Money Leaks in your business and how to find them with Lauren Colson

Money Leaks in your business and how to find them with Lauren Colson

Lauren Colson is the owner of Colson Strategies helping business owners make the best informed decisions through financial information- empowering other entrepreneurs with the tools they need to feeling more confident!

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Lauren Colson is the owner of Colson Strategies helping business owners make the best informed decisions through financial information- empowering other entrepreneurs with the tools they need to feeling more confident!

I’ve been looking to our conversation together and even though when money comes up, people tend to zone out until they really dig into to learn and then it can be can I say.. FUN when you learn where to tell your money where to go. So it’s a topic I love to go over and today we’ll be really chatting about money leaks and knowing how to find them in business! So welcome Lauren!

-I really want to jump right in so Lauren will you tell us how you got into this passion of finances and helping others grow their small businesses?

-Okay so we’re ready, we’re sitting in front of our accounts and maybe feeling overwhelmed, what’s some things we can shift in how to conduct business that will make the numbers easier to manage (for myself it was always separate bank accounts, getting a credit card for business, separate)

Even though there’s such a HUGE variety in a way to conduct business, are there some things you suggest looking into for small businesses to invest in first and foremost?

What are some things that we could maybe skip in investing in- or get around in small businesses that tend to eat up the profits? (For myself it was latest and greatest gadgets, or not doing due diligence but just seeing the most shiny thing and thinking I need it for my own business-)

-So let’s get to money leaks- what are some ways we can start finding those leaks! And what do they look like?

—- on this, I found recurring memberships that aren’t needed, to many fees, paying for duplicate technology,

- one of the things that I would say I hear most often is hard for small businesses is bookkeeping and taxes and specifically for new people not even sure they’re doing it right- I’m 14 years into my business and I still get nervous about taxes- I have a goodCPA and get through it but it can still feel like a daunting task for sure! Are there ways we can set ourselves up easier- that you suggest to make tax time and bookkeeping in general feel more manageable?

-I came across something you posted not long ago that I’d love to share- and in business, especially owning a business always feels like our baby- that no one else can do it and even after it could be running more smoothly with systems and strategies, we often take on the mentality that we need to be working constantly to keep it going- and you said that “working hard doesn’t mean working 10-15 hour days. It means being super strategic with your time” and I wanted to touch on that a bit-i know for myself when I first started my business it felt like had to be accessible and working ALL the time for it to work- and that’s opposite of most of the ideas of why we start a business in the first place! —— you went on to talk about a few things to be intentional about like sales pipeline, future cash cflow, and leading indicators, - will you speak about focusing on the things that will move the money needle rather than time wasters or things we don’t need to be doing all the time to grow?

what are some things in our business we can check up on as far as finances today? If people are feeling over whelmed, where are some places to start? - I know for myself one of the biggest things was to invest in systems and software to help me down the road even before I felt like maybe I was big enough, but it helped track and keep everything smooth so when I GREW everything still was maintainable. (As a photographer that was things like Honeybook, smug mug, smart albums etc)

- what’s something that’s been coming up for you lately that you’d love to share from the heart?

tell us how we can find, follow and learn more!