
The Profit is a Choice Podcast
Owning every choice in your business is not for the faint of heart. Each Monday, join Michele Williams, strategic profitability coach for the interior design industry as she interviews guests who are taking control of their business one decision at a time to increase their profits. If you are an entrepreneur who wants to make money while working in your passion, this is the podcast for you.
212: Tax Deferral and Risk Management for your Company
It is not often that I get to dive into a topic that is totally foreign to me when we start the podcast. Usually, I have heard something about the topic and have a little knowledge. The 831(b) plan was a new thing – and Ed Bryan joins me to help us understand this tax deferral and risk management opportunity.
211: Creating an Accounting Foundation for your Design Business
Today I am welcoming Erin McGhee to the podcast. Erin describes herself as an Accounting Manager for service-based businesses. Her big goal – to put you in charge of your money. As you can tell, we have a lot in common. Listen in as we discuss what is needed to have you in the driver’s seat of your business vehicle and what it takes to keep you there.
209: Metrique Solutions is Your Financial Partner in Business
Joining me again on the podcast today is Jack Tompkins of Pineapple Consulting. Jack and I, along with a whole team of people, work on Metrique Solutions, a financial dashboard developed to support creative entrepreneurs – like you! Today we are talking about how Metrique Solutions is a financial partner in your business. It is not a replacement for your accounting or project management software, but an adjunct.
206: Seeing is Believing in Your Design Firm
Joining me on the podcast today is Jack Tompkins of Pineapple Consulting. Jack and I met back in 2019. And we shared the love of numbers and metrics instantly. Jack and I began working together early in 2020 to bring visuals to my clients and now we have joined forces to create matric solutions, a software application for creative business owners, and to give you the ability to see your KPIs in a quick visual dashboard. And so today on this show, we are going to talk specifically about the power of seeing your financials in one place and at one time.
204: Lessons in Taxes, Processes and Relationships
And just like that we are beginning year 5 of the podcast. Thank you to everyone who has listened, contributed, provided feedback and been part of this podcasting journey in any way. Cheers to wrapping up year 4 and to beginning year 5. The best gift you could give me would be to leave a review of the podcast on your favorite listening platform. Now, let’s recap a year of learning!
202: Tax Strategies for Your Design Business
Wendy Barlin is on the podcast with me today. Wendy has worked with business owners for over 25 years to guide them with business development, tax and cash flow strategies. Her direct and clear communication style, helps business owners understand a topic that often brings much fear and trepidation. So – let's talk taxes.
201: How to Rethink Your Business
Today we are airing an episode that we launched in 2020. Many of us are seeing changes in buying patterns, budgets, and selections. While the details are different from where we were in early 2020, the rethinking our business part is the same. In this podcast we will examine how to dissect our businesses so that we can analyze them and perhaps put them back together again in a different way. Really knowing the pieces and parts, as well as what we're great at, or core competency, helps us to determine the best ways that we can show up and then serve our ideal client. Let’s focus on how to be nimble in an ever-changing world. How to grow and scale while maintaining our flexibility, which is not always easy. That will allow us to maneuver through any change. I hope you enjoy.
197: Creating Systems that Work for Your Design Business
Adi Klevit, Founder and CEO of Business Success Consulting Group is with me today sharing from her twenty-five years of knowledge and experience as a trained Industrial Engineer, management consultant and business executive to bring order and efficiency to organizations. We will discuss how processes improve efficiency and performance. Listen in for insight on bringing order to the chaos in your life and business.
194: Break Up With Debt
Joining me today is Melanie Lockert. Melanie is the author of the book, Dear Debt, based on her long-standing blog. She is also the podcast host of Mental Health and Wealth. Melanie was successful in paying off $81,000 in student loan debt and she has chronicled her journey on her blog and in her book. Today our focus will be all about debt and how to manage it.
189: Reviewing Your Profit First Strategy
Have you created a Profit First strategy and implemented it – then left it alone? Are you still confident in the percentages you have allocated? Is your system and process growing with the evolving financials and needs of your company? If you are not sure, then this is the podcast for you. Let’s talk about how to review your profit first strategy and how to tweak it to make it work for your business today.
187: Introducing Metrique Solutions
For years I have been asked to write a book. And while I have co-authored a book and enjoyed that process, I felt like there was something else I was supposed to put out into the world. Today I want to introduce you to Metrique Solutions. A software application that will help you make financial decisions in your business in just minutes a month. On this episode I will share with you the origin of Metrique Solutions along with the problems it solves. I am excited – so let’s get to it.
185: Backwards Financials for the Win
Today I'm bringing you a replay of a podcast that we launched in the first few months of our podcast back in 2018. This particular podcast was in response to a question that Tracy Taylor emailed and asked me about how she could figure out her financials backwards. I work with my clients to create a top-down and a bottom-up model of their financials. And on this episode, you will hear Tracy and I work through her numbers, I want you to really listen in for some actionable takeaways so that you can look at your business financials backwards.
182: Managing to a Budget in Your Design Firm
Do you currently create a budget for your new year and then manage to it? If so, you are going to enjoy this podcast. If not, I ask that you listen with an open mind and perhaps are swayed to begin this process of financial management. Either way – let’s talk about budgets and how to manage to them effectively in your firm.
180: Financial Management and Oversight in Your Design Firm
Joining me on the podcast today is Peter Lang, owner of the designer CPA, Peter and I both have a heart for supporting this industry with good financial practices and understanding. And today we're going to talk about what we see as kind of the lifecycle, if you will, of bookkeeping and bookkeeping needs and the overwhelming hole and desire in the industry to have better bookkeeping practices. So I hope you enjoy the podcast and are able to see where you fit in the bookkeeping trajectory.
176: Building a Mindset of Resilience in Your Business
I am so excited to welcome Ceil DiGuglielmo of the Sew Much More podcast back to share the podcast with me continuing a 4-year tradition of reviewing our year and preparing for the next. Ceil is the owner of the custom drapery workroom, Sew Much More, a podcast by the same name, the owner of the Curtains and Soft Furnishings Resource Library, and the publisher of the Drapery & Design Digital Digest. Enjoy listening to us dig into the challenges and shifts that happened in 2021 and find out what books are on our holiday reading list.
174: Importance of Finance Management for Interior Designers
With us today is Damari Gold, owner of The Gold Standard Accounting & Tax firm. Damari is passionate about helping small business owners understand their money. So you can easily see why I am excited to have her on the podcast.
We will be talking about the yes and no items for tax deductions, the importance of CFO days in your firm, and why we need a tax plan. Enjoy the conversation!
163: How to Leverage Leadership in Scaling Your Design Firm
With me today on the podcast is Jenni Egger of Jenni Egger Designs. Jenni is one of my coaching clients and she has built a wonderful business in Indiana. Jenni had a career prior to her design firm working with the Estee Lauder Companies. We are going to discuss what she learned from that company that gave her a specific insight into building and scaling her current firm.
161: How to View Your Relationship with Money in Your Design Firm
With us on the podcast today is Aimee LaLiberte. Aimee is the owner of My Virtual CFO and is also a life and money coach. We are chatting about having a relationship with money – the good and the bad. Listen in as we talk about money being neutral and amoral. Afterward, leave yourself some time to reflect on how money was viewed by your family during your childhood and how that influences the type of business you run today.
152: How to Choose the Best Insurance for Your Design Firm
With me today is Michelle O’Connor of O’Connor Insurance Associates located in Charlotte, NC. Michelle and I are going to talk about what insurance is, and why we need it, discuss the different types of insurance available, when to get insurance, and when to make a claim against it. There are so many different types of insurance and knowing what serves our company best will allow us to make the best decisions to protect the business we are building.
140: How to Easily Manage the Money Goals In Your Design Firm
I am so excited to speak with you today regarding managing the money goals in your business. On our last podcast together, episode 138, we discussed the 5 main money goals that needed to be established in your firm. Now we are going to talk about how and when to manage to them. This time grab your pen, paper and a calendar and let’s get to it.