As you see the revenue in your online business grow, it’s inevitable that your expenses will grow with them. Of course, we want the expenses to be growing at a slower rate than the revenue, but even our most profitable clients can have thousands of dollars a month in expenses. If we looked across all of our clients’ businesses, it would be super common to see them spending anywhere from $10k-$30k a month on their expenses. Our largest clients can easily spend $100k+ per month. That’s why almost every client we work with uses a business credit card to cover as many of their monthly expenses as they possibly can.  So for this episode, we discuss: The benefits of using a business credit card for your business expenses Why you want to use a business card and not a personal card How to make sure your credit card bill gets paid in full each month The most popular business credit cards we see our clients use 

Evolved Finance

TBL Episode 130: Why you should be using a credit card in your online business

My first experience with social media was MySpace. I was a musician in a rock band during the peak of MySpace’s popularity, so we were ALL about getting followers on our page.  Since those days, the “in” social media platforms have changed, but the game has stayed the same regardless of if you’re a musician, thought leader, comedian, or video game streamer. Building a following. With the types of online businesses we work with at Evolved Finance, we call this growing an audience, a combo of people on your email list and those who follow you on social media. So it’s safe to assume that a huge audience means a big business, right? That’s not always been the case for our clients. That’s why for today’s episode, we discuss: Why it’s important for any online business to have an audience (even if it’s a temporary one) The biggest mistake we have seen a client make with building a large audience Why your business model needs to match the size of your audience Why certain monetization strategies only work for people with huge followings Why the quality of your leads is always more important than the quantity 

TBL Episode 129: Why a large following doesn’t always mean big revenues

Since Evolved Finance was founded in 2010, we have seen a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff that happens in a successful online business.  That means both the good and the bad. But the one thing we haven’t seen a lot of is our clients selling their businesses. As I have mentioned in the past, most online businesses are not built to be sold. They are built to be profit machines that generate income for the business owner. That being said, online businesses could become far more attractive to buyers in the future. Especially as more and more online entrepreneurs prove that their businesses can stand the test of time.  That is why I asked Tyler Evans from So-Cal Business Brokers to come onto the show. His company helps small business owners find buyers for their companies while helping to facilitate the negotiation and sales process.  During our conversation, Tyler and I discussed: What makes a business sellable? What sorts of things are investors and buyers typically looking for when they buy a business? What do most business owners get wrong when it comes to wanting to sell their business? How to deal with buying out a business partner and why it can be a tricky process. What sorts of things should you expect if you’re trying to sell your business? If you’re interested in learning more about Tyler and So-Cal Business Brokers, visit their website at https://so-calbusinessbrokers.com/.

TBL Episode 128: How to build an online business you can sell with Tyler Evans

Let me start out by saying that I don’t have a crystal ball that tells me the future. As far as I’m aware, I don’t think anyone else does either. But as entrepreneurs, we must manage the financial risks and opportunities in our businesses based on what we think the future holds. Especially in times of uncertainty, which the past 12 months have given the entire world in spades. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: Why I think we are going to see a change in consumer behaviors as more people get vaccinated in 2021 Whether or not there’s an online business bubble that might be ready to pop Why all online business owners will need to once again be prepared to pivot (though probably not as much as last year) How you can use a forecast and budget to prepare for a boom or a downturn in your business 

TBL Episode 127: What’s in store for online businesses in a post-COVID world?

I don’t think many people predicted in March or April of 2020 how beneficial COVID would be for the online business world. I fully understand and acknowledge that COVID has been devastating for many industries and communities, but we are fortunate that the online business space has not impacted.  In the last year, we saw more of our client’s businesses take huge leaps in revenue than ever before and, as exciting as that growth has been for them, it has also challenged them in ways they have never experienced before (and that goes for us at Evolved Finance, too!).  New levels of revenue mean new problems to solve and new barriers to overcome. So how do you prepare your business so you can handle big leaps in growth? That’s why we discuss: Why your business model can make or break your ability to grow as quickly as you would like How systems and processes can make or break your business’s ability to serve more customers at once Why you need to get comfortable with the idea of bringing on more contractors and employees to help you with your growing business How to make it easier to staff up Why your vision for your business needs to get clearer as you generate more revenue How good financial data can make planning for growth dramatically easier 

TBL Episode 126: What it means to prepare your online business for growth

I love teaching entrepreneurs about the financial side of their businesses because their numbers are so fundamental to the success of their companies. If you’ve listened to even a couple of episodes of this podcast, that’s hopefully become apparent to you as well. But giving advice about money and business to a broad audience can be tricky because certain pieces of advice will be more or less important depending on how big your business is. That’s why for today’s episode, we discuss: The 4 financial phases of an online business What your financial priorities need to be when you’re in each of these 4 phases Why you need to uplevel your financial systems and your financial team as you move into higher-level phases What you need from your financial data as your business continues to grow 

TBL Episode 125: The four financial phases of an online business

One of my favorite sayings about running a small business is, “If your small business isn’t making sales, you’re simply funding an expensive hobby.” This is why learning how to generate consistent revenue in your online business is such an important skill to develop from the start. This is also why there are so many coaching programs and marketing services dedicated to helping small businesses generate more sales. But there does come a point where simply making more sales won’t keep a business financially healthy. In fact, we’ve had fairly large online businesses reach out to us who are generating lots of revenue but their financial health is still in jeopardy. You might ask, “how is this even possible?” It’s almost always because the business owner doesn’t understand the connection between their finances and how they operate their business. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: How your business model affects your operations Why generating more revenue is not always the answer to solving your online business’s financial issues Why we’re seeing our clients take more care with how their businesses function and how our bookkeeping service helps them to do it Why you need to be more strategic with the internal operations of your business if you want to become more profitable 

TBL Episode 124: The secret connection between finance and operations

To be a human being is to experience emotions and feelings.  To be a business owner is to balance feelings with data. Many a startup have failed because the founder’s “feelings” and “instincts” didn’t match up with the reality of what the market was telling them (the data).  The types of online businesses our clients own can get far off of feelings and instincts alone, but they will eventually hit a point where it becomes too stressful, risky, or irresponsible to scale the business without paying attention to the different types of data that are available to their businesses. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: The types of data every online business owner needs to be tracking and paying attention to Why data can help you make better decisions in your business Why the data in your business can help you understand what things you need to prioritize How to track the financial data in your online business properly Why everyone is 100% capable of understanding the financial data about their online business 

TBL Episode 123: Why you can’t grow your online business without data

If you have any hopes of growing your online business, then you’re going to need other people to help you get there. For most online entrepreneurs, contractors are a great starting point to get the support they need, but as their business grows and scales, hiring employees becomes a necessary next step. I think it’s fair to say that when building any sort of team—be it your first contractor, or your 13th employee (like we’re hiring for right now!)—the thought of bringing more people into your business can be scary. And like most things about online businesses, there’s a lot of bad information and advice going around about building teams. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: Why you need an accountant or lawyer to advise you on the best time to bring in employees as your online business grows Why employees are slightly more expensive than contractors and why the extra costs can be worth it Why certain contractors have the potential to be employees and why some do not Why you typically need your contractors to be online business experts but your employees don’t have to be Why you should strive to build a team of employees if you’re looking to grow your business Why employees and contractors are some of the most important expenses to track in your business 

TBL Episode 122: The pros and cons of hiring employees or contractors

One of the most important things any business needs to get right, and sooner rather than later, is pricing.  While a lot of business coaches tell you to “price what you’re worth!”, it’s not always that straightforward.  How you price your offers needs to not only reflect the value your offer provides but the way your offer is packaged You also must price your offer in a way that supports the future of your business and not just the way your business is operating right now. That’s why in today’s episode, we discuss: Why it’s so crucial to get your pricing right if you want to scale Why the way you price your offer can affect your ability to convert leads into sales Why it’s important to solidify your offer so you can finalize what you want to charge for it Why you can charge more depending on how you package your offer Why you can charge more for “business to business” offers than “direct to consumer” offers Why you need to do some basic forecasting and budgeting to help solidify your pricing Why proper bookkeeping and financial reporting provides the feedback you need to get your pricing just right To access the workshop mentioned in this episode, click the link below: https://evolvedfinance.com/webinar/

TBL Episode 121: What online entrepreneurs get wrong about pricing

When entrepreneurs run into profitability issues in their online businesses, their immediate response is to cut back on expenses.  However, while cutting back on expenses might be part of the solution, it’s not always going to fix your problems. Balancing your expenses relative to your revenue is often a delicate dance that only data and a properly organized profit and loss statement can fix. That’s why in this episode, we discuss: Why your expenses will be disproportionately high when your business is small How to know if your business has a revenue problem as opposed to an issue with expenses Which expenses need to be audited the most often Why it’s crucial to look at your expenses relative to the amount of revenue you generate Why being profitable in the early stages of your business makes adding expenses easier down the road. How your bookkeeping can make tracking monthly expenses much easier 

TBL Episode 120: When is it time to cut expenses in your online business?

When it comes to being successful as an online business owner, having a solid offer that delivers results to your customers or clients is an absolute must. That’s why we regularly tell new online entrepreneurs to get clear on their offer before they start to dive too deeply into sophisticated marketing strategies. Because even if you have a killer landing page, a high-converting webinar, and the most enticing bonuses in the world, if the offer itself doesn’t deliver on its promises you’re going to have a lot of disgruntled customers. And that means you’ll be issuing tons of refunds and sending all those hard-earned dollars back to your customers. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: How to know if you are issuing too many refunds Why your marketing strategy can greatly affect your refund rate Which online business model tends to issue the fewest refunds Why your customer onboarding strategy can have a big impact on your refund rate How our clients that support their customers better are able to lower their refund rates What most bookkeepers miss when it comes to accurately tracking your refunds on your profit and loss statement 

TBL Episode 119: How to deal with refunds in your online business

Running an online business can be very overwhelming at times. As you convert more and more customers and clients, it can feel like the business takes on a life of its own. It’s counterintuitive, but we’ve seen over and over again that our clients who try to do everything at once struggle to stay profitable. Instead, it’s the clients that understand the power of “less is more” who scale the fastest and stay profitable while doing so. That’s why in this episode, we discuss: How to know when you’re doing too much in your business Why having FEWER offers will help your business to grow Why having a streamlined business helps your profitability grow as your revenue grows The importance of knowing what to prioritize in your business How your numbers can show you the bottlenecks, money leaks, and inefficient product strategies in your online business 

TBL Episode 118: Why less is more when running an online business

When a service provider or software company positions their offer to me as an “all-in-one” solution, I am immediately skeptical.  I think we all wish we could simplify our processes, activities, and solutions into fewer apps, fewer people, and fewer systems. But it’s just not realistic to expect an all-in-one service to be the most effective solution from both an operational and cost stand-point. In fact, “all-in-one” solutions throw up major red flags for me. I’m not saying small businesses have to be complex and over-built, but we do need to make sure we have expertise in the areas of our online businesses where expertise is more valuable than efficiency. Because after all, efficiency does not help you if the work is not being done right. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: Why “all-in-one” should not be what you strive for with your systems and processes Why even big corporations rarely use all-in-one solutions in their own businesses Why Evolved Finance moved away from being an all-in-one bookkeeping service What areas of your business need to have specialized people or systems Why we recommend our clients do not have all-in-one tax, bookkeeping, and financial solutions The one position where an all-in-one service may be useful 

TBL Episode 117: Why “All-In-One” is not the answer for your business

One of the first topics we covered in this podcast was about understanding how profitable your online business should be. It’s been almost 3 years ago we released that episode, so we wanted to check back in and share our updated outlook on what a profitable online business looks like.  In this episode, we discuss: What profit is and how much of it your online business can have Why only focusing on revenue won’t guarantee you a profitable online business How our clients’ profit margins have changed over the past 3 years What information you need from your financial reports to help you understand your own profits How your business model and marketing strategy can greatly affect your profitability potential How proper bookkeeping can make your business far more profitable 

TBL Episode 116: How profitable should an online business be (2.0)?

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