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In this episode let’s talk about a quick strategy to implement and move forward with your finances on the offensive side aka making money.
We’ll discuss the four most common problems entrepreneurs face in their businesses and provide solutions for each one. Whether you’re stuck in the feast or famine cycle, on the hamster wheel, trading time for dollars, or feeling too overwhelmed to manage your finances, I’ve got you covered.
I’ll share resources and action steps you can take to make positive changes in your business finances. Tune in to start seeing results and creating unstoppable finances.
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Resources:
- Prosperity Simplified – https://aimeecerka.com/prosperity
- Money Mastery Academy – https://aimeecerka.com/academy
- Execution Lab – https://aimeecerka.com/executionlab
- Q&A Call – https://aimeecerka.com/qa
- Instagram – https://instagram.com/aimeecerka
Podcast Key Points
0:00 – Episode Overview
0:26 – Where Did All The Money Go
6:11 – Don’t Have To Do It All
7:01 – Solution for Feast or Famine
11:35 – Solution for Hamster Wheel
14:20 – Solution for Time for Dollars
15:15 – Solution for Too Busy and Overwhelmed
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Overcome These 4 Money Traps in Your Business to Make More as a CEO
We are back talking today about the offensive side and giving you a quick strategy, something that you can implement. Move forward. Start to see those results because it’s a busy time. Like we talked about last week, a lot of us are feeling overwhelmed. There’s a lot going on.
Simple Ways to Move Forward in Your Finances
So what can you do simply to move forward in your finances when it comes to making money? Let’s talk about it. This is the Your Money Your Life podcast. I’m your host, Aimee Cerka, a Money Confidence Coach for female entrepreneurs on the path to six figures.
My Experience in Personal Finance
After over ten years in the personal finance industry and multiple personal, financial, and medical crisis, I was fed up with the lies that are being shouted from the rooftops by the gurus and the media. So now I help you simplify, solidify, and scale your money. By blending tactile money strategies with mindset work, you can create unstoppable finances. Together, you’ll finally figure out the money thing so you can make more money in less time without living off of beans and rice or sacrificing your lifestyle. Episodes here on the podcast are short and sweet.
Keeping It Simple
Being married, having four kids at home, homeschooling, being a CEO, running the household. I’m kind of busy, and I know you are, too. So let’s keep it simple and get to the point. Welcome, I’m so glad you’re here. Welcome back to the Your Money Your Life podcast.
Talking About Offense
We are talking today about the offensive side, and if you’re not familiar with my unstoppable finances framework, the offensive side of the framework is all about making money. And today we’re going to focus on your business and making money in your business, and some tweaks that you can make there or one tweak. We’re going to give you several options. You’re going to pick one thing to work on to move forward, to increase that cash flow.
Managing Money Without Overwhelm
Do all those things that you need to because, yes, like we talked about last week, we need to manage our money and keep an eye on the numbers and do those things without the overwhelm, without the emotions. And if you didn’t listen to last week’s episode, it’s a really good place, like for foundationally to start. So I would pause this one and go back and listen to the other one first. So that way you know where we’re at.
Ongoing Process
And we can approach this one when we’re again talking about the numbers without the overwhelm showing up, or at least being aware that the overwhelm can show up. Because again, it’s not an overnight, like, fix, right? Not as simple as, I don’t know, fixing something and that it’s one and done. It’s an ongoing process. Was it zig Ziglar that said that, you know, it’s like a shower.
Money in Your Business
We have to do it every day. One of those things. Ongoing process, right. But today we are talking about offense and your money in your business. So how maybe last week, you sat down to look at your income and your business finances, and then you’re like, where.
Where Did All the Money Go?
Where did all the money go? Like, I’ve made all this money, and I didn’t even know, and then, like, what is left over in my bank? There’s nothing there. We’re gonna get to bank account budgeting here in a second.
Self-Esteem and Finances
But there’s nothing. No, that’s probably not true. One of the most defeating things that cheap, like, cuts at your self esteem, is thinking that you are an amazing doing, fantastic in your business, and you’ve made. Maybe you’ve made six figures in your business, but realizing that, like, you’re not actually paying yourself, not taking the money you need. So then it just feels, well, it creates four problems. All right?
Four Main Problems in Business Finances
Or four main problems that we see when it comes to our business. Let’s just start there. We’ll describe the problems that we see show up, and then talk about, like, the solution after that.
Feast or Famine Problem
First problem is the feast or famine problem. So you can make great money in your business. Maybe you had, like, a $20,000 launch, a $50,000 launch, but now, a couple months later, like, you’re having to put all your monthly expenses on a credit card because the money’s not in the bank account. Like, it. Until you can cover for your next launch.
Hamster Wheel Problem
Like, it’s not consistent. Okay? It’s either really great or really crappy. And you just. Yeah, you’re. You’re riding the roller coaster, right? The second problem would be the hamster wheel problem, that you bring in more clients. Right. To make more money. So you’re doing the thing.
Never-Ending Circle
You get the work done, and then you, like, need to bring in more clients to make more money, but you’re, like, tired, and you’re kind of done, and then. But you just have to keep doing more work. Right? Like, it’s this ongoing process. You need to bring in more clients to pay yourself and pay for the expenses that you already had to get the clients. And then we’re just. It’s never ending. Like, you just. You’re running in circles constantly on that.
Trading Time for Dollars Problem
The third problem is trading time for dollars. So you want to make more money, then you have to work more hours. Right. And a lot of people get stuck here, especially if you came from a traditional nine to five job. Most of us did. If you had that, you just, you know, to make more money, I have to do more work. And that. Work for money. It.
No End in Sight?
That’s not how it works. It’s not like a linear exchange. But if you feel like if you want to make more money, you have to work more hours, or maybe you have it set up, and you do have to, like, to make more money, you have to work more hours. But if you’re already making. If you’re already working, like, all the time, then you feel like you’re making as much as you can. So then there’s no. There’s. There’s no solution inside.
Busy to Look at Numbers
There’s no end in sight. Like, how can you take a break? Because if you took a break, then you’re not making the money that you need to. So then you have to spend the time to working it, and you’re running yourself ragged. So that’s, like a time for money problem. All right. The fourth one, we kind of talked about this last week. It’s the I’m too busy to actually look at my numbers.
Trying to Keep Up
So I don’t know how much income I’ve made. Aimee, problem, or I’m too busy. I’m too. Yeah, I’m too busy. Really, what it boils down to is you’re trying to keep up with everything else. You know, you’re trying to bring in more clients, and you’re trying to work the hours, and you’re trying to set up the next launch. You don’t have the feast or famine, and you just. Your finances, your bookkeeping, however you want to look at it, just goes on the back burner, because, like, I don’t have time for that.
System to Handle Inconsistency
Like, when I have time, it’ll be there. Okay. Like, I’ll do that. I don’t have a plan. I don’t have time to make a plan for the finances. Like, no, we’re just. It’s just me. I’m just figuring it out. When I hit this income goal, then everything will be set. All right. So those are the four big problems. Four most common problems that I see when it comes to your business side and your income.
Moving Forward Without Overwhelm
Okay? And it’s a lot you might have heard, like, all four of those, and be like. I kind of identify with, like, all of them in some form of fashion. But the good news is we can move forward with the offensive side of your finances without feeling like you have to be a numbers person, because, you know, I got that job figured out for you. This is why I built the low lift system, so that they do the work for you, so you can focus on the part that you want to do. You can get off the hamster wheel.
No More Feast or Famine
You can get off the feast or famine. You don’t have to worry about being too busy. There’s definitely resources in place there that you can have so that you can not feel overwhelmed and not avoid your books or the plan or any of those things. You can have your role as the CEO and operate one, operate your business like you’re a CEO as well, because I’m betting you’re not running enough nonprofit if you are fantastic. But even then, like, this is still possible.
Four Solutions for Four Problems
So for the four main problems that we see, I have four different solutions that we need to work through. Okay. So if you were the one that was, like, feast or famine, that is definitely me. I do really great in launches. And then, like, it’s just. Yeah, scary in the meantime. And then everything gets off track. What your action step is going to be, we need to, and this one’s a little hard.
Awareness as an Action Step
It’s not as quick. So maybe your awareness here is your action step, and then we have to work on putting the system in place. Okay. And you could even have an action step with how to start implementing the system. That would be a really smart idea. What that looks like, though, is going to depend on you because, you know, we’ll use this example because I heard it recently and it was very appropriate because there’s actually, this is perfect because this ties in a lot to the hamster wheel and the time for dollars. There is a, I don’t know, shift, a push, an urge within the entrepreneur space.
Embracing the Feminine Era
There’s a lot of people, a lot of major influencers who are in embracing more of the feminine era, the pulling back. You know, I’m spending more time with my family, and this is not a diss at any of that because, you know, like, that’s something that’s important to me as well. But you can’t just assume, and it could be a different strategy as well. You could hear another influencer say, you know, they did this, this, and this. You know, launch a podcast and you’ll be successful. Host a bundle, and that’s like your ticket to everything that’s very one size fits all, because your business and your life is personalized to you.
Custom Plans for Your Needs
So just, like, you go to the doctor, you don’t, like, walk in, tell them what’s wrong, and they write you a prescription. Like, there’s a little bit more back and forth than that. We have to customize the plan to what’s going on with you. So we’re not going to give, like, blanket statements. That cookie cutter strategy, all of that, that doesn’t work. We have to have the personalized system, depending on what you’ve already done in your life, what you’re looking to do, because we can have totally different goals.
What’s Your Goal?
You might have the goal to have a seven-figure business. You might not. You might just want to be able to bring in $40,000 a year so you don’t have to feel the stress as much. Like, it’s not as tight on your business, but you don’t want to work 20 hours a week. You don’t want to have a big team because we know you can make the revenue. You don’t have to do all the work. But that might not be your goal. So why would we give you the same strategy?
A Smart System
Okay, let me get off on tangent. All right. So if you were, like, feast or famine. Yes, that’s me. I’m feeling that the system. You need the system to handle the inconsistency. That is my prosperity simplified budgeting system. You have to stop spending off your bank account. And I put the system in place because the system covers like, okay, you’ve got the highs and the lows. The system helps even it out because it’s all percentage budgeting based.
Handling Inconsistency
It handles the inconsistency. So prosperity simplified is my percentage based budgeting business system. We’ll put links in the show notes, again for all of these resources. But again, like, just, I give you the pieces, or we can give you the academy, which is like the overall thing. And I just want to stress that because I piece these things out and offer the individual worksheets and the workshops because I know that sometimes the academy isn’t money. Mastery academy isn’t. You’re not ready for it yet, and I want you to still have that support. But I also know when we just make it happen, so much changes because you’re prioritizing it.
Action Step for Feast or Famine
Okay. All right. Prosperity simplified handles the feast or famine craziness. But the biggest thing is stop spending off your bank account. Like, that is not. That’s not a good check in. Like, okay. Yeah. We need to be aware of what’s in the account so that things don’t happen.
System for Launch Strategy
We’ve got checks and balances in place. We talk about that inside prosperity simplified so that you don’t have to worry about things, but you can’t, like, you’ve got to have that system, okay? Because if you’re in that launch strategy and that’s the strategy that works for you and your business. Fantastic. Keep at it. You don’t have to change that strategy. The only thing that we need to shift is what we’re doing with the money when we make it and the money management income portion strategy behind it. Right?
Make the Change Now for Hamster Wheel
Second one, if you feel like you are on the hamster wheel, like, just constantly having to do more. Constantly have to do more. Like, just stop waiting for something to change. Make the change now. Because a lot of times this is where we’ll be. Like, okay, when I hit six figures, I’ll be set. When I hit seven figures, I’ll be set. When I hit 50,000, like, then I’ll be able to make the change.
Design the Business You Want
It’s just for now. It’s just this season, in this moment, I have to do this. Make the change now. Stop waiting for something to happen. Stop waiting to hit that revenue goal. Like, you need to design the business that you want. And yes, there might be things that you have to do now that you don’t want to do, but we structure things in an intentional way, so it’s not. And this is where that whole feminine era vest is versus the masculine era. You do have to do some work.
How Many Hours Do You Want to Work?
But what that looks like, if you are just miserable doing all the things or burning yourself out, like, that’s not going to work. So the action step here within the hamster wheel, if you’re like, I need something to change and something to change now. Like, make the change now. Review your expenses. Because how many times have you signed up for a software and they completely forgot about it and you’re still paying for it six months later, twelve months later, and you don’t use it anymore. So grab the profit back there, grab the revenue back there, cancel those things.
Picture Your Ideal Business
Your, like, second action step with the hamster wheel would be to decide, start to think about what you actually want this to look like. Okay. And build that. Like, how many hours would you want to work? There was a dream board, a vision board, whatever you want to call it. I put together. It’s been a while, probably like four or five years ago now. And on there I had put that I would work 20 hours a week or less within my business. And looking at it, that’s probably been about a year ago now. It was like 20 hours a week. I don’t want to work 20 hours a week now.
Live Your Life
I don’t count like the time where I’m using like Voxer or like on the go systems as work there. I’m thinking like, sitting down in front of the computer working like, I don’t want to be working 20 hours a week. I have young kids at home. These are the things that I want to do. I want to go live my life. I want to go be out in the garden, I want to be at the lake, I want to be hiking, whatever it might be, be.
Time for Dollars Solution
But there, if you’re stuck on the hamster wheel, start to think about what that looks like, and don’t be afraid just to pick something because you know what? You’re the CEO of your business. It can change. It’s not a big deal. Just pick what you would want that to look like so then we can start working towards that change. All right. Third one, if you are stuck in that time for dollars that you know, you’re doing maybe one to one coaching, what could it look like to remove yourself from the situation? What would feel good? Is it selling a course where there’s no support? Is it a group program? Is it some sort of hybrid?
Find What Works for You
Like, what would feel more aligned? Maybe it’s like on the go package where they get Voxer support or telegram or whatever app you want to use that you’re not tied to your computer and not tied to that time for money exchange consistently. So what would it look like to remove yourself from the situation and just start to, when you ask yourself those questions, like the, what would it look like? You start to solve that problem because it was like the question, and your brain goes into problem solving move for you.
Too Busy Solution
All right, fourth one, if you feel like you’re just too busy, you’re too overwhelmed to be able to do any of the things that you need to. First off, make sure you’ve listened to last week’s episode because we addressed this there. The second part. Schedule it. Bite size steps. Do not put on your to do list that I’m going to sit down and look at my books or work on my books or get my books up to date or whatever it might be. That is way too much.
Hiring Help
Break it down. Bite size steps. Execution lab is great if you need support because it makes you do it. When we get, we’re gonna get on Zoom, we’re gonna do it together. So you sit there and work on it, and I’m there. If you need support, you can hire it out. We talked about that a little bit. I think we talked about that a little bit. Well, if you’re just not gonna do it, then hire it out.
Support and Plans
Find the solution. It’s not as expensive as you think it might be, especially if your books are up to date and it’s just ongoing bookkeeping that’s very minimal. Like, it’s not expensive at all. Feel like it’s so out of place. Just have the. Ask the question, like, okay, is this possible? And maybe it’s not possible for you right now, but when would it be possible? It goes back to Just have the. Ask the question, like, okay, is this possible? And maybe it’s not possible for you right now, but when would it be possible? It goes back to setting the intention, but you don’t know what that would even look like or what you would need to do if you don’t make the first step of asking the question right.
Resources
Okay, I’m going to put links in the show notes. We talked about prosperity simplified. We talked about execution lab. I’ll include the clarity Q and a call if you’re like, I would love to not have to worry about my books. Like, what would that look like? I’ll put those links there. We talked about reviewing your expenses as well, so I’ll put the simply biz workshop in there.
No, we’ll just stick with prosperity simplified because it’d be better for you to have the whole thing. All right. All those links are going to be below. Send me a message on Instagram. Let me know what was the most helpful part of this episode? That’s it for now. We’ll see you next time. And next week, we’re going to talk about the battlefield, the mindset portion. But in a very we’re going to talk tools to help you when those emotions show up within your finances.
So I’m pretty excited about it. We’ll see you next time. Bye for now. If you’re struggling with shame and guilt around your finances, whether it’s debt, impulse spending, mistakes from the past, or the fact that you still haven’t hit your income goal, then it’s time for you to work with me. There are different levels of support and price points that you can use on the path to removing that guilt and shame so you can step into your unstoppable life. After all, your finances are unique to you, and your support should be, too. Go to workwithamy.com to get started with one of my most popular programs, or you can book a Q and a call with me. We’ll figure out what your next step should be.
And of course, all those links are hanging out in the show notes as well.
