Evolved Finance

We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 69. There is so much about running an online business that you just have to figure out as you go along. One of those things is learning how to protect your business from a legal standpoint. Like with finance and taxes, you can only get so far managing this aspect of your business without having to go and get a new degree. Unless you already have one, I don’t think most business owners are rushing out to apply for law school just to write a privacy policy for their website. That’s why for today’s episode, we’re sharing an interview Corey (my business partner) and I did with legal expert Autumn Witt Boyd. Autumn has extensive experience working directly with online businesses (the likes of Amy Porterfield and Melyssa Griffin), which is a rare niche for a lawyer to dive into. In this episode, Autumn and I discuss: The role a lawyer should play in your online business The top legal vulnerabi

We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 67. The internet is awesome! It’s connected the world in ways few could have ever predicted. The impact it’s had on entrepreneurship and business, in general, is monumental in its own right. Despite all the benefits the web has had for our ability to find and connect with our customers, we’re seeing a growing number of our clients instead put an emphasis on getting in front of their customers and audiences in person. As a mega extrovert and all-around people lover, I’m very into the idea of connecting with people in the real world. However, the finance side of me gets nervous whenever one of our clients ventures into hosting live events because of the tremendous expenses that can come along with it. That’s why in this episode, we discuss: Why live events are becoming more common for online businesses The mistakes we’ve seen entrepreneurs make with live event planning How to do the work a

We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 62. Everyone wants to grow their business. It’s kind of the point of entrepreneurship. We’re also always looking for easier ways to drive revenue for our businesses. If we’re going to make more sales, why not take the easiest route possible? That’s where revenue sharing relationships can come into play. It can seem like an easy way to create a new revenue stream or grow a revenue stream that already exists without having to do all the work yourself but, based on what we’ve seen with our clients, you need to be careful about what kind of agreement you’re getting into. Unsure of what I mean by this? Then you need to listen to this episode. We discuss: What a revenue-sharing partnership looks like Why profit sharing is preferred over revenue sharing Why revenue/profit sharing is usually not a fair deal for the business owner Why having accurate and strong financial data is so important for

We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 53. We’re in a unique position at Evolved Finance. We get to see behind the scenes of some of the most successful online businesses in the industry. After years of serving online entrepreneurs with their bookkeeping, it’s almost inevitable that we’ve started to see patterns in not just our client’s numbers, but also in the decisions they make in their businesses. While all our clients have reached a level of success that most aspiring entrepreneurs wish to achieve, our most successful clients seem to have some clear commonalities that separate them from the rest of the pack. That’s why in this episode, we discuss what our most successful clients have in common with each other: What they’re each able to do with their product offers What makes their marketing strategies so effective Why they put so much emphasis on building the right team Why they invest in their personal development as le

We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 52. As human beings, our relationships with money can be diverse and complicated, particularly for those of us raised and working in the US. Regardless of your outlook on money, materialism, consumerism, etc, it’s still important to understand what a healthy relationship with money looks like for you. This is one of those cases where what you don’t know can hurt you. The only thing worse than not knowing about your finances is running into an unexpected “surprise.” As entrepreneurs, our relationship with money isn’t just about being open to generating more revenue (which is a mind game of its own), but it’s also about feeling comfortable managing money and not feeling intimidated or ashamed about making financial decisions. That’s why in this episode, we discuss: How the lack of financial education in American culture is detrimental to entrepreneurs The problem with thinking budgeting is

We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 51. We’ve been in the fortunate position to see a lot of online businesses go from moderate success to massive success in less than a year. In fact, most of our new clients see their businesses grow after the first 12 months of working with us, so we’ve come to expect some sort of growth for all our clients each year, even if it’s just a little bit. The one thing that is NOT guaranteed with a growing business, however, is profit. There are a lot of expenses that come into running an online business that you might not be thinking of, which is why it’s so important to get a clear and accurate picture of your cashflow. Entrepreneurs can be misled into thinking that an unhealthy business can simply be fixed by making more sales, but that’s not always the case. That’s why in this episode, we discuss: Why profit is easy in the beginning but more difficult as a business grows Why low-six-figure

We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 50. In last week’s episode, we began our discussion around what it takes to invest in the long-term success of an online business. In today’s episode, we dive deeper into the strategies and actions we’ve seen our clients take to build businesses that will be thriving years from now. Models have changed from even a few years ago, and it’s not just about making a quick buck but rather building something sustainable. That means that even if your business is reliant on one main offer, you find other ways to deliver value that can synergize with it. In this episode, we discuss: How much savings you should build up to survive bad luck Why it’s crucial to adapt to trends in the marketplace Why strong product synergy across your offerings is more important than ever before Why maximizing the results you’re promising your customers needs to shape your business model and product strategy Why finan

We’re revisiting some of our most popular and helpful podcasts from the last year. For this week, we are replaying episode 49. Running a business online is still a relatively new frontier. It feels like only 10-15 years ago, people were still uncomfortable typing in their credit card info to buy a used book on Amazon. Consumers have come a long way when it comes to being comfortable doing business online, but we still see many entrepreneurs operating like they’re trying to make a quick buck and cash out instead of aiming to build a sustainable business. Building an online business that’s in it for the long run goes far beyond a couple successful launches or landing a big client. You need to create a foundation for the business that you can build on and grow without the entire machine breaking down. In part one of this two-part series, we’re going to look at what it takes to invest in the long-term success of your business so you can create a sustainable income for years to come. Why getting clear on your mai

Today’s episode is more of an announcement than an actual episode. We have two exciting changes for the podcast and for me personally: My wife and I are expecting our first child soon, so I will be taking some paternity leave at some point in September. We will be changing up the format of the podcast in some new and exciting ways It wouldn’t be any fun if I explained EVERYTHING in this message, so please listen to the latest episode to learn more about me becoming a Dad, the big changes to the podcast (that I’m super excited about), and what we’ll be doing with the podcast over the next couple months (don’t worry, we’ll still be posting regular episodes).

Running a successful business can be hard. If you want to scale your online business to have lots of customers, a small/medium-sized team, and lots of profit, it’s going to mean pushing your comfort zone on a regular basis. Building Evolved Finance these last 7 years with Corey and our team has been by far the most fulfilling and challenging endeavor of my life (at least so far…I have a baby boy due in September, so my opinion might change on that…ha!). One of the main reasons we’ve been able to get to where we are today is because we’ve been able to effectively manage our resources. One thing we’ve learned is that no two resources are more important than time and money when you’re scaling a business. So for today’s episode, we discuss: Why most online business owners only worry about their time resources in the early stages of running their business Why time management can create an illusion that you are addressing financial issues in your business Why managing your financial resources becomes just as impor

There are few things online business owners want more than a high converting paid traffic advertising campaign. The ability to put money into Facebook, Google, or Instagram ads and get hundreds of paying customers in return is the ultimate dream for online entrepreneurs. Many business owners try to run ad campaigns to grow their businesses, but the reality is that not everyone is able to get a return on their investment. It may be shocking to hear from a finance dude, but I believe every business should experiment with paid advertising at some point. What I do NOT believe in is being irresponsible with your investment in Google or Facebook ads. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: Why your business needs to prove itself before you spend a cent on advertising How we’ve seen our clients use monthly budgets for their ads to test campaigns out before making larger investments down the road Why you need to be able to track your sales funnel metrics on a daily basis to responsibly scale your ad spend How the f

During my time at adidas, I was lucky enough to work in footwear. It was a product person’s dream. What footwear lover wouldn’t want to work for one of the most famous and successful manufacturers of athletic footwear in the world? A pitfall of being so close to the product you’re helping to bring to market, however, is that you can get too deep into the “features & benefits” of the shoe. The truth is that most consumers do not really care about that new lightweight midsole material or the revolutionary bonding process that removes the need for traditional stitching. They care about what the product does for them or how the product makes them feel. What I’ve noticed working with many online business owners is that they can fall into this exact same trap when positioning and selling their offers. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: The balance you need to strike between the features of your offers and the prices you charge Why adding more features to your offers is probably not the right call How add

It’s safe to say that not all online entrepreneurs start their businesses because they’re motivated by money. There are many other reasons to start an online business: You don’t want to have a boss anymore You want to focus on work you love You want to make a bigger impact on the world You want to do work that is aligned with your values Regardless of what your motivations are for running your business—even if those motivations are focused on building your wealth—your relationship with money is going to affect the way you run your business. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: The different relationships we see our clients have with money The different reasons people have for starting a business How your outlook on money affects your business How you can build a better relationship with money as an entrepreneur

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. Entrepreneurs love overcomplicating their businesses when they don’t need to. Most business owners don’t want to make their businesses more difficult to run, but as problems and issues pop up, they tend to add layer after layer of band-aids instead of treating the cut with stitches right from the start. That’s why having access to the financial data in your business is so crucial because it shows you where you’re not operating efficiently. And if you have proper bookkeeping, you don’t usually have to dive into the numbers that deeply to find out what your issues are.  So for this episode, we discuss: How businesses get to the point where they become more complicated than they need to be The most common ways we see entrepreneurs overcomplicate the different parts of their businesses What we see our clients doing with their finances that helps them to simplify and streamline their businesses Why the way your bookkeeping is managed affects your ability to fix issues in y

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when bookkeeping and accounting tasks were all completed on paper. If that were still the case, I can assure you that I would not have shifted my career to the world of accounting and finance. Ha! Like with most industries, technology and software have dramatically changed accounting and bookkeeping for the better, but there is an oddly “old school” mentality around it that is still prevalent today. Let’s be clear: there is absolutely no reason you should be running your online business like it’s the 1970s just because your bookkeeper and/or accountant hasn’t caught up to modern financial practices.  That’s why for today’s episode, we discuss: The role of bookkeeping in a modern online business The tasks that bookkeepers and accountants used to manage for small businesses, but don’t need to anymore The software and the team members our clients lean on to make sure their internal financial tasks are taken care of each month Why invoicing should be done outside of yo

A big part of what we are trying to do at Evolved Finance is to help our clients create wealth through their online businesses. That might be weird to hear from a bookkeeping firm, but the monthly financial reports we deliver to our clients are to help them make sure they are building businesses that are healthy and profitable. When an online business is able to become profitable, that’s when the wealth-building potential starts to amplify. But what do you do once your business is profitable and your personal income is growing? That’s where Jackson Millan and his team at Aureus Financial can help. Jackson looks at wealth education very differently than a typical financial planner or advisor, which is why I was excited to interview him. During our conversation, we discuss: Why Jackson gravitated towards finance as a career after growing up with entrepreneurial parents Why Jackson felt disgusted and disheartened by what he saw in the financial services industry once he got his first job Why Jackson has doubled

I don’t think you can have a business strategy conversation without using the word “grow.” Grow your revenue, grow your customers, grow your team. Grow, grow, grow!!! Obviously, growth is a great thing for a business, but is possible to have too much growth too quickly? I think so. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: What does a quickly growing online business look like? Why your business model will affect how quickly your company can grow The problems we have seen pop up in our client’s businesses when they grow faster than they are able to handle Why you need to prepare yourself for a lot of leadership development if you want a fast-growth company Why your finances become infinitely more important when your online business is growing quickly

As you see the revenue in your online business grow, it’s inevitable that your expenses will grow with them. Of course, we want the expenses to be growing at a slower rate than the revenue, but even our most profitable clients can have thousands of dollars a month in expenses. If we looked across all of our clients’ businesses, it would be super common to see them spending anywhere from $10k-$30k a month on their expenses. Our largest clients can easily spend $100k+ per month. That’s why almost every client we work with uses a business credit card to cover as many of their monthly expenses as they possibly can.  So for this episode, we discuss: The benefits of using a business credit card for your business expenses Why you want to use a business card and not a personal card How to make sure your credit card bill gets paid in full each month The most popular business credit cards we see our clients use

My first experience with social media was MySpace. I was a musician in a rock band during the peak of MySpace’s popularity, so we were ALL about getting followers on our page.  Since those days, the “in” social media platforms have changed, but the game has stayed the same regardless of if you’re a musician, thought leader, comedian, or video game streamer. Building a following. With the types of online businesses we work with at Evolved Finance, we call this growing an audience, a combo of people on your email list and those who follow you on social media. So it’s safe to assume that a huge audience means a big business, right? That’s not always been the case for our clients. That’s why for today’s episode, we discuss: Why it’s important for any online business to have an audience (even if it’s a temporary one) The biggest mistake we have seen a client make with building a large audience Why your business model needs to match the size of your audience Why certain monetization strategies only work for

Since Evolved Finance was founded in 2010, we have seen a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff that happens in a successful online business.  That means both the good and the bad. But the one thing we haven’t seen a lot of is our clients selling their businesses. As I have mentioned in the past, most online businesses are not built to be sold. They are built to be profit machines that generate income for the business owner. That being said, online businesses could become far more attractive to buyers in the future. Especially as more and more online entrepreneurs prove that their businesses can stand the test of time.  That is why I asked Tyler Evans from So-Cal Business Brokers to come onto the show. His company helps small business owners find buyers for their companies while helping to facilitate the negotiation and sales process.  During our conversation, Tyler and I discussed: What makes a business sellable? What sorts of things are investors and buyers typically looking for when they buy a business?