Do you have fears around knowing your numbers? Why do you think you have those feelings of dread?

If you do, don’t worry. You’re not alone – those feelings are super common with business owners. 

But there’s good news! You can overcome those feelings with a change in your mindset that will help you understand your numbers, make good business decisions and help you build a healthy relationship with your finances.

Some of the most common reasons that business owners fear their numbers are that they…

• Don’t know or understand them entirely
• They see the business isn’t making money so it’s easier to ignore them
• They don’t want to share their information with a bookkeeper or accountant for fear of being judged
• You’re terrified you’re doing all the wrong things

I want to tell you WHY knowing your numbers is so important.

I always say this – you don’t know what you don’t know, and that applies to your books and finances. When you don’t have a solid understanding of where you’re at financially, what money is coming in and going out, then you can’t possibly be making the best choices possible for your business. 

Think about it like this. You wouldn’t sign off on providing a new product or service without crossing all the Ts and dotting all your Is and knowing all there is to know…so what makes your books any different?

I’ll give you a couple of examples of my clients who didn’t know their numbers or understand them, and therefore unable to make good decisions.

I had a client who, when I started working with her and her husband, told me they only made $50,000 in sales that year. 

When we went through her numbers and really broke them down, she was shocked to discover that her husband had actually made well over $400,000 in sales that year. 

That’s not to say she made that much in profit, but they were making WAY more than they initially thought because they didn’t understand the numbers.

I had another client who was making over $330,000 in sales each year but had no money in the bank. I had to show her where the money was going and why her business account was sitting empty. She was making money alright, and spending it too, just not keeping track of it.   

So how do you change the fear mindset, beat the overwhelm and get your books handled?

Well, first and foremost, it’s time to admit you need to take control of your books and that you need some help. Since you’re already reading this post, you’ve figured this out, so you’re on the right track. 

Next…

• Start by breaking your tasks down into bite-sized chunks. By breaking your tasks down into small chunks, there’s way less of a chance of you getting overwhelmed, and you can celebrate your little wins each time you complete something.
• Set time aside regularly to wear the CEO/CFO hat and look at your numbers. By carving out time in your schedule, there are no excuses for not doing the work and you hold yourself accountable. 
• Finally, reward yourself when you’re finished for a job well done! Whether it’s a glass of wine, an episode of your favorite show or a sweet treat, you’ve earned it. 

Also…don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s okay to be afraid, make mistakes, but it’s important to admit you might need help rather than just keep on keepin’ on. You’ll get there. 

Alright, I’ve talked enough. Are you ready to overcome your fear and start taking control of your books? I’m willing to bet you are, but probably still want a little help.

I got you. 

I want to invite you now to download the monthly bookkeeping spreadsheet. It will help you get on track, stay organized and wrap your head around your books. It’s time to change your mindset when it comes to your numbers, bid your number fears adieu and set yourself up for success. 

In this post, we’re going to go over what a pricing strategy is, and why you need one. So let’s get to it!

Basically, a pricing strategy is a model or method that business owners use to price their products or services. Pricing strategies are critical for determining how much you should be charging, and identifying which parts of your business are most profitable and where you should be making changes. 

Majorly empowering business wins, if you ask me. 

Lots of different factors go into a pricing strategy – from the industry you’re in, economic conditions, how much competition is out there, how much your costs are…

Because these factors affect each business differently, each strategy is unique to that particular business. You can’t just pluck a strategy off the shelf, plunk it into your business and expect boomin’ results. The good news is that once you know how to put together a strategy that works for you, you can adjust it when conditions in your market change, so you continue to get paid. 

Think of it as a roadmap to your pricing that will give you the confidence to make smart decisions about your pricing as your business evolves. 

So how do you begin to put together a pricing strategy that’s going to help your business grow?

Well, first things first – it’s back to basics. Get to know your numbers. 

To ensure you’re pricing your products or services appropriately, you need a solid understanding of your overhead (think service fees, advertising costs, taxes, rent… all those pesky bills you have to pay to keep the lights on)  and how much you need to pay yourself. You also need a good idea of what your competition is up to so you’re not grossly over or underpricing yourself. 

When you understand your overhead and baseline, it changes the perspective and allows you to clearly see what you need to be charging to keep the doors open, while feeling confident you can justify the prices that you set or change to clients.

Over the years I have come across lots of entrepreneurs who try to operate without a cohesive pricing strategy and I’ve got to tell you, they’re often underpaying themselves and overworked to the bone because they don’t understand their numbers. 

I also know a lot of business owners also have some fears around raising their pricing because they think they will lose customers, don’t have the confidence to demand that higher price or are unsure of where to even start when it comes to researching competitor pricing in their market. Totally normal fears…and you can absolutely overcome them. 

Start with the basics and set small, bite-sized goals for yourself. You don’t have to have all your work done by tomorrow. Take it one step at a time and build your confidence. Maybe today you figure out what you need to be making just to keep your doors open. Maybe tomorrow you identify the bills you’ve got coming up for the next six months. The next day start to figure out where you’re spending the majority of your time and if you can take any action to cut that down.

Your pricing strategy will also include looking at your competitors so you have a solid understanding of what everyone else is doing but don’t get stuck in comparison-itis. Every business is unique – yours included. Checking out your competitors is a great way to get a baseline idea of where you can think about pricing your services, but it can’t dictate your whole strategy.  

At the end of the day, you’re offering a valuable service or product and should be compensated for it. Creating your pricing strategy and being able to adjust it as your business continues to grow is a great educational process that will help you get paid. Stop leaving money on the table and start working on your pricing strategy now. 

Want to learn more about how to create an effective pricing strategy? My webinar 3 Secrets to Pricing for Profit is for you! Learn how to determine the right pricing for your offers and what to do when you’re afraid your audience won’t pay it—skills you’ll always need as your business grows and evolves. 

• 

You can overcome the challenges of paying yourself – I promise. I keep saying it but it comes back to knowing your numbers. KnowGetting paid. It sounds so simple and it’s why we all go into business for ourselves in the first place. But dang, it can be a STRUGGLE! You’re worried about paying taxes, you don’t want to not have the money available so it just sits there, or you feel like there is NO money to pull out. 

I hear that last one from business owners a lot, especially when they’re just starting out. They feel they don’t have the right to take money out of the business to pay themselves. They think they haven’t earned it.

I get it. 

But it’s SO important to pay yourself – even if it’s just $100 in the beginning – so you don’t start to resent your business that you’re pouring your blood, sweat, and tears into. And it’s not as hard as you think. Like so many things, being able to pay yourself is a matter of knowing your numbers. 

I’ve got a warning for you. When you get into the habit of not paying yourself, all of a sudden you haven’t paid yourself for three months, six months, nine months and boom, your savings are gone. Now you’re in real trouble. 

So now I want you to ask yourself… what’s YOUR reason for not paying yourself? 

If it’s because you’re too scared to pull money out, then start small so you’re comfortable. You need a reward, even a nominal one, for all your hard work!

If you’re worried you’re not withholding enough for taxes, tax bracket information is readily available online, so you can figure out where you land before withdrawing. While I don’t do taxes at Number Nerd (I’m not a CPA), I can tell you the typical rule of thumb is to withhold 15% to 35%. Feel like that’s too much? Then it’s time to raise your prices to offset those costs! You need to be paid!

Your overhead, your services, where your time is going. How is that going to help you break down the pay yourself barriers? Because once you know how much you have to spend each month to keep the lights on, what is making you the most profit and where you’re wasting time, then you can begin to price for profit, cut unnecessary overhead and make sure your time is being spent making you money. That is how you get paid, plain and simple.  

I know figuring out the numbers can seem overwhelming, so remember: break it down into small, bite-sized chunks. Set aside the time regularly and tackle things one step at a time. You don’t have to master it all today, but figuring this part of your business will empower you to take the leap and pay yourself. 

The final takeaway here – you work too hard to feel like you never have enough money, you have no free time and you now resent your business. There is no point in having a business doing things you love if you’re not rewarding yourself at ALL. Price yourself so you can pay yourself and get off the business hamster wheel. 

If you’re looking for some extra support on how to set your prices so you can get paid, check out my 3 Secrets to Pricing for Profit webinar. It covers how you can determine the right pricing for your offers and what to do when you’re afraid your audience won’t pay it. Figure out your pricing means figuring out your profit—and that’s how you get paid for all your hard work!

If you’ve been around here long, you know I’m a big fan of efficiency. I don’t like wasting my time or yours, so today, we’re jumping right into it. 

But first, answer me this: How many hours do you work each week?

As entrepreneurs who feel like the work never ends and that there’s always something more we could be doing, it’s easy to get sucked into working around the clock. Always trying to do more and multitasking trying to do everything at once. I know I’ve been guilty of this in the past, but the longer I’m in business, the more I realize this isn’t the way to build a sustainable business that brings time and financial freedom for the long run. 

Think back to the number of hours you said you work each week. Do you actually know the number, or was it just a guess? Many of us say that we work 50, 60, 70+ hours per week, but studies have shown that when we guestimate how many hours we work, we almost always overestimate.  

We live in a world that loves busy and multitasking and makes it easy to tie our worth to our hustle and the number of hours we put in each week. It’s no wonder we subconsciously raise that number in our minds to make ourselves feel a little better about how hard we’re working. But if we’re overestimating the amount of time we spend working each week, where on earth is all of our time going?

Your time is your most valuable resource – even more valuable than money. Money can always be replaced, and it’s always coming and going, but we have a finite and unknown amount of time available to us. Once it’s gone, it’s gone for good. As a bookkeeper, I’m a big advocate of being a steward of your finances: knowing where your money comes from and where it goes, and making smart decisions about how you use it. I believe just as strongly in being a steward of your time. It’s so important to make sure you’re using this precious resource wisely. And I’ll let you in on a little secret…when you know where your time is going, it also helps you make better decisions about your money, and ultimately make more of it.

When you know where you’re time is going, you can make informed decisions about what you say “yes” or “no” to, you’ll know exactly how long each task in your business take you, and you can price your offers accordingly. This is why it’s so important to track your time.

Many of my clients, especially the creatives, are hesitant at first about all this time tracking business. It can feel a little restricting and tedious in the beginning, but all of my clients who have gotten serious about tracking their time find that it makes them work much more efficiently, and ultimately brings them more freedom in their lives and businesses. You see, when you record where you spend your time, it eliminates multitasking and helps you to focus on one task at a time. In the same way that keeping a food journal helps people who are trying to lose weight get better, faster results, when you track your time, it makes you more efficient and helps you free up more time in the long run.

There are many different tools out there that make time tracking simple. Personally, my team and I use ClockShark, and Harvest is another great option to get started with time tracking for free. You could also use a simple spreadsheet, or even pen and paper to track your time. The important thing is that you choose a time tracking method and stick to it. Try tracking your time for 2 weeks, and I promise you’ll get some eye-opening insights to the way you spend time in your business.

What method will you use to start tracking your time?

Check out these other resources to help you track your time and run your business more efficiently:

Technology Tip Tuesday: Harvest Time Tracking

The Ultimate Pricing Guide for Creative Entrepreneurs

Are You Pricing Your Services Right?