Calm is the New KPI™: Engineering Calmer Agencies & Consulting Firms

It seems like everyone is adding a community or membership to their product lineup these days. It’s a great idea for three reasons: it diversifies your revenue stream, allows you to be in direct conversation with your customers, and scales pretty easily.

But is adding a community right for YOUR business?

And what makes a good community anyway?

And how might a community reduce your risk as an entrepreneur?

We've been talking about how you can manage risk and build resilience into your business all this month. And one of the ways to make your business less risky is to build in more than one way you make money by adding some additional revenue streams. If something happens to one of those sources, the other ones can float you for a while so you can figure out what to do next.

In the last episode, I talked to JoAnn Holmes about how to leverage your intellectual property to create additional revenue streams like courses, licensing, or books.

But harnessing your IP isn't the ONLY way you could add additional revenue or build resilience into your business.

Today, we're talking with Sophie Bujold about another option: building a community product around your business. Sophie is an entrepreneur and consultant with more than 18 years of experience in online community building, customer experience, and digital strategy. As the founder of Cliqueworthy, Sophie helps creative entrepreneurs gather with impact through outstanding online community experiences.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Using community/membership model as a means to diversify revenue streams
• Who should build communities & where should it live in your business
• Where your community should live inside your business model—and how to create a great one

Learn more about Sophie:

• cliqueworthy.com
• LinkedIn: Sophie Bujold

Learn more about Susan:

•  Scalespark Dollars + Decisions Roundtable
• Twitter @ScaleSpark
• LinkedIn @thesusanboles

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Your business model might already have some inherent risks built into it because of the choices you've made about how you want to run your business.

For example, maybe you only want to work with high-value retainer clients. Totally valid choice! But it’s inherently riskier than other models where you might have several sources of income.

If you only work with 2 or 3 of those clients at a time, what happens when you lose one of them? That's a pretty big blow to your income all at once.

As long as you recognize that risk, there are many ways to bolster your business to mitigate those scenarios. You could accept that it's a risk and make sure that you're cultivating a waiting list of folks who want to work with you so it's easy to fill that open spot. That's one way.

Or you could start looking at other ways to strengthen the foundations of your income so it's less susceptible to big drops from losing one client.

You could also diversify where your income comes from. Maybe you decide to offer a course or a product or build a tool or write a book so that there is income streaming into your business from more than one source. That way, if something happens to ONE source, it's just a hiccup—not a catastrophe.

We've been talking all about risk and resilience this month. Jacquette Timmons and I talked about the intimate relationship between the two. And I talked to Priya Malani and Luke Frye about the two biggest risks for business owners: cash flow and taxes.

Today, we're shifting a little bit to talk about how to build some more resilience into your business model by using work you've already done—your intellectual property—and turning it into another source of revenue for your business.

JoAnn Holmes is an attorney who helps 7 and 8 figure companies grow recurring revenue through licensing brands, software, and business content. Basically, she helps you take your intellectual property—stuff you've already created—and turn it into an additional source of income for your business. She's the founder of Holmes at Law and the host of the Your Business Ally podcast.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Using your intellectual property to pivot & build resilience
• Taking advantage of your IP to diversify your revenue streams
• Identifying different types of IP and how to protect what you’ve created with your business

Learn more about JoAnn:

• holmesatlaw.com
• LinkedIn: JoAnn Holmes
• Facebook: Holmes at Law
• Instagram: @holmesatlaw
• Twitter: @holmesatlaw

Learn more about Susan:

•  Scalespark Dollars + Decisions Roundtable
• Twitter @ScaleSpark
• LinkedIn @thesusanboles

Grab the Calm Service Design + Delivery Swipe File here

Nothing is certain but death and taxes.

Except that taxes are very rarely certain—and in the U.S., taxes are a labyrinth of confusion.

Our tax system is founded on the idea that the government knows how much we owe them... but they're not going to tell us—we have to guess.

And if we guess wrong? We either pay more or go to jail. It’s not really the friendliest system.

That might be why taxes are a bit of an afterthought for small business owners. For most, having a “tax strategy” means making sure you’re dumping money into a tax reserve savings account so that you have enough to pay whatever it is that you’re supposed to pay at the end of the year. But that’s pretty much where it ends.

Let me be clear: that is a great—and essential!—first step because there is real risk of losing your business if you don’t have enough cash to pay your tax bill. And, even worse, if you ignore paying your taxes for too long? Sometimes you just can’t come back from that.

But there’s another side: having a strong tax strategy allows you to avoid risk, yes, but also to use that strategy to ensure that every single dollar in your business is being used in the MOST effective way possible.

The reality is that every dollar that you spend paying taxes that you didn't have to spend is a dollar that could have used on something else.

This month, I’m covering risks, resilience, and the relationship between the two. So far, I’ve talked with financial behaviorist Jacquette Timmons about identifying financial risks and building resilience. Last week, Priya Malani laid out just how important it is to know how much money is coming in—and out—of your business.

Today, I’m excited to discuss the importance of accounting, bookkeeping, and understanding your taxes with Luke Frye, cofounder and CPA at Timber Tax Accounting.

Luke was the first accountant at Bench.co and has been helping entrepreneurs with their accounting and taxes for nearly a decade. He knows what it's like on both sides of the table as he had his own business as a teenager where he learned how to manage his quarterly taxes.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Tax issues that service business owners should be thinking about (and what you might be missing out on)
• What type of account Luke recommends that self-employed people use to save for retirement
• LLC vs S-Corp from a tax perspective
• Why not saving for taxes is a huge risk 

Learn more about Luke:

• timbertax.co
• Facebook: Timber Tax Co.
• Instagram: Timber Tax Co.

Learn more about Susan:

•  Scalespark Dollars + Decisions Roundtable
• Twitter @ScaleSpark
• LinkedIn @thesusanboles

Grab the Calm Service Design + Delivery Swipe File here

Consider this: the number one reason why businesses go under is because of cash flow issues (with number two being a lack of access to capital.)

While there are a ton of different kinds of risks that can impact your business, financial health is still the most pressing because of the threat they pose to the health of your business if you don’t get it right.

More often than not—no matter your business model—sales don’t show up consistently on the same day, month after month, even though your personal and business bills do.

That’s why understanding how cash flows in and out of your business—and how to manage that money in both your personal life and business—is a crucial skillset to strengthen as an entrepreneur.

This month, I’m talking about risks, resilience, and the relationship between the two. Last week, I chatted with Jacquette Timmons about identifying financial risks and how to build resilience.

Today, I’m continuing the conversation about money and business with Priya Malani, CEO and Founder of Stash Wealth, a financial planning and investment management firm for HENRYs™ [High Earners, Not Rich Yet].

Dubbed “the Rebel of Wall Street”, Priya’s goal is to change the way young professionals think about money by empowering them to get their financial sh*t together. 

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Money management mistakes that business owners are making
• How to balance your personal and business cash needs
• Strategies for making sure there's always enough cash on hand in your business
• How much of a cash reserve you REALLY need to have to be safe

Learn more about Priya:

• Stash Wealth
• LinkedIn: Priya Malani
• Instagram: @priyamalaniofficial

Learn more about Susan:

•  Scalespark Dollars + Decisions Roundtable
• Twitter @ScaleSpark
• LinkedIn @thesusanboles

Grab the Calm Service Design + Delivery Swipe File here

You can never completely eliminate risk. It's something you just have to live with.

But risk doesn't have to consume you.

In fact, identifying and addressing risks in your business is one of the main ways to build resilience into it. You can't fix what you can't see and if you don't understand what's most likely to break, it's pretty hard to build that trampoline of resilience right where you need it most.

That's what building resilience in your business REALLY means: you're building systems and structures that can respond to and rebound from whatever you throw at it. Even if it's a risk or a crisis that you never saw coming.

No one, no matter what they tell you, knows what's going to happen next.

We don't know how our society, our government, the economy, or our businesses will change. All we can do is examine the risks and do our damnedest to build something better and stronger—and something built for change.

This month, I’m talking about risks, resilience, and the relationship between the two. To kick it off, I’m chatting with Jacquette Timmons. Jacquette is a financial behaviorist, speaker and author of Financial Intimacy: How to Create a Healthy Relationship with Your Money and Your Mate, and the host of the More Than Money podcast. Jacquette focuses mostly on the personal side of finance although many of her clients are entrepreneurs.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How assessing your risk is actually a move towards building resilience
• What the relationship between risk, uncertainty, safety, and resilience is
• Why your personal risk versus taking risks in business are different—and how they can influence each other 

Learn more about Jacquette:

• jacquettetimmons.com
• Financial Wheel Exercise
• LinkedIn: @jacquettetimmons
• Instagram: @jacquettemtimmons
• Twitter: @jacqmtimmons

Learn more about Susan:

•  Scalespark Dollars + Decisions Roundtable
• Twitter @ScaleSpark
• LinkedIn @thesusanboles

Grab the Calm Service Design + Delivery Swipe File here

Busy, busy, busy.

We are all so busy.

And that makes it really easy—too easy, in fact—to come up with excuses not to do the work that’s most important to us.

Because that’s also usually the work that’s the scariest.

For the last month, we’ve been talking about all the ways that founders get in their own way and the practical tools you can use to get OUT of your own way.

In the first episode of the series, Michelle Warner talks about the critical importance of setting up systems and how process can be a competitive advantage.

Second in the series, Tonya Dalton highlights our love affair with to-do lists and how that overcommitment can lead to burnout.

Next, Agnes Kowalski lays down practical money and mindset tips (because we all can use a little healthier approach to money!)

I also talked with business therapist Nicole Lewis-Keeber about getting out of your own way and not allowing your past create barriers for your future.

And last week, Jason Van Orden shared about the power of patience in business.

Today, to wrap up the series, we’re tackling procrastination.

It’s probably the most common way that founders, business owners, and—really—just about anyone trying to do anything get in their own damn way.

Charlie Gilkey helps people start finishing the stuff that matters. He's the founder of Productive Flourishing, author of the book Start Finishing (2019) and The Small Business Lifecycle (2012), and host of the Productive Flourishing podcast.

Charlie and I tackle not just getting out of your own way but ALSO how to get out of your team's way and how the stage your business is in affects the roadblocks you'll run up against.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• What founder mojo is and how to use it to your business’ advantage
• How we use procrastination to avoid doing work that matters
• How the business stage you’re in impacts the roadblocks you have to overcome (and where you’ll get tripped up) 
• How your issues as a founder affect your TEAM

Charlie’s Links:

• Facebook: Productive Flourishing
• Twitter: @CharlieGilkey
• Instagram: @productiveflourishing, @momentumplanner

Susan’s Links:

•  Scalespark Dollars + Decisions Roundtable
• Twitter @ScaleSpark
• LinkedIn @thesusanboles

Grab the Calm Service Design + Delivery Swipe File here

Often, we come up with new ideas, launch them, and then get disappointed that they don't work. So we shift to something else, create something new, and run through the whole cycle again.

But what if it was a great idea and you just didn't give it a chance to succeed?

Maybe you didn't give it enough time? Or devote enough resources to it? Or tell enough people about it? Maybe you didn't market it to the right people or in the right way.

Maybe this thing you created is actually a great thing and you just didn't have enough patience with it.

This month, we've been talking about all the various ways that founders can muck up their own success—ways that we get in our own way and the practical tools you can use to stop sabotaging your progress.

If you’ve been struggling to set up systems in your business, listen to the first episode in the series with Michelle Warner about how process can be a competitive advantage (always a good thing!)

Love overcommitting yourself with a to-do list that’s a mile long until you’re on the precipice of burnout? You’ll learn so much from the episode with Tonya Dalton.

For some of us, a healthy money mindset can be elusive. For practical tips to impact how you think and relate to money, check out the episode with Agnes Kowalski.

Last week, I talked to Nicole Lewis-Keeber about how to stop getting in your own way by letting your past create a wall you keep running into over and over again as you try to grow.

Today, we're talking about patience and purposeful experimentation with Jason Van Orden. He's a consultant, trainer, and strategist who helps thought leaders reach larger audiences. He's created multiple successful brands, launched over 60 online courses, taught more than 10,000 entrepreneurs, and has over 8 million podcast downloads. 

So… he knows a little something about seeing things through.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• What strategies and tools to use to give your projects every chance to succeed
• How to test and iterate an idea (and what data to look for)
• Why speed of implementation is everything when trying something new  
• How to set up your experiment for success
• How LONG to test something before you decide if it’s “working” or not 

Jason’s Links:

• Online Course Design Canvas
• Magnetic Messaging Framework
• Twitter: @jasonvo
• LinkedIn: @jasonvanorden
• Facebook: Jason Van Orden
• Instagram: @jasonvo

Susan’s Links:

• Be Your Own CFO
• Scalespark Action Plan
• ScaleSpark

Grab the Calm Service Design + Delivery Swipe File here

What kind of relationship do you have with your business?

Are you ride-or-die BFFs? Or is your business a mean, demanding boss that makes you dread going to work?

Like any relationship that we are in, the relationship that we have with our business can be complex and they take understanding, consideration, and work.

This month, we've been talking about the various ways that business owners get in their own way, the different ways this shows up, and some practical strategies to avoid making these mistakes over and over.

If you're someone who gets in your own way by resisting systems, check out the first episode in the series with Michelle Warner about how process can be a competitive advantage.

If you're someone who gets in your own way by putting ALL the things on your to-do list until you're ready to crash, the episode with Tonya Dalton is a great one for you.

If you are, well, pretty much anyone who deals with money (hint: that's all of you) go listen to last weeks episode with Agnes Kowalski about money mindset.

And if you're someone who struggles with the need to control everything or if you get stuck in perfectionism or the need to do things the "right" way, today's episode is for you.

Nicole Lewis-Keeber is a business therapist and mindset coach who works with entrepreneurs to create and nurture healthy relationships with their businesses. She's a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a Masters in Social Work and she writes and speaks about the impact of small-t trauma on businesses.

Her biggest, more important work is in combining therapeutic processes with business coaching to help entrepreneurs build emotionally sustainable, and financially stable businesses.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How your past experiences might be showing up in your business and creating limitations to growth
• How perfectionism and the need for control in your business are rooted in the need to feel safe
• How if you're one of those people who just can't seem to find the right system for your business... it might not be the systems. 
• How all your weaknesses and issues become ingrained in your business -- because YOU are the one who created it

Nicole’s Links:

• Trauma and It's Impact on Business - Free Course
• Nicole Lewis-Keeber Coaching
• Instagram: @nicole.lewiskeeber
• Facebook: Nicole Lewis-Keeber Coaching

Susan’s Links:

•  Scalespark Dollars + Decisions Roundtable
• Twitter @ScaleSpark
• LinkedIn @thesusanboles

Grab the Calm Service Design + Delivery Swipe File here

Money. You earn it. You spend it. Maybe you even save or invest it.

But do you know how your personal feelings and beliefs around money affect your business growth?

Our feelings about money color every part of our businesses and it’s the #1 way I see my clients getting in their own way.

How we approach our finances, both personally and professionally, is heavily impacted by our feelings about money and the stories we tell ourselves about it. Those stories are often rooted in our childhood experiences with money.

Often, those money stories and beliefs are SO ingrained in us that we can't even see what's happening. It's like being in a glass box -- you can't see it, but it's keeping you in one place.

It seems like no matter how much work we do on our money mindset and working through our limiting beliefs, every time we try to hit that next level, they come roaring right back.

Today my guest is Agnes Kowalski. Agnes has a lot to say about our relationship with money and the way that our money mindsets can hold us back. She went from having a poverty mindset that was limiting her to $40,000 per year, to consistently bringing in a 6 figure income as a money mindset coach. She shows entrepreneurs and service providers how to improve their relationship to money so they can increase their income and personal power.

And we're talking money. Money blocks, money mindset, and how to avoid letting your own money stories determine the course of your business.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How our money beliefs, stories, and limitations affect our businesses
• What are some of the most common money mindset issues that trip up business owners
• What  impacts these stories are having on their businesses 
• How can people start identifying their money stories and money mindset issues
• And what tools entrepreneurs can use to help deal with their money mindset

Agnes’ Links:

• Agneskowalski.com
• Facebook
• Instagram: @agneskowalski
• Tapping Into Wealth by Margaret Lynch

Susan’s Links:

•  Scalespark Dollars + Decisions Roundtable
• Twitter @ScaleSpark
• LinkedIn @thesusanboles

Grab the Calm Service Design + Delivery Swipe File here

Hustle culture tells us that in order to gain ground, we have to grind it out. That putting in the long hours day after day will bring us success.

But that just doesn't work for real people. Real people need rest. 

Rest increases your productivity, your effectiveness, your problem-solving skills, and your creativity. We NEED rest to do our best work and to be able to bring our best selves to our businesses. 

But when there's SO much going on and the to-do list is SO long, how do you create the space for rest – for your family and friends – and for your best work at the same time?

You prioritize the things that matter and get rid of the crap that doesn't.

All this month we're talking about how founders get in their own way and the practical, systematic tools they can use to stop doing that. 

Last week, I talked to Michelle Warner about how having a solid process can be a competitive advantage both in sales and in your operational efficiency.

Today, we're talking with Tonya Dalton about the key to tackling this overwhelming and never-ending to-do list so you can get crystal clear on your priorities.

Tonya is a nationally recognized productivity expert, speaker, and best-selling author of the Joy of Missing Out. She serves as a growth strategist for female leaders in the corporate and entrepreneurial sectors and hosts the Productivity Paradox Podcast. Tonya is also the founder and CEO of inkWELL Press Productivity Co., a multi-million dollar company providing tools that work as a catalyst in helping women do less while achieving maximum success.

Tonya's North Star method lets you figure out what DOES matter to you -- both for your life and for your business – allowing you to align your day and your tasks with your goals so that you can make conscious choices about what you DON'T want to do.

Eliminating all that stuff on the to-do list that doesn't really matter frees up space to breathe, to think and act strategically, and to get the hell out of your own way.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How to prioritize when EVERYTHING is important
• How both your team and your business suffer when you get in your own way by not communicating a clear direction
• How getting clear on your priorities will create momentum in your business and space in your life
• And how to avoid the latest “hack” or software tool that promises to solve all your problems

Tonya’s Links:

• tonyadalton.com
• inkWELL Press Productivity Co.
• Productivity Paradox Podcast
• The Joy of Missing Out Book 
• Tonya Dalton Facebook
• Tonya Dalton Instagram 

Susan’s Links:

•  Scalespark Dollars + Decisions Roundtable
• Twitter @ScaleSpark
• LinkedIn @thesusanboles

Grab the Calm Service Design + Delivery Swipe File here