Maybe you can relate: You know you need a system to help track and manage your money, but after trying a few (or a few dozen) times, you give up and come to the conclusion that you aren’t good with money. Or maybe you have a system that works for you, but dealing with money is always the last thing you want to do because it feels hard or overwhelming.
As a bookkeeper I have seen it all. There are so many ways of doing things! Systems are not one-size-fits-all. Just because something works for me, might not mean it will work for you.
Each of us has a unique way of relating to money. That is why it is so important to understand your money story and the potential triggers your story brings up, so you can find a soul-aligned money system that works for you and supports you – YOUR WAY.
Let me explain how this works by sharing some details of my first few years as an entrepreneur.
The story “I have to work really hard to earn money,” has followed me throughout my life. At first, my hard work paid off. I quickly grew my business to 40 plus clients, and made more money than I ever had before. There was just one problem – I didn’t have any time to enjoy the life I was creating for myself.
I was working 10-plus hour days during the week, and at least five or six hours on Saturdays and Sundays. I would get up at 5:00 am and go to work immediately. I wouldn’t look up from my computer until I needed to jump in the shower and rush off to my client appointments. While I loved hiking in the hills behind my house, I rarely got out because my clients’ needs always came first.
It’s not like the day I decided to become an entrepreneur, I magically left behind my belief that I had to work really hard to make money. If anything, that story only amplified as I started working for myself. It didn’t take too long for burn out to arrive.
Because I was operating from a belief I had to work hard to earn money, I was sabotaging myself by pricing my services low, and over-delivering by giving WAY more than what I had promised for the same price.
I was in a state of fear, feeling if I didn’t work really hard, I would not have enough clients and therefore, I would not have enough money.
Eventually, this led to another problem. I ended up with more clients than I could handle. Sounds like a great problem, but a problem, nonetheless. I did not have the systems in place to support the number of clients I was attracting, and I only worked even harder.
At the time, I was charging my clients an hourly rate. Part of this was because it was difficult to know how much time a project would actually take. I was worried that I would under price or over price my time. What I didn’t realize is how much time it would take to track my time.
As my business grew, and I added more and more clients to the mix, it became even more complicated.
I started by tracking my time on a spreadsheet, and then eventually moved to an app. Because I was constantly on the go and working on multiple clients every day, I would keep a sticky note handy to track 15 minutes here, 30 minutes there. I would spend the last part of my day—usually at 8:00 pm on the couch deciphering my notes on this tiny little sticky note I had made throughout the day to get things entered into my app.
At the end of the month, I would add up all the time I spent for each customer and transfer this information into an invoice template and email it to the customer. I would then transfer all of this information over to my accounting software to track the total of who owed me.
Essentially, I was using three different systems to track my time and invoice. It was completely inefficient and literally took me a full day each month to get my invoicing done, not to mention the 15 to 30 minutes (or more) I would spend each day tracking my time. I would then have to wait weeks, and sometimes longer for clients to mail checks.
I was resisting setting up systems that supported money coming to me with ease. I kept telling myself a story that I didn’t have time to stop and do the research it was going to take to get a more efficient system in place.
Again, I was making sure I was working really hard for my money!
When I finally transformed my business and took a long hard look at my money story AND my systems, it completely changed the way I did business. While it didn’t change overnight and it was a little scary to take the leap, I moved all of my clients to retainers, put contracts in place to better define expectations and set boundaries, and got everyone set up on automatic payments. This was life changing. I gained back a few valuable days each month that I could now spend working on my business, and even more valuable—some much-needed personal time.
These soul-aligned systems allowed me the space to do a lot less busy work and get paid more. Isn’t this the goal of every entrepreneur?
So, what are you struggling with in your business? Is there something that is holding you back, consciously or unconsciously from having money come to you with ease?
Related Post: Money Habits: Transform Your Relationship With Money in 2021
Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?
You feel anxious when you think about pricing your services because you are worried there aren’t enough clients who are willing to pay you. It might also sound like:
- “no one can afford my services”
- “no one wants my services”
As a result, you price yourself low so more people can afford to work with you even though your intuition and the market says to charge more.
Your underlying money story might be:
- I have to work hard for my money
- I just want to help people
Possible systems that could support you:
- Increase your prices – even if it scares you
- Have boundaries in place so you don’t over deliver – this might include the number of calls or amount of time you spend on a client project
- Have contracts to define what is included
Perhaps you are great at getting the sale, but you don’t like asking for money, so you avoid having a system for invoicing and tracking how much a client owes you. It might also sound like:
- I don’t have time to send out invoices”
- “I am not sure if that client paid me yet”
- “Why do I never have any money in my bank account”
As a result, you avoid having a system for invoicing and tracking how much a client owes you, and your cash flow suffers as a result.
An underlying money story might be:
- I don’t deserve to have money
- Having money is greedy
Possible systems that could support you:
- Automate your invoicing
- Set up retainers
- Accept credit cards
Maybe you hate tracking your expenses, so you put your crumpled up receipts in a drawer and ignore them until April 13th each year. This might also sound like:
- “I’m not good at math”
- “I’m irresponsible with money”
- “I don’t trust myself with money”
- “I don’t know what I am doing with money”
As a result, you have no idea how much money you have and which services and products you offer are profitable. You may also have a hard time paying your bills on time.
The underlying money story might be:
- I am not good with money.
- I am not worthy of having money.
Some systems that could support you are:
- Hire a bookkeeper
- Set up financial software
- Automate as much as possible – especially paying your bills.
When you know your numbers, you can make empowered and educated decisions about what you should keep doing in your business, and what you should stop doing. If you realize a product you are offering is not making you money, or is even causing you to lose money, knowing this information gives you the power to make a shift so you can become profitable.
How do you know what systems to create?
The truth is, there are probably several. But instead of getting overwhelmed thinking about everything that needs to be done, think of the one thing that is always causing you grief, or feels heavy every time you think about it. Pick just one.
Now, what is one tiny little baby step you can take to make that situation better? It doesn’t have to be big or earth shattering. Use your intuition. Take this opportunity right now and commit! Stop. Right. Now. Write it down. TAKE ACTION!
Keep in mind, you don’t need to do it ALL today. Take baby steps. By doing a little something every day, or even every week, your little baby steps will turn into something much bigger in the long run. Money transformations happen in baby steps.
Carolynn Bottino is an author, speaker, and founder of the Money Empowerment Project®. Her international best-selling book of The Land of Plenty: A Soulpreneur’s Guide to Finding Joy, Possibility and Abundance through Money Empowerment was featured on the Spirited Woman’s top 12 book pick list for 2020.
After empowering more than 100 clients in her bookkeeping business, she discovered her passion helping soulpreneurs find joy around their money. Carolynn approaches money from a practical and holistic standpoint, with no judgement, helping you find abundance and transform your relationship with money.
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