Evolved Finance

Let me start out by saying that I don’t have a crystal ball that tells me the future. As far as I’m aware, I don’t think anyone else does either. But as entrepreneurs, we must manage the financial risks and opportunities in our businesses based on what we think the future holds. Especially in times of uncertainty, which the past 12 months have given the entire world in spades. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: Why I think we are going to see a change in consumer behaviors as more people get vaccinated in 2021 Whether or not there’s an online business bubble that might be ready to pop Why all online business owners will need to once again be prepared to pivot (though probably not as much as last year) How you can use a forecast and budget to prepare for a boom or a downturn in your business

I don’t think many people predicted in March or April of 2020 how beneficial COVID would be for the online business world. I fully understand and acknowledge that COVID has been devastating for many industries and communities, but we are fortunate that the online business space has not impacted.  In the last year, we saw more of our client’s businesses take huge leaps in revenue than ever before and, as exciting as that growth has been for them, it has also challenged them in ways they have never experienced before (and that goes for us at Evolved Finance, too!).  New levels of revenue mean new problems to solve and new barriers to overcome. So how do you prepare your business so you can handle big leaps in growth? That’s why we discuss: Why your business model can make or break your ability to grow as quickly as you would like How systems and processes can make or break your business’s ability to serve more customers at once Why you need to get comfortable with the idea of bringing on more contractors

I love teaching entrepreneurs about the financial side of their businesses because their numbers are so fundamental to the success of their companies. If you’ve listened to even a couple of episodes of this podcast, that’s hopefully become apparent to you as well. But giving advice about money and business to a broad audience can be tricky because certain pieces of advice will be more or less important depending on how big your business is. That’s why for today’s episode, we discuss: The 4 financial phases of an online business What your financial priorities need to be when you’re in each of these 4 phases Why you need to uplevel your financial systems and your financial team as you move into higher-level phases What you need from your financial data as your business continues to grow

One of my favorite sayings about running a small business is, “If your small business isn’t making sales, you’re simply funding an expensive hobby.” This is why learning how to generate consistent revenue in your online business is such an important skill to develop from the start. This is also why there are so many coaching programs and marketing services dedicated to helping small businesses generate more sales. But there does come a point where simply making more sales won’t keep a business financially healthy. In fact, we’ve had fairly large online businesses reach out to us who are generating lots of revenue but their financial health is still in jeopardy. You might ask, “how is this even possible?” It’s almost always because the business owner doesn’t understand the connection between their finances and how they operate their business. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: How your business model affects your operations Why generating more revenue is not always the answer to solving your online b

To be a human being is to experience emotions and feelings.  To be a business owner is to balance feelings with data. Many a startup have failed because the founder’s “feelings” and “instincts” didn’t match up with the reality of what the market was telling them (the data).  The types of online businesses our clients own can get far off of feelings and instincts alone, but they will eventually hit a point where it becomes too stressful, risky, or irresponsible to scale the business without paying attention to the different types of data that are available to their businesses. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: The types of data every online business owner needs to be tracking and paying attention to Why data can help you make better decisions in your business Why the data in your business can help you understand what things you need to prioritize How to track the financial data in your online business properly Why everyone is 100% capable of understanding the financial data about their online

If you have any hopes of growing your online business, then you’re going to need other people to help you get there. For most online entrepreneurs, contractors are a great starting point to get the support they need, but as their business grows and scales, hiring employees becomes a necessary next step. I think it’s fair to say that when building any sort of team—be it your first contractor, or your 13th employee (like we’re hiring for right now!)—the thought of bringing more people into your business can be scary. And like most things about online businesses, there’s a lot of bad information and advice going around about building teams. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: Why you need an accountant or lawyer to advise you on the best time to bring in employees as your online business grows Why employees are slightly more expensive than contractors and why the extra costs can be worth it Why certain contractors have the potential to be employees and why some do not Why you typically need your con

One of the most important things any business needs to get right, and sooner rather than later, is pricing.  While a lot of business coaches tell you to “price what you’re worth!”, it’s not always that straightforward.  How you price your offers needs to not only reflect the value your offer provides but the way your offer is packaged You also must price your offer in a way that supports the future of your business and not just the way your business is operating right now. That’s why in today’s episode, we discuss: Why it’s so crucial to get your pricing right if you want to scale Why the way you price your offer can affect your ability to convert leads into sales Why it’s important to solidify your offer so you can finalize what you want to charge for it Why you can charge more depending on how you package your offer Why you can charge more for “business to business” offers than “direct to consumer” offers Why you need to do some basic forecasting and budgeting to help solidify your pricing Why

When entrepreneurs run into profitability issues in their online businesses, their immediate response is to cut back on expenses.  However, while cutting back on expenses might be part of the solution, it’s not always going to fix your problems. Balancing your expenses relative to your revenue is often a delicate dance that only data and a properly organized profit and loss statement can fix. That’s why in this episode, we discuss: Why your expenses will be disproportionately high when your business is small How to know if your business has a revenue problem as opposed to an issue with expenses Which expenses need to be audited the most often Why it’s crucial to look at your expenses relative to the amount of revenue you generate Why being profitable in the early stages of your business makes adding expenses easier down the road. How your bookkeeping can make tracking monthly expenses much easier

When it comes to being successful as an online business owner, having a solid offer that delivers results to your customers or clients is an absolute must. That’s why we regularly tell new online entrepreneurs to get clear on their offer before they start to dive too deeply into sophisticated marketing strategies. Because even if you have a killer landing page, a high-converting webinar, and the most enticing bonuses in the world, if the offer itself doesn’t deliver on its promises you’re going to have a lot of disgruntled customers. And that means you’ll be issuing tons of refunds and sending all those hard-earned dollars back to your customers. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: How to know if you are issuing too many refunds Why your marketing strategy can greatly affect your refund rate Which online business model tends to issue the fewest refunds Why your customer onboarding strategy can have a big impact on your refund rate How our clients that support their customers better are able to

Running an online business can be very overwhelming at times. As you convert more and more customers and clients, it can feel like the business takes on a life of its own. It’s counterintuitive, but we’ve seen over and over again that our clients who try to do everything at once struggle to stay profitable. Instead, it’s the clients that understand the power of “less is more” who scale the fastest and stay profitable while doing so. That’s why in this episode, we discuss: How to know when you’re doing too much in your business Why having FEWER offers will help your business to grow Why having a streamlined business helps your profitability grow as your revenue grows The importance of knowing what to prioritize in your business How your numbers can show you the bottlenecks, money leaks, and inefficient product strategies in your online business

When a service provider or software company positions their offer to me as an “all-in-one” solution, I am immediately skeptical.  I think we all wish we could simplify our processes, activities, and solutions into fewer apps, fewer people, and fewer systems. But it’s just not realistic to expect an all-in-one service to be the most effective solution from both an operational and cost stand-point. In fact, “all-in-one” solutions throw up major red flags for me. I’m not saying small businesses have to be complex and over-built, but we do need to make sure we have expertise in the areas of our online businesses where expertise is more valuable than efficiency. Because after all, efficiency does not help you if the work is not being done right. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: Why “all-in-one” should not be what you strive for with your systems and processes Why even big corporations rarely use all-in-one solutions in their own businesses Why Evolved Finance moved away from being an all-in-one bookk

One of the first topics we covered in this podcast was about understanding how profitable your online business should be. It’s been almost 3 years ago we released that episode, so we wanted to check back in and share our updated outlook on what a profitable online business looks like.  In this episode, we discuss: What profit is and how much of it your online business can have Why only focusing on revenue won’t guarantee you a profitable online business How our clients’ profit margins have changed over the past 3 years What information you need from your financial reports to help you understand your own profits How your business model and marketing strategy can greatly affect your profitability potential How proper bookkeeping can make your business far more profitable

Starting an online business takes a lot of work. Owning an online business that generates a full-time income takes even more work. It is hard work that makes entrepreneurship, especially in the online space, such a meritocracy. If you work hard enough, you will get to where you want to be. But what about luck? What about circumstances? What about chance? There is no question that the year of COVID has shown how much of a role luck can play in a business’s success (be it good luck or bad luck). Hard work can take us far in life, but it’s also important to understand the role luck plays in our businesses so we aren’t comparing ourselves to other people who simply found themselves in more fortunate circumstances. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: The importance of hard work and how far it can take you in the online business world What COVID taught us about good and bad fortune as business owners The difference between luck and opportunity How smart business strategies can make hard work more valua

This is the time of year when all entrepreneurs start thinking about their finances and taxes. While March 15th (the S-Corp tax deadline) and April 15th (the LLC and Sole-Prop deadline) may seem like they’re miles away, any entrepreneur that has gone through the tax filing process knows there is a lot to do before then. During this time leading up to tax season, we often see that online business owners have misaligned their expectations with their accountants. That’s why for this episode, we discuss:  How to have a positive relationship with your accountant Why you as a business owner need to be proactive with your taxes, even if your accountant is not Why you get what you pay for when choosing an accountant Why proper bookkeeping can make filing your taxes so much easier, and can make the relationship with your accountant much more productive

Back in May of 2017, we posted the very first episode of our podcast. The title of the episode in 2017 is the same as the title of this week’s episode. Why cover it again? Because in the last three years, the world has changed, the online business space has changed, and my insight into our client’s businesses has changed.  So for this week’s episode, we discuss: Why it’s important to define what success looks like for you Why it’s ok for your definition of success to change as your business grows Why you need to go beyond sales and revenue to define your online business’s success Why the profitability of your online business should be a factor in how you define success

In last week’s episode, we reflected on what 2020 taught us as online entrepreneurs and why there was a silver lining for those running businesses in the digital space. Now that we’ve entered a new year, I wanted to discuss some predictions I have for 2021.  While nobody has a crystal ball that shares exactly what the future will look like, I do believe there are some assumptions online business owners can safely make going into 2021.  So in today’s episode, we discuss: Why your customers will crave connection and normalcy Why your customers will be more open to connecting and working online than ever before Why there will be more competition in your niche Why life will not go back to the way it was in 2019 Why business owners will look beyond Facebook Ads for their paid advertising needs Why businesses who received PPP money will invest big

I think it’s safe to say that 2020 will be a year we will all remember for the rest of our lives. For most Americans, if you have your health and you have an income, you are one of the lucky ones. And there is no question that the majority of our clients felt pretty fortunate this year. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: My reflections as a business owner navigating 2020 Why so many online businesses were able to thrive during a year of shutdowns and quarantines How we saw our clients pivot and adapt to a changing world and marketplace How 2020 showed all entrepreneurs that we cannot take anything for granted and why we need to be better prepared for the unknown Why it’s necessary to balance short term desires with long term risk mitigation Why it’s more important than ever to make sure you have a strong grasp on the financial health of your business

In last week’s episode, we talked about the importance of pricing for online businesses. This week, I thought it would be appropriate to ask the question, “should you ever discount your offer?” Many online entrepreneurs struggle with this question because of what they see retail businesses do. But online businesses are not retail businesses and thank sweet baby Jesus for that because the margins are SOOOOO much better for online businesses. That’s why for this episode, we discuss: Why retail businesses are forced to have sales and offer discounts and why online businesses are different The manipulative pricing games retailers play with holiday sales and outlet stores How online marketers use “discounts” as a sales tactic to create urgency Why your current customers HATE when you discount your offer(s) Why service-based businesses should rarely (if ever) discount their prices The marketing strategy I like seeing our clients enact that doesn’t involve discounts Why testing price points is differen

Before I started working with Corey (my business partner and the founder of Evolved Finance) back in 2014, I was the US footwear manager and merchandiser for adidas Golf. In this role at adidas, I learned the importance of pricing very quickly because a big part of my role was to make sure all our footwear models were priced to: Drive profit for the company Drive the sales volume needed to steal market share from our competition Leaving this business environment of tangible/physical goods to dive into an online world of digital offers and services made me have to rethink what I knew about pricing quite a bit.  After looking at thousands of profit and loss statements and having hundreds of coaching conversations with our clients, it’s become clear to me that pricing is just as important for an online business looking to scale and grow as it is for a company selling physical inventory. I still see a lot of online entrepreneurs feeling unsure about what to consider when deciding the price of their online o

At Evolved Finance, we love making finance easier for our clients. One of the most common ways we see entrepreneurs make things harder for themselves is by not having centralized software to track every sale they make in their businesses.  Newer online businesses tend to accept any form of payment they can because they want to make the process as convenient as possible for their customers. I’m all about making things easier for customers, but not at the expense of operational efficiency.  All business owners must eventually make the way they collect money from their customers more systematized and streamlined so it doesn’t become a bottleneck to their growth. That’s why in this episode, we discuss: Why you need to be more strategic with how you accept money from your clients and customers How you can use the software you already have to streamline your checkout process Why we recommend staying away from sending out invoices as much as possible  How you can streamline your sales tracking even if you ha