#186: Financial Confidence for Business Owners with Dr. Barb Provost & Maggie Nielsen

Speaker A: Welcome to the Cultivating Business Growth podcast, bringing you bi weekly discussions designed to help you grow your business and create the lifestyle you desire. Elevate your business with proven strategies from

Speaker B: virtual CFOs, CPAs and business advisors.

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Speaker C: Thank you for joining us for another episode of Cultivating Business Growth. Many business owners look successful on the outside, but quietly feel overwhelmed, anxious or uncertain about money decisions behind the scenes. In this episode, we talk about what financial confidence actually looks like, why so many owners struggle with it, and practical ways to build confidence without needing to have it all figured out. I'm excited to be welcoming back two phenomenal women that have been on our podcast before, Dr. Barbara Provost and Maggie Nielsen. They are both founders of, uh, Purse Strings, and we're going to talk more about that organization here in a moment, but let me introduce them. Dr. Barb is a nationally recognized advocate for women's financial empowerment. With decades of experience in banking and financial education, she helps women gain confidence and clarity in managing their financial futures. Maggie is a financial education leader at Purse Strings who is passionate about helping women build financial confidence through accessible education, meaningful conversations, and practical guidance. Welcome back to the show, ladies.

Speaker A: Hey, Jamie.

Speaker B: We love to talk with Jamie.

Speaker C: Yeah, we always have really good conversations, so I'm excited about this one today.

Speaker A: You shouldn't have to run your business in the dark when it comes to your numbers.

Speaker C: At Willow Virtual cfo, we help business owners understand what their financials are really

Speaker A: telling them and how to use that insight to grow with intention. The CFO Clarity Call is a focused conversation to uncover risks, opportunities and next

Speaker B: steps without pressure and without jargon.

Speaker A: Schedule your Clarity call today@willowcfo.com contact that's Willow cfo.com contact

Speaker C: for any of those folks that may be listening that didn't hear you on our first episode. Can you share a little bit more about what purse strings is and and the work you both do?

Speaker A: Well, m. You should definitely go check out that episode. But yes, at Purse Strings, we're all about helping women be financially fearless. So we provide women free financial tools and resources, all in English, not in jargon, to get those foundations, get the wheels turning. And then when you need a professional on your team, we have vetted financial professionals to go to those could be financial advisors, but Also money coaches, CPAs, lenders, attorneys, realtors, people like Jamie. She is one of our Purse Strings approved professionals. And these are all of Our professionals approved and vetted to serve women. So they'll really be in your corner for any transition or transaction that you make.

Speaker C: Awesome. So thank you for sharing about that. I know in our. Our Last episode, number 147, we did talk about becoming financially fearless. How would you define financial confidence and how is that different?

Speaker B: Well, financial confidence is really being able to step into your financial power and confidently take charge of your own personal finances and. Or if you're in business, your business finances as well. And I think that comes from, first of all, learning what you need to know, working with really great advocates, financial professionals, what we kind of call your financial team, your financial go to people and not being afraid to ask the questions to learn, and even saying, I know you just said something to me, but I still don't understand it. So break it down and tell me more about that. And really getting a handle on your numbers, where your money's going, and how to make the best financial decisions for yourself and your family and your business.

Speaker C: Yeah, I love that. It's about taking one step at a time. I think that's where people sometimes get overwhelmed is. It is so confusing. And sometimes you just want to pull the covers over your eyes and, um, worry about it another day. But usually that's not the best strategy.

Speaker A: Typically. No. So we're just looking for just some progress over perfection. You know, it's not about learning everything and knowing everything, but just knowing enough to make that next step forward.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: And I would say it's being brave, having the courage to say, I don't know and I need to know. And so, um, I'm here to learn.

Speaker C: Yeah. And I think that's what, you know, I know we love working with women, and I feel like they should have that. That knowledge that people want to help them. You know, we are here to help and try to explain things. And you can't possibly know everything. No one does. So, you know, just raising your hand and saying, hey, I need some help. I need more understanding. I think that's obviously the first step. Right. And I think you guys help provide that guidance and, and ability to ask the questions. So I love that. So why do you think so many business owners struggle with confidence around finances, even when they appear to have very successful businesses?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: I feel like a lot of women, they always start out with the should, oh, I should know how to do this. Which is always like, why should you? Who should have taught? Why, like, why do you assume you should have known? Because we don't get this education Anywhere. So we gotta stop with that assumption. But then not only the assumption of we should know everything, but we should also have to do everything. And I'm sure, unless you're Jamie, you didn't go into this business to do numbers. You went into it to bake the cake, to help educate, to do all these other things. So I think a lot of women just need to have those other people on their team that they can kind of off board this to. But, you know, entrepreneurship, it can feel very isolating. So we just want to make sure women have that team and they don't feel like they have to just navigate it themselves.

Speaker B: Exactly what you said, Max. I mean, women have so much passion for the work that they do, which typically does not include the finance component of it. So when it comes to the finance component of it, they try to manage it their own sometimes just because when you start a business, you don't have a lot of money. So you just figure, well, I'm not making a lot of money, so I don't need to hire somebody to manage money that I'm not making, uh, yet. I'll just figure this out. I'll open a bank account and make it happen. And then if your business starts to grow, there's a lot more complexities that you need to start thinking about. But you don't know what you don't know. And they see, you know, we laugh about, oh, just get, you know, this software and it will help you figure out all of your bookkeeping. And so they think, oh, I can do this. If I can run my business, I can work this software. And it's more complicated than you think it is. And all of a sudden you're spending three, four, five hours on this stupid software. You're trying to figure out when really you need to be spending that much time on what your passion is, on what your skill set is, um, on how you earn money and really working with a professional to help with the rest of the bookkeeping.

Speaker C: Yeah, I love that. And I've, I've just recently talked with a doctor who has her own dental practice and said the same thing. I should, I should probably know if this is the right, if this is right, if I should be doing this. And I was like, to your point, Maggie, you know, why would, you know, you go to dental school to be a dentist. You go to, you know, you go learn to do the thing you love, not necessarily always to run a business. And the running a business portion, there's a lot of things to, that you have to wear so many hats. You don't have education on every front. And so it can be really overwhelming. Can you talk a little bit about kind of the fear of making wrong decisions? I feel like a lot of people, you know, do they. They avoid making a decision because that way it can't be wrong. But can you talk a little bit about that?

Speaker A: I mean, there is kind of like this paralysis of like you're kind of trying to manage these numbers and you're not sure what's right. So then when you make a decision, you can't be a hundred percent confident in it, that either you could pay that person or you can afford this thing or you could go ahead with that. So then it's like this fear of making a wrong decision. So you get this kind of paralysis. And then, you know, money is emotional. It's just the way kind of our society is. And so then you kind of have your own emotions in this, with already this uncertainty because you're not quite sure how the numbers work. And so it's just a lot of back and forth and can be emotionally draining. And then you get on social media and you're like, everyone else is doing so good though. And then you have this comparison culture. And then it's just all these things really cumulatively add up. And then you always feel like maybe I am doing something wrong, maybe I should go find this other shiny object. Can I afford that? I think so. Maybe these numbers, I don't know. And then it just becomes a pile of confusion.

Speaker C: I love it. So what are some signs that a business owner is lacking financial confidence? Even if their revenue is growing, when

Speaker B: they don't know their numbers, they don't know what their income is, they don't know what their spending habits are, are, or what they're spending their money on, if they're spending it on the right thing. And if they're making any money or if they're investing more money, they, they just don't know how to leverage any income that's coming, even if their business is growing. So they're not really using their money in the right way.

Speaker A: And then I would say with that, that kind of like affects your decision making. If you're not using that money, you don't know what's really coming in and what's going out. You can't say yes to certain things right away or kind of delay them or kind of plan ahead because you don't know what you're working with. And sometimes companies are seasonal and so you have to plan with that and budget with that. And if you don't know what season that is or what those numbers are, it's just messy.

Speaker C: Yeah, you don't know what to do. Yeah, we see that a lot with business owners as well, and we try to help them put together projections. Right. Because a lot of people, you know, a lot of our clients are like, hey, can I afford this? Can I afford that? And depending on the work we're doing for them, I may not know the answer. Like, I don't know, what is your cash situation? What is the budget? What are the other things you might need to spend? And so putting out those projections on paper and actually looking at them and saying, hey, this is the money coming in each month. This is the money that has to go out. Is there extra room? You have to help, you know, take ownership of that and look at it. And that will help you have a better understanding of the position of your business. Because otherwise, you know, you can look at a bank balance and that's helpful. And if you're doing really well and very, you know, cash flow positive, all things work out well. But we worked with businesses that have been around for a long time and don't have a good set of financials, and so. And they're not looking at them properly. And so they're making decisions, you know, usually based on what's happening today. But you got to think out the next six months, right? What else is happening? What. What do I need to plan for? Because that's really important.

Speaker A: I mean, you have to spend money to make money. We know that. And so sometimes you invest in something, but since you're not really measuring what that success is, you don't know if that investment was even successful or if money's growing in that area for better or for worse. There are some things we did where finally we looked back and we're like, actually, that turned out a lot better than we thought it did, but there are other things that we thought were going well. And you look at the bottom line and it's not quite that same thing. And so you need those numbers to also inform those decisions. Is that new shiny object actually working for me?

Speaker C: I love it. All right, so where should a business owner start if they want to become more financially confident?

Speaker B: Hire a good financial bookkeeper, slash CPA person, really. I mean, that's what we did. And although we were, I m would say muddling along, we weren't in chip shop shape or whatever that is like we are now. Right. So we are very educated on Our cash flow, our expenses, what's coming in, what's going out, where we need to pull back, where we can spend, spend, taxes, all of that. And we feel more educated to make those decisions. And, you know, we are. Okay. Forced to look at our numbers every month.

Speaker C: Yeah, I make. I make you guys look at your balance sheet. Every. I make all of my clients look at a balance sheet. They're like, yeah, yeah. I don't. I'm like, well, because you have us doing it, it is in good shape. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't look at it, because there's important numbers there. And, you know, we know so only so much. So we want to make sure we're looking at that with our. Our clients and talking to them about it. What is this? You know, do we have any other loans or credit cards that you open? We got to make sure it's complete and accurate again, otherwise, you're not getting a good picture from your profit and loss statements.

Speaker B: And I would have to say the personality of an entrepreneur is so much in the flow of the work that they do and the ebb and flow of how they're feeling about it and what they're producing and their passion around it. And then the bookkeeping pulls you back to reality. And the reality is, you know, can be the good, the bad, and the ugly. So, you know, at any point in time, you just still need to know where you're at to be a successful business owner.

Speaker A: But what if it's better than you could have even imagined?

Speaker B: You know, and typically, it is if you have your numbers aligned.

Speaker C: Yep.

Speaker B: Awesome.

Speaker C: How does financial confidence impact decision making as a business owner? Like, how if they start to have financial confidence, what are the things they can kind of step into?

Speaker A: It's like when the clouds clear in the sky. I mean, you can make a decision with confidence. You can either start, like, hiring or, you know, delegating just those small little stops and then doing, like, what you've wanted to do. You know, if you really wanted to grow, maybe that's hiring some marketing or some SEO or, you know, getting those other people to do some things. And I think that's where your business can start really growing. Paying yourself, you know, uh, doing those different things, offering benefits. I mean, the opportunity is really open. Once you know what your money, what money's coming in, then it's like, great, how do we amplify this?

Speaker B: And you're not pulled towards the shiny object while you might be pulled that way. You come back to reality and go Hm. I have to look at my finances first before I decide if this is the direction we want to take or not.

Speaker C: Uh, I love it. Yeah, I mean, I think once, you know, you can start to gain that understanding and it doesn't happen overnight. You know, I know I work with a lot of folks and at first it's kind of like they're like, yeah, it looks good, but eventually they start asking me questions like, hey, shouldn't this be here? Like, yes, that's great. I want you to understand it because, yes, it's a little bit complicated, but it's, it's your business. You need to understand all the, you know, the moving parts of it and your financials are, you know, and finances are a big part of that. So I think it's really, you know, important for them to kind of get that better understanding. So what are some practical tips or habits or routines that can help business owners feel more in control financially?

Speaker B: Well, you just need to look at your numbers on a regular and consistent basis for sure. Right. And have an expert if you, if you're not confident doing it yourself or if you are maybe even, you know, saying, hey, check, check my work if you will, you know, go over this with me and let me make sure I've got this right before I make a decision. And budgeting, like making sure you know what you can and can't afford to do. And I really like what Maggie had to say. Sometimes seasonal is really important to pay attention to because not everything is consistent over all 12 months. You need to plan for that as well.

Speaker A: And then, you know, always, number one is like, you gotta keep a clean foundation. So like keeping those business and those personal charges, expenses, all of those finances separate as they're two totally different entities. So really keeping them separate and then setting those goals and kind of backing into how you're gonna get to those goals. And then like what Barb, uh, said do those monthly or weekly check ins to really see where you're tracking all those and see how you're doing and what needs to be caught or where we can kind of grow. So I think it is just getting close to those numbers, you know, not being so scared of them and doing those check ins but then celebrating the good stuff, you know, it's not all bad. Sometimes the numbers are better than you even planned and making sure you're, yeah. Enjoying the path. Treat yourself along the way and really. Yeah. Start paying yourself more if you can.

Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, I do think it's important to look at those wins as well, and I know I was part of a couple of kind of strategy meetings and things like that where the first step is not just planning the future, but like, hey, what did we accomplish in the last six months last year? Like, we've gained something even if we didn't hit all of our goals, right? So, like, what have we gained? And is it knowledge, is it, you know, better use of software, is it more marketing? What is that but stopping and actually looking and appreciating what we've come from and how we've grown even, you know, even if we don't hit the goals we exactly want to hit. I think that's really important too. And I know just as far as habits, you know, when I have a, A, uh, client or somebody who's struggling cash flow wise, I want lots of things for them. But I always am like, look at your bank balance every day because that will start helping you shape your decisions. If you're not that close to your numbers, if you see your bank balance going down, what happens? You start to think, o, I can't spend money. Like, so there's at least a little bit of psychology there that can help you. It doesn't tell you what's going to happen in six months, you know, even though you know these five things are happening. So that has to kind of come into play. But if you're doing absolutely nothing and feel very lost and you don't have a good control of your cash, just look at your bank balance every single day. Look what's coming in one, uh, out. I do that for my business. I'm looking at every credit card charge that hits the bank. Is this right? Is this not. Things like fraud pop up all the time. You know, like we all sudden had a bunch of Amazon Marketplace purchases on our debit card, which we don't even have attached to an Amazon account. And I was like, what's this? And there was like, of course a bunch in a row. I'm like, why is there five? You know, but just looking at that, can a save you money when you realize you're getting charged for things that are not your purchases, but it just starts to give you a sense for, hey, these are my normal monthly expenses. I know I have. I'm spending X dollars. So I really love that. And I know you guys promote that.

Speaker A: I wanted to ask you, like, as the professional, like, what habits do you feel like people are always missing when or what habits have you implemented since you help people do their books? Like, are you still doing everything like this? Every week and every month for our business. Yeah.

Speaker C: Oh, yeah, I do. The thing about cash flow is it goes up and down, right? So you can be having a stellar year or two years, and then things change. So we definitely have had a lot of change within our business over the last several years. So you have to kind of keep an eye on cash. And I'm. I'm known throughout, throughout our. My crew here. And my business is the cash flow queen. Because I am like, no, we cannot spend that much. They're like, I'm always on it. There is no cash flow for that. And so I've learned, because I've had to learn too. Like, okay, sometimes you spend the money even if, you know, if it's a good investment. If we want to, like, reward people, you know, there are times that you may spend money that you don't necessarily think is the best spending. And I'm very, like, conscious of it. But you do need to support your team. So you do need to still be growing and doing marketing. You still need to reward yourself. So it is important. But I look at it regularly, probably several times a week, I look at cash flow, what's hitting the bank, what's coming out, where do we land, and depending on the season, sometimes cash is good and I don't have to think about it for a few months and no problem. Other times I'm like, it's great now, but I can see the future is not as bright. So I need to. We need to save or be careful about spending. And those are things that people don't always realize. To your point about seasonality. Right. Money might be coming in, but if, you know in three months, all of that's going to end. You can't just spend that money. Like, that's what you're always going to have. And I feel like people, if you're not thinking about it longer term, you know, oh, I've got all this money in the bank, I'm going to go spend it. You know, the, the opposite of looking at your bank every day. I'm like, oh, I'm getting more money every day. Well, that's great if that is going to continue. But if something, you know, maybe you're going to doing a project for three months and then that project's going to end and you're not going to have that money anymore. So you got to make that money last. That's where kind of diving in a little deeper and understanding what's happening. And, and again, just putting it down on paper again would be My benefit, You know, you like Excel, put it in Excel. If you want to put it on a sheet of paper, anything to just put it down in front of you and think about the next six months. What do I want to spend? Are there bonuses I need to give? Are there pay raises? Like, what is going to take more money? And do you have enough, when you look at that to make it happen?

Speaker A: And I think that's one of the things I learned most kind of working with you is that cash flow versus the balance sheet and how you like. I would assume they're the same numbers, but they're not. And just kind of looking at that and how the money comes in and goes out and like, what I've learned is, you know, if you do a lot of work but you're net 90 and you get paid, you know, a whole quarter later, that really affects your, your cash flow. Like, yeah, bottom line, you get the money, but it's not here today. So how are you going to pay the team? And it's like, ah, yeah, that's a, that's a solid point.

Speaker C: Yeah, we definitely have. I think that's a very confusing point. A lot of people are like, here's my P and L, here's net income. Why is that not money in my bank? Well, that's expenses, but it's not. Do you have a loan payment that's not really recorded as an expense? Do you. Are you drawing money out of the practice? You know, the practice or the firm or whatever, you know, that's not being represented on the P L. And so those are the things, like there's more layers we have to take to get to, hey, what happened in with cash. And to your point, if people don't pay you timely, yeah, the net income is there, but you don't have the cash for three months. Then that, you know, becomes a different concern. So there's many moving pieces as we're discussing here on the number side of things, what would you say to the business owner who is feeling embarrassed or behind financially? I'm sure you run across this often.

Speaker B: Well, you know, I was gonna mention that working with another small business owner like yourself, Jamie, is. You understand the ebbs and flows of building and growing a new business. Right. It's not easy. And so working with somebody else who's understands and have been in your shoes and is in your shoes is a lot different than working with like big organization that's just going to take your books and throw your numbers back at you and tell you, you know, you're in the red or you're in the black or something like that. Because you want somebody who's going to really understand what you're passionate about, what you're working through, where your struggles are. Because they're working through the same things, if you will, and they get it and they're cheering you on and they're showing where you can save money and they're giving you hardcore, you know, information that you need to know the reality of it all. So that has been really great for me. I think for us that we're working with another women owned business who's kind of locked up with what we're doing and not like a big organization that uh, you're uploading your files to.

Speaker A: I would say. Yeah. If you're feeling, you know, behind or embarrassed. I, uh, think we, I think everyone has been there at some point. You know what I mean? Like welcome. Um, I'm glad you're acknowledging it. You're not alone. And it's, it's just gonna start with small steps. I mean we don't learn anything overnight. It's gonna take a minute even, you know, six months later, a year later, you're gonna be learning new things either way. So it's kind of just getting started. And yeah, you'll still have questions. That's not gonna be perfect after the first month, but neither is like the personal budget you did. And so it's just taking those baby steps moving forward and yeah, having that support team, those people that you can just ask, uh, ask some questions too. It might not be hiring someone to do it yet, but maybe it's an hour consultation or just some support to get on the right path to start learning. And just don't be too hard on yourself. I mean, again, this is not why you went into business probably. And so, but uh, we do have to start taking those small steps. Build slowly, build it up. Well, it's like a muscle.

Speaker C: Yeah, I love that. Yeah. And this, I mean it's the same for all business owners, right? Like, I'm not great at marketing. It's not my forte. Like I. But I got to do something right? Like I'm a business owner. So we got to figure it out and we got to make it our best attempt because it's our business. So yeah, we've got to do it.

Speaker A: Besides taxes, it's not ever changing like SEO and social media where you have to keep up with the latest and greatest. Like this is how the P and L works, this is how a cash flow works. That Ain't changing, you know, which is once you get it, you kind of get it, which is really nice. Some of these other things, you're like, wow, they changed the whole algorithm now what?

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker A: So we won't change the algorithm on you.

Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. So I love that. But yeah, I mean, being a business owner is. There's just so many hats to wear. And you're definitely not going to be amazing at hiring, amazing at firing, amazing at operations, amazing at, you know, like, there's just no way. And you need to do what you love. Right? That's usually what we talk to our, you know, people that we're working with because we're like, you can fully, uh, uh, one of, one of the prospects. Oh, I do the, the QuickBooks each week. You fully can do it. You're completely capable. But as you know, a dentist, as, you know, whatever your profession is, wouldn't that two, three, five hours be better spent thinking about the business, stepping back, like, knowing where your financials are, but being able to not have to do them yourself? Because yes, I like, I'm always. You can totally do this, like, especially as a startup and things like that. But should you be doing it right? Is that the best use of your time? If you, you know, are, you know, have a product, don't you want to put your time and effort into making that product better? And you know what I mean, instead of in this. And so I think that's, you know, decisions as a business owner, we have to, to learn and, and make.

Speaker A: This was one of our first things that both Barb and I wanted to off board. You know, you kind of have those different buckets of like, you could get an HR person, you could get a marketer, you could get, uh, a website editor. All these different things. Where do you want to put the money? And right away we're like, we need someone just to do the books because that's. Otherwise it just won't get done. And so it's like, let's hire there first and then we'll start filling in those other blanks as we go along. But you have to kind of look what's your priorities? And if you were to not work right on your business and do five hours on something that's not your specialty, what would be like, the most enjoyable and flow like, and might, um, actually get done?

Speaker C: Yes. So what is your final advice for business owners who want to feel more financially confident this year?

Speaker B: Know your numbers. Work with somebody who's going to help you really understand your numbers in a way that makes sense to you and empowers you to make good decisions about your business. And that's really partnering up with someone that, you know, you vibe with. Someone you can have some honest, heart wrenching and celebratory conversations with the good, bad, the ugly, and someone who's going to be there along the way as you grow your business.

Speaker A: Yeah. And I would say, you know, try to see if you can do like a weekly check in with your money. You know, put it on your calendar. Mondays, 9am Just make it consistent and, you know, see if you can check in for those 52 weeks and you'll be a lot farther ahead once you know what's going on.

Speaker C: I, uh, love it. So where can listeners connect more with purse strings?

Speaker A: Yep, we have our website, pursestrings Co. We're on Instagram as pursestrings Co. And we also have our own podcast as well, Women and Money, the shit we don't talk about. So we'd love to connect with you on any of these spaces.

Speaker C: Awesome. Well, it was great having you ladies here to talk financially, fearlessly. Keep that momentum going and we will see you next time.

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