70: 3 Simple Steps to Managing Your Business Finances (+ Doing More Good) with Stephanie Skryzowski
Lauren Tilden
Welcome back to Making Good, the podcast for small businesses who want to make a big impact. I'm your host, Lauren Tilden, and this is episode 70. In today's episode I'm joined by Stephanie Skryzowski, founder and CEO of 100 Degrees Consulting. In this episode, we talk about managing your business finances and having some fun in the process, and how having a strong financial foundation is tied with your ability to make the biggest impact possible. This is a really good episode I know you're going to love. But before we get into the episode, I do have a couple of quick announcements for you.
First, if you're struggling to figure out what to say in your marketing, I have an awesome free resource for you. This workbook will help you come up with a lot of content ideas, your audience will love to download it for free head to Laurentilden.co/content. And that will be linked in the show notes. Second, I invite you to join other values driven small business owners for inspiration, accountability and lots of business and marketing inspiration. This is in a Facebook group where I'm currently hosting what I call procrastination sessions every other Friday, you can join a Zoom co-working session with other small business owners to get stuff done. This Facebook group is called the Good Business community and it's for listeners of this podcast. The link will be in the show notes or you can head to makinggoodpodcast.com/community to be redirected.
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Okay, so let's talk about today's episode. As I mentioned, my guest today is Stephanie's Skryzowski. Stephanie serves as a CFO for purpose driven entrepreneurs, helping them gain clarity and confidence in their numbers to make smarter decisions grow their bottom line and create a greater impact on the world. Her business 100 Degrees Consulting provides CFO strategy and bookkeeping services to businesses and nonprofits around the globe.
In this episode, we discussed three simple steps to manage your business finances, what financial roles you might consider outsourcing, things like bookkeeping, tax accountants, a CFO and a financial advisor. Why many creative entrepreneurs shy away from the money side of their business, how to make working with the numbers in your business fun, how to create a roadmap to profit, a monthly finance or team, the connection between knowing your numbers and doing good in the world and much more.
Stephanie said something in our conversation that really stopped me in my tracks. And that was this: Nothing is too big or too small when it comes to making an impact. No matter where you're starting from, you can make an impact through your small business. In fact, you already are getting clear on your business finances as an important next step. Again, I would love your help spreading the word about this episode, take a screenshot from your podcast player and post it on Instagram for your other small business friends to check out. You can tag me at @LaurenTilden and Stephanie at @stephanie.skry. Okay, let's get into the episode. Stephanie, welcome to the podcast.
Stephanie Skryzowski
Thanks so much for having me. I'm super excited to chat with you.
Lauren Tilden
This is gonna be so good. I'm super excited about our conversation. We're gonna be talking about the connection between a strong financial foundation in your business and your ability to make a big impact, which I think is such a great point. Because I think many of us think of like the numbers and the revenue and all of that kind of thing as related to what we're taking home, but less so as related to our ability to really make the impact on the world that we want, which is a huge motivator to a lot of the listeners of this podcast. So super, super excited. I would love for you to introduce yourself and your business and maybe a little bit about how you got to do what you do.
Stephanie Skryzowski
Sure, sure. So my name is Stephanie's Skryzowski and my business is called 100 Degrees Consulting and we provide a CFO strategy and bookkeeping services to purpose driven business owners and nonprofits around the globe. And my journey I feel like, like so many entrepreneurs is quite winding. I did not start out thinking that this is what I wanted to do with my life as I'm sure you know many of your listeners Interest can probably relate to, I thought I wanted to be a lawyer actually.
And so I got a job at a huge law firm in New York City after college and very quickly realized that the clients that I was working for, and the company that I was working for was really not aligned with my personal values and goals. And so after lots of you know, soul searching, and again, I'll make it short. But I ended up working at a nonprofit. And it was there that I really found that connection between, like managing the numbers and impact because if I could help this organization really manage their numbers really well, they would be able to really have a life changing impact on, you know, children and families and communities around the globe.
And so, about six years ago, at this point, I started the business, really to provide that financial leadership and strategy to organizations out there that were trying really hard to have an impact, but really needed some help when it came to managing their money. And so, um, so that, you know, the business has really grown over the last six years. And now we work with, you know, a wide variety of small businesses from service businesses and online businesses like digital course creators, and E-commerce, businesses and other creatives, as well as nonprofits to really help them get clear on their numbers to make smart decisions and grow not only their impact, but also their income.
Lauren Tilden
Amazing. Let's start really simple. I think a lot of listeners have their head around things like bookkeeping and their numbers. Some listeners, though, are kind of more brand new, like they have an expertise they make, let's say, they're a jewelry maker, they've sold them at craft fairs, but they really haven't dug into maybe the business or the numbers side of managing money and keep getting their head around the numbers in their business. I would love if you could provide sort of like a baseline introduction to what does it look like to manage your business finances?
Stephanie Skryzowski
Yeah, I think that's a great question. Because I think that a lot of business owners, whether you're brand new, or you've been doing this for a while, we get in our own head about what does it mean to manage your business finances, and we get in our own head and tell ourselves that it's like way harder or more complicated or scarier than it really is.
But I really like to look at it as just three things, there are three things you need to do to manage your business finances. And the first thing is sort of establishing your foundation. So making sure that you are operating like a legit business owner, that your business is registered with the IRS and with your state, and that you have a separate business bank account. So like you have to be legit, to really be able to grow and treat your business like a business.
So the second thing is really looking at your, at your historical numbers. And so by that, I just mean looking every month at how much you made last month, and how much you spent last month. So it doesn't have to be complicated. It's really just looking at how much you made and how much you spent every single month looking at it for the previous month. And then the third piece is, is forecasting. And I know like some people might be like, Oh, forecasting, that sounds like a scary financial term. Really, it's just creating a plan for the future of your business, a revenue plan and expense plan. And then again, looking at that every single month. So there's really, I really like to simplify it into those three pieces, like making sure you've got that strong foundation, looking back at your numbers from last month, and then looking forward at your plan for the rest of the year. And you know, there's a lot more we could dig into in each of those, of course, but like those are the three elements that you really need to manage your business money. So it doesn't does not have to be complicated or scary.
Lauren Tilden
I love that that's such a clear way of breaking it down. When we talk about business finances, we'll hear a lot of people talk about bookkeeping, I know that's something your company offers tax accounting, financial advising, like there's a lot of different specialists that people who may have heard of when it comes to managing business finances. Let's talk to someone who's like brand new to the game. What do they need? Should they be? Like definitely be consulting an expert? Is there stuff we should start by doing ourselves? How do you advise people to start out?
Stephanie Skryzowski
Yeah, that's a great question because I feel like there are several different finance roles for your business. And those roles are all very different. But often we kind of get them all mixed up. And so we hire a bookkeeper thinking that they're going to provide like strategy and help you know and helping us grow and analyzing our reports, but that's not really the job of a bookkeeper. Or we hire a tax accountant, a CPA, and we think that they're going to be managing QuickBooks every month. But that's not really their job either. So I think that first, like, understanding the different finance roles that you might have in your business is a great start. And so that would be your bookkeeper, your tax accountant or your CPA, your CFO, and then like a financial advisor. And so those four are all very different.
Your bookkeeper is the person that's keeping track of all the money coming in and going out, likely they are using QuickBooks or another accounting system, and they're really good at it. They're kind of like in the in the details. And that for the most part is where the bookkeepers job sort of ends, then your tax accountant or your CPA, that's the person that is filing your taxes for you like they're actually doing your tax return, sending it to the IRS, they are the ones that maybe are looking at your projections and telling you how much estimated tax to pay. So they are like the tax expert. The third one is your CFO. And that's the person that is really giving you like strategy around the numbers. So we take the reports that the bookkeeper gives us from QuickBooks, and we then analyze those and help you think about ways that you can grow in different, you know, different pieces of your business where, you know, maybe you want to generate a bigger ROI. And we help sort of make sense of all the numbers. And then the last one is your financial advisor. And that person is really like your sort of wealth management person looking at investments and, you know, insurance and you know, all of the sort of like risk management things you might have in your personal or business life.
And so, like I said, all four of these roles are very different. And what I think that somebody needs in the very beginning, I would say the number one thing is probably the tax accountant/CPA. And that's because on the bookkeeping side of things, if you don't have a whole lot coming in or going out, you can probably track it on your own. And you don't necessarily need a bookkeeper for that. But a tax accountant is going to help you make sure that you are really maximizing all of the possible tax deductions that you can possibly take and make sure that you're you know, paying as little in taxes as is, you know, legal and legit. But that even for me was my first hire.
You know, when it comes to the finances of my business was the tax accountant and the CPA, then I feel like everybody sort of wants to outsource the bookkeeping piece, I think the bookkeeping piece comes next, because it really is something that you can kind of handle, at least to a degree on your own. And then when things start getting a little bit more complicated, or you're getting a lot more money coming in a lot more going out. There's just a greater volume, that's a great time to hire a bookkeeper.
Lauren Tilden
I love that breakdown of the four different roles, I think, yeah, it's so easy to sort of combine them in our heads and be like, oh, I need help with this. Like, I need a bookkeeper/accountant/CFO, but they are distinct. And I think that breakdown you just provided as really provides a lot of clarity. I also started with an accountant, so I cosign that I feel like to add to what you just said, I mean, yes, like make sure you're paying the right amount of taxes. But for me, that was just sort of like a comfort blanket of like, I'm not missing any critical payments. Like I'm doing the right thing by the government like I, I just like as a brand new business owner wasn't quite sure how everything works. So having that tax accountant, just kind of helped me feel like I was definitely doing everything I was supposed to be doing. And like, you know, I was on the right side of the IRS.
Yeah, the bookkeeper was also the second thing I did, and honestly, I did that much later. I actually, so people who listen who might know my story, I had a greeting card business first. And then I took over my mom's retail store. A couple years later, I did all of the bookkeeping, for the greetings card business myself, it wasn't until the retail store that I really like kind of desperately needed help just because like you said, like the volume of transactions was just way higher. So I think that's a great recommendation to start with a tax CPA and then and then expand from there. And yeah, I have not moved past those two. So I think listener don't feel like you need all four of these roles right away, if ever, definitely kind of ease into it. And I think yes, definitely provided a great structure to when to add each one to your business. What about the last two, like a financial advisor and the CFO, do you have recommendations on when would be a good point to think about hiring on those roles?
Stephanie Skryzowski
Yeah, so I think for a financial advisor specifically, I mean, honestly, I've been in business for almost six years, and it's just within the like, last, less than a year that I hired a financial advisor. And for me, that was more like, it was a sort of a combination of personal and business. I was like, Okay, I've got two kids now. And so I feel like I need an updated will and like, are our insurance policies? You know, are they, are they enough? And what should I be doing for like, kids saving for education? And so it was a bit of a combination between like, okay, the business is in a good place and profitable. So now, what do I do with some of this money that I have? I have lots of savings goals for retirement and education and, and things like that.
So how do, like what do I do first? And so for me, it was definitely a combination of like, the personal personal goals and a profitable, profitable business. And so how do I, you know, what do I prioritize to make sure that achieving those goals? So I would say that is really going to be dependent on lots of different things for everybody that is listening. But that's certainly not something that you need to do right away by any means.
The CFO, I would say, so that's what we do in our business as well. And CFO is Chief Financial Officer, I've gotten that question a lot. So it's not like a given that, you know, and a CFO is, and it's totally okay, if you don't, but as CFO, I would say, you know, most businesses that we are working with, are, you know, approaching that six figure mark, if not, you know, far beyond it, and they're getting to the point where they are ready for growth. And I would say that's one of the biggest values that a CFO brings, is helping you sort of see around the corner, and helping you create a roadmap to get from where you are now to where you want to be.
And whether that's, you know, hitting your first six figures in revenue or beyond, we can really help with that sort of vision casting and forecasting, to help you create a plan to get there. And so a lot of it is like, understanding, you know, the profitability of your different revenue streams. So if you know, if you are making candles, and you're selling them at craft fairs, and you're also selling them on Etsy, like being able to kind of understand which is more profitable. And so helping you make decisions to like, Okay, well, selling on Etsy is actually less profitable. So I want to double down on something else that I'm doing, that's actually more profitable. So I would say it's those, it's the sort of growth minded business owners that really, really benefit from a CFO because we're helping you sort of see around the corner.
Lauren Tilden
Yeah, love. This topic has been, the topic of money management and business has been really highly kind of demanded by my audience, because I feel like of all the topics that we talk about on this podcast about business marketing strategy, doing good numbers, is the one that my listeners at least seem to have, like the least comfort with. So it's kind of like something they shy away from is is looking really getting digging into the numbers. And, you know, getting really comfortable with their financial side of their business. Why do you think, I know this is kind of common among creative small business owners, Why do so many creative small business owners shy away from the money side of their business?
Stephanie Skryzowski
Oh, my gosh, I think there's so many reasons for this. I think there's, you know, often we have a real scarcity mindset around money. That probably comes from, you know, childhood that, you know, money doesn't grow on trees. And so we have this fear that you know, the last dollar that came in is going to be our last dollar that ever comes in. And so we get really, sort of nervous and fearful around it. I've seen a lot of business owners sort of hoard their money for that same reason. That's like, I don't want to spend a dime on my business on myself, I don't want to pay myself because I'm afraid that not another dollar is going to come in the door after this. And maybe they don't sort of verbalize it like that. But that's like the root fear is the scarcity mindset.
And I also think we often tell ourselves a story, especially as creatives, that I'm not a numbers person, I don't like math. I'm not good with money. I'm not good with numbers. And so we're telling ourselves this story, which is like causing us to sort of shy away from the numbers even more. And we often think that well, you know, because I am a creative, like, I'm just naturally not good at numbers. And I really believe that that is simply a story that we're telling ourselves. Because at the end of the day, there's like not really that much math. And like accounting involved with managing your business finances, it's really just shaping a vision and talking about that vision in like, numbers format, but I think that there's just a lot of fear and a lot of scarcity around money.
And so that's why people really shy away from it. But I really believe that what you focus on expands, and I say this all the time. And so that's why I talk about having a monthly finance routine, and really giving some attention to your money because we want it to expand but it certainly if you're one of those people that's like I hate checking my bank balance. I'm like, scared to look at my reports like you are not alone, I promise you that you are not alone. This very, very common, like you said.
Lauren Tilden
Yeah, I love the point that it's not really about math, like don't let I'm not a math person be a reason to shy away from your numbers. Because it's, you know, we're not doing calculus searches, looking at numbers, and comparing them and is this higher than last quarter or this is higher than what I spend. So I love that point like this, that's not really that good of an excuse. So don't let that talk you out of it. And I also like the point that, you know, money is not always like a super 100% rational topic. Like we all have stories around it and experiences with it, and a way that we approach money. So I think just the permission to give yourself a little bit of a break, if you know, if you have some complicated behavior or thoughts around money, that's really, really common. And, you know, I think it's just something we all struggle with, in some way. So I appreciate that point as well. I am excited about this question. Your superpower is making numbers fun, which, as we discussed, I know a lot of listeners are gonna wonder how you could possibly do that? How can numbers how can the numbers in our business be fun?
Stephanie Skryzowski
Well, I really attach numbers to what we can do with that money. So I'm not thinking about it. And like, I don't mean, yeah, calculating your profit margin. And like, that's fun. That's not what I need the math side of it. I mean, okay, it's fun for me, because I like that kind of thing. But it's not fun for everybody. And I get that, and I'm not trying to make that piece of it fun. The fun piece is being able to use your numbers to cast a bigger vision for your business. And instead of just saying something like, Okay, I want to hit six figures this year, I want to make six figures this year, that's great. But if we don't have a very clear black and white plan, to get us from where we are right now to that point, then that goal is probably not going to happen. And so making numbers fun to me is about creating a vision for your business to actually achieve your goals. And the way we do it, we have like a month by month, you know, forecast basically a month by month roadmap to show you okay, if I'm here, I'm where I am right now, in 12 months, this is where I'm going to be. So to me that is super inspiring and fun, because I can see how how you know, the path to actually achieving what I want to do in my business.
Lauren Tilden
That sounds really fun. I am wondering, is that something that you know, creating that kind of roadmap to the results that would like really excite us and our business? Is that something that people could create themselves? Or do you recommend they hire a professional to do that?
Stephanie Skryzowski
Yeah, that's absolutely something that people can create themselves for sure, we have a template that's like a freebie that you can download and it basically just you know gives you, the template gives you the the document that you kind of just fill in each of your revenue streams and you fill in your you know, your estimates for your revenue, you fill in all of your expenses so that you can see that and you know, we definitely do that with all of our clients. We do that for them in sort of, you know, in coordination with them but that's certainly something that if you're not at the point where you are ready to hire a CFO or any other finance people in your business, that is certainly something that you can do yourself. Yeah.
Lauren Tilden
Love that and I'm definitely going to link to that freebie. Do you want to just for anyone who is at their computer, do you know the handy link for it?
Stephanie Skryzowski
Yes, it's 100degreesconsulting.com/profit.
Lauren Tilden
Beautiful. Okay, so taking it back a little bit. So At the start of our conversation, you gave three different things that you suggested everyone focus on, when it comes to just getting their head around their business finances. So kind of like the legal/administrative foundation. Looking at what we're earning and spending each month and then forecasting deep, can we dig into each of these a little bit further? I mean, I know maybe for number one, you're not a, like lawyer. So we'll leave it to everyone to figure out with their own state or country or whatever, like, what does it take to like establish your business? Like officially and legally as whatever kind of like business foundation you need? But do you want to go into those a little bit more like, of these three topics that you suggest people really stay on top of? What is like the practice around that? Like, you mentioned something about a monthly money check in? I mean, how, how exactly do you suggest that people stay on top of these things?
Stephanie Skryzowski
Yeah, so right. So starting, I mentioned the three, like you said, sort of establishing your foundation, looking back at your numbers from last month, and then looking forward at your forecast or your roadmap. So these are all sort of part of your monthly finance routine. And so when it comes to what you actually do every single month, so that is, I would say, establishing the routine is part of like the foundational piece, that first thing that I mentioned. So what that means is simply put, just setting aside an hour a month to hang out with your numbers, just an hour, once a month to hang out with your numbers. And what you actually do during that time is a couple of things. So I always like to incorporate looking at your bank balance, like literally logging into your account, looking at your bank balance, if you want to scroll through the transactions and just kind of eyeball what is going on in there. That's great. But definitely looking at that bank balance.
And I feel like, honestly, that is such a hurdle for so many business owners that really avoid looking at their at their bank balance, avoid looking at that money in the bank. So that is that's the first piece. And then during this hour of your monthly finance routine, you're also looking at your revenue and your expenses from last month. So if you have QuickBooks or another accounting software, and you're tracking things in there, that's great. Let's look at a profit and loss statement from last month, that's going to show you everything that came in, everything went out that went out the door, and then anything you had leftover, so making sure that you know making sure that everything looks okay there and you know, in a lot of our programs, and of course, what we do with our clients is we go a little bit deeper than that. And we look at metrics, like your profit margin, we look at ROI on different you know, activities or revenue streams in your business. So we go a little bit deeper there.
But for the person that like maybe doesn't have a bookkeeper or CFO yet, really just looking at looking at those numbers, looking at your profit margin, making sure that you are paying yourself that you're setting aside money for taxes, and kind of spending a little bit of time doing that. And you can use that time during your monthly finance routine to actually do those things, right transfer money from your business account to your personal account to pay yourself, transfer money into a savings account to save for taxes. So that's the other piece of the monthly, you know, finance check in.
And then the last piece of it is looking at that forecast again. So I say a lot that honestly, a forecast is essentially a budget, right? Like it's a plan of your revenue and your expenses for the year. But it's not a cut your lattes kind of budget, this is not a budget where we're trying to like scrimp and save as much as possible. This is simply a plan. And so it's also not something that you like set in January, and then don't think about for the rest of the year, your forecast is really meant to be like a living, breathing tool that you use in your business every single month because things change, right? Like, you might want to update things if you were thinking, Oh, okay, I'm going to do a big product launch in September. Well, now it's July, and you're like, actually, you know, I'm going to launch this on Black Friday in November instead. Okay, well, then let's update our forecast to reflect that. So we have like the most up to date picture of our numbers, even looking into the future for the whole year. And so that's the other piece of what we do during that monthly finance routine. So we're looking at our bank balance, we are looking at our numbers from last month, and we are making sure that we're paying ourselves and you know, setting aside money for taxes and things like that, and then we're looking forward into the future of our business and updating our forecast. And that should take you about an hour. So if you you know kind of think about everything I just said there's not really any math there, right Like there's no a lot of like actual number crunching. It's like looking at the numbers, ask yourself some questions. And you know, updating that plan for your future.
Lauren Tilden
I love the permission to like, let the budget be a living, breathing thing that evolves. I think a lot of times in business like, yeah, related to maybe budgeting, but so many other parts of business will set a plan and then feel like if it goes off course, we have to throw in the towel altogether. But things change. Things come up. Obviously, anyone who is in business over the last year and a half knows that really well. I mean, COVID really was tough for a lot of small business owners. So I love that you made a point, I'm just emphasizing that yeah, this is not a set it and forget it type of thing. This is a living, breathing, evolving, document and plan and plans can change. So I love that. Exactly. I would love to talk about your concept that we've touched on a little bit, but maybe in more detail, roadmap to profit. So what does this look like? And do you have any basic, maybe steps that that people could go through to build one for themselves?
Stephanie Skryzowski
Yeah, so this is, this is a place where I see often actually a lot of entrepreneurs kind of getting hung up, because essentially, what we're doing is making our best guesses to what's gonna happen in the future. Right. And so I know that there's a lot of people out there that are thinking like, Yeah, I'd love to create a forecast. But I don't know how much money I'm going to make in September, I don't know how much money is going to come in and December. Like, I totally get that and we don't write your forecast is essentially like a series of best guesses. And so a lot of people sort of get hung up on this, like perfectionism, like, well, I don't know, it's probably not going to be right, it's, you're right, it's probably not going to be perfectly correct. If you were to forecast and you were to get it exactly right, like to the dollar, you would win a prize like that, you know, it's going to be your best guess.
But what I would say, is to put your best guesses on paper on an Excel spreadsheet and move on. Because your best guesses on paper are better than like not thinking about it at all, or maybe just having some like random idea in your head of what your revenue number, what you want it to be next year, right? So like, this is better than that. And practically speaking, I would say I really like thinking about breaking down your revenue by like, units, sort of. So instead of saying, Okay, I want to make $100,000 this year. Alright, let's break that down a little bit. $100,000 is about $8,300 a month. Okay, so now I want to make about $8,300 a month. So what am I selling? Is it a product? Is it as the service offering? What am I selling? And how much does that cost? How much does it cost? how much do I make from each one? So if you, if we want to make $8300, and we have a product that costs $100, we need to sell 83 of them, right?
So I like to really break it down into like a unit sort of revenue like that, because that sort of turns it from a big scary numbers problem, like how in the world am I going to make $100,000 this year, it turns it really more into a sales and marketing problem. Okay, well, how am I gonna sell 83 of these this month, like that doesn't really seem so tough, especially because you already know how to sell you have already sold, you have already figured out what works to sell for your business. And then you just have to do more of that. So I like to start there. And I do that for every single revenue stream.
So if you've got like, maybe you have different different product lines or different products that you sell, or maybe you like to look at it by different channels that you sell in, maybe like we've said before, maybe you're selling on Etsy, and maybe you're also doing craft fairs. So looking at different channels, or if you are service business, maybe you've got like different service offerings or different packages. So instead of just lumping it all together, the best way to make sure that you're actually going to like achieve this is to break it down, because the sort of act of breaking it down and that is going to give you a very clear concrete plan in how you're actually going to get there. So that's my favorite place to start in terms of building that roadmap is breaking that down because I think that that also informs other areas of your business like okay, what am I going to do for sales and marketing this month, now I know what my goal is so you know how many I have to sell. What am I going to do to make that happen?
Lauren Tilden
Amazing. I would like to talk a little bit about How getting clear on your numbers can help us make a bigger impact. So a lot of listeners of this podcast, are really committed to having a small business that yes is strong and like, makes them money and supports their lifestyle, but also does something good and impactful. And that changes the world in some ways. So I want to help draw this line a little bit stronger between our financial situation and our ability to make a positive impact. What do you I know, this is a big part of your business is working with purpose driven, small business owners and mission driven small business owners? What what do you have to say about the connection between a strong financial, like backbone of your business and your ability to impact the world?
Stephanie Skryzowski
Yes, I love this question. And it was something that like I said, In the beginning, I sort of personally realized for myself and mine was in the context of working for a nonprofit, but I was literally standing like in a field in Afghanistan with a family that this nonprofit that I was working for, had supported with their, you know, with their activities, and this family now was able to sell their fruits and vegetables in the market, through the support that this organization had given them. And then they were able to send their children to school and, you know, provide for their family, it was like this sort of ripple effect.
And what it boiled down to, for me in that like light bulb moment was that if this organization did not have a strong financial foundation, if they didn't have a pipeline for revenue, and a plan for continuing to raise more money, if they weren't managing their money, well, and you know, not spending it wastefully and being resourceful like if they were not doing all those things, this impact that I was witnessing firsthand with my own two eyes, like literally eating a cucumber out of the ground that this woman had grown, and that you know, she could sell to others in the market and make money for her family. That impact would not be able to happen if the money wasn't solid, right.
And so when I think about that, with small business owners, first of all, most of our clients have some sort of like, purpose driven or like mission focus to their business to begin with. And so they're going into business to help someone or something like theirs, it's more than just a sort of transactional type business. And for them, then, you know, we're able to do so much more if we have more money. And that looks different for a lot of people. I mean, for some people, it's donating money. So obviously, if you're making more money, and you're managing that you're managing that money well and keeping more money, you're able to donate, right.
For some people, that means, you know, creating more space in their lives to volunteer and to support others in a, you know, in a sort of more tangible like time spent type of sense. And for others, it means really just being able to build their businesses even bigger to support more people that they're supporting in their business. So I think the you know, the sort of end result looks different for everyone. But the bottom line is that if your financial foundation is not solid, if you're not, basically, if you're not keeping some of the money that you're making, if you're not a profitable business, you won't be able to make that that impact that you want to have.
Lauren Tilden
Yeah, I love that you use the word ripple effect to that's something that comes up a lot on this podcast. And I think it's such, it's an interesting idea to apply it to this idea of your financial backbone, because like you say, it may not be about directly donating, which I know a lot of listeners do. I love that. There are so many other ways that having a strong, financially strong business can help, like through ripple effects have a positive impact on the world, whether it's like you say, donating or volunteering, or it could be like, for me, I know, something I'm really proud of is higher, like I have a team of people, and I'm able to pay them well and like, you know, be a good employer to them, I hope.
So, you know, the more the bigger you grow in some ways, like the more people you're able to support. So there's so many different ways you can think about how your financial, I guess, status or your business's financial, like condition has an impact on the world and not just like, you know, the money that you take home, which I feel like for many of my listeners, like that's actually not the biggest motivator to them, what's more motivating as the impact that they're able to have and so I just I really like this that you and your business tie this line between the impact that you make and the finances because I think sometimes we think of them as like two separate parts of our business.
Stephanie Skryzowski
Yeah, and I think that people can often get caught up in like, but I don't want to make a lot of money because making, people that make a lot of money are like not good people, you know, we kind of get this, we have almost like a negative association with money and that really keeps us small, really and playing small.
But you know, there is so much that you can do with money and be an even better version of the good person that you already are when you do have more money. And even if that impact is like on your family, and you know, maybe you don't do a lot in terms of donating or volunteering, but if you're able to, you know, provide for your family or support your family in a bigger way, because again, you have a really solid, you know, financial foundation in your business like that. Is that is game changing as well, like there's no, you know, nothing is too big or too small when it comes to making an impact. Mm hmm.
Lauren Tilden
Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's important, like no one is saying, when you're managing your money that, you know, the only priority you should have is profit, like, cut all costs, buy the cheapest products, like buy stuff made irresponsibly, like no one is saying that. It's, it's not. It's not about like, make the most money at all costs. And like, that's how you make a big impact. I think what I'm taking away from what you're saying is really just having this awareness and strategy and intention around how you spend your money and how you manage it. Like that is so critical, and like so directly correlated with the impact that you have.
Stephanie Skryzowski
Yes, love it.
Lauren Tilden
Yeah. I love this conversation so much. I'm really excited for everyone to listen, I am going to start transitioning into the questions that I ask all the guests I have on the podcast. The first is what is one small business that you admire?
Stephanie Skryzowski
Oh, my gosh, I feel like there are so many. And I would love to list like every single client of ours that we work with, you know, the one that comes to the one that comes to mind recently, and you know, I don't know if I would necessarily even consider them small because it is definitely like a multimillion dollar business., but I follow along really closely with Hello Seven. And this is Rachael Rogers business. And it's, you know, again, not necessarily small. But what I love is, in addition to like the commitment to social justice, I really love the fact that she and the company are just unapologetic about building wealth, because of exactly what we're talking about the impact that you can have, and the change that you can have in the world when, when women in particular have more money. So I just love that she's, she and the business is just completely unapologetic about building wealth and sharing about the impact that you can have when you have more money.
Lauren Tilden
Yes, such a great recommendation. What is one book you would recommend that relates to this conversation?
Stephanie Skryzowski
Um, well, so Rachael Rogers actually just wrote a book called, We Should All Be Millionaires. And I read and it's, it's great. But the book that I was initially thinking of, was Profit First. And I think this is a great sort of like entry level book for business owners who want to be better about managing their their money and managing their numbers. But it's really not their strong suit. Like, again, you don't have to be good at math, but it's maybe not your strong suit, not something you're super excited about. So Profit First is written in a very, like, easy to understand way. And it gives a really good framework for understanding how to basically keep more of the money that you make. And again, it's not about like scrimping and saving and doing like the cheapest thing possible and, you know, buying not sustainably sourced materials and things. It's not about that at all. It's just about a different way of looking at your money. So I don't subscribe to everything, like just as it's written out in there, but I think it's a great framework for every business owner to read.
Lauren Tilden
Awesome. Um, okay, so I know our listeners are going to be excited to learn more about you and your business. I know you have a ton of resources as well. Even for people who aren't yet your clients. You mentioned one already. Do you want to share anything else about where people can learn more from you connect with you find you online? Kind of get to know you a little better?
Stephanie Skryzowski
Yeah, so like I mentioned before, I think the profit playbook which is our, our free forecasting template, I think that is a great place to start. 100degreesconsulting.com/profit And obviously there you'll be on our website so you can find out all about it there. And then on social media, I would say I spend most of my time over on Instagram at @stephanie.skry and I also have a podcast which is 100 Degrees of Entrepreneurship, where we talk about all things, all things money and entrepreneurship and business and impact. And I've got great guests on there as well as solo shows, too.
Lauren Tilden
Amazing. Thank you so much, Stephanie. I'm like I said, I'm super excited about this topic. I think this just really clear connection between our money and our impact is is aligned like a point. I don't know that I have made that well on my own on this podcast so far. So thank you so much for coming on and sharing all of your expertise. I learned a lot and I know everyone listening well to
Stephanie Skryzowski
Awesome, thank you so much. Thanks for having me.
Lauren Tilden
So, so, so good, Stephanie. I love your approach to business finances and making an impact. And I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to chat with you on Making Good.
Listener, as a first step. I would love to challenge you to download Stephanie's free profit resource. It's at 100degreesconsulting.com/profit Or I linked it in the show notes. I know Stephanie and I would both love to hear from you on Instagram. Take a screenshot of you listening to this episode and tag us both. Stephanie is that @stephanie.skry and I'm at @laurentilden.
Everything mentioned in this podcast can be found at the show notes page at makinggoodpodcast.com/70 If this is your first time tuning in, and you're interested in learning more about what I do, check out the Good Business free Facebook community for this podcast with accountability, exclusive content and great community. You can get there at makinggoodpodcast.com/community learn how I can help you with your small business marketing at LaurenTilden.co, my plant inspired greeting cards vinyl stickers and art prints, that's my business Good Sheila at goodsheila.com. And the Seattle retail shop Station Seven at station7seattle.com. Thank you for being here and for focusing on making a difference with your small business. Talk to you next time.