Service Based Business Society Podcast

Season: 2
Episode: 7
Tittle: Money Mindset

Hello and welcome to the service based business society podcast. I'm your host, Tiffany-Ann-Bottcher. Our weekly episodes we will take into everything you need to know about scaling your service based business without losing sleep. With my experience in creating over seven figures per month, and a passion for marketing, finance and automation, this show will provide tangible tips and techniques for scaling your business. Let's get started.

Tiffany:
Hey guys, welcome back to another episode today. We have guest Brisa Dano in the studio. Bree is a nationally recognized personal finance expert and the founder of Sheep to Shark she offers cash confident communities for women who want wealth and can teach you to manage, save and invest your money. I've been following Bri online for quite some time, and she has some incredible value to bring. I'm super excited to have her on the show. Welcome, Bri. Hey, Bri, welcome. Thank you so much for joining.

Brisa:
Oh, I'm so thrilled to be here.

Tiffany:
I am super excited because this is such an important topic for entrepreneurs and people in general. So why don't you give a little intro about who you are and what you do?

Brisa:
Sure. So I am president on personal finance expert and the founder of Sheep to Shark. And I started my career in finance. I actually did like a decade in the nonprofit world before I got into finance. And there's really only two points in that career that are worth mentioning. One is I loved what I was doing. I was thrilled to be there. I was professionally reading Twilight books and playing Wii with teenage children. And I wasn't making hardly any money though. So I taught myself how to trade stock options to supplement my income. And then at some point later, I kind of outgrown it. And I decided that this was just like time for a change. And so I was whining to my mom, she was like will you tell yourself how to trade stock options at weddings, like go be a financial advisor. She's like, that's the hardest part. And I was like, Okay, that's a good idea, man. Thanks. And so I went and I got a job and then got all my credentials to sell investments and life insurance and all these nerdy things. And as I started working with clients, what I realized was most people didn't have that problem that better investments were going to help themselves. They were coming to see me like Bri, I have credit card debt from my first marriage, or Bri. These kids are about to go to their own college, and I'm still paying on my own student loans. I make a quarter million dollars a year and I have $600 in my savings account, kind of like what's wrong with me. And so I started working with clients and budgets. And that was highly ineffective, I would make really, really beautiful, various, like sexy spreadsheets, with all the things. And the clients would come back and be like, girls, tell me the things. They'd be like, Yeah, we didn't do it. We didn't do anything. And I was like, Oh, all right. Okay. And so I started working with clients then on like, their financial habits. And that worked a bit better. And then we started incorporating a mindset. And that worked way better. And then we started incorporating emotional intelligence. And so when you have strategy, habits, mindset, emotional intelligence, and some community around that, we find that the results that clients get are very sustainable, long lasting, and just fast, way better. So that's a little bit about me. Yeah. And so once I started doing that, I just loved that and cash flow work. And so I left my book of business, and I started to have to check. And that was, like five and a half years ago.

Tiffany:
Five and a half years. So you got started doing all of this really, you know, pre the world falling apart and COVID and whatnot, so much of a shift, you know, when I'm speaking to entrepreneurs and whatnot, a lot of people, you know, made such a shift and created often new businesses in COVID. So you obviously got started before COVID? How did that affect you and people working with money, and obviously, financial concerns surrounding the pandemic, and whatnot, how did that change your business?

Brisa:
COVID actually didn't change my business too, too much. We were. So first of all, my work is digital. And I see clients from all over. So I didn't have any logistical challenges like, we were already doing zoom meetings, like I was already doing zoom meetings, and my staff is already remote. So none of that was actually too big of a shift. The only real change that the pandemic made was that I got some eidl loan money and that helped to really, I use that to really fine tune some of my marketing. We worked with an agency last year to get some of my ads together. And that sort of works. I was able to make some investments. And other than that, though, everything kind of was already ready, was already there.

Tiffany:
Awesome. And what about your clients? So your program in cash confidence, you know, people obviously were money stressed often and so would you say that your clients, you know, they had a mindset shift. There were more people reaching out to you needing your services or looking for some guidance.

Brisa:
Yeah, so a lot of people, I think realized that they could work from home if they wanted. A lot of people also realized how much like when everything slows down, you can kind of see things a little bit more clearly, for a lot of the clients that are in cash confident, they kind of come see me in a spot of I call it busy, broken, exhausted, and it's just scarcity running through the primary resources in your life, you know, your time, your money and your energy. And so when everything stops, and you're, you know, basically stuck in the house for a period of, I don't know, what few months, you can see what really matters, what doesn't really matter. And so there was a lot of just a reprioritizing of what's important for people like what's important to them for their families in their lives, what's important for their level of flexibility or income at work. You know, I've had some clients who just decide not to go back. We're like, actually, we did fine. You know, we thought we needed all this money, and we don't, I've had some clients start businesses, that was pretty common. So it just depends on where kind of people were at, and the shifts that they were ready to make in their lives when everything slowed down enough for them to be able to see that.

Tiffany:
Right. Right now, you mentioned the scarcity mindset and whatnot around money. And there's this shift, mindset shift that you're talking about. And so what would you say to someone who says, I would love to have a mindset shift? But at this point, you know, it's not really a scarcity mindset, there is a scarcity problem, a legitimate scarcity problem, let's kind of chat through how someone could start to shift their mindset, even if, you know, it's, they're at a bad point in their life financially. You know, it's that chicken egg, you know, what comes first the chicken or the egg? So what do you talk about in terms of, you know, working through that scarcity?

Brisa
Alright, so scarcity is, it's a mindset, it's a physiological response. It's a situation, and it's a perception. So it's a few different things. So scarcity, the way that it really impacts us is in our decision making. So when you're in a state of scarcity, which means like there's not, scarcity could really be in your time, your money or your energy. So when I talk about busy, broken, exhausted, that's scarcity in all of those resources, you know, like, personally, I feel a lot of time scarcity from on my way to the airport. Like, oh, and so, learning what you feel like inside your body, when you're in scarcity, is really one of the best places to get started. Because that state of that, like constricted, kind of, for me, it's a lot of pent, like a lot of panicky feelings, the decisions that we make, when we're in that state generally will perpetuate a state of scarcity. So if you're already short on resources, and then you're making very short sighted panic based decisions, you're going to create more of that. So accepting the situation for what it is. And just kind of seeing that and being, I don't know, we'll just call it being okay with it, right, accepting it for what it is, and then learning how to manage yourself through scarcity is really the best way to stop recreating it. So some of the things that clients can do is, or your listeners, not clients, but your listeners can do is if you're feeling that like it's an amygdala response, that fight or flight like panicky feeling around not having enough time, or money or energy, as you could either take a walk or do you know, do like 100 squats or something and raise your heart rate up for a little while. What that does is it tells your body that it can basically come down and the threat is gone, because that will make the response. So scarcity is a threat to your body. So the way that your brain perceives that is with a fight or flight response. So when your brain is just scanning the world, and it's like, Are there bears? Are there tigers, is there going to be enough food, you know, we're working with 10,000 year old hardware. So if you are feeling a shortage in resources that's going to show up in your body is a fight or flight response. So, you know, getting your heart rate up tells your body that you need to fight or run bot or flop flop, flighted, there's nothing. And that helps to get your prefrontal cortex back online. So that's good in the immediate situation. And then the rest of scarcity is also a perception issue. So you know, having gratitude practice and appreciation practice, those are very common, easy ways to start to shift your perception, from scarcity to resourcefulness and to the abundance that's already there. That's like an ongoing practice and it's honestly an ongoing challenge because the world is so full of both abundance and scarcity. So if you're wired to see scarcity and we are like your brain leans towards seeing scarcity because it sees it as a danger you know, it's like a threat. So practicing you know, appreciation for what you do have a practicing gratitude for what you do has helps to shift your perception in the longer term set of circumstances. And then the last thing that I would say around getting out of scarcity is learning to sit with yourself when you're in a moment of scarcity because the number one question that people that are really in a state of scarcity, or the question that they ask is like, well, what can I do? What can I do to get out of this? And what do they really mean? Is this feeling this really bad panicky feeling? What can I do to get out of it, but the thing is, when we make a lot of decisions from those places, it doesn't exactly help. So if you're in that state, that is not the state that you want to be making decisions, taking out loans, calling your banker, it just creates more scarcity down the road. So you want to be able to sit with yourself and just give it that sensation of scarcity, like, give that emotion, some just attention inside your body, just move your attention to it, give it a color, or texture or flavor, you know, density. And just be with yourself until the feeling passes, and then go about your decision making. Because when we make a lot of decisions, when our prefrontal cortex is offline, that's the part of your brain that can like read a spreadsheet and can think when that's offline, we don't really make our very best decisions. And that's how we kind of perpetuate more scarcity.

Tiffany:
Wouldn't it be great if there was some kind of like alert light when you know, indicating that that was offline? Kind of, you know, like, when your computer is running at a dabbs? It would be because I think that often it's hard to identify in those moments that that is, you know, when you're always Hindsight is 2020, right? And you look back and you think, Oh, I was making bad decisions there, I should have not been making those decisions. But we need an alert, lighter, little flag that goes up that says, Hey, we're offline, don't make any decisions right now.

Brisa:
Well, really, if you pay attention, and it does take a little while. But if you pay attention to the feelings that are happening inside your body, that alert light comes on, it does, you just have to really be in your body to notice it. And the other thing about scarcity, scarcity, it's not just a panic attack or nothing. There's a lower grade of scarcity to that, that if you pay attention to, you'll start to notice, for example, low grade scarcity will show up and me being mad at my husband for no reason at all.

Tiffany:
Interesting,

Brisa:
Like he will have done nothing to he will have just been wonderful. And all of the ways that he's wonderful. And I will wake up and be like, Oh, you, you're here. I'll be like, Yeah,

Tiffany:
I live here. And so to me, that's a pretty good signal that it's time to like, check my bank balances or see if there's something that's actually going on, right? For myself. Yeah. Yeah, I think that, you know, I'm in relationships anyway, whether it's in a business partnership, or whether it is, you know, a marriage or anytime that you're managing resources with someone, because everyone has their own ways of dealing with things and their own comfort zones. And some people are more risk adverse or less risk averse. I think that that can also complicate relationships, just because some people are more comfortable with the different levels of scarcity than others.

Brisa:
Yeah, the other thing that's really cool to know is how scarcity shows up for you and your behaviors. And also, then notice how scarcity shows up for your love, and their behaviors, because that's not going to be the same. So sometimes people will feel a little hoarding and not want to spend their money. So the whole hang on to it. Some people are like, let me go and stack up, I will go and buy all of the canned tomatoes, you know, winter is coming. But sometimes people over give when they're in scarcity, sometimes people under give, and those behaviors are going to be individual to you. So how scarcity shows up for you will be different than how it shows up in your spouse, but when they're experiencing scarcity, and it's not the way that you experience it. Sometimes that can lead to a lot of judgment. And it's just not exactly, it's not exactly helpful. So if you can be aware of how scarcity shows up in your behaviors, and how it shows up in your spouse's behaviors, that's just a way to bring a little bit more understanding and compassion to discussions rather than judgment and being like, well, he bought all this craft beer, or he did this, or he didn't do that. Or, you know, but generally, we can get a little judgy when we're in scarcity, too. So that's something to be aware of. That makes sense that really, you know.

Tiffany:
That really does make sense. So thinking, you know, from a business perspective and applying some of these pieces, you know, mindset you mentioned coming, you know, before the budget, I do love a good, beautiful budget when you were talking about creating the beautiful budget, gosh, I do love it, but have had the experience of helping you know, someone with their budget many, many years ago, someone that I worked with, he said, you know, you know how to use Excel? I said, Yes, I do. And he said, Okay, can you help me with this? And I remember going through. Same thing, though, you know, we worked through the numbers and whatnot, and the budget was not helpful. And so when you talk about the mindset and whatnot, when someone wants to take that next step in their business, and they've identified, hey, I believe this is an issue. I want to get started and work through some of these challenges, one of those first steps after identification?

Brisa:
All right. So all beliefs provide both structure and limitation. Right? So if we think about our belief structures, kind of like the walls to a house. So the walls in your house provide structure there, you know, most of the walls are load bearing. They carry some of the weight of the upstairs or the roof for, I don't know, but also their limitation, right. So like the room that I'm in is big as it is. And if I wanted this room to be bigger, I'd have to take down one of those walls. So belief structures are a thing that really the best way to start to examine your belief structure is to start to listen to the words that come out of your mouth, and start to pay attention like, oh, well, I mean, I'll share. So I used to say life is hard, like 10,000 times a day, even my kids will say it sometimes still. Now, even though I haven't had that sentence, you know, been a common lexicon for quite some time, where I'm just like, Well, life is hard. But you say that, and you believe that you create situations where life is hard, I used to say things like, I'm a total hot mess, a total disaster, right? They spent years saying that. And when I was saying those things about myself, I would be right, I would be the lady who was 10 minutes late with spilled coffee on her boob and, you know, mismatched pantyhose, like, you know, like, and that was just one of the things. So as you start to really pay attention to what's going on with your, like, the words that are coming out of your mouth is a really great place to start that way you can start to examine those belief structures. And then really, that's the place where you can begin to question them and say, Alright, well, is it true that I'm a hot mess? Does this belief serve me? And then you like, Yeah, all right, I may do some things that are a hot mess. But like in the big scheme of my day, am I a hot mess? No, I'm a professional. I'm a mom of two kids, you know, I have a really beautiful functional life. Like, is it true that sometimes I'm 10 minutes late? And I have coffee on my boob? Yeah, yeah, that is true. But is that the same thing as just being like, a disaster? No. And so those are some places to get started. And you want to be checking around your belief structures around what it takes to make money, what it takes to have money, who you would need to be, if you have any harsh judgments about rich people, or poor people, those are great places to start looking at your relationship with money from a mindset perspective.

Tiffany:
Yeah, I was recently at a Dan Locke conference for three days. And the first day a lot of time was spent on the money mindset. And one of the things that he was saying was that, you know, if you don't like rich people, you are never going to like you subconsciously are not going to become wealthy. Because you're like, Well, I don't like that. You're not going there. Because you don't want to be there, the energies around that are bad. And so you know, really, you know, identifying what pieces are your subconscious, and how that's affecting things. Because he says, it's so common that you know, a lot of people, there's the subconscious things that they need to work through and whatnot. And that's why I was really surprised at how much of the time was spent at the conference on this. But we dove in, and we're working on things. And he was asking some questions. And one of the things he said was, you know, you're in a parkade, and you hear this car, and you look behind you, and it's this yellow Ferrari, and it's revving the engine, you can hear the music, and you know, who's driving and he went around, he was asking these things. And I mean, all sorts of things were said, he says, Not one, have you ever said, hey, it's a 50 year old person who's worked really hard in their business and has a passion for sports cars, not one person came to fact that that person may have worked hard, or that they've worked in their business a long time into this whole discussion about like, you know, there was such a negative connotation immediately when he asked the question, and no one just said, you know, like, oh, wow, he's like, really successful. He's, you know, been working really hard. And this was where he wanted to invest his money.

Brisa:
Yeah, yeah, that's a beautiful point. So typically, we'll have judgments around all kinds of anybody else. So it sounds like judgments around rich people around poor people around people who are entrepreneurs, or people who are more successful than we are people who are ahead, or what we should be doing or how far ahead we, you know, like, where we should be in our businesses. All of those are really great places. But the thing about our identities, so when you have I am statements, when you're saying things like I am a hot mess, or I am good at money, or I am an entrepreneur, those are things that you've put onto your identity. And so at that level, your brain is going to want you to be consistent with yourself. And so if you say something like alright, well, I'm a blue collar worker, and that person in the yellow Ferrari is some rich jerk. Then we're saying I am this thing that is not that thing. And that will become such a judgment of what's good or bad or who I am or who they are. I will then become like the limitation and the structures of beliefs.

Tiffany:
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, self fulfilling prophecy. I think they call it and, you know, I was reading something at one point, I think it was on Instagram, you know, you're doing the scroll, and every so often see all these different quotes and things and someone had said, you know, your only true limitation is how big you could think. And you know, your thoughts and whatnot. And it's true, because, you know, in that example you just gave when you said, I'm a blue collar worker and whatnot, when you identify as that you're not, you know, and that's what you are, and you're not necessarily even working to be something different, or thinking something different as possible.

Brisa:
Yeah, one of the things that I like to do with clients is, have them just ask, Well, how could somebody else do it, do whatever it is they're trying to do. And what it does is it just moves your perception ever so slightly out of your own belief structure, your own just worldview, it helps to loosen things up. So that way, you know, you can start to come up with solutions that are outside of those mindsets. But as you do that, those walls, those belief structures become more apparent to you. Because belief structures, you know, a lot of these are deep in your subconscious. And they're just the truths about the way that life is. And they're based in truth. They're based on things that you've experienced in your life, most of our belief structures, and the thing about truth is that I'm gonna see if I have a coaster. So if your audience's listening, I just have this little glass coaster right in my hand. So let's just say this glass coaster is the entirety of truth, you know, on a subject, right? This is the entirety of truth. Well, if I threw this coaster down, and it smashed into a zillion bits, and I picked up one of the fragments, it would also be the truth, it just wouldn't be the entirety of truth. So the way that let's say, I grew up the way that I was raised by my single dad, he sold insurance money was a little bit tumultuous in our house, where's a lot of feast or famine cycles. And a lot of my fear that I used to have around money was based in those feast or famine cycles, right? Those experiences were true, they certainly happened to me, but they're not the entirety of the truth. And so if I use those belief structures to make my decisions and create my reality, which I did for many years was, I did money the same way my dad did money, until I started to recognize that those belief structures, they were just ideas that I'd inherited, based on the way that my parents did money, you know, the way that my dad had money when I was growing up. And so at that point, you get to pick which way your truth goes from there, you know, belief structures, the very plastic, they're very malleable. So if you say something like, oh, like, once you find a belief structure that's unhelpful, that's probably like 85% of the problem is just being aware of it. And then from there, you can just question it until, you know, it's like, oh, well, that could be true, but it doesn't have to be true. That's one of the ways to really kind of help yourself with these things, is just to start to question the belief structures that are there, once you notice them. wIt's interesting when you said, you know, how would someone else deal with it? Because I think we automatically, you know, think of our own weaknesses or our own deficiencies. And so when you say, you know that, how would someone else deal with it, you really do open up the opportunity to think about things from Okay, well, you know, another person might go this, you know, even just an example of, you know, another person might pick up the phone and call, but I don't want to call I'm too shy to pick up the phone and call. And so you're automatically like, Okay, well, I need to solve the problem. But I'm not going to pick up the phone and call because I don't want to do that. And so you know, really just looking at all the different options. And you might then find, hey, this option is really good. And it would be worth it for me to work through that challenge, or that's quite profound. Yeah. And then you can really see where your fear of literal sensations in your body is the actual hold back. So almost all fears really come down to like, there will be an emotional sensation that I'm not willing to experience. So like back to your example where you're like, I could call but I don't want to call I'm too shy. Right. And I did cold calls and calls, and I know this sensation of being like, oh, like, right. But when you really come down to it, if I was to say, All right, well, Tiffany,-Ann, would you be willing to experience the sensation of being rejected in your body? You're safe? No, you're not going to be literally hurt. But would you be willing to experience the sensation of being rejected to have $10,000 Month $20,000 Month 100,000 a ? You probably be like, Yeah, okay, well, that's the thing is sales calls, there's a good chance that you're going to experience the sensation of rejection, probably 10 times as many as you experience the sensation of like, yes, I've made the sale everything has gone according to plan. So it's a really around your emotional range. And as you stretch that range, that's the way that abundance comes in. Like, you have to be able to literally handle it. And if you are not willing to experience the sensations that are required, you won't take the action in there, you won't be able to have those results. Many is a very sensational, like sensations in your body. It's a very sensational experience all of it.

Tiffany:
Interesting. That's so interesting. When you're talking about, you know, people and learning different things, and even managing money, like you were saying, just like your dad had it, just this weekend. So it was Canadian Thanksgiving. And so my son, my middle son has been really wanting to he's really interested in cooking. And so he's been making scrambled eggs and learning to make sunny setup, and he's all over the egg thing at the moment. And so it's Thanksgiving, and you know, there's lots going on in the kitchen and whatnot. And my husband opens up the egg carton, and he's got all the cracked egg shells at one end and like a gap in the middle, and then he's got all the whole eggs in the other end. And my husband is like, oh, my gosh, what are you doing? You can't be putting these in here. And I can, he's giving them quite a hard time about it. And he's like, I'm gonna have to teach you how to do this. And he's like, my mom is the one who taught me to do that. And so and my husband looks at me, and he says, Well, you know, and Parker, my middle son says, yeah, yeah, no, that's what mom said to do. I'm doing what she showed me. And my husband looks at me says, Oh, my goodness, why did you start doing that? I said, I don't know. That's the way my mom did it. And he's like, Oh, my God, you could see the exasperated look on his face, like, Oh, my goodness, I'm losing this. And you know, he's just at my house, we never. And I said, Well, I said, I don't really know that I specifically said to my middle son, hey, this is what you do. But you know, he's been watching me. And so that's the way I did it. I don't know that my mom ever formally said, Hey, this is what you do. But again, that's what she did. And so it's interesting how you pick up on these little things. And you don't even it's not something necessarily that you wrote down, or that someone specifically said, Hey, this is the way you do it. But you do pick up on these little, just mannerisms, different little techniques, different things. And you know, for good, that's fantastic. But we're also picking up you know, someone else's negative vibes, or you know, mismanagement or whatever. So we're not even realizing that we're picking it up.

Brisa:
So the thing about the eggs is, you can use an egg, and you can put the crack shell back in one carton for the efficiency of it, you can do it that way, you can walk the egg to the trash bin right away. Also, another way to do it, you can put the eggs and other compostable goods and take them outside. The truth is, all of those options are available. But typically, we just know the one option that we were taught. But it doesn't mean that the other options aren't there. So in this case, it's a very low stakes example of, you know, the eggshell thing, but if so, your son learned a thing that you do that is just the way that you do it, your husband had a completely different egg shell situation at his house. And then he looks at that egg shell situation and meets it with judgments about what is the right and wrong way to dispose of egg shells. And that's like, because money is extra complicated, because one, it's involved in probably like 80% of the decisions, maybe even more, maybe closer to 90% of the decisions that you make on any given day. But it's multifaceted. It's about what you're earning, you're spending, you're saving your debt, you're investing, you're giving, you're receiving judgments about people who have money or don't have money. You know, like money is one of the things that like when we're categorizing like when our brain is just categorizing our human experience, the things that we look at, so it's like, oh, so and so makes more money than me, doing less work, more work, that, you know, we put all of these things into context. So our relationship with money is very complex. It's very, very complex. And it ties a lot in with with the way that we see the world is like right or wrong?

Tiffany:
Mm hmm. Yes, yes, I was reading, I do lots of different reading and listening to podcasts and whatnot. And I heard someone recently say money is a way of keeping score. What would you say to that?

Brisa:
I think that's a fine way to look at it. I think when we look at money, there's two sides. I feel like in business, there's the two sides really, it's the giving and the receiving, right. So we do our work and give whatever gifts we have to the world. And you know, when we give it the biggest level that we can give that we also need to be able to receive at those certain levels. And so we want to just make sure that those things are really balanced. But when we're there, we can keep score, but a lot of times it's not quite that simple, because a lot of times we're conditioned to give much more than we allow ourselves to receive so the score can be off, you know, so we may see somebody gave at level 100 But can really only receive at level 90 and after that, they get a little weird and cringy about it, right? So they can't actually handle the sensation of charging top dollar, or they can't actually handle this sensation of holding their boundaries or whatever, whatever their thing is. So the score may be awesome. I mean, that's the thing. That's the thing, but it is, it's just a way, it's just a way. I like it. It's a score way to keep score. That's fine.

Tiffany:
Yeah. So if you had one tangible tip for someone to, you know, make an impact this week, implement this week feel that difference, that quick win, what would it be?

Brisa:
I would say to systemize the cash flow that's happening in your business, you want to look at your money kind of by purpose, rather than just by line item. So things like your long term investments, maybe setting up you know, like your tax retirement savings, your 401, K's depending on where you are, you know, having some money for your regular operation, some money for the things that you know, your annual subscriptions and your big events and things like that. And then looking at, like the important things that you want your business to be able to do and grow into, and then money for the business to just like spend, you know, like freely spend, that really helps when we categorize our money by purpose, rather than just by line item, it helps to know where our resources actually are. So that way we don't get used to letting our business spending really, really very freely in the business and letting our businesses get kind of heavy with expenses, like a little, you know, businesses are greedy little beasts, and they will eat every dollar that you ever give to them. And so a lot of times when we don't have those systems in place, we end up letting our business get a little bigger and hungrier than we can actually really manage. We let it grow a little bit too fast. And so Systemising helps to maintain the leanness of business, which helps to maintain profitability rather than just revenue growth.

Tiffany:
Yes, yes. It's such a key piece there is maintaining that profitability, because often, you know, more sales is more stress and whatnot. And if you're not making the money, and it's not serving your bigger objectives, it might not be the right time. It's not to say it's not the right thing ever. It's just a matter of timing as well.

Brisa:
Yeah, well, sometimes when we're growing, and we see our revenue going up, that's very exciting. And we're willing to take on risks or debt or other things where sometimes when you really look at the new cost of the revenue, sometimes it actually just makes more sense to get super clear with their money, and then focus on making the money that we're already making more profitable, rather than just chasing revenue. But that's a balance. There's a balance there between figuring out how fast we want to grow, how much money we want to make, what our level of profitability is. But it's the thing that we want to especially early in business, I think, I mean, I certainly did, I certainly chased revenue, like I'd be looking at like the to come people with their two comma club awards. And I've been like, look at so and so just got the two comma club. And then it's like, you start being in masterminds with people, and then you realize that they spent $950,000 on ads to make their million and you're like, but then you had to pay an advertising agency and new attitudes. And then you're like, so that million dollar award, you're so beautifully on your walls was actually like, negative money.

Tiffany:
You purchased it, you purchased it, it's all the time. And I think I often talk about the l aqoudest voices online are the ones you know, no one's talking about, like the scraping by the people who are sharing most are the people who are winning the awards and doing all of these things. But people are always sharing their sales numbers, not their profit numbers. And so there was someone recently online, and she's in newer operations. So she's called an OBM, Online Business Manager, and she's online. And she's sharing all these things about how much money she made. And I took one look at the numbers and thought that is not possible, like in terms of what she's like, Oh, my take home. But what she was actually talking about was her sales. And so you know, when there were a lot of people asking a lot of questions like, Hey, can you help me and I want to be taking home that as well. And like you just got started. And so it's always the, you know, let's talk about what is it costing to make those sales? and whatnot. And that's not the loudest voices online. That's not the sexy numbers. Those are the ones that people want to share. It's the big sales numbers that oh, yeah, that was big. Oh, yeah, I sold this and that. And so but it's tough for those that are aspiring and seeing that, you know, it's kind of that it's the same thing as the models on the front of the magazine, knowing that they're airbrushed. It's like, hey, it's beautiful, and it's art or whatnot. But just you have to know that that isn't necessarily exactly all the whole picture. And keeping that in mind, especially if you're feeling a little down on whatever's happening in your business.

Brisa:
Yeah, well, I mean, I'm 100% and I certainly, I personally chased revenue for a very long time until I got to a place where I was like, well, this doesn't exactly make sense. I'm like, This is silly. I was making the same amount of money profitability wise without any of this extra flesh on my business. And so anyways, having systems to your money, is what really helps to make sure that you grow at a speed and leanness that's sustainable, because when we let our expenses get too big for our business, then we get like stuck in a little loop of then having to chase revenue to be able to make all of these giant payments on, you know, the tools or the team or whatever else. And depending on how big your line of credit is, and other things, you can really go pretty far into not profitable while you're making a lot of money like you can make that into, you can drag that out for a period of time. So having systems in your money really, really helps to make sure that everything grows in a way that makes sense, sustainable, and it's profitable for you.

Tiffany:
Absolutely. So where can our listeners connect with you or find out more information?

Brisa:
Yep, perfect. So at Shift to Shark, you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, if you put ship to shark in any of those search engines, it'll pop right up.

Tiffany:
That's awesome. Thank you so much for being here and sharing on such an important topic that you know, business wise, life wise, it really is, like you said it's a part of almost every decision and so key.

Brisa:
It's my pleasure. Thank you for having me. Thank you.

Tiffany:
Well, we are all out of time for today. If you guys have not joined the service based business society, Facebook community, make sure you head on over to Facebook and we can continue the conversation. Be sure to also follow the show by going to any podcast app and searching surface based business society. Click subscribe, click the fifth star and leave us a written review. Have a great week and we will see you soon