09:01,340 think you can't afford it, would. 175 00:09:01,340 --> 00:09:04,380 Be like a bookkeeper just because that is. 176 00:09:04,460 --> 00:09:08,500 An area where you don't want to have any mess ups, like you need 177 00:09:08,500 --> 00:09:10,180 to get it right. You know you got to pay your. 178 00:09:10,180 --> 00:09:12,980 Taxes. You got and sales tax if you're 179 00:09:12,980 --> 00:09:14,580 doing product and things like that. 180 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:17,080 So that was just. Really valuable. 181 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,680 Offering that you can give to interior designers, especially 182 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:24,000 starting out. So do you like offer? 183 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:26,640 Full time bookkeeping or just as needed. 184 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:28,800 Yeah. It first comes back to the 185 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,200 conversation is like a lot of people are like, okay, well, do 186 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:34,840 you do our taxes? What's a tax account? 187 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:36,840 What's a tax strategist? What's a bookkeeper? 188 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:41,200 And why do I need to have a bookkeeper if I have an 189 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:43,840 accountant filing my taxes at the end of the year and I kind 190 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:45,430 of. Whenever I was introducing 191 00:09:45,430 --> 00:09:48,470 myself, I kind of went into a little bit of what we do is 192 00:09:48,470 --> 00:09:51,150 we're with you throughout the whole year and just at the end 193 00:09:51,150 --> 00:09:54,390 of the year, which is a lot of what tax accountants do, 194 00:09:54,390 --> 00:09:56,390 they're, they're with you at the new year, they file taxes, they 195 00:09:56,390 --> 00:10:00,670 put you out the door. And so then you need to figure 196 00:10:00,670 --> 00:10:03,190 out your finances, whether you're doing it yourself or you 197 00:10:03,190 --> 00:10:06,630 have a bookkeeper do it. And I 100% agree, I think having 198 00:10:06,630 --> 00:10:08,710 a bookkeeper on your team, but from the very beginning is 199 00:10:08,710 --> 00:10:11,310 great. Not everyone has an opinion and 200 00:10:11,310 --> 00:10:13,220 I'm just certainly here like. OK. 201 00:10:14,900 --> 00:10:17,940 I'll just like of course I'm going to say I I'm one of the 202 00:10:17,940 --> 00:10:19,380 first hires because that's what I do. 203 00:10:19,380 --> 00:10:23,140 But it is very important because finances and numbers is the 204 00:10:23,140 --> 00:10:26,460 foundation that you base all of the rest of your hires off of. 205 00:10:26,460 --> 00:10:28,740 So if you're going to bring on a top employees, you need to know 206 00:10:28,740 --> 00:10:31,500 what your numbers are saying. And if you don't know what your 207 00:10:31,500 --> 00:10:34,460 numbers are saying, then you're just completely operating your 208 00:10:34,460 --> 00:10:37,740 business on feelings and what you think your business is doing 209 00:10:37,740 --> 00:10:39,780 and that can be something we talk about too because. 210 00:10:40,410 --> 00:10:42,570 It's a whole thing about just running your business off of 211 00:10:42,570 --> 00:10:45,690 what you feel like you're doing, how you feel your business is 212 00:10:45,690 --> 00:10:48,170 doing. But as far as our services, our 213 00:10:48,170 --> 00:10:51,610 main service is monthly bookkeeping services to where we 214 00:10:51,610 --> 00:10:55,130 go in once a month. Do your bookkeeping, record all 215 00:10:55,130 --> 00:10:58,930 of your invoices, all your income, all of your expenses in 216 00:10:58,930 --> 00:11:02,540 a very customized. And easy to understand document 217 00:11:02,540 --> 00:11:06,060 and PDF for you, so that we can give you the reports like, hey 218 00:11:06,060 --> 00:11:08,700 look, this is what's going on in your business. 219 00:11:08,740 --> 00:11:12,300 Again, it's very customized to you, my interior design clients. 220 00:11:12,620 --> 00:11:14,900 Their profit and loss in the balance sheet looks different 221 00:11:14,980 --> 00:11:17,620 because they have different business models. 222 00:11:18,230 --> 00:11:20,110 And they want to see things differently. 223 00:11:20,110 --> 00:11:23,870 So you get those reports to you. You also get like a simplified 224 00:11:24,030 --> 00:11:25,830 summary e-mail saying what's going on. 225 00:11:25,830 --> 00:11:28,670 You get a Loom video walking you through those reports because 226 00:11:28,870 --> 00:11:31,510 communication and understanding is really big for us. 227 00:11:32,030 --> 00:11:35,470 And with that, you also get like access to me and to Voxer with 228 00:11:35,470 --> 00:11:38,630 your bookkeeping team. And just to be able to anytime 229 00:11:38,630 --> 00:11:41,870 you have any type of question or if you're like feeling something 230 00:11:41,870 --> 00:11:44,350 about your numbers, you open them up and you're like, this is 231 00:11:44,390 --> 00:11:45,950 awesome. Like, what am I supposed to do 232 00:11:45,950 --> 00:11:48,600 now or? Oh no, what am I supposed to do 233 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:50,240 now? Like type of like, Oh no, that's 234 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:52,840 not really what I wanted to see and we're there to walk you 235 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:56,440 through it. So that's our main service and 236 00:11:56,560 --> 00:11:59,320 it's a month to month. And then obviously we do other 237 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:01,440 types of services for people that are just starting out. 238 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:05,040 We have like one time strategy setup sessions and then people 239 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:08,440 that that need budgeting and projections and all that type of 240 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:10,720 stuff. We have like an elevated service 241 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:13,680 too. Yeah, really good, Okay. 242 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:15,800 So let's go. Back to that feeling. 243 00:12:16,230 --> 00:12:19,830 With the finances, so sometimes business owners, I think they're 244 00:12:20,510 --> 00:12:24,590 very subjective to the media project they're working on or 245 00:12:25,150 --> 00:12:27,190 some other factors. They might hear something in the 246 00:12:27,190 --> 00:12:28,510 news and all of a sudden they're panicked. 247 00:12:28,510 --> 00:12:30,110 About the state of their. Business. 248 00:12:30,710 --> 00:12:33,350 Talk a little bit about. That, yeah, it's something that 249 00:12:33,950 --> 00:12:35,870 I've been talking a lot more about. 250 00:12:35,870 --> 00:12:38,270 I would say it's always very important. 251 00:12:38,270 --> 00:12:40,910 But right now, especially people are like worried about the 252 00:12:40,910 --> 00:12:42,270 economy. What's that going to do? 253 00:12:42,270 --> 00:12:44,750 What's it going to do in the creative industry, which is? 254 00:12:45,100 --> 00:12:49,820 The people I serve. And so between that and then the 255 00:12:49,820 --> 00:12:54,020 fact that here, like in the United States, most of the time 256 00:12:54,020 --> 00:12:58,260 we don't have education, like it comes from little up, You don't 257 00:12:58,260 --> 00:13:01,660 get educated on how to manage your money, how to budget, how 258 00:13:01,660 --> 00:13:04,300 to file your taxes. And I think that's something 259 00:13:04,300 --> 00:13:07,460 that's kind of the school system's fault, just like little 260 00:13:07,460 --> 00:13:09,980 up. I do see it changing a little 261 00:13:09,980 --> 00:13:12,460 bit, like some states have rolled out, like it's mandatory 262 00:13:12,460 --> 00:13:15,140 for personal finance classes in high school and stuff, But I 263 00:13:15,140 --> 00:13:18,620 think that's where it begins. Also, what type of parents did 264 00:13:18,620 --> 00:13:21,380 you have? Did they really and openly talk 265 00:13:21,380 --> 00:13:23,780 about money with you? Did they openly talk about money 266 00:13:23,780 --> 00:13:25,860 too much to where you were stressed out about money as a 267 00:13:25,900 --> 00:13:27,780 kid? I think that's something too. 268 00:13:27,980 --> 00:13:31,780 So you kind of have to go back to just like your mindset around 269 00:13:31,780 --> 00:13:35,060 money and where that came from. And that's like a scary thing 270 00:13:35,060 --> 00:13:38,260 sometimes to do, but then you go into your business. 271 00:13:38,700 --> 00:13:42,820 And you're starting to do all the different things where all 272 00:13:42,820 --> 00:13:46,340 the different hats and you can get so caught up in, like you 273 00:13:46,340 --> 00:13:48,620 said, in one project or something like that, that you 274 00:13:48,620 --> 00:13:50,660 just kind of let finances slide and then all of a sudden you 275 00:13:50,660 --> 00:13:52,220 look at your bank account and it's like where did all the 276 00:13:52,260 --> 00:13:54,350 money go? And then you start feeling down 277 00:13:54,350 --> 00:13:56,190 about your business and then you make a sale and bring out 278 00:13:56,190 --> 00:13:58,470 another client that you feel excited about your business. 279 00:13:58,470 --> 00:14:01,150 So let's make a bunch of like buy a bunch more stuff. 280 00:14:01,190 --> 00:14:06,470 And I know for me like there's there's weeks that I just don't 281 00:14:06,470 --> 00:14:09,030 feel great about my business. Like I'm like, you know, it's 282 00:14:09,030 --> 00:14:11,710 just not doing super great. I don't have a lot of leads. 283 00:14:11,950 --> 00:14:15,390 So that kind of well, if I just operate off of that, that 284 00:14:15,390 --> 00:14:16,950 impacts the type of decisions I make. 285 00:14:16,950 --> 00:14:18,750 And then if I sign a bunch of new clients. 286 00:14:19,170 --> 00:14:20,450 I'm like, ohh, yeah, I can invest in this. 287 00:14:20,450 --> 00:14:22,730 I can have my website redesigned, but then I have to 288 00:14:22,730 --> 00:14:25,490 think about, but what are the finances saying? 289 00:14:25,490 --> 00:14:28,090 What is the number saying in order to do those decisions? 290 00:14:28,090 --> 00:14:31,290 And also not even just just looking at your bank account 291 00:14:31,290 --> 00:14:33,010 balance. So many people will run their 292 00:14:33,010 --> 00:14:34,890 business off of what's in their bank account. 293 00:14:35,570 --> 00:14:40,530 And there's so much more than just that, so much more because 294 00:14:40,530 --> 00:14:44,330 you could have a credit card bill that of the stuff that you 295 00:14:44,330 --> 00:14:46,970 paid for two months ago or a month ago. 296 00:14:47,430 --> 00:14:48,670 Hit. And then you all of a sudden 297 00:14:48,670 --> 00:14:50,990 have a $10,000 credit card bill and it's like, well, I don't 298 00:14:50,990 --> 00:14:52,950 have the money. And then you get that swing of 299 00:14:52,950 --> 00:14:56,150 things or you have a lot of money, but you forget that you 300 00:14:56,150 --> 00:14:58,350 have bills coming up and then you decide to spend all that 301 00:14:58,350 --> 00:14:59,750 money and then when the bills come. 302 00:15:00,030 --> 00:15:03,430 There's no money, so yeah. There's a lot of stuff there. 303 00:15:03,790 --> 00:15:05,070 There is, yeah. There is a. 304 00:15:05,070 --> 00:15:08,550 Lot that comes up, I think, especially for designers because 305 00:15:08,550 --> 00:15:11,310 we're dealing with our own money. 306 00:15:11,780 --> 00:15:13,580 Mindset. Issues as well as our. 307 00:15:13,580 --> 00:15:16,820 Clients issues. So some have no problem writing 308 00:15:16,820 --> 00:15:20,860 you a check for $10,000 and others are like well show me 309 00:15:20,860 --> 00:15:23,500 exactly what I'm getting for this money or? 310 00:15:23,820 --> 00:15:26,740 They have a history of. You know, being not very liberal 311 00:15:26,740 --> 00:15:28,900 with their money and they want. It they're very cautious about. 312 00:15:28,900 --> 00:15:31,420 Spending it or they're, or they're just more liberal with 313 00:15:31,420 --> 00:15:33,260 it. And so even putting our own 314 00:15:33,500 --> 00:15:36,780 issues onto the client and being like, well, I wouldn't spend 315 00:15:36,780 --> 00:15:40,660 $10,000 on a sofa, but they want to you know, so like not 316 00:15:40,660 --> 00:15:42,740 holding. The client back from spending 317 00:15:42,740 --> 00:15:45,340 that money and things like. That so that all gets. 318 00:15:45,340 --> 00:15:48,260 Wrapped up into business, I think you know. 319 00:15:48,380 --> 00:15:51,380 Yeah, especially like you're saying like with into your 320 00:15:51,380 --> 00:15:54,460 designers that you're spending your clients money. 321 00:15:54,620 --> 00:15:58,260 Like you're the one that's like, well, here's the S&S, we PCs 322 00:15:58,260 --> 00:16:01,540 things together and you're spending your clients money and 323 00:16:01,540 --> 00:16:03,420 they might value one thing over the other. 324 00:16:03,420 --> 00:16:05,940 And it's in a way it's kind of like what I do, like I have to 325 00:16:06,100 --> 00:16:08,660 work with each of my individual clients because we're talking 326 00:16:08,660 --> 00:16:12,780 about their money and. Everyone of my clients is so 327 00:16:12,780 --> 00:16:14,420 different. We have to figure out what type 328 00:16:14,420 --> 00:16:17,620 of mindset they have around money and just cater towards 329 00:16:17,620 --> 00:16:19,540 them. And I have to let my mindset 330 00:16:19,540 --> 00:16:22,900 around money just get shifted back because how they want might 331 00:16:22,900 --> 00:16:25,860 want to run their business might be different than what I see and 332 00:16:26,220 --> 00:16:28,140 would think would be a good idea. 333 00:16:28,340 --> 00:16:31,620 And obviously in advisory situations I do give my opinion 334 00:16:31,620 --> 00:16:33,100 because they are paying me. For it. 335 00:16:33,740 --> 00:16:36,100 But yeah, it's kind of like you have to see and work with each 336 00:16:36,100 --> 00:16:39,180 individual client and kind of like let yourself go. 337 00:16:39,690 --> 00:16:42,810 On what you think the clients should be spending on certain 338 00:16:42,810 --> 00:16:45,530 things. Yeah, yeah. 339 00:16:45,570 --> 00:16:48,170 And I think one of the more common issues and you had. 340 00:16:48,170 --> 00:16:51,090 Brought this up before. That interior designers that in 341 00:16:51,090 --> 00:16:52,930 our industry and and it's starting to change a. 342 00:16:52,930 --> 00:16:56,530 Little bit, but that we. Don't value our talent and our 343 00:16:56,530 --> 00:17:01,250 skill as much as we should. So we're undercharging or you 344 00:17:01,250 --> 00:17:02,330 know and different things like that. 345 00:17:02,330 --> 00:17:04,490 We're not taking the businesses seriously because. 346 00:17:04,650 --> 00:17:06,569 We would do this if for a hobby, but. 347 00:17:06,569 --> 00:17:08,369 We're doing it for a living, you know. 348 00:17:08,810 --> 00:17:11,900 Yeah. I have a client right now that 349 00:17:11,980 --> 00:17:14,940 she's been on with me for probably, I don't know, probably 350 00:17:14,940 --> 00:17:16,700 four months now. I think she started at the 351 00:17:16,700 --> 00:17:19,180 beginning of the year and we are, we're working through that 352 00:17:19,460 --> 00:17:21,700 exactly. And she came on and I'm like, 353 00:17:21,780 --> 00:17:25,940 what are you charging? And she's charging my hour and 354 00:17:25,940 --> 00:17:30,270 she's charging. A very low rate and I'm like you 355 00:17:30,270 --> 00:17:33,230 realize that you could if you're going to charge by hour like if 356 00:17:33,230 --> 00:17:35,670 you want to give your like charge by hour instead of my 357 00:17:35,670 --> 00:17:39,270 project, you could be timing that by five or six and you 358 00:17:39,270 --> 00:17:42,150 could still be getting clients. She's like are you serious And 359 00:17:42,150 --> 00:17:44,870 I'm like yes. And we're still we're still 360 00:17:44,870 --> 00:17:47,350 working through it. It's still again with like her 361 00:17:47,350 --> 00:17:49,670 money mindset like we're still working through that. 362 00:17:49,910 --> 00:17:54,910 But yeah it's the whole image is like pricing is just a complete. 363 00:17:55,510 --> 00:17:58,310 There's so much to unpack there because like you said, a lot of 364 00:17:58,310 --> 00:17:59,590 people are like, I would do this for a hobby. 365 00:17:59,590 --> 00:18:02,110 I mean, I would do this for a hobby I love doing. 366 00:18:02,110 --> 00:18:05,430 I love designing houses and does, doing renovation and 367 00:18:05,430 --> 00:18:07,870 stuff, picking out different accent pieces and everything. 368 00:18:07,910 --> 00:18:11,830 So it's kind of like coming back to your business is so 369 00:18:11,830 --> 00:18:14,470 supporting you. Your business is giving you what 370 00:18:14,470 --> 00:18:16,910 you want and your vision for your life. 371 00:18:16,950 --> 00:18:21,110 And when that's like your main source of income, then you got 372 00:18:21,110 --> 00:18:23,870 to pay attention to the numbers. I actually, I read a statistic 373 00:18:23,870 --> 00:18:27,590 this morning, I think. It was either 65 or 85%. 374 00:18:27,590 --> 00:18:30,830 So don't call me on this, but 65 or I think it was 85 because it 375 00:18:30,830 --> 00:18:35,870 was high. 85% of female business owners claim that their business 376 00:18:35,870 --> 00:18:39,070 is their sole income or the main income of their life in their 377 00:18:39,070 --> 00:18:40,590 household. And that was really like 378 00:18:40,590 --> 00:18:42,470 shocking to me because I feel like there's a lot of people 379 00:18:42,470 --> 00:18:45,470 doing side households and they might have like a main full time 380 00:18:45,470 --> 00:18:50,910 job and I'm like OK, 85% of female owned businesses like 381 00:18:50,910 --> 00:18:52,470 that's their main source of income and like. 382 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:56,280 We gotta be like taking charge of it, taking ownership of our 383 00:18:56,360 --> 00:18:57,800 finances. Yes. 384 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:01,440 Yeah. And I think it's that transition 385 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:05,160 well and I don't know like historically female business 386 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:07,040 owners like what kind of examples? 387 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:10,080 We've had if we've had a. Lot in the last you know couple 388 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:14,160 decades but just even women coming out of the workplace and 389 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:17,040 being there owning their own businesses like you're going 390 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:20,400 just different mindset like going from being an employee to. 391 00:19:20,870 --> 00:19:23,990 Being your own boss, you know and the one you're getting paid 392 00:19:23,990 --> 00:19:27,150 an hourly wage and so you can't. Like if you're getting paid 393 00:19:27,150 --> 00:19:30,510 $30.00 an hour, you can't go out into your business and charge. 394 00:19:30,510 --> 00:19:33,750 $30 an hour because there's so much more overhead and stuff 395 00:19:33,750 --> 00:19:36,870 that you got to cover and account for and and then you're 396 00:19:36,870 --> 00:19:38,790 not charging. You know if you do hourly, 397 00:19:38,790 --> 00:19:40,710 you're not charging. Typically for. 398 00:19:41,090 --> 00:19:43,810 The full 40 hours a week or. More you know so. 399 00:19:43,810 --> 00:19:45,970 It's just there is. A I guess there's Business 400 00:19:45,970 --> 00:19:49,410 School, there's that transition that often times, I think. 401 00:19:49,410 --> 00:19:52,650 That the bookkeeper or? The fractional CFO like. 402 00:19:52,770 --> 00:19:55,330 Yourself that you provide. Can help a business owner 403 00:19:55,330 --> 00:19:57,530 transition because most of the time they're not going into 404 00:19:57,530 --> 00:19:59,210 business because they want to have a business. 405 00:19:59,370 --> 00:20:02,730 It's because of the craft that they want to do and then having 406 00:20:02,730 --> 00:20:04,490 their own business. Just a way to facilitate. 407 00:20:04,490 --> 00:20:07,290 That and give them autonomy so. Yeah. 408 00:20:07,330 --> 00:20:11,450 And I would say especially with. Creatives and interior designers 409 00:20:11,450 --> 00:20:16,090 to like they don't go into it because they love the numbers, 410 00:20:16,090 --> 00:20:18,010 They don't love the business side of things. 411 00:20:18,010 --> 00:20:21,290 They go into it because they want to create and design and 412 00:20:21,810 --> 00:20:25,410 have kind of the freedom and the choice and flexibility of owning 413 00:20:25,410 --> 00:20:27,650 your own business. But the business side of things 414 00:20:27,650 --> 00:20:31,330 can be a little bit hard and hard to transition out because 415 00:20:31,330 --> 00:20:33,450 you're so right. Like if you're coming from a job 416 00:20:33,450 --> 00:20:37,570 to where that you're designing at, they're paying you $30 per 417 00:20:37,570 --> 00:20:40,180 hour. But like your example, you can't 418 00:20:40,180 --> 00:20:43,700 go out and charge someone like $30.00 for your work because you 419 00:20:43,700 --> 00:20:46,940 have to pay taxes. So there's 25%, then you have 420 00:20:46,940 --> 00:20:49,460 insurance, there's power, much, and then you have any 421 00:20:49,460 --> 00:20:53,740 subscriptions, any software, any thing that you're using to run 422 00:20:53,740 --> 00:20:57,540 your business. And there's just so much extra 423 00:20:57,620 --> 00:21:00,420 cost to having your own business that you need to factor that 424 00:21:00,420 --> 00:21:03,180 into. And I like the point that you 425 00:21:03,180 --> 00:21:06,820 brought up about having examples of like just women owned 426 00:21:06,820 --> 00:21:08,180 businesses. Yeah, it's. 427 00:21:08,300 --> 00:21:12,180 Crazy to me. It was 1974 when a woman could 428 00:21:12,220 --> 00:21:14,300 get her own credit. Card before. 429 00:21:14,340 --> 00:21:17,380 Then we couldn't get it into that's not even, that's not that 430 00:21:17,380 --> 00:21:20,540 long ago. And so from where we've been 431 00:21:20,540 --> 00:21:27,340 since 1974 to 2022, it shifted so much and the statistic for 432 00:21:27,380 --> 00:21:33,170 this year, I think it's like 40. 47 again, me not having exact, 433 00:21:33,170 --> 00:21:38,090 but it's like 45 to 47% of businesses are female owned in 434 00:21:38,090 --> 00:21:43,410 the US right now and that's crazy to me because like 1974 we 435 00:21:43,410 --> 00:21:45,650 couldn't have a credit card before you have a business 436 00:21:45,770 --> 00:21:47,570 owner. So we go from like not being 437 00:21:47,570 --> 00:21:50,010 able to get a house, not being able to get any loans or a 438 00:21:50,010 --> 00:21:53,450 credit card to being able to shift into. 439 00:21:54,310 --> 00:21:57,630 Hey, the females and the women can actually manage finances and 440 00:21:57,630 --> 00:22:02,030 money to own almost 50% of the businesses. 441 00:22:02,630 --> 00:22:07,430 So in the last couple of decades like it's the societal 442 00:22:07,430 --> 00:22:11,790 standpoint of women being a finances has completely shifted. 443 00:22:12,510 --> 00:22:14,350 Yeah, yeah. And so we don't. 444 00:22:14,350 --> 00:22:16,910 Have a lot of those. Role models, I think, and now 445 00:22:16,910 --> 00:22:19,590 they're starting to come up, you know, and be really more 446 00:22:19,590 --> 00:22:22,390 present, but there's just not a long history of it. 447 00:22:22,950 --> 00:22:24,550 You know now. Little girls will have. 448 00:22:24,630 --> 00:22:27,670 These examples going forward and their moms have always been able 449 00:22:27,670 --> 00:22:29,230 to. Have a credit card but like. 450 00:22:29,630 --> 00:22:33,590 My mom couldn't unless her husband sign on it or her dad or 451 00:22:33,590 --> 00:22:34,310 something. So. 452 00:22:34,710 --> 00:22:38,630 Yeah, I had found that out like last year or the year before. 453 00:22:38,790 --> 00:22:41,510 When I saw that statistics and I was like, mom, is this true? 454 00:22:41,510 --> 00:22:43,630 Like you weren't able to? Have a credit card. 455 00:22:44,070 --> 00:22:47,310 Like when you were young. It just blew my mind and how far 456 00:22:47,310 --> 00:22:49,740 we've come, which is great. And you know and. 457 00:22:49,740 --> 00:22:51,940 Partly the fact that we're. I'm bringing up, you know, 458 00:22:51,940 --> 00:22:54,660 female owned business because the majority of interior 459 00:22:54,660 --> 00:22:58,220 designers are females and so that's just great information 460 00:22:58,220 --> 00:23:00,860 and just just something to think about, you know, like having 461 00:23:00,860 --> 00:23:02,380 these examples and so now. We're. 462 00:23:02,780 --> 00:23:05,180 We are the. Ones that can set that example 463 00:23:05,260 --> 00:23:08,380 for future businesses and so. That's kind of and. 464 00:23:09,620 --> 00:23:11,500 It does. It gets to me exciting because 465 00:23:11,620 --> 00:23:13,500 my daughter, she asked me this morning. 466 00:23:13,500 --> 00:23:17,140 It's like, mom, can I have a computer and a desk? 467 00:23:17,510 --> 00:23:19,790 And a chair like you and can I work with you? 468 00:23:19,790 --> 00:23:23,630 And I'm like, maybe one day you can come work with me and I 469 00:23:23,630 --> 00:23:27,590 don't know, being able to provide that of having my 470 00:23:27,590 --> 00:23:30,950 daughter look up to me and be like, OK, mom can run a business 471 00:23:30,950 --> 00:23:33,430 and have a team and be very present with me. 472 00:23:33,430 --> 00:23:35,510 And you want to come to all my school events and do all this 473 00:23:35,510 --> 00:23:37,870 stuff with me. It's very exciting for me to be 474 00:23:37,870 --> 00:23:41,470 able to have my daughter be able to see that and other like, kids 475 00:23:41,510 --> 00:23:45,030 that are in my life too. Yeah, Yeah, 100% both my. 476 00:23:45,540 --> 00:23:48,780 My daughter and my son get to. See that as well, because I. 477 00:23:49,140 --> 00:23:50,420 You know I'm there to pick them up a. 478 00:23:50,500 --> 00:23:51,380 Couple days a. Week. 479 00:23:51,380 --> 00:23:54,460 Sometimes my husband does it and it's just like a new way of 480 00:23:54,460 --> 00:23:57,260 showing them how you can work and especially, you know, within 481 00:23:57,260 --> 00:24:01,540 a post pandemic world too, where everyone's can work virtually 482 00:24:01,540 --> 00:24:03,300 and it's just really changed a lot. 483 00:24:04,260 --> 00:24:07,340 So they're seeing a lot of new examples come through, I think. 484 00:24:07,660 --> 00:24:08,900 For sure. Yeah. 485 00:24:09,260 --> 00:24:11,220 OK. So going back to. 486 00:24:11,300 --> 00:24:14,020 The services that you provide. And how you can advise? 487 00:24:14,020 --> 00:24:16,110 People. Would you say that designers 488 00:24:16,110 --> 00:24:17,830 starting out in their own company? 489 00:24:17,830 --> 00:24:19,710 Do they need? Both a bookkeeper. 490 00:24:19,710 --> 00:24:23,750 And an accountant. Yeah, I would say the dream team 491 00:24:23,750 --> 00:24:26,830 is to have a bookkeeper, an accountant, because your 492 00:24:26,830 --> 00:24:31,270 accountant's your tax person. So I I know tax, I understand 493 00:24:31,270 --> 00:24:33,390 it. I can help advise on tax stuff, 494 00:24:33,510 --> 00:24:36,270 but they're the ones that are taking all these extra CPD 495 00:24:36,270 --> 00:24:37,710 classes. They're getting updates with all 496 00:24:37,710 --> 00:24:41,630 these random year to year tax change laws, everything like 497 00:24:41,630 --> 00:24:43,270 that. They're the specialist in 498 00:24:43,270 --> 00:24:47,560 account and tax. Whereas I am the specialist and 499 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:51,200 getting every single transaction documented and analyzing every 500 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:53,720 single penny and where it's going and how it's performing 501 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:56,280 and managing the cash flow and things like that. 502 00:24:56,440 --> 00:25:01,120 I like to think about accountants and bookkeepers as 503 00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:03,880 doctors. So all of us we have like the 504 00:25:04,360 --> 00:25:07,880 normal premed, like typical education like we we started 505 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:09,520 out, we have the same knowledge base. 506 00:25:10,290 --> 00:25:14,810 But then people will branch off and be a pediatrician, or 507 00:25:14,810 --> 00:25:18,210 they'll be a family doctor, or they'll be a neurologist or 508 00:25:18,210 --> 00:25:21,170 cardiologist, and they all work together. 509 00:25:21,170 --> 00:25:26,090 So you might have one problem or one patient where you need a 510 00:25:26,530 --> 00:25:30,370 cardiologist and a surgeon or whatever it might be, where they 511 00:25:30,370 --> 00:25:34,290 work together and they understand the human body and 512 00:25:34,290 --> 00:25:36,580 they can come up. Up with a game plan together, 513 00:25:36,860 --> 00:25:39,180 but one can't perform its job without the other. 514 00:25:39,460 --> 00:25:42,060 You might have an accountant that you go to and they're 515 00:25:42,260 --> 00:25:45,540 trying to do it all, but nine times out of 10, if they're 516 00:25:45,620 --> 00:25:47,540 crunching and trying to do your bookkeeping at the end of the 517 00:25:47,540 --> 00:25:51,780 year, they're missing things. It's just it's not reported for 518 00:25:51,780 --> 00:25:54,140 your understanding. It's only reported for the like 519 00:25:54,140 --> 00:25:55,860 to file taxes and then they're done. 520 00:25:56,460 --> 00:25:58,540 And so that's most of the time what's happened. 521 00:25:58,900 --> 00:26:01,460 And then if you have a bookkeeper that does all of your 522 00:26:01,620 --> 00:26:04,580 numbers and everything and has your bookkeeping done. 523 00:26:05,120 --> 00:26:06,520 Well then who's filing the taxes? 524 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:10,600 And you could file taxes, but I highly recommend if you have a 525 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:12,920 business, to have someone else file the taxes for you. 526 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:17,200 Yeah, especially once you get like Incorporated and have 527 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:19,840 another level of things that you can do. 528 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:23,920 So, Oh yeah, for sure. And and I will say like when 529 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,960 you're first starting out hiring a bookkeeper might not be in 530 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:30,080 budget and I have that discussion with some potential 531 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:32,160 clients. If they're like you know like 532 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:33,520 that's just a lot of way I don't think. 533 00:26:33,950 --> 00:26:38,230 I can afford it and there are other options like I'll just put 534 00:26:38,230 --> 00:26:39,510 out there, there's other options. 535 00:26:39,510 --> 00:26:42,390 We can figure out a way to help you understand your numbers. 536 00:26:42,390 --> 00:26:45,390 The biggest thing is helping you know what's coming and what's 537 00:26:45,390 --> 00:26:48,590 going out and then when you get to the point to where you can 538 00:26:48,590 --> 00:26:52,230 afford to bring on a bookkeeper then great, we can do that. 539 00:26:52,470 --> 00:26:56,270 But I'm not here to like just you have to hire it right away 540 00:26:56,270 --> 00:26:58,230 and then you're it just puts your business more into the 541 00:26:58,230 --> 00:27:01,670 ground and I don't think any bookkeeper should be doing that 542 00:27:01,670 --> 00:27:03,590 at all. They should be looking at your 543 00:27:03,590 --> 00:27:04,950 finance. This isn't if it's detrimental 544 00:27:04,950 --> 00:27:07,390 to your business and come up with a different game plan. 545 00:27:08,470 --> 00:27:10,550 Do you have a? Specific software that you 546 00:27:10,550 --> 00:27:13,350 recommend for people to start out on, yeah. 547 00:27:13,470 --> 00:27:16,110 If you're just starting out, so you just started your business. 548 00:27:16,470 --> 00:27:18,790 Even if you've been in business for a year or two and are like 549 00:27:18,790 --> 00:27:22,310 DIY in your books, I highly recommend a spreadsheet. 550 00:27:22,670 --> 00:27:25,150 The reason why is because software is like QuickBooks 551 00:27:25,150 --> 00:27:27,670 Online or zero. They have a lot of accounting 552 00:27:27,830 --> 00:27:30,970 background that's happening. And and if you don't have a 553 00:27:31,130 --> 00:27:34,290 basis like knowledge of what accounting is and deficit 554 00:27:34,290 --> 00:27:37,770 credits and journal injuries and balance fees and like how things 555 00:27:37,770 --> 00:27:39,890 flow together, yeah, it can very. 556 00:27:40,540 --> 00:27:42,980 Be inaccurate and things can get messed up. 557 00:27:42,980 --> 00:27:45,660 So then your reports that you're running your business off of are 558 00:27:45,660 --> 00:27:49,060 not accurate. So the easiest method and you 559 00:27:49,060 --> 00:27:50,860 don't have to pay for a monthly subscription. 560 00:27:50,860 --> 00:27:53,860 You pay at one time. Get a spreadsheet and you can 561 00:27:53,860 --> 00:27:57,460 utilize that for hour long until you get to the point that you 562 00:27:57,460 --> 00:28:00,140 want to outsource. Hands down spreadsheets and the 563 00:28:00,140 --> 00:28:03,700 way to go. Is that something that would 564 00:28:03,940 --> 00:28:05,540 someone just set up their own spreadsheet? 565 00:28:05,540 --> 00:28:08,860 Or they're like prefilled out. Kind of categories and things 566 00:28:08,860 --> 00:28:11,290 that. They can get from somewhere like 567 00:28:11,290 --> 00:28:12,570 a template. Or something like that. 568 00:28:13,010 --> 00:28:16,770 Yeah, I mean, you can obviously create your spreadsheet, but a 569 00:28:16,770 --> 00:28:21,050 lot of times you open up a Google sheet, document or sheet 570 00:28:21,050 --> 00:28:23,250 and then you open up an Excel sheet and it's like. 571 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:25,600 Too overwhelming because it's just a bunch of little boxes, 572 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:28,320 right? I have a digital product shop, 573 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:30,400 so there's like a personal budget template, a business 574 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,320 budget template, and then like a DIY bookkeeping template in 575 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,560 there and I'm continually adding to it to where everything's 576 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:38,760 filled out. It calculates your estimated 577 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:41,440 taxes for you, has a gold tracker. 578 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:45,080 It has tarts and graphs in there to where like, visually you can 579 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:47,640 see your numbers and a lot of things are prefilled to 580 00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:50,160 Basically you just enter in like, here's your expenses, 581 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:53,520 here's your income, and then everything populates for you. 582 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:57,000 And the whole spreadsheet is like aesthetically pleasing 583 00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:58,080 because. Oh, good, it's. 584 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:01,320 Not like you're like Uncle's spreadsheet. 585 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,040 That's like really random and just not really pretty. 586 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:07,840 So I made it really pretty. As pretty as a spreadsheet could 587 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:10,080 be. Yeah, it's it's pretty pretty. 588 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:13,720 Awesome. So those are resources that 589 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:15,560 listeners could go. And download. 590 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:18,160 Or purchase for themselves if. They're getting started out. 591 00:29:18,830 --> 00:29:22,190 Yep, you can go to my website and it's under the marketplace. 592 00:29:22,470 --> 00:29:23,790 Perfect, okay. We'll add. 593 00:29:23,790 --> 00:29:25,870 Links for that cuz I think that'll be a good. 594 00:29:25,870 --> 00:29:28,430 Resource. For people just who don't even 595 00:29:28,430 --> 00:29:30,670 know where to start. So that's good. 596 00:29:30,790 --> 00:29:34,550 Cuz I know when I started out on QuickBooks I had someone. 597 00:29:34,950 --> 00:29:36,950 Or at least set up all. Of the categories, you know, 598 00:29:36,950 --> 00:29:40,590 like so it could translate into taxes at the end of the year, 599 00:29:40,590 --> 00:29:42,710 you know, because that's really complicated. 600 00:29:42,870 --> 00:29:45,630 For sure, and I would say if you're going to use the 601 00:29:45,630 --> 00:29:48,310 software, that's the way to go. If you're going to do it Wyatt, 602 00:29:48,310 --> 00:29:49,750 don't try to set it up on your own. 603 00:29:49,950 --> 00:29:53,470 We have done setups and help people get things going like set 604 00:29:53,470 --> 00:29:56,030 up right, because that's a big part of it. 605 00:29:56,030 --> 00:29:58,950 So if you want to use the software, have someone help you 606 00:29:58,950 --> 00:30:00,910 set up and train you in it and then you'll be. 607 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:03,400 Good to go. At least until your accountant 608 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:04,880 can review it, yeah. But. 609 00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:06,800 Yeah, you did a good choice there. 610 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:11,920 Yeah, I was in a networking group and as I was getting 611 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:13,840 started and there was an accountant in there and she was. 612 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:16,320 Like, oh, you have to do this. Like you had to have someone 613 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:18,600 else set it up. You can't just like go in Willy. 614 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,960 Yeah, into cookbook. So So yeah, and since then, you 615 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:24,800 know, I've transitioned to using Studio Designer and and there's 616 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:28,360 a lot of other industry specific accounting software for interior 617 00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:31,030 designers. Would you work with any of them, 618 00:30:31,030 --> 00:30:33,630 or do you particularly work on QuickBooks? 619 00:30:33,630 --> 00:30:34,950 Or is it? What is? 620 00:30:34,950 --> 00:30:37,790 Yeah. We primarily use zero in 621 00:30:37,790 --> 00:30:40,190 QuickBooks. That's our preference. 622 00:30:40,750 --> 00:30:44,630 A lot of, and I have seen this in a lot of different industries 623 00:30:44,630 --> 00:30:46,590 they have. There's a lot of CRM's and 624 00:30:46,590 --> 00:30:49,630 client management places that you can go and then they try to 625 00:30:49,630 --> 00:30:53,190 build inside of that. An accounting software and most 626 00:30:53,190 --> 00:30:56,230 of the time 9 times out of 10, I haven't been inside of yours 627 00:30:56,550 --> 00:30:58,990 specifically, so I don't know what that one looks like. 628 00:30:59,190 --> 00:31:01,630 But most of the ones that I've been inside that they have in a 629 00:31:01,990 --> 00:31:05,270 quote UN quote accounting portion of it, It's not giving 630 00:31:05,270 --> 00:31:07,550 the insight that I want to be able to provide to my clients 631 00:31:08,110 --> 00:31:10,950 and it's just limiting what we could do and what we could 632 00:31:10,950 --> 00:31:13,750 provide to them. So usually we use QuickBooks or 633 00:31:13,750 --> 00:31:17,190 zero and most of the time that links to whatever. 634 00:31:17,590 --> 00:31:20,190 Time management software that you're using to where it like 635 00:31:20,190 --> 00:31:22,150 talks back and forth and it integrates well. 636 00:31:22,310 --> 00:31:25,030 But those are the two that I prefer and out of those two I 637 00:31:25,030 --> 00:31:28,470 prefer 0. Okay, I'm not familiar with that 638 00:31:28,470 --> 00:31:29,870 one, so I'll. Be good to check. 639 00:31:29,870 --> 00:31:31,990 It, yeah. Yeah, it's also cookbooks just 640 00:31:32,070 --> 00:31:35,990 has really, they do really good at marketing their software, but 641 00:31:36,110 --> 00:31:39,750 their customer support is horrible and it's like not 642 00:31:39,750 --> 00:31:41,350 there. The amount of times I've been on 643 00:31:41,350 --> 00:31:44,630 hold for hours and hours, I just kind of was like, that's enough. 644 00:31:45,210 --> 00:31:47,930 And zero is they're amazing to work with. 645 00:31:48,050 --> 00:31:52,410 They have great customer support and they're like a third of the 646 00:31:52,410 --> 00:31:53,130 price of. QuickBooks. 647 00:31:53,650 --> 00:31:56,530 So great. Yeah, good. 648 00:31:56,970 --> 00:31:58,130 OK. All right. 649 00:31:58,130 --> 00:32:00,490 Well, where? Can people find you if they 650 00:32:00,490 --> 00:32:02,330 want? To reach out to you about your 651 00:32:02,330 --> 00:32:05,210 services. Yeah, so you can find me at my 652 00:32:05,210 --> 00:32:09,730 websites Lori Ann coons.com and my Instagram is Lori Ann 653 00:32:09,730 --> 00:32:11,890 coons.co. OK, great. 654 00:32:11,890 --> 00:32:14,050 I'll check that out. And any? 655 00:32:14,210 --> 00:32:18,530 Last words of advice for. Potential creative or designer 656 00:32:18,530 --> 00:32:20,530 who's looking to start their own business. 657 00:32:20,970 --> 00:32:24,450 Yeah, I think the best piece of advice I can give you is that 658 00:32:25,010 --> 00:32:28,250 you're able to understand your numbers and you are completely 659 00:32:28,250 --> 00:32:33,530 capable of being able to look at them and analyze them and know 660 00:32:33,530 --> 00:32:36,610 what's going on. And no matter if you've had 661 00:32:36,610 --> 00:32:39,360 like. Any type of education or 662 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:43,800 training from just little up in finance management and managing 663 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:48,560 your numbers and your money, you are 100% capable of doing that. 664 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:51,080 Might just take a little bit of digging and a little bit of time 665 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:54,480 to educate yourself and we're all still learning how to manage 666 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:56,800 your money better. So good. 667 00:32:57,240 --> 00:33:00,360 Well, thank you so much. Lori Ann is a great time talking 668 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:03,160 with you today on the podcast. Yeah. 669 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:13,710 Thank you so much for having me. Such a helpful conversation, and 670 00:33:13,710 --> 00:33:17,390 I know from talking with other designers and other creatives 671 00:33:17,390 --> 00:33:21,030 that really the finances, the bookkeeping and keeping it all 672 00:33:21,030 --> 00:33:26,470 straight is not usually a. Forte of creatives. 673 00:33:26,550 --> 00:33:29,230 And so they're quite intimidated. 674 00:33:29,230 --> 00:33:31,830 By the process. And making sure that they can 675 00:33:31,870 --> 00:33:34,750 keep everything straight and that they're doing everything 676 00:33:34,750 --> 00:33:36,750 they need to pay their taxes and. 677 00:33:37,190 --> 00:33:39,110 You know, stay. Upright as a a. 678 00:33:39,110 --> 00:33:41,150 Company. And so definitely a bookkeeper 679 00:33:41,150 --> 00:33:43,710 or a fractional CFO is going to. Help you with that. 680 00:33:44,110 --> 00:33:46,750 And I can't tell. You how valuable it is to have 681 00:33:46,750 --> 00:33:48,950 all of the. Information on hand to have 682 00:33:48,950 --> 00:33:52,550 those reports monthly to keep looking at it and keep 683 00:33:52,550 --> 00:33:55,470 evaluating so you know what is working in your business and you 684 00:33:55,470 --> 00:33:58,030 know what is not working and what you need to change. 685 00:33:58,510 --> 00:34:00,790 So Laurie Ann can definitely help. 686 00:34:00,790 --> 00:34:03,930 You with that if you'd like to. Use her services. 687 00:34:03,930 --> 00:34:06,890 You can find all of her information in the show notes 688 00:34:07,010 --> 00:34:09,850 and in addition. To all the other great. 689 00:34:09,850 --> 00:34:14,409 Links that you'll find there, like the downloads for people 690 00:34:14,489 --> 00:34:16,690 interested in the career of interior design. 691 00:34:16,690 --> 00:34:19,250 You'll find those there, as well as information about my design, 692 00:34:19,250 --> 00:34:22,570 mentor and anything else you want to know. 693 00:34:22,570 --> 00:34:25,250 About the podcast, so check that out. 694 00:34:25,690 --> 00:34:31,250 And next week we have an episode from me or it's truly and I'm 695 00:34:31,250 --> 00:34:34,920 talking about. Perfectionism, which is 696 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:38,679 definitely a. Struggle for a lot of. 697 00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:41,800 Creatives and designers. And so we're going to talk all 698 00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:45,760 about that next week. So stay tuned for that and until 699 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:50,280 then, stay creative. Thanks for listening if. 700 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:51,880 You love this episode. Please. 701 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:54,280 Leave a rating and a review. This helps me reach. 702 00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:58,240 Other curious creatives like you if you have a topic request. 703 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:00,360 Or would like to contact me. Simply. 704 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:04,440 Head over to my website. Our ward design.com or e-mail 705 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:06,960 me. At podcast at our ward. 706 00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:08,040 Design.com.