Decoding Dollars

0:00 The topics and opinions expressed on the following show are solely those of the hosts and their guests, and not those of W four WN Radio It's employees or affiliates. We make no recommendations or endorsement for radio show programs, services, or products mentioned on air or on our web. No liability, explicit or implied shall be extended to W four WN Radio It's employees or affiliates. Any questions or common should be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing W four WN Radio. This is Beyond Confidence with your host w Park. Do you want to live a more fulfilling life? Do you want to live your legacy and achieve your personal, professional, and financial goals? Well? Coming up on dvparks Beyond Confidence, you will hear real stories of leaders, entrepreneurs, and achievers who have stepped into discomfort, shattered their status quo, and are living the life they want. You will learn how relationships are the key to achieving your aspirations and financial goals. Moving your career business forward does not have to happen at the expense of your personal or family life or vice versa. Learn more www dot Gwpark dot com and you can connect with vants contact dant gwpark dot com. This is beyond confidence and now here's your host, W Park. Good morning listeners. It's Tuesday, and I'm thrilled to be here with you because I'm with you. So what I want to share with you is that during the holiday season, it's so important to keep that kindness going. And I want to thank each and every one of you who

1:32 have got our books because some of the profits from our books go to keewod dot org and we help entrepreneurs from all across the globe. And the best part is that remember we want to take the holiday cheers and seasoned spirits into twenty twenty four and we just kind of continue that kind of circle that I invite you to do it. Take one hour of your time every month and give it to someone without any restrictions, without any agenda, just be kind. So I'm going to invite our guest in today, Melanie Paul. Welcome, Melanie, Hi DVID. Thank you for having me. Oh definitely, so folks. For those of you who don't know Melanie, she has been an accountant with over twenty four years of experience. She started her career as a nonprofit CFO moved into governmental accounting at a very prestigious local university. In two thousand and nine, she left the corporate world. You know, a lot of us have that desire to do that, and she did that.

2:50 She started her own business and she has done really well, and she has focused on bookkeeping for small, individually owned businessess is She's got a very interesting background with experience in forensic accounting, job casting, cash flow projections, and budgeting. And she also has a team of bookkeepers that work with her and she has helped several businesses not only in bookkeeping, but helping them find money in their business. So we all want some cash, right Like, whatever cash we have brought in, we want to see how we can keep more of it, what you can do with it, And that's what we are going to be talking about today. So welcome Elanie, Thank you, thank you. Yes. So, before we jump into our conversation today, can you share with me if you recall a moment from your childhood that stands out for you even today. From my childhood, hm hm, I remember trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up, and it started with a veterinarian and moved from being a veterinarian into I loved cosmetology and doing people's hair, and I was a model, and I wanted to make

4:21 up and make people look pretty. But I said, if I ever have my own business, I want to know how to run it. So I went to become an accountant just so that I could figure out how to run my cosmetology business. And then it turns out I ended up loving accounting. So I went from a veterinarian to a makeup artist and a cosmetologist to an accounpany. Well, it's the intention, right, It's about what you wanted to do and to support that, you created the skill sets, and that's what's fantastic. Yes, So there are a lot of tell us that you know, tell us a little bit about your journey as you continued through taking accounting. How did you know that that was it for you? Funny story, I hated school. I couldn't stand school. In fact, it was kind of a running joke in our family that we don't know how I ended up graduating because I skipped school a lot. I just didn't want to be there. But I was always on time for my accounting class. When I was in high school. I loved my accounting class so much that I would do other people's projects when I was done, I'm like, oh, please let me do years. Let me do years. I just thought it was the funnest thing. I got a hundred in that class, and I just thought it was the most wonderful thing. And I didn't like anything else about school, but that class kept me going through high school. And that's what

5:54 That's the first time that I felt like I found something or somewhere where I belonged. I felt something that I was good at. It's powerful. Yeah, So what I'm hearing is that if you find something, do you have a sense of belonging, and if you're passionate about it, go for it. Absolutely. Yes. Yeah. I always believe turning a passion into a business is the best thing to do. So going from a nonprofit organization, you joined a local university. To tell us a little bit about that transition from nonprofit to for profit another funny story. I love nonprofits, but it is backwards accounting. It's everything I went into becoming a nonprofit CFO straight out of college. I had a five year degree in accounting. We all learned about governmental accounting and corporate accounting, but we don't really teach you much about nonprofit accounting. When I went in there, everything I've learned, I had to basically throughout the window and just start from scratch and think backwards. So I did that for a while, and then two thousand and eight, two thousand and nine hit and I started working with some businesses. They wanted me to help them out. I wanted to kind of go on my own, and I was working with a tax accountant, and I kept thinking I would get into taxes because everybody says that's where the money is, right going to taxis you'll make all this money. Okay, great, I'll just do that

7:26 accounting background. I could do this. I hate taxes, but I could work for him, and I I was learning it, and you know it basically that an entry, and I thought this will be great. He recommended me to someone as a QuickBooks expert. I've been doing QuickBooks for over twenty years, and so I went in and was looking at the books and she said, I noticed that they were double counting their income. And I said, well, this is our red flag, because that means they're going to pay double the amount of taxes roughly, And so I showed the lady that I was working for, said, well, show me what you mean. And I went through and I showed her how they were double counting their income and she started getting into it, and she goes, wait, stop, that's not my problem. All we're supposed to do is take their numbers and put it on a tax return. Their books are management's responsibility. So I found out a little bit more about this business. It was a mom and pop business. They had no clue what they were doing, and it was evident in their books. And I said, but somebody should teach them.

8:26 And she says, well, they won't pay me for that. We've done that, We've been down that wrap before. They won't pay my rates. Just do what I asked you to do, take the numbers and put it. And I said, you know, I'm having a hard time doing this because I mean, they're going to pay more taxes. This is just not right. And so I went home, thought about it, and went back the next day and I quit and I gave her a verse shore that I had made in about forty five minutes and printed it out eight and a half file of paper black and white, folded it up and I said, I printed like twenty happies and I left it there and I said, anytime you run into these popes to have trouble, please hand them my card. I don't think she ever referred to anybody, but that was what propelled me into saying, I want to meet every business owner that doesn't know how to do their books, and I want to teach them how to do their books so that not only could they make decisions around their business, but they won't pay less access. That was my mission at that point. That was my new passion. It wasn't about money, It was about big people. And then I know you were you work for profit? And what was it that helped you make the decision? Like you know, because there's so many people who are working in the corporate world, or they're in a job, or they're in a business that they're putting a lot of time and effort in, but they want to transition. What went through your head and how did you decide to transition. I actually loved my job at the university. I loved the

9:58 guy that I was working for. In that sense, where I was working was kind of isolated, and that we were kind of a co op with different universities, so we could kind of not I don't want to say, be stringent to the university rules, but it operated a little differently and we were great. And then he ended up getting another job offer and I ended up getting into another position, accounting position in the university, and man, I hit that bureaucracy really quickly, and I was just like, but you know, if you do it this way, it would be so much. I had all these ideas and you know, I can help you, and I can help. This would be great, but they don't want to hear it. They've done it this way forever, like, but you're losing money, but you know, there's a lot of butts. And I just realized I'm a puppet. You know. I am hired. I made great money, but I'm hired to do things a certain way, and there was no thinking outside the box. There was no saving the company money. And that's just it didn't line up with who I am. So I decided it was time to leave and start my own business. I was. I didn't love what I did. I loved what I did. I did, I didn't love being in a box. So what I'm hearing, Melanie, is that you wanted to help people. Your desiras you love the job and you wanted to help people, and there was no room for that because of bureaucracy.

11:30 Because anytime if you take a look at any big organization, to bring about a change is like saying, you know, like, how are we going to talk about that elephant in the room. And it does take time and it's the reality. So tell us about a little bit about your business journey before we dive into all the deep questions which I'm sure our listeners are waiting to hear well, like most business owners. And I can say this now, but it has been it's been hard to say this in the past. The best way to learn your business and how to to grow is to fail.

12:11 And I have failed. I have failed over and over and over. But I've learned from all those failures. And it was hard at first, but I jumped right back in and said, okay, okay, I made a mistake and this wasn't great, and I'm sorry. I apologize. This was horrible. I gave away a lot just because I felt so bad. But I learned from that and just kept going forward and kept moving forward and kept moving forward and it's great now. And not to say I'm not still going to make mistakes. I will, but it's learning from those mistakes and moving forward. You just get stronger and then you can help others who make similar mistakes because we all do. We all made mistakes. We're human.

12:56 And just being able to talk to somebody and talk to my client and I'm like, oh my god, you're not going to believe what I just did, and I'm like, hey, let me share you with you something I have experienced, and they're just like, okay, it's not just me. Thank you for sharing, and it kind of helps get them over the hump and growing their business as well. So let's say, you know there's a small business owner. They're getting started and they have to wear so many different hats and they're talking about, you know, I can't sleep at night, I'm ovumed and this business is not where it should be where I started, and how can I bring back that passion? What would you tell them?

13:43 The first thing I would say is ask questions. So many people when they get overwhelmed and they're like, oh my gosh, this is they get this burden on their shoulders and they start hting things and I'm like, I just won't open my mail, I won't do this, and then they can't sleep because they're like, I have no idea like what I'm doing. And I've seen cycles of a business. When you first started out, you're you're passionate and you're just you're on fire, and you're just like, I can't wait to do the work. And you go out to a networking meeting and you just share business cards all over the place and share phone numbers, and then the business comes in and you're like, this is awesome when you start working in the business, and then you head a lull and you know, you did all the business. Now you got to go back out and do networking.

14:26 Then you got to do the business, then you got to do networking, and it's kind of an ebb and flow, and then you just get to the point where like what am I doing? In about year two or three, it starts to hit it. You're like, I'm not making any money, Like I really want to do this, I love it, it's my passion. But then the money's just not coming in. I don't know how long I can keep doing this. And then all these start to put out the fire that you had at the beginning, and you're just like, Okay, now I have I've made my own job. I got out of corporate or I got out of wherever I was working working, and I did this because this was what I was passionate about. But that passions turned into a job. I don't like it anymore. Maybe I should just go back and get a job because at least there I got paid. I didn't like it, but I got paid. And so the first thing I would say is ask questions, look at your expenses. I find a good bookkeeper that would really help you because they're your partner and they're going to be in this with you, and they can help you look at numbers from a different perspective, in not a judgmental way, just hey, how can we help you.

15:35 Let's see where you are, how can we help you grow? The first thing I do, and most of the clients I get are at this point they're not sleeping, and I'm like, okay, let's look at your cash flow. What kind of recurring expenses do you have? And we all have them. Do some subscriptions, we have those out there wazoo. No, absolutely, yeah, but that's giving of any clients details. Can you share us a story. You mentioned that you have lines who are coming to you, who are at this stage and who are going through and it's hard because as I approach people, people are like, oh, what do I do? And here's the thing that it's important to have that list of people in your circle. And one of the people that you're mentioning that you know having that professional by your side is definitely a bookkeeper. I definitely agree with that. So give us a story without naming any names. Okay, So I was working with someone who had a remodeling business. It was a They were spending a lot on advertising and jobs were coming in and they were busy.

16:45 They were doing great. I looked at their numbers and I'm like, ay, y'all are doing pretty good. But the guy's just like, I can't sleep at night. I just can't sleep. I'm up all the time. Something's wrong. I can't put my finger on it. I mean, yeah, we're doing great. They just started doing some new construction and they're like, yeah, we're doing great, but I just I don't know where it is. We're making money, but I feel like it's just something and I just can't put my finger on it, and I just can't sleep, and so I said, just give me a week, and I went and I just created this massive spreadsheet. I like spreadsheets, but I created this massive spreadsheet and I looked through every single job and they were doing about one hundred jobs a month, so it's a lot of jobs. They had a whole crew and everything, and I'm just like, okay, let me figure this out. So I went and I looked at everything, and about a week later I came up. We had a meeting and I says, would you like to know what your average gross profit margin is for every job that you have? And we're talking about big remodeling jobs and he said sure, said fifty cents. What that can't be right. That can't be right, and I said, no, that is right. Here, this is right.

17:51 He said yeah, is this right? Yeah. We went over all of them and he goes, she can't be right. And I said, well, there's something internally off to make this happen, and said, do you mind if I ask your employees questions? And he said sure. So I went around and I pinpointed one of the problems. I asked to salespeople who were going out and getting the jobs. I said, when you I wanted to go through the processes and I said, well, when you when you are meeting with a client, are you getting a down payment? No, we really don't like to ask for down payments, Like, oh, okay, is everybody like that? And he says, yeah, we just you know, we just don't do that. I'm thinking, okay, well, you're putting out all your expenses up front, you're paying people up front, but you're not getting anything to be able to offset those expenses. And then because they had exploded so fast, they got behind on their jobs and they were there were some issues, and so they were camping people. And so when you put all that together, they were not making money, but they had just started into new homes, and new homes was doing really well, so that that was carrying the other side of the business. And so he made an executive it's a decision to stop the remodling. He said, I'm just going to stop. Took all the guys that he was working there were modeling, brought them over to the new home side. That was five or six years ago, I think, and he's doing great. I mean, he's in the millions right now he is doing really well. So it's

19:22 just knowing those numbers. They couldn't see it because it was buried in those numbers. That's where the forensic part comes, where you just pick things apart and start looking at them. I don't look at things to point fingers. I look at things to say, where's it broken? And how can it be fixed? How can it line up? Just another quick one. I had another guy. I met with him and I says, what's was the most important part of your business? He said, my employees. And I said, well, yeah, I agreed with them. And I said, well, you know, what would you like to do for them? And he goes, I want to give them a raise. They earn it, they're doing great. I want to show them my appreciation. But you know, I'm losing money and if things don't turn around, I have to close a business. And I love my employees. They've been with me for some of them over twenty years. And it took us five months and we figured it out. We did, you know, the same thing, the same process I did with the other guy figured it out. He gave his employees bonuses. He's still doing really good. And that was over ten years ago, and what was the issue with his business? Nsfees ever, draft fees, timing, timing clients would pay. And then oh and he was he had never raised his prices and he had a transportation business that involved fuel, and you know, fuel prices raised, the cost of everything went up, and he hadn't increased his prices. So we went through all of his jobs

20:55 and you know, did some break ef and analysis calculations and figure that what he should charge them. But he also agreed, I just can't go from here to hear, let's incrementally increase it because I can't. I can't just you know, my clients are absolutely love his clients, and he goes, I can't just you know, hurt them because they built this into their budget. So by doing that and getting his cash boat under control so he didn't have all these nsf bas, he did great. And that shows that you can still keep your ethical values, because it's important, especially if you an entrepreneur. You go into entrepreneurship to serve people, you can still have that value of working from a place of integrity and still profit. And that's the beauty of what you have shared about the stories. So now there's a lot of people as they're growing, you know, let's say things are in place, they may be thinking should I advertise or not? So what has been your experience with that. I'm all about advertising. I think it's great.

22:03 I love word of mouth advertising obviously, But my first question if someone asks that they should advertise is what are you expecting? Because a lot of people just want to throw money at someone and think that they're going to, you know, help grow their business, and that doesn't always turn out. You really need to think through it. What's your expected return on investment? So I asked them, you know, what's the average cost of what you sell? How much do you make on each item you sell after all expenses? And then how many sales would you need each month to pay for that advertising? Because you kind of have to break it down that way, and then you have to note do I think that this type of advertising could if I did this, could I sell ten more widgets in a month? If so, then by all means you should do it. But I think they also need to put make sure in their budget that they can afford at least six months of whatever advertising they do, because it takes time, and if they just throw money at this one, and that doesn't work after thirty days, then we're going to go over here, and that doesn't work. Every thirty days, and we're going to go over here, and then after a while we're broke. Whereas if we just stayed with one and knew what our expectations were, and we knew how much can we afford for that advertising based on what we're selling, then you can make a much more informed decision and the advertising usually works to your benefit. It's more than more than I just need

23:36 more business question. That definitely makes sense, and a lot of people we're talking about let's talk about some best practices. A lot of entrepreneurs don't like numbers, and I know I'm one of those who doesn't like numbers. So a lot of people say, like, Okay, why do I need a budget? You know things are changing so much throughout the year. What would you tell them? I think a budget is needed. But I think a reason why a lot of people are against budgets is because they do what they call a static budget. And a static budget means if we're most accountants and bookkeepers are saying, we got to do a budget, so a year in we're going to predict what you're going to do next year. But it's static, which means it doesn't change, but your business does change. And so what happens is you have this budget and as you're going throughout the year, you're not even close to it, and you're like, well, then what's the point of doing this well. Budget is very important to predict because it can show your ebbs and flows in your business. There may be one month that's you're doing really well, and maybe you project these other months. You know from experience these other months are going to be kind of hard for you.

24:48 Maybe your business doesn't do good in the summer, but it does great at the end of the year, or vice versa. And so a rolling budget's what I like to do. And what a rolling budget is. It starts it's a static budget, but every month you take one month off that's the actual month to replace that to the budget, and then you put another month on and any changes, maybe your renting goes up, so you pull that rent all the way through for twelve months. You always have a twelve month view of your business, and it's a current twelve month view because you're putting in there things that are known your expenses have increased, your income has decreased, and you can kind of look through and see how you're going to do. And maybe you see in October you're going to have a loss, but in August you're going to have a really good income. So maybe when you start well. To give a good example, I had a business that I did this with and they would they would it was a service based business and they would go out there kind of it was a like a plumber for example. They would go out there and have these projects and they would get all the material and they all the labor, and they put them in these projects and then they would get paid. So their cash flow would go down that month and they would look they would have a loss because you're putting out a lot of money. But then the next month they get in a lot of money because they finished the job in the customer pace. Yeah, and then they would say, Wow, we've got all this money. We can

26:18 go buy that new car or that new truck, or we can go celebrate Christmas and take everybody out, which is great to want to do that, but the next jobs going to come and you're going to need money for that job. So the rolling budget will show these ebbs and flows, so as you can prepare and you can say, wow, I've made ten thousand dollars. This money came in and it's great, but I can only spend two. Yeah, but I need to save that eight and then that two. The next month is going to turn into three, and the next month four, the next month five, and yeah, that's what's really about to do. That makes sense. And so Okay, they have the budget, they have a bookkeeper, are they have everything in place? Now they're sitting down with the account and at the end of the year and they're like, okay, you know what you're telling me. There's I made money, I got to pay tax on it, but I don't see them my bank account.

27:15 So what do they do them? And I love it when they say, like where is this money they say I have? And why am I being taxed on money that I don't have? That's my favorite question and everybody asks it, and there's a lot of different answers, and this is why it's so important to know your numbers. So there's management books, and these are your books done in a way that helps you make decisions. And there's your tax books, and there are two different sets of numbers, and so there's lots of things that especially if you have a lot of loans and you're paying on those loans, all those payments go on your balance sheet. Well, your profit and loss is what tax, that's net income is what's tax?

28:02 All those payments they're not there, they're on your balance sheet. So you may be paying a lot of money. So you see your checking account going down, but your profit loss is going up, and that can be confusing. What sits on the profit loss and what sits on the balance sheet and owner's draw accounts. Most businesses that are smaller, they take money out of their business account to pay themselves. They make one thousand dollars this month, they need to pay their mortgage, they take it out and so that's called an owner's straw, and so that also sits on your balance sheet. That's pay that you have to yourself. But on the profit side, you're looking great because it doesn't affect it. You're taking money pretty much out of your balance sheet accounts. So oh, in large purchases a year end. I love it when companies come up to me and they're like, tell me what my numbers are, tell me what my numbers are. I've got one right now that I just cleaned up, and she's says, like, you know, our tax account last year, they killed us and we can't do this again, and so let me know what the numbers are. Because we need to buy a truck at the year end, we need to buy a vehicle, or we need to buy some piece of equipment for our business. And they're thinking that if I have fifty thousand dollars net profit at the end of the year, I can go buy a fifty thousand piece of a dollar piece of equipment and I'm at zero. That doesn't happen because that piece of equipment is going to go on your balance seat and be depreciated over ten or more years, so you're only going to get a portion of that, so you're still going to owe taxes. So it's really being able to look at your

29:33 numbers from two perspectives, your management numbers to be able to make decisions around the growth of your business and your tax numbers so that you can put I like to tell people, put twenty percent aside every month or every quarter. Let's look at your profit and loss and let's take that amount put it in a savings account because you're going to have to pay it at the end of the year. No, that makes perfect sense. So do you have a story around this as well? Almost every one of my clients, yes, I have one right now. Well I have lots of them. All of them are like this, and they come in and they're just like, I got well the one right now it kind of related to this one. It's kind of not. They owed a lot of money last year and they didn't want to get sidetracked this year and their account and wasn't doing a really good job and it made a mess. And so they said, you know, hey, we're getting I just started with them a month and a half ago, and they were like, can you help us because we need to.

30:33 We don't want to get sidetracked by the end of the year. We don't want to all of a sudden to have this huge tax bill. We really don't know where we are. And I was going through and I realized there is an account that they never reconsilt, ever reconciled, and they've got lots of loans and bank account never been reconciled, and so I said, I need the beginning balance, need any balance. It was I had to do a hard reconcile to get to the beginning of the year. Balance's for over two hundred thousand dollars to their benefit. That's expenses that they should have taken in prior years, and so all that money that they owed in the prior years. I've had several clients have this happened to them. All that money that they owed they didn't really owe if their books had been done right.

31:21 And I'm talking thos hundreds of thousands of dollars if you add them all together, and for some of them there's nothing you can do. For other ones, there is stuff that you can do. And so right now I've got this. We're trying to figure out what their tax person's going to do because each tax repair is a little different. You know, it's two hundred thousand dollars. You can't just stick that on a tax return, so we'll kind of figure out what to do with that. But yeah, it's it happens a lot, and I just it's just knowing your numbers. And it's funny. I wish I could read you the email that she sent because she was so hesitant to work with me because she's been burned so many times. In fact, she had a job and she left her job to come in do and work in her husband's business as a bookkeeper because he needed help and they didn't trust anybody, and she said, can you just teach me how to do it? And as I got in there, I said, well, it helps me to be able to do it, to be able to teach you, because everybody's different. And so she let me do that, and then she says, I could back to the first question. I can sleep at night now. I love it. She sent me a text one day and she goes, can we be best friends? I really like you and thank you so much, and you've really helped me and I just she says, the way to the stress was right around the holidays. The way of the stress. She has been trying to get pregnant and has not been able to get pregnant. So she's hoping that all the stress comes off her and

32:53 they'll be able to have a little one, which will be so cool. Absolutely, will be thinking of your client and hopefull the new year. Brains are less stre I love joy and the less stress we are. Yeah, better things are in our personal life. Absolutely, you said it, Melanie, because stress is such a it's it takes away a lot of things. So now let's say people find themselves in a very very hard situation and they may need a business loan. Yeah, how can they go about getting a business loan that doesn't drain them completely? Yeah? And this is funny because I have a couple of clients every time I meet with them and like, there any loans we can apply for? And I think COVID kind of did this, kind of had businesses depending on external types of money because there was the PPP loans and the SBA loans and ERC funds and a lot of people got money, but there was nothing toad. They didn't have to do anything to get that money. Well, I mean they had to payroll in other things, but they didn't sell anything to get that money. And then it kind of got absorbed into their business and now they kind of still need that income coming in. And so my first question is why do you need a loan? Is there do you can you get a personal line of credit instead or a business line of credit because they're out there and you only borrow what

34:24 you need. But then the next question is if the answer is I do need a loan? This is why. And sure, I'm fine with all that I have credit, Do you have a financial business plan? Because a loan isn't free money. You've got to pay it back, which means your income has to increase to pay it back because now you have an additional expense. And it kind of like that what we were talking about with the advertisement. You know, you've got to plan it out so that the money that you borrow for the loan you get a greater return to pay back the loan and increase your income. And then one thing a lot of people overlook is what is your personal credit score? Because I don't care what your business is, they're going to look at your personal credit score. So that needs to be pretty good and if it's not, it needs to be fixed before you even look for a loan, because you don't want to go through the whole process. It's a long process to apply for a loan, and then you just deflate because when people start applying for a loan, in their mind, they start thinking I can buy this, and I can do this, and I can do this, and they start putting it out there and expecting it.

35:36 And then when the answer comes back that no, and it's like if your personal credit score, it's just like a big blow. They get depressed and it's hard to recover from. So these are things we want to think about before you look at the loan and you know, what's your plan to pay back the loan or the line of credit and can you follow it? And what happens if you don't? You need to have this written down. What if I don't follow this with the ramifications, I'm putting this on myself, but I need to have it in there because I've also seen business owners just I've got one right now that is doing daily loans and daily loans we're talking about thirty forty percent or more in interest. It's and it's short term loans and they have to pay every single day on the proceeds of whatever they bring in that day, and it's killing them and it keeps them in a cycle where they have to keep borrowing. So that's I like to say.

36:36 I mean, there's great, there are good places that can help you. But I like to say, is there a way and I've done this with a couple of people, is there a way you can create You can become your own funder, you can create a loan to yourself interest free and that's the budgeting and the ebbs and flows and creating that business ential plan that you talked about. So this has been such a jam packed session where you've given so many different in sights. So tell us. So who do you work with? Where can people find you? I work with some business owners and I love them, and now I've also got a lot of I work with nonprofits and we have several social businesses where their business exists to help a social need. Social enterprises, so we've got several of those and you can find me at my website guide Star Accounting dot com. I'm being more than happy to meet with someone and just no strings attached. Ask questions. You got an hour, ask questions. You cannot ask enough questions. And I can review their financials and just give them a report and say this is what I found, and you know, whatever they want to do with that information, no strings attached. I just really want to help people start asking the questions and they feel comfortable asking those questions. Wow, that's that's very generous of

38:10 few, Melanie. So if they want to book a time with you, they can go to guide Star Accounting dot com and find you there. Yes, yes, well they can call me and okay, book the time that way too. Okay, Well, thank you for sharing that. And as we wrap up the show, do you have any last piece of advice? Ask questions? There's no such thing as the dumb question, because that's how you stay engaged with your business. And I do want to bring up one quick thing. I see a lot of people, I hear a lot of people talk about I need to be a six figure business, a six figure business. A six figure business does not equal a six figure take home pay, and just I want to leave people with that. I think that's important to know that you know, you can have a business that doesn't make six figures and make more take home than a business that earned six figures or that has sales of six figures. Absolutely, so it's important that you sit down with Melanie and see where your businesses and how you can go about outlining your business financial plan and go with strategy and tactics in your pocket. So thank you Melanie for joining us. MAY really appreciate your time and insights. So

39:43 thank you listeners for being part of our show, because without you, the show would not be possible. So thank you for joining us and sharing your thoughts and comments, and who would you like us to bring next as to how we can help you out, And thank you one for making the show technically possible and talk to you some more. Take care. Thank you for being part of Beyond Confidence. With your host, v Park, we helpe you have learned more about how to start living the life you want. Each week on Beyond Confidence, you hear stories of real people who've experienced growth by overcoming their fears and building meaningful relationships. During Beyond Confidence, Vpark shares what happened to her when she stepped out of her comfort zone to work directly with people across the globe. She not only coaches people how to form hard connections, but also transform relationships to mutually beneficial partnerships as they strive to live the life they want. If you are ready to live the life you want and leverage your strengths, learn more at www dot dvpark dot com and you can connect with vat contact at dvpark dot com. We look forward to you joining us next week.