Is it time for you to grow your finances and finally begin building your wealth? One of the reasons I set up Childcare Ninjas – my mission if you will – is that I really want to encourage everyone in this community to become financially literate in their childcare business. I want women like YOU to be bringing in the money you want to make.
For years, money has been a taboo subject – particularly for women – and I want to make sure that doesn’t get in your way! It’s a topic that often makes us feel stressed or uncomfortable, so the more we talk about it the less hush-hush it’ll be.
In this blog I’m going to share with you some of the things you need to consider when it comes to finances. Because when we KNOW, we can GROW!
Why do we need to learn about finances?
Rather than just spending up your check when it comes in, we need to learn what to do to make the money work for us! We want to manoeuvre ourselves into a place where we start to become wealthy, where we don’t just strive but get to thrive financially in our business and our lives.
In order to do that I believe there has to be a learning curve, to seek out the education that shows us how to use our finances in a positive way and be able to continue growing them. Oftentimes that isn’t the information that’s handed down, you need to be purposeful about seeking it out.
Many of us received the opposite, growing up with negative thoughts and ideas about money and wealth. This takes time and effort to unpick and unlearn.
When it comes to finances in business, I was (once upon a time) the kind of person who’d throw all my receipts and invoices in a drawer and “deal with them later”…and then the drawer got all jammed up because it was overflowing with paperwork…I wonder if that’s ringing any bells for you there, Ninja?
The trick when it comes to great financial management is consistency and small, simple systems. This took me so long to figure out, and that is why I am super excited to be giving you this guidance, so you don’t have to waste time figuring it out!
But why do you need to grow your finances?
And the reason this matters is that money is not shared equally across the globe. Nope. Did you know that the world’s richest 1% – those with more than $1 million – own 43.4% of the world’s wealth? And of those, men have more of a share than women, and there is massive inequality in terms of race, language, religion.
So when a load of us women in childcare start growing our businesses and creating WEALTH for us and our communities we are rocking the boat! We are shifting the wealth share and making the lives of people in our areas better! What’s not to love, Ninja?!
I want to encourage each and everyone of us to build our wealth and create overflow and abundance in our lives!
Figure out the language of finance
Part of the reason we shy away from talking about money is that the finance industry bamboozles us with words that we don’t understand. So before you get started with trying to sort out your finances, I’d recommend getting familiar with the language.
There’s absolutely no shame in googling words you don’t recognize or listening to some finance books on audiobook. You could even reading a paper copy and have a thesaurus handy for any unfamiliar words.
We weren’t taught this stuff in school, so it’s time we took things into our own hands! Let’s grow your finances together!
What do we know about finances already?
Take a minute to sit and figure out what you DO know. You might already know how to pay in checks and cash them, for example. You may be au fait with internet banking. How about pay roll and taxes?
Perhaps you ran a product-based business before you decided to open a daycare, or maybe you were the treasurer for the PTA and kept immaculate records on spreadsheets for the bake sales and jamborees. Whatever your experience, don’t belittle it! You’ve picked up skills over the years and you can flex those muscles again, just in a different way.
Once you know what you DO know, then you can start to look and learn the things you DON’T yet. And it’s okay to admit that we don’t know stuff!!
Time to separate your money
Don’t mingle your money! Especially if you’re an LLC. You need an EIN to set up your own business account. Do it in your name or under a business name – doesn’t matter! But you need it separate. Lots of first time business owners make the mistake of using their day-to-day accounts when they start up, and it just creates utter chaos when you are trying to figure out incomings and outgoings.
Keep it simple. One account for the childcare business, and another for your personal business. Read about the way you can manage finances and the Profit First method here.
Create financial goals to grow your finances
So I know you’re probably familiar with the idea of goal setting – “In 5 years I’d like to have a second daycare”, “In a year I’d like to build an extension onto my current childcare space”, “By the time I’m 40 I want to have a new home, car and at least 30 employees”… And these are great. Being ambitious and stretchy in our goal setting is AWESOME! However, you want to be ultra specific with financial goals.
Make sure you set income goals because you want your business journey to be focused and not meandering all over the place. Attach a number to your goal. For example, “In a years time I want to be bringing in $60,000 so I can build that extension and develop my childcare space”. You don’t wanna travel without a destination!
Break down your financial tasks
Daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly. Keep track of receipts, keep track of all incomings and outgoings on a daily basis. Weekly – on a Friday – you can get your financial tasks done (like filing those receipts!). Your accountant will love you for it. Build these tasks into your workflow!
Get some financial help!
I cannot emphasize this enough: get an accountant and a book keeper. They’re not the same thing!
Your accountant can support you with taxes and figuring out your financial journey. I tend to check in with mine and update them on new things I’m doing in case that impacts my taxes. But at the end of the tax year is when they work their magic. And the bookkeeper makes sure all your expenses are accounted for and you work together all year long. They’re financial fairy godmothers who can help you stay on top of things!
Build relationships with people at your bank. Talk to the teller and the bank manager, and don’t feel intimidated by anyone. It’s key to connect, so that you can ask questions and learn from them as experts about how things work.
When you have a new project coming up or are looking to expand, their expertise can be so valuable to decision making.
Do not be afraid of asking for help.
Hopefully after reading this blog post you’re feeling a bit more confident about money and talking about how to grow your finances. I mentioned earlier that I use the Profit First method and have been since reading the book, but I’d love to know what money, finance, or business books have made an impact on you? Share your resources in the comments below or come and join in the conversation over on Facebook!
To get you started on managing your finances effectively and efficiently, here’s an extra helping hand from me to you, Ninja:
1. Watch my mini-training here where I will talk about this in more detail.
2. Download the freebie that goes along with this mini-training and get started on your mission-tidy-up-my-biz-finances!
If you want to hang out with like-minded and aspirational childcare business owners, come and get involved in the community over on Facebook! Join us for more tips on how to make your childcare business the success it deserves to be! Or if you prefer Instagram, we share ideas and tips there too. We’re an army of childcare professionals who are sharing ninja-sharp skills to transform our businesses into childcare empires! This is Childcare Ownership all Grownup!
