When Craig Dacy swapped his teacher's desk for the entrepreneurial rollercoaster, he knew the ride would be anything but ordinary. Join us as the founder of Craig Dacy Financial Coaching candidly shares his journey from chalkboards to balance sheets, delivering a masterclass in risk management and the courage to chase a dream.
Our conversation peels back the layers of small business ownership, exposing the gritty challenges that often stay tucked away from the limelight. We share the story of Craig's own career pivot from teaching to financial coaching, a bold move cushioned by a year's savings and a passion for demystifying money management. He brings a wealth of knowledge, simplifying complex financial principles with a focus on behavior, helping entrepreneurs understand that managing money isn't just about numbers—it's about fostering financial well-being.
If you're a small business owner who fumbles with finances or fears you'll never decode the secrets of sustainable cash flow, this conversation is your lifeline. We dissect the profit-first system, a technique that can transform your approach to money management, and address the all-too-common issue of undervaluing your own salary. Craig and I also emphasize the transformative impact of hiring a financial coach, not just to scrutinize your numbers, but to overhaul your pricing, refine sales strategies, and catapult you towards financial triumph.
Concluding with a robust discussion on the art of delegation and scaling your business, this episode is a treasure trove of strategies designed to prevent burnout and promote growth. From weekly check-ins to empowering your team, we cover the A to Z of developing a strong financial pulse for your enterprise. So, whether you're a seasoned business owner or just starting, join us for insights that could write the next chapter of your success story. Your entrepreneurial quest is a shared adventure, and we're here to guide you through every financial twist and turn.
When Craig Dacy swapped his teacher's desk for the entrepreneurial rollercoaster, he knew the ride would be anything but ordinary. Join us as the founder of Craig Dacy Financial Coaching candidly shares his journey from chalkboards to balance sheets, delivering a masterclass in risk management and the courage to chase a dream.
Our conversation peels back the layers of small business ownership, exposing the gritty challenges that often stay tucked away from the limelight. We share the story of Craig's own career pivot from teaching to financial coaching, a bold move cushioned by a year's savings and a passion for demystifying money management. He brings a wealth of knowledge, simplifying complex financial principles with a focus on behavior, helping entrepreneurs understand that managing money isn't just about numbers—it's about fostering financial well-being.
If you're a small business owner who fumbles with finances or fears you'll never decode the secrets of sustainable cash flow, this conversation is your lifeline. We dissect the profit-first system, a technique that can transform your approach to money management, and address the all-too-common issue of undervaluing your own salary. Craig and I also emphasize the transformative impact of hiring a financial coach, not just to scrutinize your numbers, but to overhaul your pricing, refine sales strategies, and catapult you towards financial triumph.
Concluding with a robust discussion on the art of delegation and scaling your business, this episode is a treasure trove of strategies designed to prevent burnout and promote growth. From weekly check-ins to empowering your team, we cover the A to Z of developing a strong financial pulse for your enterprise. So, whether you're a seasoned business owner or just starting, join us for insights that could write the next chapter of your success story. Your entrepreneurial quest is a shared adventure, and we're here to guide you through every financial twist and turn.
Being a business owner entrepreneurship is can be incredibly lonely. There's not a lot of people Especially in your inner circles when you first start that are doing it. You know I've had to slowly join networking groups and marketing groups. Now I meet weekly, monthly, with a bunch different groups of business owners because it's lonely. You go from working a job or you're around people all the time in the trenches with you to. I'm doing this all by myself.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to small business pivots, a podcast designed for small business owners. I'm your host, michael Morrison, a small business coach and founder of boss, where we make business ownership Simplified for success so you can create a business that works without you. To learn more, go to business ownership Simplified calm, and be sure to hang out to the end of the show for my recap and coach's corner, where I challenge you to take Action on one thing that will move the needle in your business. Our guest today is Craig Dacey. Craig is a business owner, profit-first, certified online personality and content creator located in Austin, texas. His company, craig Dacey financial coaching, helps business owners and individuals take the stress out of their money so they can spend more time doing what they love. They help small business owners implement a simple cash management system that allows them to immediately increase profits and start taking more Money home while continuing to grow a financially healthy business.
Speaker 2:
Let's get to our guest now to learn the pivots he's made in his successful career. All right, welcome to another small business pivots. Today we have a special guest from around the world. Where are you coming to us from today?
Speaker 1:
Austin Texas.
Speaker 2:
Austin, texas. So does this offend you? Are you? Are you one of the? For those that can't see, I'm holding up the horns and and putting them down. So are you a Longhorn College football fan?
Speaker 1:
You know I grew up a longhorn fake cuz. You know you grew up in Austin and it's always Longhorn Aggie jokes Forever. So if you're an Aggie fan in the Austin as a kid it's like that's a bad.
Speaker 2:
My sister-in-law is an Aggie, so my loyalties are kind of waiver now, yeah, well, I'm in Oklahoma and so you know we do the horns down and you all do the horns up. But then we have kind of one of those colleges here called Oklahoma State. So we kind of look at them like you do the A&M, like we are the university. You're just a college, Exactly exactly. So tell us your name, your company, so introduce yourself. You can say your name better than I can.
Speaker 1:
You got it. My name is Craig Dacey and I'm the owner of Dacey Financial Coaching. We help small businesses and people manage their money and Leverage their behaviors to make basically, money management simple fantastic.
Speaker 2:
So, owning a small business, or actually having owned numerous small businesses, and then me as a business coach that works with small businesses, a Company cannot survive without cash. So let's talk, but let's first talk about kind of your journey, your experience, just to kind of get some of that so we kind of know where you're coming from, the angle you're coming from.
Speaker 1:
You got it. So you know, I was an education for Probably 10 years and, you know, growing up I thought that's what I was. I always thought was gonna be a teacher. So every job I held, everything I did was to help me get my foot in the door as an educator. But after doing it for so long, I just kind of hit a wall and Realized I don't think I want to keep doing this much longer.
Speaker 1:
You, as you know, teachers aren't necessarily paid the best. So, looking into my future and I'm a pretty ambitious guy I just realized the fire was gone. Not because I didn't love teaching and working with with the kids, but it's more just like when I can look down and see what my Salary will be 25 years from now. It doesn't give me any drive to grow or do anything more. So I'd always been a serial entrepreneur as a musician. I had that business, always had side hustles on the going for me. So I decided you know what, I'm gonna take my love for teaching, I'm gonna match that with my love for finance and personal finance and Launch that business back in 2016 and never looked back.
Speaker 2:
Wow. So what was the for those that are considering being an entrepreneur? I know a lot of us have mindset limitations and so a lot of us will wait to pull the plug until the right moment, which, as you know, there never is. What was kind of that trigger that you're like I've had enough and I actually took the plunge?
Speaker 1:
You got it? Yeah, it was. I Just remember I changed schools. So that was my first thing. I said you know, I've been at this school for too long, I'm gonna change schools and I see the fresh Environment and that didn't solve anything. And so that's when I started building up this business on the side. I was going you know, I want to start helping people with their money and what. Basically, I just came up with this plan and I'm the money guys. So it makes sense that I'm thinking okay, I'm gonna stockpile cash, I'm gonna give myself a little runway to help reduce this risk of just Quitting my job.
Speaker 1:
I didn't want to leave with the you know, burning the boats, as they say. So I built up cash for a year. Good and bad thing about education is you you don't really you can leave in the middle of the year, but it's just kind of frowned upon. So I decided I'm gonna be in the school year, I'm gonna leave, I'm gonna save up enough money and I'm gonna see if I can get this thing to work. So I had enough cash to give me about a year to To test it out, and if it crashed and burned, I'd run back to education with my table to my legs and if it worked, and Then I'd be on your podcast. So, yeah, that's, that's it.
Speaker 2:
Well, here you are, so obviously it works, so Congratulations. So let's talk about that reserve, because I know a lot of business owners as a business coach. They're always asking me what should I do with this excessive cash, and I asked them how much they have. So what? You said you had a year of reserve. So what does that look like? You don't have to give exact amounts, but just like, was it a three-month runway, six month or?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, it was about a six-month runway and so I was. My goal at the time was to make what I was making as to basically replace my income. That's usually the first phase for any new business owner entrepreneurs. I just need to replace my income and so I was making from the business about half of what I was making and teaching at the time, and so I had six months of money and I'm thinking, okay, well, I need to pull Half of that every month to supplement what I'm making, so that shouldn't give me about a year. Then, of course, you know, I mean I was putting maybe 15 hours a week into it while I was teaching and once my freedom and time opened up after a year was over had more in savings than I Then I started with. But at least gave me that peace of mind and I wasn't Desperate on sales calls and you know it gives you kind of that ease that you can move forward with.
Speaker 2:
So, looking back Currently, while we're recording this, that was about eight years ago when you started, right right. Okay, so looking back, what is one thing that you would have done different after you started your business that you didn't know?
Speaker 1:
You know, there's a lot of things that started differently. The biggest one I can think of is probably in the first year of business. I wanted to start this membership site. I kind of got on the train of, oh, don't work with just one-on-one with people when you could do one-to-many product. And so I built this thing. I spent weeks, months, putting this thing together and selling it and you know we had we got maybe up to 30 or so members. It was a platform with courses and monthly calls.
Speaker 1:
I just didn't have the foundation built enough to sustain it. I realized like I am going to need hundreds of people in here before I'm going to make any be able to make this business profitable, and I wasn't ready for it. I jumped the gun. It's something we're starting now to revisit is now that we have that foundation and we have a team and we can incorporate it. But when it was just me and I wasn't even making my teaching income yet, I think I was trying to cut corners and fast track it to the big time and I wasn't ready. I didn't have an audience to sell, so I didn't have anything yet.
Speaker 2:
So that is golden information. I know there's a lot of solopreneurs that have hit it big and I have no doubt that what the curriculum they share, sale works. But if you don't have a following from the beginning, that's the critical part. And I fell in the same trap when I got into the business coaching. I started my business well over two decades ago my very first one but when I got into the coaching side I fell in that trap as well at creating all. I spent so much time creating the course and the curriculum and the membership and how to log in and the. You know how people are going to pay and then set their crickets. So I we're not alone. You're not alone either. Good.
Speaker 1:
Good and since, since I've learned, somebody told me this golden idea which makes so much sense that they say sell the idea first. You know you don't have to spend the hours building these things and then go, try and sell them and again, maybe you just wasted months of your your time versus start selling the course or whatever it is before you build it, and then you can see if there's even an interest of people are going to pay for it. But let's get it, let's learn in hindsight.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, well, you know. And and for business owners that are listening, apply that to everything that you're doing, because it's the same thing when I work with business owners. So my background in education is is marketing, advertising, graphic design, and so when someone asked me, should I invest in sales for, like, we're talking about people that are doing things for the first time should I invest in sales force or what? And I'm like, have you ever had a CRM?
Speaker 2:
No, and I'm like, well, start with Excel spreadsheet first in, because you don't even know what you really want, what you need, how you're going to attract people. You don't have to spend all this upfront time to get things going, and for me I'm thinking that's more procrastination than anything else, because that they can do. Anybody can learn that stuff, but using it. So thank you, for I kind of went off on a side rail there. But that's that's so important for business owners to know is don't put the cart before the horse, as they say.
Speaker 1:
Yes, you got to grow with your business and, going back to finances, it's, I would say, follow the money. And so if you're trying to grow too fast, you're not letting the business kind of guide that growth and it can be detrimental. Either you're going to burn out or you're going to run out of money and shut the doors.
Speaker 2:
So Well, let's talk money because, like I said, the purpose of every business is to turn cash into more cash. You can't have a business without cash, right, right, okay. So what are some tips? How does your company help? What does it offer? What is a financial coach?
Speaker 1:
Yep, you got it. So our job is to make business finance simple for our clients. You know, we we don't think you should need an accounting degree just to run the finances in a business, and unfortunately, that's what it's led to. There's industry jargon that tends to go over our heads, and so I take my passion for making concepts simple and that's what we do. So when we work with a client, we use a system. It's called profit first, that that we teach.
Speaker 1:
Our clients were certified in that and it's, to me, the most simple way to manage finances for a business owner. It really leverages your behavior by using bank accounts. So for those who aren't familiar with profit, first, you open bank accounts and you nickname them. You have one that's nicknamed income and that's where all your sales and deposits go, and you have one that's nicknamed profit, literally, and you move. Every time you make a sale, a little bit goes into that profit account. You have an account for your owner's pay to make sure that you, the business owner, are paid. You're sacrificing our paychecks to try and grow this business. We have an account for taxes and then we have an account for operating expenses so that you don't need to go pull cash flow statements, pnl's balance sheets. Those are important, but you don't need to pull those to know how you're doing financially. You can just look at your phone, get a quick snapshot of where do I stand, how much cash do I have and are we doing okay? Are we balanced or not?
Speaker 2:
I am a huge proponent of profit. First, that type of theology. It's kind of for those of us that are older. It kind of goes back to the budget envelope system that my parents taught me. Like, put $100 of groceries into this envelope and don't rob Peter to pay Paul and put your gas money over here and all that stuff. It's for small business owners that don't have the time to read financials. It's this go research this and call you so. Are you an accountant? What do you do actually as the financial coach?
Speaker 1:
So we are simply coaches. We don't like to touch taxes. We are partnering with a company to start helping with bookkeeping, but up to now we've really just guided coaches and coached people in their behavior. So when we work with a client, usually the first thing we'll do is we'll take a look at their numbers for them and give them this assessment that says, okay, here's how you're doing, here's how much, what percentage we think you should start putting in operating expenses today and what percentage you should start putting in your owner's pay. And then we create a rollout plan and we say, okay, here's where we think is the best spot for you to be and how do we get you there?
Speaker 1:
Over 12 months or so, however long it needs to take, depending on how messy it's looking to start. Then we guide them through it and we are there helping them move the money. We're helping them keep an eye on the finances. And then we are able to pivot and look at other things that might affect it, like the pricing on their products or their sales process or their margins, their expenses all those things that might be able to help improve the financial health of the business.
Speaker 2:
What would you say when a small business owner reaches out to you? What are some of the common challenges that you find are consistent throughout the industry of small business owners?
Speaker 1:
Not paying themselves enough is such a huge one. Nobody starts a business to be overworked and make no money. You don't leave a nine to five because you're going. I want to work more hours and make the most money. So that's such a big thing that this entrepreneurial dream of freedom of time and freedom of income suddenly it doesn't feel like they're living that dream.
Speaker 1:
And the further we get into business, the harder it becomes, as you know, because you've got payroll that you're adding on, you're growing, and those things just make it harder to wedge yourself in. It's this idea that I just need to make more money in order to pay myself more. But just the more money we make, the more we spend. That's just the way it is, and so that's usually the number one problem. Sometimes it's stress about expenses, being able to make payroll, having no idea where money's going. But it all kind of ties back to let's start with you, the business owner make sure you're taken care of, and then we can work backwards to make sure that the business is growing in a healthy way.
Speaker 2:
That's insightful, because most business owners get burnt out and they call us like they call you when they've reached that tipping point. And so I don't know do you find working with small business owners? Do you find it difficult to convince them that they need you? Cause I know that we do. It's usually they're at this burning point where I can't do this anymore. I need help. What have you found?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, it's the same, simply because a lot of times it can feel counterintuitive. We're asking for them to invest in us when they're struggling financially or they have these financial fears. We're big on, and I'm sure you guys have the same philosophy. It's if you're ready for change and you're ready to put the work in, you're gonna make way more back than you'll ever invest in us. I'm sure your clients are the exact same. Amen, Lean into it, put the work in. They're gonna make so much more back. The only people who don't, who aren't successful, are the ones who go MIA or who don't follow through on what we're showing them to do and so. But getting people to make that jump, I get it. They're on the call because they're stressed financially and then here we are, quoting them an investment.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, they're going okay, that's just even more money that's gonna be growing out of our bank account.
Speaker 2:
So yeah, more time and more money. Like more of their time. I know some business owners. They're like how am I supposed to do what you're saying and still put out fires every day? You're listening to Small Business Pivots.
Speaker 2:
This podcast is sponsored by Boss, where business ownership is simplified for success. Boss helps business owners create a business that runs without them, with business consulting services, business loans, free education and much, much more. Go to businessownershipssimplifiedcom to learn why small business success starts with Boss. If you're enjoying the podcast and want to stay up to date with all of our latest episodes, make sure to hit that subscribe button, give us a thumbs up or leave a positive review. Your support means the world to us and it helps others discover the show too. Thanks for tuning in. Now let's get back to our guests. When you started your business, were you working more on your business in your business? And if you were working in the business, what are some tips that you could give to other business owners saying look, here's how you shift, because some business owners, when they come to us, they're like I can't even fathom putting more time into something else or more money, like you said.
Speaker 1:
Yes, you're right. I was working in my business probably longer than I should have been, and I started reaching that point in burnout. And this is, I think, a lot of people when they start. The dream is I'm going to quit my job and I'm going to work for myself, and you don't even start to think about the idea that I can grow this beyond just me, and I can have a team and I can have a business that's going to have a bigger impact. It was just I just want to be self avoid. That was my first goal. And then I sat in that for too long and I was doing everything you know the marketing, the graphic design, the coaching, the sales, anything and everything in between and I finally hit a point where I was like I need to start offloading some of this because my calendar is so full I don't have any time for I don't have that freedom of time. So the transition started.
Speaker 1:
I always think a VA is one of the easiest entries into freeing up your time, especially because you can, if you wanted, to, go and outsource it outside of the US. You can do it a lot more affordably for those who are afraid of not being able to afford a VA or you could stay in the US, whatever it is. But that's the first step where you can say, okay, here's all the tasks that I'm doing that are $20 an hour, tasks that are taking up my time. I'm gonna offload this to somebody else so I can focus on the bigger picture. Then for me, it was the other side of it was the coaching, and so that's where we started bringing in coaches, because I'm spending so much time working with clients. I love working with clients. I'll always keep a handful, but it's I need. We need to have some other people who that's their job, because I'm so spread out that I can't focus 100% on client experience and I need somebody who that's their job, just to make sure clients are happy, well taken care of and making progress.
Speaker 2:
Well, you ran out of bandwidth, right? Yes, yeah, so you need help. So again, I kind of go back because I have some best friends that are solopreneurs and they do very well and I believe in their stuff. I've gone through some courses and I believe in it. But I don't want people to believe in the myth of you can do everything by yourself, because even the solopreneurs I know they still have VA's, they have a marketing director, that's a VA. They have. You know all those things.
Speaker 2:
So I don't want people to get caught up in thinking that, oh, I can just do this alone and make a million dollars. It's almost impossible. So, going into the financial side of businesses, most business owners that we work with don't pay attention to any of their financials until they need to buy something till something breaks, or they need to pay themselves, or they're they need to make payroll by the end of the week and find out they don't have money. That's not the right way to look at financials. What, as a business or financial coach, what would you say? How much attention should they pay to attentionals Kind of? What does that take? Weekly, monthly, quarterly, and how much time in each of those periods?
Speaker 1:
You got it. So yes, to all the above, there's some rhythms that we like to incorporate. It all encompasses, because what you're describing is our natural tendency is to be reactive with money, and that's why we can ride that Feaster Famine roller coaster. When money's good, we spend. When it's bad, we tighten up so we help people we're big on. Let's be proactive with money. We know what's going on, we have a game plan and even if things are tight and bad and red flags are going up in the bank accounts, we at least are aware and have a game plan for it. And it's not just us reacting and then all of a sudden, at tax time, we owe this big tax bill. So, as far as time management, how often to look at it?
Speaker 1:
We set our clients up on a weekly rhythm where they're logging into their bank account once a week, they're moving money from that income account to the other bank accounts. That's a time where they may go. If they're using a credit card, I usually have them pay off their balance on the credit card every week, every Friday, so that they're not getting behind on letting that pile up until the end of the month and then from there it's just weekly, doing those doing a health check. How's our accounts looking? If there is any issues like a bank account operating expenses getting too low, our clients usually if they're still working with us will text us and we might hop on a call to troubleshoot it together.
Speaker 1:
But so that's the weekly rhythm. Once a month it's kind of make at least looking at your documents like your P&L and all that. Usually, if you have a bookkeeper, they'll just send you those reports, nothing crazy. And then quarterly, as you know, from profit first and those who don't, our clients, take a bonus out of their profit account every quarter, and so I'm sitting down and looking and saying, okay, how much is in the profit account? Let's pay ourselves a bonus to use on ourselves or to use to get out of debt or to build that savings, whatever it is. So those are the main rhythms that we're focusing on. Is that weekly, monthly and quarterly?
Speaker 2:
Just a business owner hearing that they can have money each quarter. I think should be exciting for them to hear. So once someone kind of dives into the profit, first with someone like you, how long does it take to get organized, because I know it does take some time. And then what are some benefits? Or maybe some comments that you hear from small business owners that say I'm so glad I did this because now I or you know something to that effect.
Speaker 1:
We always say within 90 days you will feel this thing should be running fairly smoothly and you're going to feel a lot more in control. That doesn't mean it takes 90 days for that to happen. Usually within a month you at least a lot of that weight is lifting off your shoulders as we're starting to make some progress. You're getting more clarity, you're understanding a little bit more of where things are going. We warn our clients there's growing pains. Change is hard. So anytime we're implementing a new system, there's going to be growing pains, and that's okay. We always remind them. If you go to pay a bill and there's not enough in the operating expense account in the first month, that's fine, it's not a failure, that's just. We're injecting this new system into your business and trying to take what you've always done and slowly move it over to this. But that's all I'd say, usually within 30 days, and then the next 30 days it's better and then by first into the first quarter it should be incorporated well enough and moving along.
Speaker 1:
That's typically where people start to say I mean just, they don't stress anymore. That's the comments we hear. They feel a lot more in control, they know exactly what's going on. They're shocked and amazed at how much money they actually have. They felt like they were barely scraping by. And then now they're looking down and going, how do I have all this extra money? And so those are the main things. We're hearing People who we have a lot of clients, who especially the smaller ones, who are sole entrepreneurs, who come in not paying themselves at all, or they're just pulling money out as they needed a couple hundred bucks here and there, and now they're on a consistent paycheck and just talking about how that feels good. So, yeah, it's just smoother and simpler.
Speaker 2:
I think you know, as a business coach, I understand financials, how to read them, how to use them, forecasting and all that. But I want our listeners to know that we use a version of profit first. We don't use the exact method, but ours is kind of a little different, but it's the same principle and I highly encourage business owners if you haven't looked at it gotten to reach out to you and to learn more about it, because it really does, I know. Even for us it just I know what's coming up. You know and most business owners don't. You know.
Speaker 2:
I'm not surprised in three months when this payment that I forgot about annually comes up. I don't freak out like how are we going to pay for that? I don't look at my financials and say it shows we made money, but how come I don't have that in the bank, you know. Or when taxes come up, I know that's the biggest fear. So I'm just kind of sharing with people, like just a few of the good grief, hundreds of reasons why this could change the trajectory of any small business. So let's talk about your business and some pivots that you've made, things that you feel could help some other business owners, that you've learned and implemented.
Speaker 1:
I've made a lot of pivots. I mean, when I started again, I was personal finance only is all we did. We coach people on personal finances, budgeting, getting out of debt. And then I, just in growing my business, fell in love with business side, working with entrepreneurs and business owners realize we can't help you with the personal finances until we get the business finances organized. And that's what caused us this, this huge pivot, this light bulb Like let's, let's start working with business owners, and fell in love with that niche, and so that's where we started heading.
Speaker 1:
Then I had to pivot again because I'm trying to juggle both and I have personal finance marketing going on but I'm not taking on any clients and that's where I go Okay, it's time to bring in somebody who can just take that over for me. That's where we have Alicia, who's just crushing it and taking it and just growing that program like crazy. So, yeah, lots of times where you kind of you feel like you're going one direction and yet you realize this isn't sustainable or this isn't working, or membership site example again, like I think this is going to be the key to winning it all and you have to stop and eat some humble pie and make a quick twist.
Speaker 2:
Well, that brings me to another point, because I know that you always hear resilience push through, keep going. At what point have you discovered this isn't working? I need to change something, I need to pivot.
Speaker 1:
You're right, it's. There's this idea of this hustle grind. There's a couple of things. I mean. There's always the financial metrics. You know if you're struggling, if you're watching it and it's just not growing at the rate you need to grow. I tend to look at the emotional metric of it is how do I, how am I feeling about my business? And this is something just even every couple of months to do a health check on yourself. How am I feeling? I still love my business. What do I hate about it? And if you're realizing this thing that you are just killing yourself to try and shove through is not going, then that might be a time where you're like I might need to let this go.
Speaker 1:
With that membership side, I was checking my email in the middle of the night and every time I would open my email I would have this fear that somebody had canceled. You know that. And membership sites are churn. I mean, churn is the thing. Like people are coming in, people are leaving. That's part of the business. And I was like that's causing me so much anxiety for two reasons. I feel like I need this to work, or else I'm not going to win or I'm not going to survive. And two, it's this just fear of like this is going to. There's always going to be here. So this is killing me now. If that's not going away, churn is always going to be a thing. So that was a huge indicator of I need to let this go because it's it's keeping me up at night.
Speaker 2:
That's scary when you're depending on every single client. You know to make ends meet. So, speaking of kind of being on your own, you've got an assistant or two, a team. How do you balance your sales, marketing and running a business? I know that's a common question asked by a lot of business owners.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, 100%. So for me it was empowering people and giving them a lot of freedom and flexibility to make things their own. So that's when I brought Alicia and it was just. You know, she and I meet regularly on the personal finance side so that I still have a pulse on it and I'm helping her. But it is, I have 100% trust in her and she's working with the clients. She knows how to make it better. She knows what they're needing.
Speaker 1:
I tend to be in a lot of business owners of this way. I'm more of like the visionary idea kind of person. I'm a creative person, so I love creating content, processes and systems and procedures. I love them because I need them. That is not my natural. That doesn't excite me to sit down and create an Excel spreadsheet for somebody. I can do it, it just doesn't excite me, Whereas she that's her way of thinking is how can I make this more linear, more of a path for somebody and create that process for them? So that's kind of what I started delegating out and giving myself that freedom to create.
Speaker 1:
I like marketing the way we've kind of done it. That's how we get a lot of our clients is content marketing. So it is helpful that that's where my energy is. Focus is is client creation, is marketing and content creation, so that's where I spend a lot of my personal time on top of managing the team, and that's you know. I've learned. My role used to be coaching clients, and I still have a few, but now it's coaching my employees, coaching my team members and to grow in there what they're doing.
Speaker 2:
Well, you said a few key elements that I preach, and that is delegate and systems and processes. It's difficult to grow scale and there is a difference between the two, but it's different to take your business to the next level If you don't do those two things. Even if you are a solopreneur and have just one assistant, there are so many things as a business owner that we do, maybe quarterly, that we're like now how did I do that last time? Or how come this isn't working on that software? And that's what systems processes do they like? Remind they're just the step by step.
Speaker 1:
So even for those solopreneurs that are out there or maybe have the onesies and twosies team, those are still critical and you just explained why you 100% I I learned when I hired Alicia she was my first main, you know, I have my VA and I learned a little bit that I wasn't prepped for it.
Speaker 1:
And Alicia big time, because I've been coaching people. It was all just kind of up here and you know, I had some spreadsheets here and nothing was organized, Nothing was systemized. And so she comes in and I'm realizing, okay, I got to take what's been in my brain and make this repeatable, because that's the key. You know, as you grow, you need, you want client experience to be just as good when you introduce another person, when you hire another person under her, that they can take what you're doing and replicate it in a way that client experience doesn't suffer. And I was not prepped for it and that was a big eye opener. I need to get some of this stuff locked in and otherwise no one's going to stay with me If all of this is made me pumping out ideas and again being reactive with everything.
Speaker 2:
So yeah, yeah. Well, you're not alone, I promise you, including myself before I had a coach way back when I was doing the same thing ever. All of us do Like we're really good at what we do but we suck at everything else. So we need to look. We don't know what we don't know, as I always say. So yeah, so on the, how do people get ahold of you? Where are you at? You mentioned content? How can they follow your content?
Speaker 1:
First place you find us is definitely our website, which is Craigdccom. As we were talking about those numbers, we have a free quiz on there that people can hop on and take. It's just quizCraigdccom. You go on there and answer a handful of questions and it'll tell you exactly where we think you should be financially in the realm of how much should be going to operating expenses, to your salary, all those things, social wise. You know we're on YouTube, so YouTube slash Craigdc, you can find us there. We're on Instagram, we're on all the main social media platforms and we're posting content on there constantly.
Speaker 2:
So I have a couple of questions to wrap up here. One is what would you say is the most important thing in any business to be successful?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, the most important thing to me is people, and that's caring about people and putting them at the forefront, remembering that sales revenue important is just a reflection of how well you're serving people and how well you're taking care of people. And so to me, I'm like, if that's always your focus, use money as your metric, not as the thing you're running after. It's just and you'll be successful.
Speaker 2:
And then number two. If you had a room full of business owners here, what's the one thing that you would tell them for encouragement?
Speaker 1:
You're not alone, I think, is the thing. So, whatever you're struggling with, probably 80% of the people sitting in this room are also struggling with it or have struggled with it, and so being a business owner entrepreneurship is can be incredibly lonely. There's not a lot of people especially in your inner circles when you first start that are doing it. You know, I've had to slowly join networking groups and marketing groups, and now I meet weekly, monthly, with a bunch of different groups of business owners. Because it's lonely. You go from working a job where you're around people all the time in the trenches with you, to I'm doing this all by myself.
Speaker 1:
And you feel like you're the only one struggling with it.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, that is a very lonely feeling, so I encourage everybody to reach out to you. That's very important. I appreciate all your insights. You've been a joy and fun to talk to and we'll catch you around Awesome.
Speaker 1:
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:
Thank you for joining us on this journey through the complexities of entrepreneurship with Craig Daisy. As we recap, remember that every twist and turn in your business journey is an opportunity for growth. My daily mantra I crafted that may help you as well is Every day is an exciting adventure, with problems to be solved and memories to be made. So take Craig's wisdom to heart, embrace the challenges and let them fuel your determination to succeed. In our coaches corner segment, we turn today's insights into actionable advice.
Speaker 2:
As you reflect on Craig's experiences, consider this Take a moment to evaluate where you might be overextending yourself in your business. Identify one task or responsibility that you can delegate or outsource to free up your time and focus on strategic growth. Remember, investing in support isn't just beneficial, it's essential for long-term success. If you need help identifying which tasks to offload first, we have a free workbook that will help you. Go to our website, businessownershipsimplifiedcom, and in our freebie section, under resources, you will find our delegation quadrant workbook. You can download it for free.
Speaker 2:
So, as you step back into your business realm armed with newfound knowledge and inspiration, know that you're not alone in this journey. As Craig said, reach out, build your support network and continue to strive for greatness Until next time, keep chasing your dreams and remember your success story is waiting to be written. Stay inspired, stay driven and keep building the business of your dreams. Thank you for listening to small business pivots. Please don't forget to subscribe and share this podcast. If your business is stuck or you need help creating your business to run without you, go to our website businessownershipsimplifiedcom and schedule a free consultation to learn why business success starts with boss. If you have a guest or topic suggestion for our podcast or just want to talk anything small business related, email me at michael at michaldmorsencom. We'll see you next time on small business pivots.
