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Getting your money right and creating an operating budget BEFORE starting a business is a good idea. I know it’s not sexy and no one wants to talk about it but there’s something to be said for ironing out your money mindset issues before you get too far into your business.

Creating a business is all about who you’re being about money.

6 Months to 5 Figures ChecklistI’m a coach. I’m trained as a life coach and an executive coach. Most people don’t even realize that the style of coaching I’m trained in is all about being in full embodiment. Which is a fancy way of saying how we actually show up in our lives creates the results we seek. It’s probably one of the most intuitive ways of looking at how we get results in our lives. This might seem strange to some of you who know me as a task-oriented person and love a good to-do-list. Heck, there’s a reason why one of my favorite tools is the 6 Months to 5 Figures Checklist. Everyone loves a comprehensive play-by-play of what I need to do and when I need to do it.

But when we think about starting your business right from a consulting standpoint all of the hard-driving work of the business plan and the marketing strategy and the operating budget and laying out the legal documentation like your contracts and service agreement – all of that feels very task driven. And yet, I’m a coach trained in all of the people oriented stuff, so how does that serve you?

 

How much money do you want to create?

Which brings me to the conversation of money. When I first start working with a new client one of the first things I ask them to look at is how much money they want to create.

I ask them to lay that out in plain English:

  • How much revenue did you make last year?
  • What do you want to make this year?
  • How are you tracking your salary and paying yourself?
  • What were your highest expenses?
  • What were your biggest revenue lines?

I don’t ask this because creating a business is all about creating money. That’s where people get it confused. I ask this because creating a business is all about who you’re being about money. When I tell people you need to get your money right as a first critical step in how they grow their business I’m not talking about you having a rock solid financial plan. I’m talking about you fully understanding your relationship with money and how it’s either creating or blocking you from the business impact you want to make.

 

What’s your Money Mindset story?

People have to understand not only where some of their money mindset stories come from but also how it’s now showing up in their business. The things that your parents first taught you about money – about how it doesn’t grow on trees, or that you have to work very hard for it, or that if you don’t save it and you’re not careful that you’re going to be poor. All of that comes from a scarcity mindset.

Getting your money right and your operating budget BEFORE starting a business is a good idea. Iron out your money mindset issues before you get too far! By Marie Deveaux, Finance CoachAnd when you walk in with a scarcity mindset, and decide to create a business, what that tends to create is low-ball prices, not asking for the sale in discovery conversations, not even formalizing your discovery process. It comes to look like you not having plans that include where your revenue is going to come from, not planning for expenses because you assume that all of it must be hard, that all of it is going to be difficult to come by. That doesn’t start when you decide to incorporate your business or even when you decide to start marketing your services. Those types of dynamics start probably from the time you were 5, 6 or 7 years old. Honestly can you remember the first lesson you learned about money? And if you think about that lesson where is that showing up in your business today?

 

Grow your business into a renewable Asset

Getting your money right is not about getting rich quick. Lord knows, the process of sorting through your money roadblocks is not going to be a fast, or necessarily easy, road. And it’s definitely not about having an amazing net worth, or tons of savings, or a trust fund and a family estate.

Wealth isn’t about what you accumulate.

Wealth is about how you show up.


If you take off your scarcity glasses that were given to you at 5, 6 or 7 years old, and instead put on an abundance lens and look at your business, what do you see? If you’re ready to take ownership of your business and finances, sign up for a Boss Up Brunch coming up!

I don’t tell people to start with an operating budget because it’s what you’re supposed to do and it checks the box. We start with the operating budget because it helps me to see what glasses you have on and the work that’s ahead for us to get your money right and grow your business into a renewable asset for years to come. Not just for you, but for the good of the community that you want to serve. Because service that makes a lasting impact is always the real bottom line. The money is simply one (very popular) indicator.