Speaker 1: 0:13

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Speaker 2: 0:51

Okay, let's get everything started. First of all, we want to welcome everybody to our Giving Power to the Business Owner webinar series, and today we have a special guest that will be coming in to speak with us about money. But let's ask you this as business owners, have you ever felt like your business money and your personal money is actually at tug of war and one is winning and one is losing and you're stuck in the middle? Well, what if I tell you it doesn't have to be that way. Today we have a guest, we have Teddy Nguyen that is coming in as our money coach with the Lion Lamb Money, and we will have him to break it down and show us how we can deal with both of them with less stress. So, if you would, let's welcome Teddy into our show today. Teddy, thank you so much for showing up on this fine Saturday night. We do appreciate having you here.

Speaker 3: 1:42

Yeah, I appreciate being here. Thanks for having this dialogue, because this is something I'm super passionate about, both business finance, personal finance and where the stress intersects all that stuff. So I'm happy to be here.

Speaker 2: 1:56

And great. And the reason we did that is because which you and I have talked about this before we deal with business owners, but sometimes we get so much in our business that we actually forget that it's a personal side that we still have to pay attention to and we really kind of run off trying to deal with the problems of the business. And that's why we all kind of voted to have you to come on so you can hit that personal side, but you also know how to work a little bit with the business side. So we want to start with that. If you would start off, let everybody know what you do as a money coach and how you actually got into that.

Speaker 3: 2:30

Yeah, so as a money coach, I help young professionals and young business owners get control of their money, and particularly through the lens of behavior, psychology, emotions and things like that. So I started my business about two, two and a half years ago and it kind of birthed from a couple places. So my background is in social work and mental health, addiction recovery, that world and I just had a passion for that. But I also had this passion for personal finance. Like I bought my first house. I didn't know anything like what the heck even is an escrow account and all this stuff. And it was, yeah, a couple years ago when I came across this idea of like helping people avoid all the mistakes I did with money, as well as like just unlearning toxic habits and things like that.

Speaker 3: 3:24

So, yeah, getting started in business, I had zero business background outside of like one semester of accounting. That was it. Like I didn't. I've never run a business I have. I was a social worker, just like, let me get plugged into this system, climb the ladder like very W2 employee mindset and as I kind of just like basically fail forward over and over again, learning business, learning how to like pay, like charge for helping people and all this stuff Fast forward here. I am now two, two and a half years later. I get to be on shows like this and help people with their personal and business finances.

Speaker 2: 4:06

What to actually do, and we can contribute to that as well. Not knowing what to do and that's what we wanted to have here, because I have heard you speak, I have kind of seen some of your videos and you just have so much to give Just young entrepreneurs. It doesn't not necessarily age, but if you're just young, getting started because you could be 40 years old and getting started, you know what I'm saying, so that's helped. So if you would, what is one of the money beliefs you had to unlearn when you actually became a business owner?

Speaker 3: 4:36

So this was this was heavily taught to me, um, just in the environment I was growing up that like, um, if you make a lot of money, it means you're a bad person. Or like if you have something that's expensive or whatever, where you know the high profit or whatever, it means that you're scamming people. And one of the things about that that really like I was conflicted with was like, if I'm really in business to help people, really like I was conflicted with was like, if I'm really in business to help people but I can't make money from it, how? One, how do I live? And two, how does the business live? Right, because I think the misconception with money is that it has some kind of moral value to it, but all it is is a tool. Right, it's just something we use, kind of like gas in a car. We don't buy a car so that we get gas like we use. We use gas to run the car, just like we use money to run the business and run our passion in our lives. And I think framing money as just a tool to use, like any other tool, takes that moral aspect out of it.

Speaker 3: 5:40

And, um, where I really learned that, like making money, really, I learned that making money always is an exchange of value. So if you're helping someone, then they pay you because you added value to their life. Right, and whatever the price of that exchange is is dependent on the value that's being added. And so if I could help someone pay off $20,000 in debt, like what is that worth to a person versus if I just help them cut $30 in subscriptions? Like you know different scales of commodities, services, products, whatever industry of business you may be in, you can help people and charge what you're worth at the same time, and it doesn't make you a bad person.

Speaker 2: 6:26

So that sounds like and I know we've talked about this too it sounds like the money mindset and I think let me say this part from dealing with as a loan broker we have business owners, right, but we have so many people come in with that money mindset that's not totally correct in getting money and that's what I think you know. You were saying that we have to realize things have to change. So, if you would, how does a person know that they even have a money mindset versus just needing more income? How do we do? How do they know?

Speaker 3: 6:58

So something that I find really interesting is that as I work with people on their personal finances no matter where they are in the spectrum, if they're making 30 to 50,000 or 300 to $500,000, money problems exist and affect people just the same. I've seen plenty of couples who live comfortably off of $50,000 a year and I see couples who are making 200 and they're in debt like negative self net worth and like paycheck to paycheck cycle, and the thing is that more money doesn't mean your problems will go away Really. It's just an amplifier for whatever you have there. So you're overspending on a hundred K, you're going to overspend on 500k.

Speaker 3: 7:42

If you're really conservative on 100k, you're just going to be really conservative on 500k, and so the thing about having a money mindset issue is like it's really hard to just like sit, reflect and like discover, just like pull it out of air, that there's some kind of mindset issue and I actually had people in my life essentially call me out on it.

Speaker 3: 8:07

So when I started with the business, I was like helping people, whatever, but I wasn't making any money and I was like undercharging and things like that and I'm just like I keep doing this thing and it's not bringing in any income. I have to help like 50 people a week to even live off this stuff. And I had a mentor of mine basically say to me that like, teddy, you're capping yourself on this because you believe, kind of going back to the first point, you believe that charging more money makes you a bad person or whatever, and really had to reset my mind to like the value of the service or transformation I'm helping clients achieve is the value or cost of the service instead of what I think my hourly time is worth. And especially having that employee mindset of like trading time for money directly. It's like, okay, I work $30 an hour in my main job. So in my business it should also be $30 an hour. But that doesn't account for all the other expenses in business and all the other stuff.

Speaker 3: 9:14

And so really like, if you notice like patterns of like I like to use the word bottlenecks bottlenecks in your business when it comes to like earning income, but you have this like volume of clients already. If you have all these clients but you're not making a livable income either for your business or personal, then there is some kind of like pricing discrepancy that you're either undercharging or just that supply demand right, Basically economic stuff.

Speaker 2: 9:47

Right, right. So now let me say this with you too the belief, and I know we're talking mindset. But I believe, and I think a lot of us don't go back to, like you said, what you were taught and told about how to look at money as business owners. I don't think we take enough time or even take time, Teddy, how to look at money as business owners. I don't think we take enough time or even take time, teddy, to even look at what was my first relationship with money how do I look at money? Because if you a cheapskate, you know how I'm talking about cheap person chances are you're going to bring that over into business, which may not necessarily be a good thing. But I think we don't even have anybody like you to tell us hey, let's really think about how you feel about this money. You're not making money for a certain reason. It's not because, oh, I'm not working hard or I don't have a good product. A lot of times it's not that, it's the money mindset that you put in place, which go ahead.

Speaker 3: 10:43

you can say something yeah, so I wanted to share a story. When I started the business, I like I love all things money. My natural habits with money is being very like frugal, very cheap, and so when I started the business, I was like I need to do this with like zero money, you know, not paying for any courses, I'm not paying for any like zoom, like subscriptions or whatever, and the first class I led of like a personal finance class, it was supposed to go an hour but at the time zoom only gives 40 minutes for free. Um, classes.

Speaker 3: 11:15

And so I was like all right, we're going to start this class. Just a heads up everyone. Uh, zoom is going to time out at 40 minutes, so in the middle of the class we're're all gonna end up hopping off and hopping back on. It was like a logistical nightmare and impacts the client experience and all this stuff, and it wasn't until later on. I'm like you know what this is not like. Paying for a subscription like this or paying for a crm or paying for coaching like these aren't expenses, because it helps the business run, it helps helps the client experience. And once I understood that, I started swinging to the other side of the pendulum. We're like I need to spend on everything and so I was getting a little bit of both Right, but kind of that. Like you said, how we grow up with money impacts how we treat it Right. If money was a point of contention with our parents, they didn't talk about it right perhaps, whenever you start your business, you're like, like horse binders.

Speaker 3: 12:11

Yeah, like we're just we're just doing the business and we'll. Whatever happens with the finances, happens with the finances, um, and that keeps people from looking at their books or even getting a bookkeeper and things like that. And I feel like those points to just have your personal finance I mean your business finance super accessible and easy to interact with makes that experience less scary. So, no matter where you are on the spectrum, there are absolutely tools and strategies you can use so that personal finance becomes less stressful and just easier.

Speaker 2: 12:46

Right and see, this is why I think people should look at getting a money coach because of that. Because, look at it, you don't know what my upbringing is, you don't know how I think or what are my thoughts. Are You're going to look at how do I make this person successful? That's why I encourage people get consultants, get coaches. Now you can vet them, but they're good and like, say in case, with you being a money coach, you could actually bring attention to someone and let them know that, ok, you're just being cheap, you know, and it needs to be someone to say that. And I love the fact that you put process in place to help them to build based where they are.

Speaker 2: 13:19

Because everybody, I guess, looks at money differently and I guess it's our background and what we go through, but all of us start a business. That's one thing we have in common. We all start a business, but we don't deal with that part. So I'm really like you being on our show, but we also, which we promote and encourage people to reach out to you, because of that, of that said, it actually stops them from growing. I mean, that's what we basically see. So let me go on to the next question because we got a lot of questions. They got lined up for you If you could tell me what's the biggest money mistake you see new entrepreneurs make and how can they avoid it.

Speaker 3: 13:59

So I was kind of alluding to this For me. I had no business experience. I was actually very reluctant to spend money on myself, and so that showed when I started the business. I didn't want to spend on upgraded Zoom, I didn't want to pay money for a website. I was just using a free website and free everything with watermarks and all that stuff.

Speaker 2: 14:24

You're the poster child for this. That's why you so adamant like do not be like me, do not be like me.

Speaker 3: 14:29

And so same thing with, like maybe the most I would spend is like on a couple books or something, or an audio book or YouTube videos or whatever. And I just thought, like I need to be able to run this business spending as little cash as possible. But I didn't realize that there was really a difference between an expense and an investment. And so the biggest money mistake is, like I was so hesitant to invest in myself and invest in the business that I kept it from growth for a whole, you know, year or whatever. Right, I was just trying to do everything the freeway and I didn't realize that when you're investing whether like for I'll just take coaching, for example um, I was super hesitant to even commit to any kind of coaching program and then, once I was in it, I realized the value that coaching gave me wasn't knowledge necessarily, but it's all the time that these coaches spent making mistakes. They crunch that into the top lessons and essentially bring that time forward.

Speaker 3: 15:29

So if I like me investing basically, uh, like a time skip, right, I'm getting wisdom and knowledge from people who've already made the mistakes, and that's that's what I do with money, right, like I made a heck ton of money mistakes when I bought a house, when I've invested in things or when I've got debt on like depreciating assets and things like that.

Speaker 3: 15:50

And I'm like, hey, here are all the barriers you're probably facing or about to face. Let's avoid that so you don't waste to 1015 years of your life. And same thing with the business. Like I'm, I can't even say how much time I wasted, but if like, let's just, for example, let's say a year, like if I could have missed out on a year of mistakes or just being cheap, I didn't spend money, I spent time Right. And so if you're spending money to save you time, which is more valuable and I think it's pretty clear, especially as we get older and as we get busier our time is so, so valuable, and so whatever investment you can make in your business to crunch that time forward, to accelerate that process, is like it's what you got to do, right?

Speaker 2: 16:41

That's what I say I mean it's worth it and and think and I love this because you're talking to a lot of new business because and this is what I want to say even I experienced when you have to understand we mentor cause I mentor a group as well too, and I do business coach. You're right that that part you're saying a lot of beginning people have those issues and they don't even know how to deal with it. So I think that's really great. And what you're saying is that you're paying for 26 years of experience in a week course or a two day course and it's worth it. And you're right, for all the mistakes and stuff that you make, that's something a lot of including you consultants do we show you.

Speaker 2: 17:20

If we have a proven record of actually being in business so many years, it is so much stuff we can save you that you don't even have to begin to hit if you know about it. I hadn't thought about how cheap we may be starting out, that we might not think to get that, but you brought a good point and I think we all need to pay attention to that and kind of do a check with ourselves and see where we're at. Let's go with our next question what does it look like when someone brings their employee oh, I really want to hear you talk about this what does it look like when someone brings their employee money mindset into their business? How do you shift out of that?

Speaker 3: 17:59

Yeah, I love this question because this was me right. Like I grew up, like in typical Asian American household, you just go to. You go to school to get a degree, to get a really good job nine to five, whatever, right Right and get you a stable income so you can take care of your life. This employee mindset is so based on security and like consistency, which is not a bad thing. But the thing with owning a business and being an entrepreneur, you realize like there is so much risk that you have to take, like you're trying new things, you're testing products, you're testing pricing and all these things, and like part of being a business owner and where you can get that outsized return is the risk you take.

Speaker 3: 18:46

And with that, like from a business owner perspective, we really have to weigh like which risks are worth taking Right, which opportunities should we pursue, which streams of income would really make sense for our business. And so we have to do this ongoing prioritization of like where should our money go? Because our money can go to 10 different areas. Like for my money coaching business, I could have like launched a course and went all in on that, or YouTube channel and do sponsorships instead, or workshops, or all these, like 10 different things I could have done.

Speaker 3: 19:26

But the real value that, the real opportunity we have as business owners, is weighing all those options and taking the risk, and that's where you can get a lot of growth that you wouldn't otherwise get in an employee mindset where it's just like I'm trading my time for money, that's all it is. But as just like I'm trading my time for money, that's all it is. But as business owners we're planting seeds in different areas and we don't know if those seeds will sprout for sure. And so finding whatever best seed, best soil, and optimizing those opportunities so that hopefully, that tree or that vine will give all the fruit, that's where we can experience the positive side of that.

Speaker 2: 20:08

Okay, and I think you're right on that. So it's just again, like you're saying, we have to realize business and personal is different, even though we have to take the time to find that out. So the next question I have would be how can a business owner balance reinvest? So the question next question I have would be how can a business owner balance reinvesting in the business but then, at the same time, still paying themselves? How would we do that?

Speaker 3: 20:33

So I guess it depends on the situation, right, we have some business owners that are full in on the business it's their main thing and we also have our like side hustle, like entrepreneurs, where we got our main jobs and we're building the business on the side. And now, in order to even know how much to pay yourself from the business, you got to know what you're spending each month. Right, I've seen people who are paying themselves $5,000 a month for personal finance stuff and they live in way excess of of that and it's like, well, your personal finances are taking a hit even though your business finances aren't. And then vice versa, um, where, like, you're overpaying yourself from the business but then there's nothing left in the business, and so, um, the delicate balance is like once you know your, the delicate balance is like once you know your expenses, then getting the income from your business to your personal finance stuff will be a lot clearer. So if you're earning 15K in your business after taxes or whatever, and you can live off of $3,000 a month, cool, I mean, I'm a huge advocate for early business owners.

Speaker 3: 21:43

If you can reinvest in your business as much as possible, then do that, because that those first three to four years of business are like a big upfront investment, both time and money. Yeah, and so if you can reinvest sooner so that you can experience the growth sooner, then maybe your personal finance will just have to not be so what's the word? So much Like you're not like spending so much and you're not like living the life and taking all the trips. So, yeah, and really when you reinvest in the business, it's got to be top priority stuff, like what are the things I reinvest that will actually give me money? So, for example, I spent a heck ton of time, spent some money on developing a website and I realized that, like nowadays, like a website is important to have as, like, a presence, but it doesn't always equate directly to money, right, the thing for me that equated to money is getting someone on the screen to have a conversation with me and so that looks like you know, doing outreaches, creating content to engage with people and things like that.

Speaker 3: 22:53

And so identifying those top priority areas, just like how the ROI right Return on our investment. Can we get money into the business with this investment or is it a nice to have, like a logo redesign, you know?

Speaker 2: 23:08

may not be the first thing you should put money into right starting off with your business, and so you're giving good points and I'm a and it made me think about when I started, because I've been in business for over like 27 years. My first years of business was exactly like you said uh, how yours were. I was basing it on my perception of money value and I also ran into the problem where I was having a business. I wasn't working anywhere else at the point because the business kind of took off, but then it's paying myself and then I didn't know how to be consistent in paying myself.

Speaker 2: 23:39

That's why I think it's really important to have a money coach like you. I don't know if they were back then or not, they probably were. But I think the fact that you're here and I know I recommend to some of my clients I've already recommended you to them, they've reached out to you that you're going to help them with the mindset of where are we supposed to be with money, because all we have, teddy, as business owners, is what we've heard from somebody else. Honestly, and I think money coach is what you need to have if you're going to start any business. If you haven't started one before, I say you need a money coach so they can tell you the difference, where you can learn the difference. I mean, would you agree that's something that you run into, where they might not know the difference between the personal and business, like you said?

Speaker 3: 24:28

take it and just use it. If the in there, I just can use it, right, yeah. So, oh my goodness, some of my very first clients, um, he didn't realize he was a business, like he was working for himself um buying and selling car parts or whatever. But he didn't treat it like a business. It was all enmeshed um personal finances coming out of the same account as business finances. No bookkeeping, not paying taxes and it's like no, just because you don't have an LLC or whatever, you're earning income as a business, right.

Speaker 3: 24:56

And so in order for your taxes, you got to know what's a business expense and what's a personal. And yeah, and this is didn't mean to jump forward, but like one of the I know the next question is like one of those must do tasks for businesses is like having those things separate so that you know you keep your, keep it all organized Right.

Speaker 2: 25:18

Okay, so that's the. That's the one where you write my question is what are the two and threes must do money tasks for someone who just launched a business? So that's the one where you write. My question is what are the two and threes must do money tasks for someone who just launched a business? So that's what you're talking. So go ahead and lean into that so we can know what that is.

Speaker 3: 25:29

Yeah, so kind of elaborate on like separating, even though all of it like, for example, your new business owner, your by yourself solopreneur, whatever it is like, it'll feel like they're, they're both your accounts, personal and business. But the value of separating that one like you legally kind of have to in order to like file your taxes right um but two like it organizes.

Speaker 3: 25:53

All right, here's the income I'm getting from my business and whatever net profit I could pay myself out. Now you're like, here is my personal income and I'll budget that this way, I'll budget the business finances this way, and so having that separation mentally has helped me so much to not like continue pouring personal money into the business as opposed to like like using business money to run business.

Speaker 3: 26:18

You know what I mean right, right and um, just also knowing that, like I don't, I don't, I can't just like pull out whenever, and you know, call it a tax deduction, right, right right, and that's the way this should be right yeah this is like I mean scott, go ahead.

Speaker 2: 26:35

I'm sorry I won't break your.

Speaker 3: 26:36

Go ahead oh yeah, I mean yeah, really. I'm just saying, yeah, the biggest, the biggest thing is separating the personal and business finances, um, but at the same time, like they end up having separate budgets and separate plans and so knowing those plans, even if it's not down to like a dollar or cents, I would say the two money tasks and you know them too, that we work with that, have worked with that.

Speaker 2: 27:06

They are stressing so bad about their business money and their personal money that they don't even know how to begin to separate it. They don't even know a lot of that. It is a separation, you know. So I guess my question is that how do you because that's emotional, you know, when you got rent and all this stuff doing, then you have this coming in, then you got payroll and all it's just emotional. You know, when you got rent and all this stuff doing, then you have this coming in, then you got payroll and all that. It's just emotional thing. So how do you talk? I know you talked about emotional spending, but how does that show up in business so people can know that's emotional spending?

Speaker 3: 27:35

Yeah. So what I find this is my social work background coming into the play. We can respond a few ways to stress, no matter what kind of stress. It is relational business, just angry, whatever. So the fight or flight I think most people are aware of is that like run and fight mentality of like I just am really going to take control and get angry, or whatever. Flight is just avoid problems. Freezing is just that experience of feeling like you don't know what to do next, and fawning is like people pleasing and just like catering to other people. Like people pleasing and just like catering to other people. And so when it comes to any of these responses, like we all kind of lean one way or the other. But emotional spending is often used as a coping skill for stress.

Speaker 2: 28:34

So, the.

Speaker 3: 28:36

The four kind of emotions that I call out for people for opportunities. Where they are more likely to emotionally spend are if they're hungry, angry, lonely or tired, and so when it comes up, and only and when it comes up in business, like it, we've all experienced it. When we have low revenue or whatever like, we have that like or whatever Like, we have that like desperation, like I just need something now. Like I, whatever opportunity comes up, that thought process in our prefrontal cortex doesn't function as well when we're stressed, and so if we're able to have a process to like a tangible process to think through money decisions, it takes a lot of the emotion out of it. And so, for example, one of the things I really do to avoid emotional spending is like is this investment or purchase for the business going to have direct outcomes in revenue? Or like whatever the goal is revenue, brand building, like engagement, whatever it is, and if not, I have to hit pause on it. And this is kind of like an aside or kind of like a plug where I made an impulsive purchase decision maker tool. It's like seven questions and it gives you kind of an idea of like is this purchase really needed? And I've actually used that myself after I developed it a couple times.

Speaker 3: 30:02

So here's another story. I had an opportunity to invest in the business and like $1,500 to get some interns like connect with interns who could help me with digital marketing and whatever. I'm like, ooh, this $1,500 a day, it's like a real steal. Essentially, I'm paying like $3 an hour for someone to help me with my business and all that stuff. I put it through the impulsive purchase decision maker and it basically told me you know, teddy, you should probably think a little more on this. You can't just drop, you know, 1.5 G's on on this opportunity, even though it's like super exciting and whatever. And so I kind of like I rolled it back and I was talking to my business coach and he was like, yeah, teddy, I mean it's a great deal, but like they don't tell you about all the hidden costs that are there, such as like training and developing these interns, the cost of like transitioning to new interns and all this stuff. I'm like you know what man you're right, right, I've thought about it and that's what we need.

Speaker 2: 31:04

That's awesome that you have that type of tool. Now, is that something you use with your clients as well? You offer that to them to use it as well?

Speaker 3: 31:13

Yeah, so I have the tool on my website, but it's also easily accessible in our online community. But, yeah, use it for any business or personal decision, because, at the end of the day, you make decisions the same way because you're a person, right, we all have emotions, we all have all that stuff, and so, yeah, it's a free tool to use and it's helped me with like, I put it together about two weeks ago and I've used it for about 10 different purchases already.

Speaker 2: 31:42

Right and it works with what we'll do. And just in the middle of just saying this, we will definitely have you on our website, guys, we definitely want to check them out. We're going to continue with a few more questions, but I do want to break in to say that Teddy will be on our site at wwwtdjequityllcnet. He's be one of our partners, so definitely you guys can go there, click on it and you can go to his site and schedule appointment and you can kind of get with them. So I want to throw that in there real quick, teddy. So let's continue with the next question. So the next one is this oh, my goodness and I've heard it so many times when someone says I'm not good with money or in business, I don't want to know my goodness. And I've heard it so many times. When someone says I'm not good with money or in business, I don't want to know my numbers. I don't know numbers. What do you wish they knew instead?

Speaker 3: 32:31

I think the idea of being good with money looks a certain like it. It's historically been painted a certain way that the person who's best at saving money equally like it means that they're good with money. But we know a bunch of cheap people who are not great with money. Um, I have a family member.

Speaker 2: 32:49

Daddy's supposed to say frugal, but they cheat.

Speaker 3: 32:53

I'm with you like even people who have a heck ton of financial knowledge, it doesn't mean they're good with money. Like good with money is all about like, how do you actually behave with your money when, like, responding to stress spending decisions and things like that. And so I'll tell you a story about, um, we'll just say a family member or a friend or the serious person in my life, um, where, like he's an accountant, he does business finances all the time Super frugal, like unhealthy frugal, but at the same time, like waste a lot of money. Day trading.

Speaker 3: 33:29

Like you know it's like you save all this money and like get the cheapest deals on food and whatever, and then blow 500K in the stock market.

Speaker 3: 33:38

Like would you say, just because they know a lot of things about money and they spend money well, like for personal finance stuff, spend very little, does that make them good with money? I would debate, not necessarily. And so where I see the value in being good with money is knowing how to prioritize certain areas of your life and putting money towards those areas and not wasting money in other places like unused subscriptions, just like convenient spending, even if it's not adding value. And so the practice of being good with either personal or business finances is knowing like where is the most effective place I can put this money Right. So for new business owners, sometimes that most effective place is further development in you as a business owner or marketing, because no one knows about your business Right.

Speaker 3: 34:29

You think that you post all the time People know, but they don't. And so putting it in those areas to really drive the business would be like priorities. And same thing with personal If you're spending money in your relationships, in your health, in your wellness, with the conveniences of life that you really recognize. If they're not there, then great, but you still have to make sure to save in the areas that don't matter. So for me it's like if I'm overpaying for insurance or if I'm, um, like buying name brand stuff when I don't really need to, like cutting back in those areas don't affect my life or affect it a lot less. And so, yeah, like I said, being able to prioritize those personal values, those business values and putting money more towards that is just an ongoing practice of prioritization and that I feel like that's what being good with money looks like.

Speaker 2: 35:27

Right, you're right, and that makes a lot of sense compared to us just thinking we hear people good on some things, but then, you're right, you look at how they spend it on other things. It doesn't mean it has money, it's all about priority. So I like that. I hadn't thought of that, but you're right, that's exactly how that is. So what role do systems, habits and environment play in managing your business finance as well?

Speaker 3: 35:52

So a lot of my perspective on this comes from my background in social work and addiction recovery, and some of the most important things we learn in social work school, in like mental health and addiction recovery, is that we draw a lot from our environment and the people we're around.

Speaker 3: 36:09

And so, for example, like with me, I like to eat chips. Like give me a family size bag of chips and I'll eat it in one sitting, but knowing me like not having that bag of chip there, then I won't eat it. And so really, what that is out like illustrating is that if we can construct our environment physically, emotionally, mentally, in our relationships then we can better promote healthy habits when it comes to money. So automating savings is an example of changing your environment, so that you're not having to proactively think I need to move money here, I need to move money here, it just happens. Or cutting up excess credit cards where it's like do you really need five credit cards? Cutting up excess credit cards where it's like do you really need five credit cards? Maybe not.

Speaker 2: 37:32

Maybe you can do just one business focus that in your systems and all that stuff. So like that minimalism type aspect to things, right, you know and so. But you, you can come in and help a business owner, even somebody personally, because I think we talked about it if you need help personally, you can help them with that. But you can also help a business owner kind of get the money coach for us getting everything laid out, where they will simplify, because we don't, we don't simplify anything and that's the problem. So I think that means, but that's where you can come in and help with that as well. They book time with you, right?

Speaker 3: 37:59

Right, yeah, like one of the biggest things I see is just that we have a whole bunch. We're juggling a lot as a business owner in our personal life and we're like juggling relationships, personal relationships, professional relationships, accounts and all these things, and if we're able to streamline that or have someone help us streamline that, it relieves so much anxiety. For example, for me a change that I literally made in the business these past couple months was just streamlining the client journey from like meeting me to possibly signing one-to-one coaching, and for me I had like all these service options and directing them different places and that was chaotic for me and I'm like I'm stressed out about business, then I'm stressing about this money, structure, stuff and once I kind of simplified that process of client goes from knowing me to either following me or joining my group and then from there they have a series of steps to funnel down to the part of informed buyer or whatever, and so like that's helped me relieve a series of steps to funnel down to the part of informed buyer or whatever.

Speaker 3: 39:01

And so like that's helped me relieve a lot of stress. Same thing with my personal life finding areas to make it simpler has, you know, got a lot of that stress off my shoulders so that I could think clearer, so I can react better.

Speaker 2: 39:16

Right, and that's what we need. So simplicity is definitely that. So let's look at this and my last little question, even though we don't keep talking, but my last question is what's one small action someone could take today to feel more in control of their money as a business owner?

Speaker 3: 39:34

So I would say the small action that we really need to consider is setting the goal, like three to six month goal, so that we know what opportunities to say yes to and what opportunities to say no to. And the reason why I say that is because, kind of like I was saying before, we can go down 10 different paths with our business and it's easy to say yes to all of them and then, before we know, we're spread thin on both our time and our money. But if we have a goal, like for me, for example, is to grow this online community, I know that all the other opportunities that don't grow that online community are not the best use of my money. And same thing with the personal finance. If my goal is to pay off debt, then let me focus all the things to pay off debt where, like, sell things, I'm not using side income, go straight to the debt instead of being like, let me do 5% towards this debt, 5% towards my kids savings, 2% here, and then, like, scattershot it and it's like then we don't feel any progress and we just feel like all this is for nothing.

Speaker 3: 40:42

But one of the psychology tricks or psychology frameworks that I really focus on are positive feedback loops and so, as we're experiencing wins and experiencing progress, then we'll want to keep doing it right. So those small actions towards those one or two goals will really help reinforce like oh, this is working, I actually can do this. And a parallel that I draw all the time is with the weight loss world. So most people, if they can at least see that they lose the weight in the first like week or two weeks, lose five pounds even if it's just water, like just seeing that progress motivates them and it's this positive feedback loop if I can do this, I can do this. And so, um yeah, having the right direction, taking strategic small steps in that direction to see the progress, is what builds a snowball for financial success financial stuff.

Speaker 2: 41:41

Okay, well, that sounds pretty good. So what all your before we get out of here, what everything you kind of dealt with, um, and dealing with the business owners. Now you gave us like some small um, some some actions that they can take. But what would you like to give me a couple of things you would like business owners to know when it comes to actually seeking money, coaching, getting one, and why.

Speaker 3: 42:07

It really depends on the aspect of money coaching that they're looking for. So, for example, there are plenty of people who have great businesses Financially they're great but their home finances are a wreck, whether it's because of spousal problems, divorce or whatever. I think knowing, kind of having an idea of like picking that problem that you're trying to fix, is really important to know like which money coach even reach out to. For example, on the business side, I had someone reach out to me and really they didn't need a money coach, they needed an attorney, like a tax attorney or an accountant or you know someone else, and really like, I think the value we also have as money coaches. We're kind of like a broker of services or like a referral network. It's like, oh, you don't actually need me, you need this other person, you need a bookkeeper, you need a daily money manager, and so, um, I think a first start just having a conversation with someone to know that next step, if you don't already know it.

Speaker 2: 43:10

I think that's where money coaching, not to break you off, so you can. Can you help us with the next step, like if we call you to kind of work with us and you see it going somewhere else, can you refer us out? You know, if you see that something can go out.

Speaker 3: 43:23

Yeah. So typically I have my own network of people that I trust. So financial advisors, accountants and things like that where I'm like, hey, I'm not the best fit for you, I know. So like here's someone I actually trust with, like my either personal stuff or other clients have got good results from them. And then we kind of just make that transition so that the experience for the client is pretty smooth. But if it does come to something like for me, for example, I do a lot of money mindset and spending behavior stuff and like, hey, we're making great money, we have no idea where it's going. That's my expertise. And then I also have like some other money coaches who really specialize in student loans or who specialize in money and marriage or retirement, and so, yeah, I think a good money coach will know when to say no and when to say yes. Because when I first started I was like, let me just help everyone. Let me help everyone from the 18-year-old graduating high school to the 75-year-old living on social security.

Speaker 2: 44:30

You're going to do it all.

Speaker 3: 44:32

And so, yeah, a money coach isn't the right like a specific money coach isn't the right fit for every person. The right like a specific money coach isn't the right fit for every person. But just having an honest conversation to know, like all right, what do these coaches help with? What do I need help with? Is that aligned Great? If it's not, then hopefully get you connected with someone who's a better fit.

Speaker 2: 44:54

Right there to do it. Okay, well, that is so great. Well, first of all, I want to definitely thank you for coming out. You did so well and thank you for the information, so we love having you here. Is there anything you want to say to the audience for the last before we end the show for today?

Speaker 3: 45:11

Well, I just appreciate this time I know I was rambling in some parts because I myself am, like you know, getting all this stuff too Like we're all growing in our business, no matter what stage we're in, and so I think that's also hopefully a reassuring thing that, no matter if you're one year in or five years in, it's okay to keep adjusting and keep learning and keep adapting. Really, my key takeaway with this that I hope, um the listener or the viewer if you're watching on youtube gets, is that, um, you're, you're building a business not to make money. You're, you're building your dream with it. Like what's, what's the thing after the money that you're really working towards? Is it truly a passion with the business, or is it freedom from a nine to five cycle? Whatever it is, and just don't lose sight of that and just look at numbers right. Like for me with this business, I would do this if I didn't get paid for it.

Speaker 3: 46:12

I love doing collaborations like this I love helping people with personal finances and like this is the thing that I want to keep focusing on Obviously, I need money to run personal finances and like this is the thing that I want to keep focusing on. Obviously, I need money to run this thing, and so that's what it's for. So just stay focused to your values, your priorities, and be strategic with what you say yes to but, even more so important, what to say no to to get that life that you're really after.

Speaker 2: 46:38

Right, all right, well said, mr Teddy, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for being here and I'd like to thank you all for joining us as well. Like this and other ones that we do at Giving Power to the Business Owner. It will be on our TDJ Equity Funding Insiders channel and we invite you all to go. Please like, share, comment and let us know what you really think about this type of show. But until next time, we will see you the next time. Y'all have a good day and a great, great evening. Rest of the week. Thank you, bye-bye.

Speaker 1: 47:15

We hope you enjoyed this episode of TDJ Equity Funding Insiders Podcast. If you'd like to be a guest or get in touch with us, please visit our website at tdjequityllcnet. Forward slash podcast or email us at podcast at tdjequityfundinginsidersnet. Until next time, take care.