How To Manage Your Time And Money As A Multi-Tasking Entrepreneur

Get ready, because everything is about to change. There's a new way of living life and doing business that will blow your mind. This is a podcast all about the timing of life and the timing of success. It's what we call the Right on Time Life. And you are listening to the Right on Time podcast with Amber McHugh.

Hey.

Hey. Welcome to the Right on Time podcast. This is a special episode because I'm introducing you to a childhood friend of mine. We'll dive into that a little bit in this episode because it really underscores the idea of, you know, where a lot of my values came from. I grew up in a small town, man. We just grew up. You've got those people, right? Like, oh, I grew up with them. Well, Carol and I hadn't talked in a while, and when she was starting her business, we reconnected again. She's going to share with you today on this episode the story of how she started her business just in the last couple of years, why, how, and how she balances all of the things, because she does indeed still have a full time job and she's got it going on. You'll also hear in this episode, one of her little ones pop in to the podcast recording. And we did not not say, oh, edit that out in the notes because this is real life. This is it. We're showing up, we're doing business different, and we are not editing that out. So I hope that you enjoy this episode, that you get some ideas about how to think about your money and your financials, but also you get inspired by Carol's journey. We're going to dive in now. Carol from 4zen Bookkeeping, welcome to the podcast.

Thanks, Amber. So excited to be here.

I'm pumped to be hanging out. And we're gonna have some great conversation today around growing a business around money. But first we gotta tell people how we know each other originally.

Sure. The OG story.

Yeah, exactly. Because that's too much fun. We gotta give some context.

It all started back in kindergarten, probably before that. Really? It is a long time, right?

Yeah.

Reddick, Illinois. Oh, that tiny school. It was like a. And then we went. Yeah. And then Essex. The little, tiny school, huh?

That is so funny. So Carol and I grew up together. Basically, there was like a five year. When I lived in Saudi Arabia, we had like a five year break. But I would on and off.

Right. Like, you went there for a little bit, came back for a minute, and then finally came back when Maura was born. Right. Or did you go back after we.

Went Back after that.

And then that's what it was. You came back. Well, when she was born, and then you went back and then finally came back. What grade was it? I finally came back.

It was seventh grade, I think. So that's great.

That sounds. That feels right. Yeah.

That's so funny. So Carol and I entirely grew up together, except the years that I lived in Saudi Arabia. But even then I come back for summer break. To your point.

Yeah.

Oh, my gosh. So incredible. So we've known each other forever. Our families know each other, and it's just incredible how life reconnects people. Carol brings me so much joy. So I'm so excited that we get to share you and your insights and your energy and your enthusiasm.

And I'm excited that Amber's out there offering these amazing services that she does that us business owners can take advantage of those as well.

I love it. It's so fun, you know. Why did you start your business here?

Well, mostly because freedom, right? Like, not that it's real freedom in the sense that you still have to work hard and there's a lot of things that need to be done, but it's the doing it on your own terms and your own time. I was just ready for that next step in my life and that change to come about as I'm, you know, re raising a family and I have two adult children. I have two children, not even really school age yet. So to be able to spend more time with them that I got to experience during COVID was amazing. So I'm like, maybe, maybe. So I just one foot in front of the other, just kind of got to it.

Wait a second. So did the time that you had over Covid sort of open up? Like, I would like more flexibility. And that is when the window of time when you started the business.

Yes, it is exactly what happened. So towards that. So I'm a school teacher and started that weird experience during the end of 2020 and had that time where. Had that weird time where I was home with the kids and got to experience all of that flexibility because there wasn't a whole lot going on in the teaching world. We were all like, what do we have to do? And then as that next school year started, it was a dynamic schedule where kids would come, kids would go, and we were home. So it wasn't a constant. Have to be in the building at this time, have to start the next thing at that time. So having that variability was really awesome. And then I just took it one step further as what can I Do like with my skill set, my background, to be able to branch out there and take care of myself and my family.

Oh my gosh, that's incredible. So what then led you to. Oh, bookkeeping. Tell us more about that.

I have, I mean, my original first bachelor's degree was in accounting. So after I had that degree, I worked for a few years for a couple of different companies. Like more big corporate America, not like accounting firms or anything like that, but it was accounting jobs and didn't love that life, working all year long and sitting at a desk all day long. So I decided to go back and get my teaching license and that's when I started teaching. So I've been doing that the last eight years, but it just kind of seemed logical. So in the meantime, doing a lot of things like helping my friends and family with their taxes and those kind of simple day to day, everybody does them kind of accounting functions. But then started diving deeper, going back, taking some courses and connecting with other bookkeepers and small business owners to see what they were doing. And then just one thing led to another and finally started picking up clients along the way.

So that is so cool. And if you think about it, this is happening. I mean, you have some foundational background because you studied it, but the business building side of it and relearning and stepping back in and picking up some new things to go with the accounting stuff is really like in the last two years.

Yeah, it really has been. And since then it's just kind of steamrolled where I'm like, well, how far can I take this? What more can I do?

That's pretty incredible. As you look back at just the last two years related to the business building, do you feel like it's happening quickly? Do you feel like things are moving slowly? What's the pace feel like to you?

It's a moderate pace and I think it's a healthy pace. I think it's slow enough for me to pick up along a lot of the intricacies that are associated with building a business, but it's fast enough for me that I feel like something's happening, which is really nice. And which in the last two months is why I've brought another team member on to help me, you know, make sure that I can manage all the, all the, that modern CEO type of thing while still bringing and giving the best service to my clients that I can.

So good. So already thinking about team building as well so that you can balance and have leverage. How does it feel working with someone bringing in A team to the business at this stage in growing up, honestly, it's awesome.

She is a fantastic bookkeeper. She knows the ins and outs. She's very well trained, very well versed, and has a lot of experience too. So it's just that. And she doesn't like that marketing aspect of the business where she doesn't want to have to go out and find clients or really even interact with them face to face. So I think that's where my expertise comes in and I'm able to do that and bridge that gap for her. That's what makes us a strong team at this point.

That is so cool. You know, sometimes people wait quite a while to bring team into their business and I, you know, I sometimes think, like, oh, the sooner we can get to a place where we're comfortable bringing people in and there's money to pour into that. Of course, you know, we're looking at all the financials, but I think the sooner the better, especially if it's tied to revenue. Right. And for you, bringing on a team, working team, it's directly related to client delivery. So that is in turn related to sales and revenue. So that is so beautiful. And does it, does it take a weight off for you?

Oh, 100%. Because I know when she's in the books and she's doing her magic that, that she knows what she's doing and I don't have to go back and re review what she did. Not that she doesn't come to me with questions because she's just with any bookkeeping adventure, with any other, you know, somebody else's business and their books, you don't really know until you kind of get in the groove of doing it for a while of what to expect and what you should see on a monthly basis. So as she's learning, she's asking tons of questions, which is awesome. But as soon as I give her the answer, she's like, oh, yeah, that's what I figured. Oh, yeah, that's what I figured. So we're both doing. So, like, the different roles that we're playing are really playing into making the best for our clients.

At the end of the day, this is very cool. Carol is bringing up another incredible point around who does what and the differences and roles and differences in interests. I've got something that I talk about called how to clone yourself, but it's less about finding someone that can do the exact same thing that you can do. But where do we complement each other? And you hit on some of it so perfectly, like she doesn't enjoy the marketing. I will go out and do that. Did you ever see that BBC interview where the reporter was being or the reporter was interviewing an expert on something? And have you seen this? The child runs in the room and then quickly behind the adult who was presumably watching the adorable child click. And you know, I used to feel like, oh gosh, keep things separate. But I ran. I started wanting to run a business so I had that flexibility to engage with my kids and they see what we're doing and the right people, that the right people are going to be like, oh yeah, okay, kids pop in and out. And I love it when I see kids popping in and out.

Yeah, me too. And you know, sometimes my voice will just come like Thorsten, he'll like get behind me in my chair and just like sit back here and listen. And it's just so cute because he's not even trying to like distract me or take me take away from what I'm doing. He just wants to be a part of it too. So I think it's good. I think it's healthy for everybody. I don't feel like it's like some weird feeling as I like, no, no, no, you got to go away. Like I'm not in a corporate office. It's okay if you're here.

Yeah, it's okay. It's all good. I love that. I was doing an all day training this weekend and I invited Harper in, like, hey Harper, I'll put it up on the, you know, the tv. Do you want to sit and watch with me? Yeah, she came in, she sat for a couple minutes. This is really boring. I'm out of here. Okay, I get it.

And I think that's how it works, right? The more you include your kids and want them to be a part of things, you're like, yeah, what's the bestest exit? Like where is it exactly?

Oh my gosh. So fun. So as you are building team still have full time teaching position, how do you balance all the things? Like how are you carving out and ensuring that you don't feel overwhelmed and take this whatever direction comes to mind. If it's like, oh, I have these time management protocols or you know, whatever it might be, or flexibility and free, like I roll with it, whatever. Like how do balance it all? Because you truly do have a lot on your plate. You've got kids, you've. I mean you got just a lot going on.

I mean, first and foremost, like the nice thing about accounting and bookkeeping in general is there's a cadence. There's. There's a process you follow month after month after month. And then that might look different depending on the quarter or the year end, but you know what you should be doing, when you should be doing it. So those things are always in play for the actual work. But then the other items like the marketing, maybe less social media management and taking care of, like, immediate client needs or question, extra questions that they have. That's where, like, I just take it as it comes. And that's why I like having somebody that has my back to make sure that cadence is occurring. So she's got that part, and I'm taking care of what needs to be done and when. And then the teaching job, well, you know, like, that's kind of cadence, the base too. Like, I know based on the semester where I should be. There's pacing that we set out at the beginning of the year. And that's kind of where I'm taking my business too, is where do I want to be and when. So focusing on those goals and just writing them down and revisiting them, I think are the biggest thing that has helped me. You know, like, this is why the fresh start notebook helps so big. Like just going through that planner and saying, okay, yeah, and then looking back and say, well, in the beginning of September, this is what I said I was going to do, and I'm past that or not quite to that, and that's okay. And what can I do? Or is my goal different? Have things changed? And just revisiting that and reflecting on that process is huge.

I love that you're bringing up the reflection process as a part of this as well. And I wonder if this is big for you in teaching too, but when I was in my MBA program, the professor, Dr. Kilberg, made us reflect. Like, you just had to fill out a journal, make some notes. I'm like, this is really easy. But I still found it incredibly annoying. And there's a reason. There's a reason. So I kept doing it. And I know that when I reflect right outside of that, and I continued that process, but I really wanted to understand why, like, how does this benefit me? And is there data to say it benefits me me? And I came across two really interesting studies. One showed that teams who reflect or companies who have team reflection processes in place perform better, and individuals who pause to reflect also are happier. So those were like music to my ears, ways that this could have been.

I mean, just like listening to one of Brendan Burchard's high performing habits lately, like just re listening to that and going, oh, yeah, oh yeah, I do that, I do that. Or oh, a little better on that. But that's just one of those high performing habits. Being reflective in your life, it doesn't matter if it's in your business, in your career, in your day to day personal life, being able to stop and go, oh, wow, that went really well. Why did it go well? Because if you can't sit and look down at the actual data and the facts of what happened and process them in a way that's forward moving and forward thinking, you don't really know if what you're doing is worthwhile. You're just winging it. So, yeah, I don't like doing it so much. Like I do, it's fun, but it's not productive.

I agree. I love winging it. I love spontaneity, I love adventure. And also when it comes to, like, life goals and where I want to be going, like, okay, yeah, we got to have some structure in place here, some something where I could see if I'm making progress or not. Oh, I love it. Which is why the cadence that you're talking about is so beautiful to look at. What are the seasons, what are the milestones, what are the markers where we can check in to see if we're on track or not? I had never thought about bookkeeping in that way. It's kind of beautiful.

You're welcome.

That's so cool. Oh, my gosh. So as you think about managing money and the way that we manage our money in our lives and our businesses, what are some of the mistakes you see people making and some recommendations you might have for us? Because money is like. Well, money is a topic that a lot of people avoid. And as business owners, we really need to be keeping an eye on this. And then, you know, I find that even just a conversation I had with a friend this morning, like, the changing economy is bringing up a different kind of money conversation. So what do you recommend people think about when it comes to like, okay, let's take care of your money?

Well, first of all, when your bookkeeper sends you reports, please look at them. Because I think that for a lot of us, we hire a bookkeeper and then we let them do their thing, knowing that, oh, when my tax, when it comes time to file my taxes, I'm going to be ready to go, which is great. But at the end of the day, that's only one reason why we keep the books on a regular basis. Because if you're not looking at Them you're missing some things. Like, you're missing maybe where are you spending, where you don't need to be spending. So that's big. Because I think that as we all get rushed in life and hurried in our businesses and our personal lives, it's really easy to miss some things that we could really use, like do without. And I think that we're all not kind of definitely experiencing that with the state of our economy and inflation being the way that it is. Because when I go to the store and that thing I really like to buy is twice the price now, well, I think I can do without. So in our businesses, where can we cut back? Where can we reduce some costs without harming the integrity of our business? So not taking away from anything, but just getting rid of the spoilage. Right. And then another one. I just kind of. That makes me cringe as a bookkeeper is the inner intermingling of personal and business finances. So please stay away from that if you can. If you can't, you might not be ready to hire a book. Like, that's what I tell people. Like, wait till you're strong in your habits of keeping. You know, if you have a bank account and a credit card for your business, those are for your business. When you're at Walmart checking out and you're buying office supplies for the business, put. Put a divider in the middle and separate the order because it gets confusing and it gets jumbled and then it causes it's. It increases the workload for your bookkeeper to separate all that. Like you say, well, these things were for this and that. Those things were for that. Well, then you're paying your bookkeeper more than you need to. And there's that some of that extra fluff that you don't need to be paying for now that you're paying for it because you're just not disciplined. So having discipline in your finances is huge. So those are a couple of the things. Like, we could probably go on and on with this, but those, I think are the most common that people face is that they're just not sure exactly where their money's going because they're not looking at those reports month after month and maybe doing that comparative analysis year after year. And then. Yeah, keep it. Keep it separate, kid. Keep it separate.

Yeah. I love, like, open the reports. It is one of my favorite things to open my financial report from the bookkeeper. And generally I know because I'm looking at my money and our cash flow and our expenses on a regular basis throughout the month anyway. But when the report comes, comes through and it's all final in the system, like, yeah, we did it. And then other months it's, we didn't do it. But I knew we weren't going to do it, and I was right.

Well, but you're reflecting again and you. As long as you know why that happened or what, maybe, you know, maybe an unexpected expense came through that you just didn't foresee or you just didn't hit your revenue goals for that month and that's okay. What can we do to, you know, make the quarter still turn out right?

Yeah, yeah, it's so true. And that helps you reset versus if I weren't looking at those regularly, actually. Case in point, last year. Yeah, that was last year, we started to notice a dip in profitability. Profitability was going down. We're like, okay, what's happening here? Of course, reading the news, seeing what's happening. Like, okay, prices are going up. And then like, okay, price everything, really. Oh, boy.

You know, and that's. And that's how it works, right? Big business and small. So prices go up. What happens to our prices? A lot of times they have to go up, too. And especially if we don't, like, see an ease in the market where things kind of come back down for us as a business, like, if all of our expenses are increasing, well, our prices are going to have to increase too, because we're also trying to support people behind. Behind it. All right? Either it's just us or it's us and, you know, our teammates. So I think it's really important that we keep an eye on the overall market as well.

I could not agree more. And especially what you brought up with team, that is, I mean, absolutely top of mind.

I get to.

I go pay for my groceries. I see things. Prices went up a little bit and like, okay, this is happening for everyone. Everybody's going to be impacted by this. How do we increase and you know, across the board, like, when I was in corporate, when I now, as a business owner and as an individual and a human with a budget, you want to pay people like, okay, I see what's happening. I just want to increase pay. Okay, how do we increase pay when everything just went up? We've got to increase prices. Okay, how's that going to work out on profitability? And I directly shared with our team, like, we're a small company. We're not paying back to shareholders. Joanna, my business partner, myself, like, I can take. Right. I can play with my pay a little but it's not like we have millions of profit, right, that we're building and we don't have people to pay back out. And so it's a tight budget. We're a small business. And when it gets tighter and tighter and tighter, it's, it's a hard question and it's a hard thing to grapple with. Like, I want to pay everyone more. Okay, how. Where does that come from?

The money tree.

The money tree. Oh, dreamy.

And so I know, I wish I had one too. And I'd like to think of. That's, that's why I build, continually build my skills and refine what I can do and, and refine how I can serve other people. Because you know that, that old adage, right? Zig Ziglar, you know, you can get everything you want in life by helping enough other people. So that's, that's. I just keep sticking with that, right? Like, whether it's my children, my students, or my clients, like, how am I coming to the table with something to offer that's a value to somebody else? Because it's not. Why would they invest in me? So I think at the end of the day, as a business owner, we have to know that we're bringing value to those of us that, who are willing to pay for it and then need it. Because that's, that's where it all, that's where it all boils down to. That's the bottom line.

That's so good. And I think that getting support, looking at your numbers in some way, shape or form, and keeping an eye on what's happening, you know, then you're able to make decisions around that stay in service. How am I going to serve people differently? What mindsets, Perceptions are shifting there, and you're so spot on. There is so much in those financial reports for people who are like, okay, I don't know how to read those financial reports. I open them. They freak me out. What would you say?

I would say let's sit down and talk about it. Yeah, that's another, that's, that is another service that we offer. And I do free consultations as well. As far as like looking at maybe a year over year comparative analysis of where your business has gone. So that's definitely something that we can help you with. And even if it's just on the surface of how do I read my balance sheet, how do I read my profit and loss, not everybody knows how to do that. But I think once you get a handle of how to discern the information that you're getting. And then there are a lot more magical things that we do, like as CFOs, that kind of work that can really bring some actionable items out of that conversation. And that's, that is some of the work that we do. We do focus a lot more on the bookkeeping, the accounting aspect of making sure you have everything day to day wise. But the big picture can also be scrutinized as well. And I, that's my best advice for business owners. If you're ready to go to that next level and figure those types of things out, then you should definitely hire somebody to do that. Because a lot of times we don't, we're not equipped, we don't have that education and those skills to do that on our own.

And even if we got that education, like in high school economics or something, like if you're not practicing it, looking at it on a regular basis, this is going to fade away. So I love that you're like, just ask, like, let's sit down, let's talk through it. It's not your zone of expertise. It is Carol's. So hop on the phone with her. Leverage your experts. So I am wondering one more question. Actually, two more questions. Second one's easier. First one, you mentioned the CFO role. Okay, how does that work? What do you do with that CFO hat on when you're partnering with small businesses?

What I do is that I pretty much say, hey, I need your, I need your statements. You got to provide me those statements or you can give me access to your QuickBooks. Either one works for me. And then I kind of take those numbers, throw them into my little magic wheelhouse and look at, I bring it up on a scoreboard and we look at some, some clear indicators of, oh, well, these numbers aren't panning out the way that we would expect them to with your type of business. Because depending on the type of business, it might look a little bit different with different scorecards, different indicators. And then we look at those. Where are we, where are we seeing greens? Where are we doing? Good. Awesome. Let's keep that going. Where are we seeing those yellow scorecards popping up? And then obviously those red ones we need to take on like right now. So that's kind of the way that we handle it, is looking some very clear industry indicators that are really making or breaking your business. And then what action items, what actionable steps can we take right now that are going to month over month, start turning that red to yellow to green and then go from there.

I love this. Is this a scorecard you put together and industry benchmarks that you put together like in Excel, or is it software? Or how do you pull this?

Well, I have like a magic template in Excel that kind of pulls it all together. Basically entering all the data from your balance sheet and your income statement that then transforms it into this pretty little scorecard. And that's really for the business owners. That's what they want, that's what they need that you don't want. You don't want me to throw this spreadsheet at you and go, here you go, here, I got it all for you. You need to see it plain as day. Where am I doing awesome? Where could I improve? And where am I drowning? Because those are the things you need to focus on, like today, right now.

Oh, my gosh, I love that. I mean, I do love Excel, but even more than a spreadsheet with lots.

Of dashboard, let me tell you.

I know, but a dashboard is just a winner, like red, yellow, green, for sure.

And I think that's why people love software like QuickBooks, because it gives them that pretty little dashboard.

Yeah. Get a dashboard, get some support, understanding how to read it. And if you're ready to take it to the next level, check in and inquire about CFO services, because this can be part time. There's this thing, fractional, right? C level. Fractional. C level resources that are out there for you. So even you're like, oh, man, I don't need a full time CFO yet. I know, neither do I. But like, we bored one.

Really. Exactly. A lot of money.

Expensive.

Yeah. And that's why you have somebody just come in and check on things periodically and then say, hey, everything looks great here. Or this is where we could improve. Or what have you done since we met last?

Yeah. So stinking good. Okay, Carol, my second question is where can people find. Actually, before that, is there anything we missed? Is there anything you're like, don't forget about this, do this, Anything that comes to mind.

Reach out when you need help. Right. So that's my advice. It's advice I give to myself that I had to seriously listen to when I knew I needed somebody to help me in my business. Not only when I, you know, started taking the modern CEO program, figuring all that out and embracing that as well as having somebody come and help me on my team. So that's what I really have to say. If you're drowning in it and you don't understand it, reach out and ask for help.

So stinking good. Where do people find you to connect?

You can find me at my website, ww4zenbookkeeping.com and all the information is there for you to reach out and just book a date on my calendar and then we'll have a conversation and see which direction that you need to go in. If you just need regular bookkeeping work, somebody to keep make sure those day to day tasks are taken care of. Or if you need some, some extra help and you really want somebody to look at where the business is going, we can help you with that too.

Okay, perfect. I'm back. I was like, I'm gonna let Carol finish talking. I will make it back and then we'll sync up this recording.

Yeah, yeah.

You are incredible. Thank you Carol for coming in. Talking life, talking money. Have so much fun with the kids today.

Yeah. So happy to help and hope. Yeah. Hopefully they're doing okay out there. Dad's home so it's just not God this time. He's washing.

I love it. Have an amazing day. Thank you Carol. Find her for them bookkeeping dot com. She's incredible. The other thing that I love that she does is she's gonna, she's got that link right on your website. So now that hoops to jump through not contact forms and, and opt ins but just talk. Which is a beautiful thing and a gift in this time. Thanks again Carol. Talk soon.

Thank you. Amber.

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