#028 How to Make Money Easier in your Business

Breaking Money Myths for Wedding Creatives

Link to FREE Resources for your Business

In this episode of Bright, the podcast for wedding creatives, host and money mentor Melissa encourages listeners to challenge their limiting beliefs about business and finance. 

Sharing personal anecdotes and addressing common fears, Melissa emphasizes self-awareness and practical steps to improve financial confidence and business success. Whether it's tracking cash flow or learning to appreciate numbers, Melissa offers actionable advice for creative professionals looking to enhance their business acumen and achieve their desired growth.

00:00 Letting Go of Limiting Beliefs

00:29 A Personal Story on Overcoming Self-Doubt

03:16 Challenging Your Money Beliefs

04:28 Reflecting on Past Financial Experiences

08:03 Creating Positive Evidence for Business Success

10:31 Taking Action Towards Financial Confidence

11:15 Closing Thoughts and Encouragement

Journal Prompts:
When you say, I'm not good with numbers, so I can't handle my business finances. What is a question you could ask yourself? What specific thoughts come to mind when you think about math or business? Or what evidence do you create to support this belief? And where do you think this doubt comes from? This is critical.

Is it a belief since childhood, something from school, or a past perceived mistake you made around money or how you handled it? Is it something specific someone said to you or you said to yourself? Was it based on someone else's opinion or a specific event? Maybe you've never balanced a checkbook or you're in debt.

Is there something specific that comes to mind when you think about the past and your relationship with money,

What impact do you think not being good on the business side of things? Maybe ignoring your numbers, being afraid of them, or being quote, bad at them has had on your business? How has avoiding learning financial basics affected the success of your business? 

How has this money belief affected your confidence in running your business? Has it ever stopped you from pursuing growth opportunities? What would your business look like if this belief wasn't holding you back?

Write down evidence for yourself of how you create positives in your business, list five things you can think of that prove you are good with the business side of things.

Now write down 2-3 action steps you can take to gain more confidence around numbers, math, business finance?

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Transcript

Let the identity go that you aren't a business person or that you aren't good with numbers. 

Welcome to Bright the podcast for wedding creatives that want to earn more and have a life and business that they love. Hi, I'm your host and money mentor, Melissa. I make understanding money in your business easy. Each episode we'll be talking about finance, growth, mindset and real strategies for your creative business.

Are you ready? Let's get started.

Welcome. Yesterday, my daughter and I were at the art store buying materials for her to make Christmas cards. When we were standing in line to pay, I said something to her like, I wish I was good at art and she is she is very very talented and I have always wanted to be better at art because it just seems magical to me her response to me was we're all good at different things I'm good at art and you're a good business woman and then she followed that up with in quotes I'm not good with numbers it just doesn't make sense to me.

And I said to her, funny, you should say that because that is the subject of tomorrow's podcast episode. And here we are. I mentioned to her that so many creatives or wedding industry professionals that I know, or I've worked with say something similar to that with regularity. I'm not good at the business side. I'm not good with money. I know nothing about finance. I hate Excel. I can't figure out QuickBooks. I've never been good at numbers. They scare me.

I suggested to her that how does she know she's truly not good at it? Could it be that she's never tried or learned the skill? So many of us think that if we are good with this, then we can't be good at that. Left brain, right brain, or we're good at this, but not that. As if art and money or numbers are mutually exclusive.

Instead of saying you don't know about business, you're good at this, then Or aren't good at it. Maybe we could start being curious with ourselves or figuring ourselves out a bit more.

What hunch do you have about yourself? I think we all have that internal dialogue when we call ourselves out to ourselves. One of my Achilles heels in our business is my lack of interest in learning the technical side of photography, like studio lighting. So there are times I have a dialogue with myself that goes something like this.

Like, Melissa, it's not that you don't get lighting, even though I say how hard it is and it's too technical, for me, but what I really mean is that I'm avoiding putting in the work to understand it and to make it easier for me. I have to be onto myself. I know that I'm avoiding it.

It's not that it's truly too hard. It's that I'm a bit afraid of it and it bores me a bit and I'm not in love with it, and I also am not confident in it. I actually just really don't enjoy studio lighting. To me, this thought pattern of mine about lighting is the same as my daughter and other creative business owners that really don't love numbers and lack the confidence or desire to want to know more.

And maybe they truly don't recognize the impact that can have on the overall success of their business. In my opinion, when I say I hear creative business owners identify as someone that isn't good with the business side or the numbers, I think they possibly lack confidence in this area, but they are also hiding from the truth. We need to take a look at these thoughts we have. Next time you're about to tell someone how bad you are at numbers or you don't know anything about personal finance or business finance, change that to I'm learning more about business or my numbers. Or finance. I'm working on becoming more knowledgeable in the steps I need to take.

My daughter did recognize that I could possibly be onto something. She doesn't have proof that she isn't good with numbers. She just creates evidence for herself that she isn't. However, as a mom, I see her running a sweet little Etsy shop for the past four years, offering custom illustrations. She has handled her business checking account, her customer service very, very maturely and without incident, especially for someone who, quote, isn't good with numbers.

But I can see that her fear of numbers and the great unknown is holding her back. She's reluctant because she isn't sure of herself.

Just a quick break from the episode. If you prefer to watch rather than just listen, then check out this episode on YouTube. You can find us at the Bright Growth channel. Don't forget to subscribe and get notified every time there's something new.

Oh, and I meant to mention earlier that you should grab your journal for this podcast episode. So pause this if you need to go grab something to write with.

Now with your journal close by, let's ponder some of these questions as I throw them out there. When you become self aware of what you're thinking, most likely you start to pick up on these limiting beliefs that you have around money and what you're capable of. Now we just need a few tools to challenge these beliefs and prove ourselves wrong.

When you say, I'm not good with numbers, so I can't handle my business finances. What is a question you could ask yourself? What specific thoughts come to mind when you think about math or business? Or what evidence do you create to support this belief? And where do you think this doubt comes from? This is critical.

Is it a belief since childhood, something from school, or a past perceived mistake you made around money or how you handled it? Is it something specific someone said to you or you said to yourself? Was it based on someone else's opinion or a specific event? Maybe you've never balanced a checkbook or you're in debt.

Bounced a check was late paying bills. I have to throw in a side story. I remember bouncing a check when I was in college. I was 18 years old and I wrote a check for like a 2 pack of cigarettes and it cost me 17 for those cigarettes. So for years.

I've struggled with these exact same things. Maybe you live paycheck to paycheck or job to job. Is there something specific that comes to mind when you think about the past and your relationship with money,

what impact do you think not being good on the business side of things? Maybe ignoring your numbers, being afraid of them, or being quote, bad at them has had on your business? How has avoiding learning financial basics affected the success of your business? Being in the dark can be overwhelming. It can be scary and or confusing.

Just letting things happen to your business and not truly paying attention at all until it's too late is very, very common. And imagine the opportunities you are potentially missing out on because you don't know what's going on in your business or certain red flags, your intuition, knowing things aren't right, but it's easier to sit on the tack and not look than face these money facts head on.

I have heard so many times how clients just don't recognize that the writing was always on the wall when it came to why their business was stuck, floundering, or not growing to the potential it could, simply because they just chose to not look at their numbers. Grab your pen again and ponder these questions.

And remember, I ask none of these questions for you to get mad at yourself or to question yourself negatively. This podcast episode is meant to bring awareness to something that if you change the way you think about your relationship with your business and the money side of things, You might find yourself having an easier business to run, a business that you love even more, and that loves you more by giving back in ways you may never have imagined possible. Back to the journal prompts, ask yourself these questions.

How has this money belief affected your confidence in running your business? Has it ever stopped you from pursuing growth opportunities? What would your business look like if this belief wasn't holding you back? Now let's challenge this belief a bit.

This is in quotes, is it absolutely true that you're not good at math or is it possible you've just never had the right resources or support or never dove in because maybe it didn't interest you enough, kind of like my lighting reference, or you didn't recognize how important knowing numbers are to the health of your business, or is it absolutely true that you really aren't good with the business side of things? I don't think so. I think you probably just need to develop this skill set, and I know you can. Let's now create evidence that you are good with the business side of things. In your journal, list five things you can think of that prove you are good with the business side of things.

Is your electricity still on? Do you have a business bank account? Do you have good relationships with your clients? Do you handle your inventory? Well, are you always on time? Do you get back to clients right away? Some of the business side of things are a little bit more indirect, not specifically numbers based, but they contribute to your numbers, to the success of your business.

Create a bunch of evidence that demonstrate the positive impact you have on your business. 

I have learned over my many years of mentoring and working with wedding industry professionals that there are two types of business owners. The first type isn't interested in self reflection. They think their lack of money or lack of interest in learning about money isn't important , or isn't important enough for them to take a harder look at their relationship with money.

They like to blame where they might be stuck in their business on outside factors, like the market is oversaturated,

or everyone else has it figured out, except of course for them. The second type is a small business owner that loves what they do and they want their business to provide for them a life that they love. But they're afraid. But now they've had that never again or come to Jesus moment and they realize that it is time to figure this whole money thing out. Once and for all, they know they offer a great product or service, but the only thing between them having a business that provides everything they want is wrapping their head around money and how it directly affects their business.

They are ready to soul search, self reflect, and make positive changes in their business and personal lives because they know they can do it. They just need a little guidance. So which type of person are you 

Now let's recognize that knowing your numbers is the surest way to have a successful business This is a fact an indisputable fact knowing what's coming in what's going out How much you spend on blank is a percentage of what you charge. Understanding what it costs for you to deliver your product.

When I say deliver, I mean create it from beginning to end. Are you charging the right amount? Is your pricing in line with the value you provide? And numbers don't have emotion. They are facts.

So looking at them objectively can only guide you to make the changes you need in your business to make it more profitable and to make it create the life you truly want 

Continuing in your journal, write down two or three actionable steps to help you get started. Remember, this is about progress, not perfection. We are taking the steps to build confidence to create evidence to ourselves that we've got this. 

Maybe you can take a free online course. I know quick in Dave Ramsey, for example, They all have free resources to help with the money basics. Start by tracking simple things cashflow, what comes in, what goes out, Look at your bank balance daily to get a feel for the ebbs and flows of your business.

Maybe join a community that supports entrepreneurs that you align with. Find other small business owners that you can use as role models. If they can do it, so can you.

 As we close out this year, I really want to stress the importance of Becoming well versed in what is truly going on in your business.

I want it to become second nature to you to know when something is out of line and what you need to do to fix it. You work too hard to not take the time to become good with numbers, And to become better at the business side. And this year by gaining the self awareness and tools needed to challenge your limiting beliefs and develop a mindset that supports the growth you want as a business owner.

 It's time to let go of this identity. That's not serving you. Remember, you are already a business owner. You've already done so much hard work, you are more than capable of doing anything you want. You just have to think that you can. Armed with numbers, you will be even more unstoppable. If you want to know more about gaining confidence with your business and your numbers, click on the link below.

We have a page dedicated to free resources on our website to help you. Thank you and I'll see you soon.

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