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Relationships and Revenue w/ The Oper8tor

Episode 5: The Ultimate Guide to Business Finance and Relationships

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Hello. Welcome, everyone. I am Briar. Harvey. This is the neurodiversity media network.

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Today, we are here with the fabulous operator to talk about revenue and relationships. Now, if you've not joined us for this series, This episode is gonna be a bit of a shock to the system. Yeah. This one will. We're doing the math y'all, the hard numbers of figuring out how revenue works. So mostly, I'm gonna let Stacey do the talking. And I may interrupt with a few questions. If y'all have anything live, please drop it in the chat. If you come back for the replay, go ahead and let us know if you have any questions because we will be doing a follow-up episode to this one in a couple of weeks where we go through any questions you have about revenue generating activities. Okay. Let's get to it. Specifically. What are we doing today? Yeah. Well, we started this conversation last episode, and so as Brian said, if you are just tuning in to, first of all, the series itself revenue and relationships, welcome. Welcome, and you can find us on a a variant of platforms. So depending on where you are now and and don't think that you have to go there, define us the next she's got us everywhere and then make sure that you subscribe to the actual network and then you'll you can actually be notified you know, when this comes up, which is really cool. And then over on YouTube, I've got somebody. I'm like, they'll watch on YouTube today. Just so that we can get a real good feel over there.

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Today, we're talking about the money. We're talking about the money and for all those people, you know, taxes, you know, just closed out yesterday, officially proposed I filed an extension Right. Right. Well, at least you did that. That's great. Hi, Dr. Cammy. That's great. Yeah. I'm not even gonna comment on that.

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But that leads us just to financial statements. So one of the things that I find as a resource broker or a clarity coach when talking to small business owners and and solo performers really is that the conversations work had when they established their business or when they selected to be in LL's or an escort or decided on an entity about finances. Now we know offhand, especially if you are a female budget. So we don't need something to do with budget. Something to kinda monitor what we're spending. And then do we have enough money to do? What we need to do? But really, there are four specific types of financial statements that you should be aware of if you are a business owner.

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And we're gonna run through those definitions and not really get in-depth with them because we know, one, we're in our divergence here, so we will divert from the topic one because we don't wanna talk about it to start. We're planning on keeping this one short, y'all. Yeah. And two, of course, during it, your mind starts to wander because it's not a topic that's entertaining. Unless this is your niche. And then you're all things going to be, you know, all things financed. But yeah. So we're gonna run through the four types of it, and then I'm gonna have, you know, Briar do some input on this because I know that when she was when we were really looking about two years ago, and she was doing this project management, for owners. Some of these things came up because that's why there wasn't a budget for the team. Or where they thought they had the money. They didn't have the money yet, so then they couldn't make the payments. And so, some of these statements are going to be definite indicators of where are you? Can you hire? Can you support the operations that you have? Can you do anything extra? Alright.

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So from the top here, financial statements, the four types of financial statements that you need to have as a business owner. The first one is income statement. It's also known as the profit and loss statement. The income statement provides a summary of the company's revenues, expenses, net income or loss, and we hope not to see that. Over a specific period of time. It shows the company's financial performance and indicates whether it has generated a profit or incurred a loss during that period. So when you are looking to get business credit, when you are looking to get funding, when you are looking for a venture capitalist to look at your business and say, hey, This is worth investing in, most of the time, this is what they're looking for, is an income statement. They want to see is there revenue already coming through? And if so, is it showing at a profit or is the revenue coming through and it's being blown? Where is it going? What are the actual expenses? And are there ways that they can even inject, especially as a venture capitalist, to lower the expenses? And then therefore giving more profit.

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The next is a balance sheet. And so the balance sheet provides a snapshot of the company's financial position at a specific point in time. And so this is the one that looks good in the moment. Right? So you may be having a really good quarter. Are you telling me that this is what coaches share when they just say that they had a two hundred k launch? Yes. Yes. It is. Possibly. Maybe. There's another one that is probably that's if they're actually showing the real thing because sometimes it's numbers and we all know especially now after seeing how reality can be augmented through AI that really anybody can make up a spreadsheet and put numbers in or create a documenting Canvas or, you know, Photoshop. But anyway, we won't go too far off the path with that. It represents the company's assets, what it owns, and then the liabilities, what it owes. And then the shareholders equity, which is the residual interest in the company's assets after deducting the liabilities. The balance sheet provides insight into our company's liquidity, solvency and overall financial health. So this is shareholders.

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If you're looking to have an exit strategy, If you're looking for help in support, meaning with a mentor, maybe with a coach, maybe with a strategist or consultant. They're looking at the snapshot right now. Of what does it look like and whether it's it's liquid or solvent or not. So Is this something that is here in you had a launch to to touch on what writer said, you had a launch and it did well. And now, there's no movement. The snapshot right now, even though the launch was in January, and now we're in April, and there's no movement because there isn't any liquidity. There isn't any movement. It's not consistent. Right now, this snapshot and you go, but overall for the year, if you look at my income statement, it says I made this much. But that income statement was for that short period of time. And now the snapshot shows, no. Now what's one of the reasons for that?

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Cash flow statement. The cash flow statement shows the movement of cash and cash equivalents in and out of a company during a specific period, which is usually what the coaches, the strategists, and the gurus are talking about. It provides information on how a company generates and uses cash, including the operating activities, invest seeing activities and financial activities. And those are the things they don't show. Sometimes, you'll see the the whole spreadsheet. You'll see the whole snapshot of it.

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It is rare that people talk about their expenses. Exactly. Exactly. So you hear about this event that someone had and they made forty thousand dollars. They don't tell you that the expenses in total were sixty thousand. And so they're actually at a loss in they're at a net deficit right now. But all we see or hear about is the forty thousand, which sounds good. But is it really true? So then let's talk about the thing that it's the least focused on, especially in the beginning, but it's the statement of shareholders equity. And also known as the statement of changes in equity, This statement shows the changes in the shareholders' equity during the specific period and it includes information on capital contributions, net income, loss, dividends and the other things. Focused on, of course, quarterly. This statement is particularly relevant for companies with shareholders and provides insights into the changes in the ownership interest and company over time.

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Now, why is this one slightly important. It's, of course, to be noted. But if you have an escort and disclaimer, I am not a tax prepare. I am not an accountant. I do not personally set up entities. But if you have an escort, there are shareholders. And so this is a statement that you're gonna need to provide and have prepared each quarter so that the shareholders can keep track. And even if you are one hundred percent sent the shareholder, it still needs to be documented. This is one of those extra things that is more of a must than it is a recommendation.

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So right here, I'm gonna pause. I know that already was a lot of information, but financial statements It doesn't just that's not a blank that's a blanket word, but it doesn't have a blanket meaning. Those statements are the income statement. The balance sheet the cash flow statement and the statement of shareholders' equity and for people that really understand the profit and loss for P and L statement. That is the first one in the income statement. I'm gonna pass this off to you prior because I know you've got some input about this because Yes. My input is higher in accounting because that's I know I know none of this. Absolutely none of this. And So here's what I'm gonna say, especially when you are neurodivergent.

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It is really important that you figure out ways to maximize your strengths and get accommodations for your weaknesses. Math is not my friend. I've I've I've mentioned this before. I will talk about this. Again, I it's possible I might have some actual processing ability or inability here that I've just never been tested for and figure it out. But truly math and I don't get along. I don't understand how numbers work and I require someone who does to explain this shit to me in-depth. I have an accountant. I have a financial pro, and I pay a lot of money for that. Because I am bad at math and it is way better for me to have those people in my corner supporting me to do the things correctly than to try and figure that out myself. I just don't think that I have the personal capacity. And It's not that if I really sat down to learning it, I couldn't. It's that numbers and math are not my skill set.

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And when you are in business in this way, this is the place that's gonna make or break you in terms of allowing you to stay in business or or enabling the freelancer struggle. And y'all, we want better things for you. Here. We do not want you to be struggling with your money all of the time. We want you to understand what it is that you're looking for. So I want you to find help. If you need help, we will in the show notes for the series, dropping a bunch of links for places to find financial resources, I encourage you to go to your local business groups and ask their who locally does accounting or finance stuff that I can talk to truly in almost every case, it is better for you to work with somebody locally because there are state and regional laws that will apply to you, especially if you are an s corp, that aren't going to be the case for some other state. So if you live in Nebraska or New Jersey, get somebody from Nebraska and not New Jersey. So what do we got next?

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I was just gonna say real quick, and I'm I'm sure I'm gonna hear an alarm at a moment. But it it sooner than later. That's one of the things I'm gonna say is sooner than later. I know that I am in the financial services industry side for life and health insurance, fixed index annuities, which has nothing to do with this. I know my mom was in the banking industry and retired from the bank. And as you said, Briar, I am it's not my ministry and my mother was so disappointment because she thought that I was gonna be able to go into that industry, and it's the one course accounting was the one course that I had a DN and I was like, I'm dropping it because I do not wanna mess up my GPA. But it it's a struggle for me. I don't know why the ledger is a struggle. Maybe it's the opposite, you know, but it's a definite struggle.

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But get the help early and start figuring it out. Start with the accountant as prior was saying, start with software. And those people are using Quicken Software, you know, to get started, to become familiar with, to track these kinds of things. And then look at the software as you go to purchase platforms and get software, look for the ones that have tracking mechanisms inside them, you know, that are built in, in addition to that's the way of becoming familiar. Track your pipelines so that you're actually seeing that cash move in, you know. And then this goes for you should have separate ones set up for a launch. You should have separate ones set up for an event. And each brand that you launch, mhmm mhmm mhmm should have its own should have its own, please. Just like you don't co mingle it with personal. Don't co mingle these things across the board. It caused so many issues and have your information together. If you don't know it, start looking now. We've got going across your financial statements, drop it in the comments even if you're on a replay and we will get a referral to you based on your industry and your demographics.

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And I think that it's really important that we take the time to find people who will not look down on us for our lack of financial ability. Especially if you are a woman or a fem, I need you to go and find an accountant that is going to be happy to work with you. I need you to find somebody who isn't going to chain you for not understanding your numbers. And is instead going to do their best to educate you and be a team member. At the end of the day, it's really effective for your business. If you look at your accountant as a member of your team. It's not they are in technical terms a consultant, you outsource the work to them. But I want they are I they aren't part of the business at large. They're helping you understand your numbers They're helping you understand potential routes to growth. And a good accountant is going to be able to give you information about your financials that will allow you to project what you can and cannot do with your business.

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And truly, I think this is a place where so many of us are going it alone because we have a lot of shame around the numbers. We have a lot of shame around not understanding the numbers and that shouldn't we just be able to do this ourselves? And what we're telling you is it's okay if you cannot. It's also okay if your financials are a mess. Better late than ever. Right? Better now than five years from now when the IRS is not gonna your door and wants hundreds of thousands of dollars back in taxes that you haven't paid.

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I know that it can be difficult, especially for neurodivergent folks. To come to terms with the fact that we struggle with money. There are a lot of systemic reasons for that, but at the end of the day, you don't have to feel any type of way about that. You just have to go and find someone who can help you. And if you need help, asking for help, My friends, I have a show about that with Marissa Loewen. I'm learning how to ask for help truly come on over. Will work on it. I want you to feel empowered to understand how your business works. I want you to feel empowered to ask people for help. So, Stacy, do we have anything else in terms of financial statements or the money side that we wanted to cover this week? No. We're gonna we're gonna let them off relatively easy because honestly, four statements right there that's a lot. And if you have not chosen your accountant, that's where we're gonna start.

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If you don't even keep track of things on a spreadsheet, you know, if there's no spreadsheet, if you're not actually tracking your business account and balancing that. If you don't have a business account and you're using your personal account, or just your PayPal account. Let's start there. You know, seriously, if you're using Cash App and VIMO and Zelle, then we need to start there. One, there is tracking. Go in there. Go in or log in online and start assigning those things to categories. All of those things will allow you at least to do that so you know what you're working with and even looking at it.

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And if your things are over three or four accounts, which two years ago, that was really me, a cash at, a Zelle, a PayPal, and a business account. And I'm like, it's going all out of different places. And And it's a nightmare. We have both been there. We're we don't want you to feel any type of way about this. We truly wanna hold your hand through this process you can get your business books right.

0:23:29

It is deeply ironic that this is the day after taxes because, truly, I know so many people who filed an extension. I mean, my accountant filed my extension because that's just what we do every year. Because I don't have my shit together enough to get her things in a timely fashion. It's me. It's always me. I am the problem. It's me. And it's okay. That's what we want you to understand. You have the ability to grow past this.

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So let's get you the resources that you need let's get you someone locally if we can assist you in any way. Stacy knows everybody y'all. So let's get you in the black baby. Let's do that. Let's do that. We wanna make sure everybody wins. Of course, that's what we're all about. We we always we always there's no point of bringing things up if you're not willing to help. We don't wanna just point fingers. The purpose is to identify it, to be okay with it, and then know to stop where you are now. Identify, acknowledge that there may be an issue or acknowledge that you're on the wind side. So if you have got it right right now and you've got an accountant and and you've got a business attorney, and you've got all these things together, then put that in the chat. Let us know that too. Comment about the winds but we don't don't wanna leave you feeling inadequate without any resources. And so that's the foundation of my business we're just bringing it over to the revenue and relationship side.

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Alright, y'all. Thank you for sticking with us through the hard stuff. What are we talking about next time, Stacey? We're gonna next time, let's bring it back over to the relationship side. And let's give them a list of places where they may not have thought about how powerful the relationships could be. I know that another love of yours that you don't get to do as much as you like to is networking. Let's let's talk about where to network, the best thing for your buck. Yes. Alright y'all. We will see you in two weeks for networking. If you are already struggling with networking.

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Yesterday, I recorded nerve emergent networking with Cheryl Woodhouse. That's gonna be a whole series. That one has homework, so you can go and watch yesterday's show figure out your homework and then come back. We're gonna make this easy for you. That's the whole point of what we're doing here at the neurodiversity media network. We are trying to build things for you that allow you to get the knowledge that you need in a way that isn't shaming you for not understanding.

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If you would like more resources, come on over to neurodiversity network neurodiversity media network dot com. I know my own website. Thank you very much. Subscribeers get access to series, syllabuses, syllabi? Is that the I think it's syllabi. Every time a series is completed, we'll put together a complete syllabi with a bunch of additional resources for you, people for you to go and find books to go and read. We wanna make your rabbit hauling as easy as possible. So that is just one of the benefits of a paid subscription, and we would love to have you You can find us at neurodiversity media network dot com, and we will see you all next time. Have an amazing day.

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