Ready For A Raise? I Thought So. 

We all want a raise – and after the last year, I think we all deserve one! But figuring out how to give yourself one isn’t always easy.  

So why is it important for entrepreneurs to think about how to give themselves a raise? Well…you gotta pay your bills somehow and the only way to do that is pay yourself. 

But giving yourself a raise is something that is often neglected because it can be an overwhelming thing to think about. People don’t understand that unless you’re going to cut expenses or have the confidence to increase your rates, a raise is off the table. 

I get it – you want to get your pricing right so you’re not missing out on clients, but you also don’t want to be pricing yourself too low so that you’re not making money, or spending too much time on certain projects for no reward. 

This all goes back to my previous blog post about number fear and getting a clear picture of where your money is coming from and going to, so you can price yourself in order to get paid.

So What Do You Need To Figure Out How To Make It Happen?

To get going, you need to know how much you’re REALLY making right now and how much you want to make in the future. 

This goes back to that concept I keep driving home of getting the clear picture of all your numbers, because without it you won’t be leveling up to pay yourself more. (Side note – these steps are geared towards service-based business owners.) 

The nice thing about numbers is they are black and white – so once you have all the information, you can make clear, calculated, informed decisions about where you can go to get the money from in order to pay yourself more. 

How Much Are You Really Making And Where Is Your Time Going?

I always tell clients they need to figure out how much they’re really making when going through the process of giving yourself a raise. 

When I talk about figuring out how much you’re really making, I don’t just mean your hourly rate. I’m talking about how much time you’re really spending to bring home that hourly rate and if you’re being compensated enough for the real amount of time you’re spending on each client. 

A lot of the time when I meet with clients, they tell me that they don’t account for the time that they spend doing things like initial call and research, preparing the quote and contract, follow-up emails, or onboarding in their pricing structure. Let alone the administrative time they spend running their business above and beyond client work.

Those things all take time and need to be factored into your hourly rate – otherwise, you’re undercharging for your services. Most of the time, this is when clients realize they are not making as much money as they thought because all of that time wasn’t factored into their pricing.

Make sense? 

There are tons of apps out there that can help you track your time, and even doing it for 7 days can give you a really solid idea of where your hours are really going. 

Next, you’re going to divide your time into your service offerings and see where you’re bringing in the bucks and which revenue streams are time sucks. 

You also want to understand where your revenue streams are coming from, what your overhead expenses REALLY are (I’m talking every dollar you’re spending to keep the lights on) who your big-ticket clients are and what you have in terms of upcoming projects. 

All of this seems like a lot, right? Don’t worry. Number Nerd can help. Keep reading; there is something special to help you.

Raising Your Rates To Get The Raise You Want

Next, you want to consider how much of a raise you want to give yourself too. Think about your personal life outside of your business; are there any expenses you need to account for in the new year (i.e.: a new car, buying a home, after care, vacation)? Reviewing your revenue and time, and expenses, are only part of the equation. Once these components are all factored together you will be confident in knowing and understanding the true meaning of your numbers. Then, you can clearly and easily raise your prices accordingly and focus on the money-making streams of your business to make that happen. 

Clients often tell me that they are worried about losing clients if they raise their rates. I get it and it’s a valid and big fear for a lot of people. And I’ll be honest, you might lose a few clients if you raise your rates…which is scary right off the bat. 

But it’s not the end of the world and remember you bring enough value with the services that you provide to still keep clients and attract new ones with prices that really reflect what you’re worth. 

Trust me, clients will pay for services they find value in, so don’t be afraid. 

I know you have services that you pay a premium for because you can’t live without them. They add value to your life. The services you provide your clients are no different, so shifting the mindset to own the value you’re bringing to the table will help you feel confident in raising your prices. Analyzing your numbers and actual time spent are key here. Once you see, how much money you are really making or lack thereof, can help you feel confident in raising your rates.

And if you’re really worried about pulling the trigger when it comes to raising your rates, you have options! You can start small, raise rates for new clients and keep your existing pricing for the clients you already have, or go in steps. 

Remember – you are an entrepreneur now with business expenses and your own personal bills to look after. You need to be paid like a business, not paid like an employee. Really think about what your time is worth when you go into this process. 

I know you’re probably still asking if there are ways to give yourself a raise that don’t involve raising your rates at all. 

You can. It means cutting your expenses because the money has to come from somewhere. So that’s going to mean maybe cutting back on subscriptions, staffing or any other overhead costs. 

You can also revamp your service offerings so you’re giving clients smaller offerings for the same price. 

Finally, I want you to remember that giving yourself a raise isn’t a 20-minute exercise. It’s going to take time but you can do it! Let this analysis be your catalyst for change. 

I know this is a lot to digest, so bookmark this post, come back and read it again in a few days. My best wishes to you. Be sure to sign up for the challenge below to help you work through your future price increase. It will  help you pull all of the details together.

Clarity Kickstart To a Financial Fresh Start Challenge

I know all of this is challenging (and sometimes frustrating). I want to lend a hand when it comes to giving you some help getting some of that number clarity I’ve been talking about in this post. 

I’ve got a 5-day Clarity Kickstart To a Financial Fresh Start challenge that starts on February 8. It will help you… 

• Get your numbers organized and wrap your brain around them so you have a clear picture of them
• Analyze your finances so well that you can practically do them with one hand tied behind your back

• Get your pricing and expenses figured out so you CAN give yourself that raise
• Figure out how much money you’re actually making

So that’s it all I’ve got for you today….I’ll let you take that in and think it over for a bit. I hope you found this helpful and you get the confidence to give yourself a raise. And I can’t wait to see you in the challenge!

2020 – What a Ride

2020 was quite a year – to put it lightly. It seems like the longest year EVER and I have worked a crazy amount of hours. I have been helping my clients navigate through financial highs and lows during this crazy COVID-19 pandemic. Let alone cancelled vacations for us all. Am I right? Some things worked well this year and some did not.

I have learned so much about myself in 2020, both personally and as a business owner. This year has helped me reevaluate what is important. I’ve reassessed my core values and goals. It’s given me clarity on what’s really important in my business, and personal life.

The challenges from this year also helped me take pause, to take time for myself and give myself grace when I needed it. I was forced to take a step back and get a baseline of what’s important – whether that was my business, or simply being able to take time for me to meditate, do some yoga, or a drive-up run for a Caramel Macchiato. Simply put, taking time for me to reflect on the day. 

Setting Goals for 2021

Frankly, I’m tired of 2020 – we all are. I’m ready to ring in 2021 and I bet you are right there with me! With a new year, that means new goals. So let’s talk about goals.  

To boil it down, think of approaching goals through these steps:

• The first thing to do is to take a hard look at where you are now. What’s working? What isn’t? Try to be as non-judgmental as possible.
• Next, think of where you want to go. What changes do you want to make in your life or business from 2020—big or small? Why is it important that you make this change? What will success look like for you? What’s your timeline?
• Now, look at the time and effort you want to put into your goals. Be realistic! Part of this step is figuring out what has worked well and not-so-well for you in the past. 
• Break your goal down into achievable steps. You know me—I’m all about the bite-sized chunks! Doing big projects in small steps will help you feel like you’re making progress and motivate you to stick to your goals.

When you think about your goals, I want you to think about what made you create them and why they’re important to you. Reflect from 2020, take pause, plan out your goals and figure out where you want to spend your time. Goal setting is a thoughtful process, and will take some time.

I know, it’s not the most comfortable thing in the world, but once you start really getting to the heart of your goals, commit to them and define the bite-sized steps you know will make them happen, you’re going to feel like a badass—because you are! 

For my part, this next year I want to…

• Teach more solopreneur business owners to do their own bookkeeping; I’ll be doing this by launching the Number Nerd Bookkeeping Academy
• Be more productive = work less hours
• Create + develop more workflows to continue helping my clients get back their time
• Educate my current + future clients how to uplevel their businesses by taking understanding their numbers to a new level + thus increase their profits

Alright, I have my goals, now what?

I know to hit these goals I need to work backwards, which might seem like an odd concept. 

But think about it like this. I have identified what I want to achieve—the high-level goals. Now to get there I have to streamline my processes even further and start with small goal chunks that are doable. It makes it a much more manageable process and then if I need to adjust my goals along the way, I can do so. 

Let’s say I wanted a new car…that’s the high-level goal but now I need to figure out how each month I’ll save the downpayment for it and budget for payments once I finally drive it off the lot. That might mean cutting expenses or finding a new revenue stream – but little steps make your goals come to fruition. 

No matter what the goal, I know I need to commit to changing my mindset and put in the time to make it happen. But I’m ready to do the work for my 2021 goals and I can’t wait to tell you how it all turns out this time next year. 

Why Knowing Your Numbers Helps You Set Goals

Remember – setting goals often also involves your money. That’s why it’s so important to know your numbers and understand the financial implications of reaching those goals. 

It might mean having to make changes in where your expenses go or changing up a revenue stream, but I cannot stress enough how important it is to know your numbers if you want to hit your goals. 

Think about it like if you wanted to join a monthly membership, investment in training or certification, give yourself a raise, or get a new car. Those are goals, and they take money. You have to account for that new monthly payment, and the money has to come from somewhere. 

I also want to encourage you to revisit your goals regularly. I like to look at mine quarterly. It gives me enough time to have made progress on my goals, but there is still time for me to take into account everything that’s happened in the last three months so I can adjust them (if I need to) to move forward. 

So Heading Into 2021…

Goals are great and SO important to have, whether they’re professional goals or personal ones! If we’re being frank, sometimes we don’t always hit them, which sucks, but it’s no reason to give up on them. In fact, it’s all the more reason to stick with them and make adjustments as needed

Use any frustration or disappointment from 2020 as fuel to light a fire under you for 2021. And remember, just because things might not go the exact way we thought they would, doesn’t mean something great isn’t coming. New day, new year—you got this! 

Clarity Kickstart to a Financial Fresh Start Challenge

I know this is a lot, and you might be feeling a bit bogged down or in the weeds when it comes to your numbers. I get it. It’s been a long, weird year and numbers are confusing at the best of times. 

So I want to lend a hand when it comes to giving you some help with my Clarity Kickstart to a Financial Fresh Start challenge. It’s running from February 8-12, so you’ve got some time to get ready. 

In five days, this challenge will help you…

• Get your numbers organized
• Analyze your finances so well that you can basically recite your numbers in your sleep
• Get clear on your expenses and pricing
• Figure out how much money you’re actually making

So that’s it all I’ve got for you today….I’ll let you soak that in. I hope you found it helpful and I can’t wait to see you in the challenge!

When was the last time you did an end-of-year financial review of your finances? Have you ever? Or do you have your bookkeeper do it for you and report back, because it’s an “admin” task?

I cannot stress this enough. Bookkeeping is not just an “admin” task. Don’t get me wrong, the day-to-day work can, and should, be delegated out if you can, so you can spend time focused on the other aspects of your business (because there’s TONS of work to do!). 

But an End-of-Year Financial Review is a strategic CEO task. It can help your business grow and run more effectively.

In fact, I’ve put together an agenda for you that you can use to complete your own end-of-year financial review:

When you’re able to review your financial situation strategically, you can use that to help make smarter and better budget decisions moving forward. It gives you the opportunity to review any errors you made in the past year, analyze where you had hits and misses and arm yourself with as much information as possible, so the next year you have fewer misses and more wins.

And that’s what we’re all after as creative entrepreneurs, right? 

I see lots of entrepreneurs who avoid doing a year-end review, for a whole bunch of different reasons. 

• It can be a little daunting (or really daunting if numbers aren’t your thing). 
• It can be tricky to know where to begin, what to look for, and then what the heck you do with the information once you have it.
• Or you just trust that your bookkeeper is doing a review for you.

I’ve heard all these rationales and more before, and I get them, but I’ve got to tell you they’re hurting your business. 

I’ve watched my own clients use their year-end reviews to grow their companies, get better returns and run more efficiently.

How?

That analysis gives them a clear picture of where their business was at and so they could make more informed decisions – in all aspects of their business, from sales and marketing to their books.  

So to sum it up (get it? sum it up?) at the end of the year you’re going to go through a few steps and ask yourself some questions.

Step 1: Gather your financial statements

Step 2: Review for errors and if you’re missing any numbers. 

• Are you missing anything? If you are, why?

Step 3: Look backwards to identify your patterns, pitfalls, and successes

• Do you recognize your patterns?
• Why do you think your successes and pitfalls happened?

Step 4: Look forward and use your information to improve your strategies for the next year

• How can you use this review to maximize your successes and minimize your pitfalls?
• How will you use this information to create a new strategy?

Step 5: Celebrate your success (cue happy dances and double fist bumps!)

As a CEO and creative entrepreneur, it’s so important to have a solid sense of your numbers – and you CAN do this. 

Time to empower yourself to take control of every aspect of your business with an annual numbers analysis.

Get ready to review and have a great new year by downloading my FREE end-of-year financial review worksheet: