Are you running a business that pays everyone except you?

Your software gets paid.

Your suppliers get paid.

Your accountant gets paid.

But when it comes to your own pay, are you still taking whatever is left at the end of the month?

And is there ever very much left?

In this episode, I’m introducing you to my Me First Method — a completely different way to look at your business numbers.

Instead of chasing more turnover, filling your diary and hoping some of the money eventually reaches you, I’ll show you how to begin with the amount you want your business to pay you and build your business model around making that possible.

I’ll also share a little of my own experience of chasing turnover, becoming busier and helping more people, without necessarily seeing that growth reflected in my own pay.

We’ll look at why turnover is not your wage, why profit is where your payday lives, and how understanding two simple figures — your business running costs and your average order value — can help you work out what you genuinely need to sell.

You’ll also have two practical tasks to complete, so this isn’t just an episode you listen to and forget. You can start applying the Me First Method to your own business straight away.

So, download the episode, grab a notebook and join me as we change the question from:

“What can I afford to pay myself?”

to:

“What does my business need to do so that paying me is part of the plan?”

Because you are not an optional extra in your business.

And it is time to stop paying yourself last.

Next steps you can take...

To join my Free Training day Reserve your Place Right Here

Subscribe to Figures Without Fear to get more hints, tips and ideas to grow your business

Book a FREE strategy call to help align your business plans with your personal income goals

Share this podcast with your audience to help other small business owners

Join The Business Club for ongoing support, advice and guidance. Join Here!

Take The Pay Day Challenge! Start paying yourself a consistent wage from net month. Learn more here

Welcome to episode 30 of the Figures Without Fear podcast.

How much is one customer really worth to your business?

You might be thinking about the value of their first purchase, but that could be only the beginning. A customer who spends £100 with you today could go on to spend £1,000, £5,000 or more over the course of your relationship.

In this episode of Figures Without Fear, I explain Customer Lifetime Value in simple, practical language and show you why your existing customers may be one of the biggest opportunities sitting inside your business.

We’ll look at how to calculate what an average customer spends over time, why customer value is not the same as customer profit, and how to create a clear next step without feeling pushy or overly salesy.

You’ll also discover why keeping customers deserves just as much attention as finding new ones, how referrals increase the true value of a customer relationship, and why the first sale should not automatically become your final offer.

There are two simple practical tasks to help you apply what you learn to your own business straight away.

And make sure you check the links below because I’ve also included details of a free training opportunity to help you get to know your business numbers and start facing your Figures Without Fear.

This will be an in-person training day and I need you to complete the expression of interest form if you'd like t come and join us so that I can let you know all the details once I've sorted them all out.

Next steps you can take...

To join my Free Training day complete the expression of interest form right here

Subscribe to Figures Without Fear to get more hints, tips and ideas to grow your business

Book a FREE strategy call to help align your business plans with your personal income goals

Share this podcast with your audience to help other small business owners

Join The Business Club for ongoing support, advice and guidance. Join Here!

Take The Pay Day Challenge! Start paying yourself a consistent wage from net month. Learn more here

Welcome to episode 29 of the Figures Without Fear podcast.

This week, we are talking about the three revenue reports every small business CEO should be reviewing weekly.

Now, before you immediately decide this sounds far too grown up, too corporate, or too spreadsheety for you, stay with me.

Because I am not talking about complicated reports, scary dashboards or anything that requires you to sit in a dark room with your accountant and a packet of biscuits for emotional support.

I am talking about three simple reports that will help you understand what is really happening with the money in your business.

Because being busy is not the same as being profitable.

Making sales is not the same as paying yourself properly.

And checking your bank balance is not the same as knowing your numbers.

In this episode, I am going to walk you through the three revenue reports I think every small business owner should look at each week: your weekly sales report, your revenue by offer report, and your pipeline report.

These reports will help you see what money has actually been created, which offers are bringing in revenue, what potential sales are sitting there waiting to be followed up, and what action you need to take next.

So, if you have ever got to the end of the month wondering where all the money has gone, or you know you should be looking at your figures but keep putting it off because you are worried they will be scary, this episode is for you.

It is time to stop guessing, stop panicking, and stop chasing turnover for the sake of it.

Because turnover is not the prize.

Profit is where your payday lives.

And the sooner you start looking at the right reports, the sooner you can start building a business that does not just keep you busy, but actually pays you properly at the end of each month.

Next steps you can take...

To join my Free Training day complete the expression of interest form right here

Subscribe to Figures Without Fear to get more hints, tips and ideas to grow your business

Book a FREE strategy call to help align your business plans with your personal income goals

Share this podcast with your audience to help other small business owners

Join The Business Club for ongoing support, advice and guidance. Join Here!

Take The Pay Day Challenge! Start paying yourself a consistent wage from net month. Learn more here

Have you ever looked at your marketing and thought, "I'm doing everything I'm supposed to be doing... so why isn't it bringing in more customers?"

The truth is, most small business owners are incredibly busy with their marketing. They're posting on social media, going networking, sending emails and updating their websites. But very few of them are actually measuring whether any of it is working.

And if you're not measuring it, how do you know where to spend more of your time... or what to stop doing altogether?

In this episode of Figures Without Fear, I'm talking about the marketing metrics that really matter. Not the vanity metrics like likes and followers that make us feel good for five minutes, but the numbers that help you make better business decisions and ultimately help you get paid properly from your business.

I'll share the simple metrics I encourage all of my clients to track, explain why they matter, and give you a couple of easy exercises you can do to start understanding what's really driving enquiries and sales in your business.

So, if you're ready to stop guessing and start making marketing decisions based on facts instead of feelings, grab yourself a cuppa and let's get started.

Next steps you can take...

To join my Free Training day complete the expression of interest form right here

Subscribe to Figures Without Fear to get more hints, tips and ideas to grow your business

Book a FREE strategy call to help align your business plans with your personal income goals

Share this podcast with your audience to help other small business owners

Join The Business Club for ongoing support, advice and guidance. Join Here!

Take The Pay Day Challenge! Start paying yourself a consistent wage from net month. Learn more here

Welcome to another episode of Figures Without Fear.

Today, I want to ask you a simple question: do you actually know which of your offers make you money?

Not which ones sell the most.

Not which ones get the best feedback.

Not which ones your clients tell you they love.

The ones that genuinely contribute to your profits and help you pay yourself properly.

Because one of the biggest surprises I see when working with business owners is that their favourite offer is often one of their least profitable. And sometimes the offer they think is making them loads of money is barely breaking even once they've accounted for their time, costs and everything that goes into delivering it.

In this episode, we're going to look at why not all offers are created equal, how to work out which offers are actually making you money, and why some brilliant offers simply aren't commercially viable. I'll even share some behind-the-scenes insights into my own retreats and the hidden costs that most people never think about.

So if you've ever wondered where all the money is going despite being busy, selling and working hard, this episode is for you.

Come and join us for free training: Complete the expression of interest form here

Subscribe to Figures Without Fear to get more hints, tips and ideas to grow your business

Book a FREE strategy call to help align your business plans with your personal income goals

Share this podcast with your audience to help other small business owners

Join The Business Club for ongoing support, advice and guidance. Join Here!

Take The Pay Day Challenge! Start paying yourself a consistent wage from net month. Learn more here

Most small business owners think they are the biggest asset in their business.

And at the start, that's probably true.

Your skills, knowledge and expertise are the reason your business exists in the first place.

But here's a question that might make you a little uncomfortable...

👉 Are you still the asset?

Or have you accidentally become the bottleneck?

It's not always an easy question to answer.

Because most of us started our businesses because we were good at something. Maybe you're a coach, a photographer, a therapist, an accountant, an electrician or a designer. Whatever it is, your expertise is probably the reason your business exists.

But being brilliant at what you do and being brilliant at running a business are two very different things.

And what I see time and time again are hardworking business owners doing all the right things they know how to do, yet still struggling to grow, make consistent profits, pay themselves properly, or achieve the results they want.

Not because they aren't capable.

Not because they aren't working hard enough.

But because they simply don't know what they don't know.

In today's episode, we're going to talk about how your lack of business knowledge can unintentionally become the thing that's holding your business back, the signs that you might be the bottleneck, and most importantly, what you can do about it.

So grab a brew, get comfortable, and let's find out whether you're helping your business move forward or unknowingly keeping it stuck.

Subscribe to Figures Without Fear to get more hints, tips and ideas to grow your business

Book a FREE strategy call to help align your business plans with your personal income goals

Share this podcast with your audience to help other small business owners

Join The Business Club for ongoing support, advice and guidance. Join Here!

Take The Pay Day Challenge! Start paying yourself a consistent wage from net month. Learn more here

Welcome back to Figures Without Fear, the podcast that helps new and small business owners understand the numbers in their business without needing an accounting qualification to do it.

Today, I want to talk about something that most business owners never stop to calculate, but that could be having a huge impact on their profits.

What does it actually cost you to acquire a customer?

Now, most business owners can tell you what they charge.

They can probably tell you how many customers they've got.

But very few can tell you how much time, money and effort it takes to bring a new customer through the door in the first place.

And that's a problem.

Because if you're spending hundreds of pounds and countless hours winning customers, only to make very little profit from them, you might be working far harder than you need to.

Last week, I talked about why so many business owners focus on making more money rather than making more of the money they already have.

And today's episode builds on that idea.

Because one of the biggest drains on your time, energy and bank balance is the constant pursuit of new customers.

Think about everything involved.

The networking.

The social media.

The discovery calls.

The proposals.

The follow-up emails.

The advertising.

And let's not forget the emotional rollercoaster that comes with it all.

The excitement when someone enquires.

The frustration when they disappear.

The pressure of wondering where the next sale is coming from.

But what if some of the easiest, cheapest and most profitable sales available to you are actually sitting in your existing customer database?

In this episode, I'm going to explore what customer acquisition really costs, why so many business owners underestimate it, and how making better use of your current and past customers could help you increase your profits without increasing your workload.

So grab a cuppa, a notebook if you're that way inclined, and let's dive into what it really costs to acquire a customer.

Subscribe to Figures Without Fear to get more hints, tips and ideas to grow your business

Book a FREE strategy call to help align your business plans with your personal income goals

Share this podcast with your audience to help other small business owners

Join The Business Club for ongoing support, advice and guidance. Join Here!

Take The Pay Day Challenge! Start paying yourself a consistent wage from net month. Learn more here

Welcome back to Figures Without Fear.

This week's episode is a little more personal than usual because I'm sharing a lesson that took me years, and quite a lot of money, to learn.

Like many business owners, I started my business because I wanted more freedom, more flexibility and the ability to pay myself a decent income. For me, that number was £5,000 a month. The problem was, I convinced myself that to achieve that, I needed a £100,000 business.

So that's exactly what I spent years chasing.

I invested in courses, coaches, software, subscriptions, offices, training rooms and just about every shiny object that promised to help me get there. Yet despite all that effort, there were still months when I wasn't paying myself properly at all.

In this episode, I'm sharing the moment I realised I'd been chasing completely the wrong number, why turnover is one of the most misunderstood figures in business, and the simple calculation that changed the way I look at business forever.

If you've ever thought, "I just need more sales," or found yourself chasing revenue targets because everyone else seems to be, then this episode could save you years of frustration.

We'll talk about why bigger isn't always better, why profit matters more than popularity, and how understanding just a handful of key numbers can help you build a business that actually benefits you.

So grab a cuppa, get comfortable, and let's dive into why making more money isn't always the answer — and why making more of the money you already have might just change everything.

Subscribe to Figures Without Fear to get more hints, tips and ideas to grow your business

Book a FREE strategy call to help align your business plans with your personal income goals

Share this post with your audience to help other small business owners

Join The Business Club for ongoing support, advice and guidance. Join Here!

Take The Pay Day Challenge! Start paying yourself a consistent wage from net month. Learn more here

Are you pricing your products and services based on what your business actually needs… or are you simply charging what everyone else seems to be charging?

Because if you're working hard, making sales, staying busy, and still struggling to pay yourself properly at the end of the month, your pricing could be the real problem.

In this week's episode of Figures Without Fear, I'm tackling one of the biggest mistakes I see new and small business owners make time and time again – pricing for popularity instead of sustainability.

We'll explore why copying competitors' prices can be dangerous, how underpricing creates pressure, stress and burnout, and why more customers aren't always the answer. I'll also share a simple way to start building prices that support your business goals, your lifestyle and your long-term growth.

If you've ever worried about charging too much, felt nervous about increasing your prices, or wondered why there's never quite enough money left over at the end of the month, this episode is for you.

Because you're not here to build the cheapest business.

You're here to build one that pays you properly.

Grab a notebook, join me for a listen, and let's make sure your pricing is working for you, not against you. 🎙️

Ways to work with me

Join my Business Club: https://thebusinessbuilderonline.com/the-business-club/

Take The Pay Day Challenge: https://thebusinessbuilderonline.com/the-pay-day-challenge/

Come to the next Retreat: https://thebusinessbuilderonline.com/the-business-builder-retreat/

Most small business owners think the answer to making more money is getting more customers.

But what if the real problem isn’t sales…

What if it’s what’s happening to the money after it comes into the business?

Because I see this all the time:

Busy businesses.

…and yet the business owner still isn’t paying themselves properly.

Why?

Because turnover and profit are not the same thing.

And if your profit margins are poor, working harder often just makes you more exhausted — not more profitable.

That’s exactly what I’m talking about in my latest LinkedIn newsletter:

“3 Ways to Increase Profit Margins Without Raising Your Prices”

Inside I cover:

Plus I’ve included two quick practical tasks you can implement immediately to start thinking more like a CEO and less like someone constantly chasing the next sale.

Because you don’t always need more customers…

Sometimes you just need to keep more of what you’re already earning.

If that sounds like something your business desperately needs right now, this episode is definitely worth a listen.

Ways to work with me...

Subscribe to Figures Without Fear to get more hints, tips and ideas to grow your business

Take The Pay Day Challenge! Start paying yourself a consistent wage from net month. Learn more here

Book a FREE strategy call to help align your business plans with your personal income goals

Share this post with your audience to help other small business owners

Join The Business Club for ongoing support, advice and guidance. Join Here!