Your Business Blueprint
Have you ever wished for guidance in effectively growing your business and managing your finances? Or wonder what it takes to succeed as a female entrepreneur in finance? Then this is the podcast for you. Welcome to Women of Wealth, where generational wisdom meets ambition.
Allie:I'm Ali Romo, your millennial host.
Intro:And I'm Hollywood's Greg, your gen x host.
Allie:Using our combined backgrounds in insurance and financial services, we will share what we've learned to give you the tools you need to grow your business.
Intro:Join us, and together, we will help you discover practical strategies for financial leverage, business growth, and securing your future.
Hawley:Hey, wealth warriors. Are you ready to redefine wealth and master your money mindset? Welcome to Women of Wealth. I'm your Gen x host, Hollywood's Gray.
Allie:And I'm your millennial host, Ali Ramos. Today, we're discussing the start. Now we've discussed where do you start when you're just starting to save or just starting your career, But what about when you're creating a business? Since this podcast is for female entrepreneurs, let's switch to the business side. If I'm just starting a business, Holly, what are my first steps?
Hawley:Oh my gosh. So it really depends. It depends on so many different things on what your first steps are gonna be based on what kind of business you start. So I have a lot of experience in people starting their insurance business, kinda similar to real estate. You know, the first thing you would need to do is to make sure you get your license.
Hawley:Even prior to that, though, you might wanna come up with, what your business name's gonna be. Do you have that website available? Are you able to secure some of those, tangible things like a business license or a business bank account in order to, you know, get started? So, those there's a lot that goes into starting a business. It really depends on what kind of business.
Hawley:Is it a side hustle you're already doing? Is it a hobby you already have? Is it something where you're changing professions and you're gonna be drinking from a fire hose, learning something new, like, if you're not in insurance now and then you get into insurance industry. I mean, there's so many places to to start. What do you think some of the first steps you took were, Allie, since you're a little bit newer to the business, starting a business than I am?
Allie:Yeah. So I started, appreciation with just being a 1099 subcontractor and, so or sole proprietor. And then as my husband came into the business, I'm like, okay. Like, we plan on being here for a long time. What, like, what are we gonna do?
Allie:And I actually seek I sought guidance from you. I sought guidance from other agents to kinda get a feel for what people were doing, and we decided to go the s corp route. And we also talks talked to our CPA, and that was kinda that was the start of it. And, you know, everything else is kind of a blur because I was trying to figure out what paperwork I needed next for what, because there's even once you get your corporation set up, then you have to file your s corp, and then you have, but, yeah, there's just different paperwork that goes into just setting up your corporation. But then you wanna make sure that you've got the bank account.
Allie:That was our next big step when filing was to get that bank account and then start getting paid while putting money in there and then start getting paid because we do have small business expenses. I mean, you can decide as an agent to not have much business expenses, but you probably won't go very far with that. And so so we funded our business account, and then we got our cards. And so now everything is coming out of that account, and so it's a lot easier to manage. Next year, when tax time comes around, we don't have to, figure out whose credit card paid for what and where does money come from.
Allie:It's all through the business, which is nice. That's great. I said next year. However, there is a question about there are corporations that do their taxes on a quarterly basis and, I believe semiannually or or twice a year. So I have a question about that, Holly.
Allie:Do you do you know when or, like, if that if that's a question you do go to your CPA for about when you file your taxes when you're a business?
Hawley:So, usually, business taxes are due in March instead of April. And then if you do an extension, then instead of it being October like it is for, on your personal side, it's September. So those are the deadlines for that. I think, some people do, tax payments in on their quarters or they do tax payments in at different times. It just depends on on what that looks like.
Hawley:If you're set up as an s corp, then most likely you're getting your taxes taken out, of your paycheck because an s corp is a little bit of a pass through. So you're getting your taxes, taken out for you personally. And then being in California, yes, you do have to pay corporate taxes, so you'll wanna check with your CPA on that. For me, personally, now that I live in Nevada, those corporate taxes aren't necessarily an issue for me. So, it's it's great to give yourself a big raise moving out of state.
Hawley:Anyway, I think it's really important for you to understand when you're starting a business, when is the best time for you to incorporate, understand the self employment tax? I think I think the biggest place that is new business owners get in trouble is they don't understand the taxes. So if you make over $600 as a 10.99 person, then depending doesn't matter if you get 11099 or you get lots of them from different companies, you will be paying self employment tax and that can be pretty high, especially if you're in a state that has state income tax as well. So I think that before you start any business, you wanna do your homework and you wanna do your homework all the way around. I think that's where business owners get in trouble.
Hawley:I know that when I first started in the real estate industry as a mortgage I was in the mortgage industry. I was a loan officer and I got in trouble because I didn't save enough money on the months that I had big months. I didn't save enough money to pay my taxes. So I was constantly behind catching up until, you know, we got into the insurance industry where we started an s corp and we were able to, get rid of some of that debt by paying it off. And then, you know, we still have, an agreement for 1 year that we're paying on still.
Hawley:So it can be pricey and it can be long if you don't set up your tax taxes right. So anybody who's making more than, I would say, $50,000 a year, you definitely wanna meet with a business CPA or tax professional that can help guide you in the right right direction. Certainly not our forte, but I know enough about it to be dangerous. So there you go.
Allie:Yeah. And I was at a real estate event also, and, different CPAs have different theories about it. So talk to your CPA. I mean, some some CPAs say if you're making 30. That's what my CPA said.
Allie:However, he also mentioned different industries, like, if you have a lot of fluctuations too. So, really, it's an important conversation to have with your tax person.
Hawley:Right. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. So many women entrepreneurs start their business with their own money, but the number one thing is depending on what industry you're getting in, you wanna figure out and what state you're in, what does it take to start a business bank account.
Hawley:The sooner I know Ali talked about doing that right from the beginning when Dylan got in the business, and you're gonna want to make sure that you have that taken care of as soon as possible because you want that money to be separate so you don't have the confusion when you go to file your taxes.
Allie:And and, also, I wanted to back up, Holly, because you were talking about many women entrepreneurs. You and and Bobby were the ones who told Dylan and I to how to split our business, as far as being a women owned business. So that's a little strategy as well. Can you just touch on that for a second?
Hawley:Absolutely. So there's a lot of benefits to minorities and women business owners are considered minorities still. So you wanna make sure if you are going into business with a partner and that partner is male, that you keep the controlling ownership of the business. So, 51% of your business would be to you and then 49% to whoever the partner is that's a male, in my case, and in Ally's case, our husbands. And both of them were great with that because they do realize that there's grants and other opportunities out there, even through the SBA and even Chamber of Commerce and other places like that, where you can get some additional training because of the women owned business.
Hawley:And there's a lot of awards available as well, so that's really good for marketing and for your your, you know, business to be awarded stuff, and you can qualify for those because you're a women you're a woman owned business.
Allie:And while you're on the topic of funding, how can people, women, anyone, find options for funding instead of just finding money under their under their pillow, under their mattress or asking friends and family to join their venture? Yeah.
Hawley:So how you find funding is the first place I would recommend people start is their, SBA, the Small Business Administration. There's a lot of opportunities there. Additionally, depending on what kind of business you start, there's a lot of different types of grants and whatnot that are available. You can look on NerdWallet and just, you know, Google NerdWallet for top grants available for women owned businesses. If you happen to be a certain ethnic, then you can look like you know, there's a there's a black women's business owners association, and they do a lot with that.
Hawley:And there's also, you know, women in tech, veterans, that get a lot of extra grant opportunities. So really do your homework on that. You may qualify for sir several different I mean, grants are always better than loans because grants, you don't have to pay pay back. But sometimes grants also require you to do a lot of work to make sure that you stay in compliance. So you just wanna make sure that you know those.
Hawley:And then also, you know, something that we help with is tax credits. So if you're a small business, there still could be COVID relief money available for you if you're self employed or if you are a business owner with more than a couple employees and that aren't related to you. You might be able to qualify for some COVID relief. But there's other, tax benefits out there as well that can give you some money in your pocket to get started or to continue to start.
Allie:And in the world of business licenses and permits, it can be super confusing. We talked about getting our licenses in, insurance, and then did we touch on the e and o insurance as well?
Hawley:No. So so business insurance and business license, I mean, basically, if you do a Google search for, you know, what do I need to start a business in the state of Nevada, in the city of Henderson, or in the city of Las Vegas, what do I need to start a business in the state of California, in the city of San Diego, Orange County, or wherever you might be. It'll tell you what you need to start your business. So there's certain businesses like ours where we're under a broker where we don't necessarily need individual business license, but in some states like if you have a physical property, you may need that. So like in California, they have a lot more regulations on the business side than we have here in Vegas because, you know, they get paid for through that's part of how they make the money for their state, where in Nevada, we have a lot of money coming from the, tourism business.
Hawley:So you really wanna check that out. As far as insurance goes, in some cases, you're gonna need general liability insurance. In some cases, like being in real estate or in insurance, we're gonna have, like, e and o insurance, and that stands for errors and omissions. So if we make a mistake or if a client thinks we make a mistake and they have a claim against us, it goes there first before it takes, on our personal. But also having that business, whether it's an LLC or an s corp or a c corp or however you set it up, that that does, limit the liability that you have personally.
Hawley:But having that errors in admission or that general liability or whatever the case might be for the business that you're in, you want to get educated on that. There's about 6 different types of business insurances. So one is, general liability, could be key person insurance, it could be, building insurance if you have a facility that you're using. There could be different types of business insurance for your particular, field. And so those are things that you'd wanna definitely take a look at.
Allie:Yeah. And another good resource that I found is score.org, and you can set up, like, a one on one consultation with a person who's, like, an expert in their field. So if you have questions about, licensing or maybe, attorneys, they have people who are volunteering their time to talk to people who are building a business. And usually, they're they're free resources. Some of them, I believe, are paid, like webinars and things like that, but they are very helpful when it comes to just starting off your business.
Hawley:Absolutely. SCORE is a great organization. Also, associations within your, field are also great. I know for me, I was a part of Women in Insurance and Financial Services, pretty close to when I first started Women of Wealth back in 2015. And that really helped me get an idea of a landscape of the whole industry because I heard from a bunch of different industry leaders.
Hawley:And then being in insurance, it is a field where, women are the minority. However, at Appreciation Financial, because of who we serve, we do have a lot of females that do very well here because of the clientele being teachers is our niche market working with educators. And, you know, 91% of educators are women, so women work really well with women. Especially in this day and age, a lot of women wanna have women, insurance or, you know, financial advisors or whatever the case might be.
Allie:Yeah. So if someone is starting their let's just say, a coaching business, and they're meeting clients virtually, maybe some in person clients, where would you recommend that person start?
Hawley:Well, definitely, you know, if you're meeting virtually and you have, you know, your packages or whatever you have, you wanna have those online. So definitely wanna make sure you have a business license and you figure out what that looks like for your state. And then you have a business account that they're paying money into so you can keep that separate from your personal. I know for most people starting out of business, they're usually working somewhere and starting their business at the same time, so it can get a little complicated. That's why I would definitely, you know, join an organization for your specific field.
Hawley:There's a ton of them for coaches, there's a ton of them for pretty much anything now. There's all kinds of associations. So, Chamber of Commerce is a great place to start. You know, coaching has gotten more and more mainstream, so there's a lot of different programs out there that you can be a part of where you can get referrals and all that from different people. So I really would think that the first place to start would be to make sure you have whatever business license you need, make sure you have your website or your your URL that you want to use, and, you know, make sure you have at least a basic place where people can find you.
Hawley:Obviously, social media is very important in that field as well, so you want to make sure that everything is all named the same. That has been one of my biggest challenges is not having everything named the same. So I have Hollywood's Gray. I'm an independent contractor for Appreciation Financial. One of the carriers we work with, National Life Group or Midland or North American or whatever those carriers are.
Hawley:And then I have Women of Wealth, which is not only this podcast, but also, you know, I have a website and all that that some videos are gonna be coming out on. So it's really, you know, it's really difficult sometimes to get all of those different moving pieces underneath the same umbrella so you can easily communicate that. So that's taken me a few years to figure out.
Allie:Okay. And you were talk so we've been talking about organization organizations to get connected with, but I think one also huge thing that we're a part of and that is really helpful when you're just starting a business is a networking organization. Like, and not just, like, meeting up with a few people, but, like, a larger networking organization in your area that's in person. Because you can do online networking as well, but I really feel like the in person networking, you get a lot done, and you meet a lot of people in these these events that are specialists in their field or have gone through what you're going through and can point you in the right direction. And so, like, my sister is getting ready to start her business, and I invited her to our e women event last month.
Allie:And that turned into her snowballing and meeting with an attorney, understanding what what she'll need to do in order to get funding. And there was so much clarity that came from that meeting, and she just showed up and stood in front of the room and just said, I don't even know what I'm doing yet because I don't have a business, but I'm here and I wanna learn. And I think that's huge, and I think other business owners also love to help. I know in e women, when someone asks for help and I know the answer, I love helping them. So be putting yourself in a room full of like minded individuals, and entrepreneurs will really help you take the next steps and not lag.
Allie:So if you're behind if you're at home and you're just thinking about a business idea, that could be delayed years rather than if you show up in person and you get connected to a community, and they've already got their businesses going.
Hawley:Yeah. Absolutely. I think the community is very important. I think the right community is important too. So for me, like, when I joined eWomen Network back in 2018, 17, or 18, I've been to a couple meetings before, but the timing just wasn't right for me.
Hawley:I wasn't in a space where I had the time to go network because I was really personally producing and I wasn't really out building a team as much when I was in 2017. However, it just was the timing was right for me to join when I joined. And then it did take me a few years to figure out how is how am I going to have some ROI from this avenue. Right? Because it is one thing you wanna look at is what is the return on your investment for your time that you're putting in.
Hawley:And then when we opened up our affiliates program and I had several connections through EWomen Network for either businesses that I was able to qualify for some of these tax credits or affiliates that wanted to come on my team, it has paid for itself probably a hundredfold since then. And so I definitely think that that's really good. But you wanna interview those types of organizations too. Don't just jump in the first one you go to, unless you really feel like that is a fit for you. Like, I've I feel like women starting business, e women's great.
Hawley:There's Polkadot Powerhouse. There's, you know, the National Association of Women Business Owners. There's a lot of different associations and, you know, not each one of them is right for every person. So you wanna definitely go and check out and see what's right for you. Just like, you know, the the women in insurance and financial services, it might not be for everyone.
Hawley:You know, maybe you have somebody who is starting a business in that field, but it doesn't have an out facing, job description. So that might be something where you aren't a fit for that organization or something. I don't know. I I don't know too many people in that industry that would be but I do think one good thing about going into women networking groups. Women love to help people, and so I think that that's in our nature to give advice.
Hawley:I have got I have gleaned so much just from being a part of women's organizations by just being in the room. Not even, you know, not just being a kinda like a fly from the wall listening to what's being talked about because it's not always something that's relevant with me. So just get into find the right people, and once you find your people, you'll know.
Allie:Amen. So back to back to the business questions. Can you share some cons concerns that business owners may have regarding taxes?
Hawley:Yeah. Well, this is not my expertise, so I'm not an accountant. I'm not a trained CPA. However, I know enough, again, to be dangerous. You definitely wanna make sure you handle on this.
Hawley:So you want to find a professional for you. Now, obviously, if you're making money and you're not paying taxes on a quarterly basis or whatever, then you're going to have to pay it whenever you file your taxes. I recommend if you are set up like an s corp that you have a payroll company that runs your payroll. Make sure that you have really good communication between them because you might need to, you know, stop payroll for a month, you know. We we have what's called unreliable or inconsistent income when you're in real estate or insurance or those kind of things when you're first getting started.
Hawley:Mine's more consistent now because I've been doing it for a long time and I have people on my team, so I kinda know how much I'm gonna make each month. And then anything over that is just extra from, you know, somebody doing a big deal or something like that. So, you know, make sure you have your budget set up and make sure you in your budget, you plan for your taxes. And, you know, depending on what state you are in, that might be 20%, that might be 30% of what you're bringing home. So you just wanna make sure that you understand that.
Hawley:Now, a lot of the stuff that we're talking about today, you can do by your you can do on your own. However, my business really started growing when I was able to invest in the right CPA, the right bookkeeper, the right attorney. All of those things are important, and in fact, we can drop in the in the, chat or whatever, Ali, the list of 12 questions to ask your financial professionals. I did a I did a presentation last year called Girls Just Wanna Have Funds, And, one of the financial advisers that was on the panel with me, she created this, I think it's 12 questions to ask your financial professional. So it's a really good one.
Allie:Yeah. So it's when and, you know, this question has come up a lot for me and even myself. My husband and I are, getting ready to interview some tax people. One of them is an EA, an enrolled agent, so they I'm learning all about the different, I was about to say tax codes, licenses that they have the, next to their name, the CPA, the EA, those kinds of things. And so this question has come about around multiple times in the last few months with just me talking to other women business owners as well.
Allie:So take that 12 questions. We'll put the link in the summary of the podcast. And if you are not happy with your CPA, and when I mean, like, not happy, I mean, you don't feel comfortable asking them questions or they're not they're not helping you with you don't know the questions you to ask and they're not helping you guide you, then you may need to ditch your tax preparer, and ask some questions and interview some people. And so those 12 questions will help you interview the right person.
Hawley:And whoever might be your right person whenever you have a w two position may not be your right person for business. Not all CPAs or tax preparers do taxes for individuals and taxes for business owners. So, you know, if they don't do that, you don't have to feel bad about it because, you know, they just don't they can't help you and you don't wanna be their guinea pig either. Like, you don't wanna be their guinea pig. You wanna go with somebody, especially when you're first starting out.
Hawley:Like me now, I probably could be somebody's guinea pig. I would never do that because that would be too much stress on me. However, I probably could because I'm like I said, I know enough to be dangerous, so I know all the questions to ask. I know when I'm not getting what I want that I can go knock on their door or whatever. So, and then another question is what are some common tax write offs that new entrepreneurs might miss?
Hawley:Again, this is gonna be specific to your industry. In our industry, we give away a ton of Starbucks cards. We buy lunch at Costco. You know, those are things that you can put on credit cards. However, you do wanna keep that separate too if you also shop at Costco or you also go to Starbucks, you wanna keep those separate so you do have what's your personal and what's your business.
Hawley:I think that's the biggest problem that people make is they think everything is right offable and that's not the case. So you wanna make sure that, you know, you explain to your tax professional. I mean, that's something I had to do is, like, oh, no. I go to Subway or Starbucks or Costco for the luncheons that I run for the teachers. All of that business all of that goes on one business card.
Hawley:The rest of it is my personal family trips to Costco that I go to, you know, every other week or so. So, you know, not to convolute those 2, I think that's the biggest mistake that most business owners, when they're new, make is that everything is blended together.
Allie:Yeah. And then also, if you're working from home, all of the different expenses that you can write off, partially, like your Internet and the your office and equipment that you need to work, things like that.
Hawley:Okay. So beyond the day to day hustle, how can we establish clear long term goals for our business from the onset? Well, this is something that, Sandra Yancey, the founder from E Women Network always says. She says begin with the end in mind. What I think that one of the biggest problems, and I have fallen into this as well, is I have signed up for things that I didn't use.
Hawley:I have not stayed focused on, you know, like sometimes shiny object syndrome can happen when you're in business. Oh, this looks like a good idea or this looks like a good idea. You really wanna lean on the people that have gone before you, and not necessarily reinvent the wheel. Unless, of course, you are reinventing the wheel and you have a brand new product, then that's totally the fright you wanna find somebody else to get advice from on that one because that's just not necessarily my forte. But I do think that it is important to really see how far you can look out.
Hawley:Like, is that 5 years? Is it 10 years? Is it 15 years? And write what you want your business to look like. I did that probably when I first started or very close to when I first started, and it was things like, you know, having a big team, mostly of women, being able to teach and train them, having x number amount of, clients that are in my personal book, being able to do, you know, x number of, you know, charity events or philanthropy, going to certain events during the year, making sure that those are all part of my plan as it continues my professional and personal development as well.
Hawley:So those are all things that you wanna keep in mind, when you are looking at the long term planning and then back into it from there. I mean, in our business, it's very easy for us to figure out what the average new person makes per deal, and we can back into how much they wanna work, or how much they wanna make based on how much they wanna work. So if they want to, you know, make a $100, they're gonna have to go out and close 200, 250 clients in a year in order for them to make that amount. We just know that from the numbers that have been average over the last, you know, 15, 16 years we've been in business.
Allie:You talked about building a team, and, Holly, you've built quite the team. And in no matter in any what business you're in, having a quality team really can make or break your business. So what are some tips for finding and building a strong team to support your business vision? Or in your case, I guess, just having a team of good quality agents.
Hawley:Yeah. So for me, I really went went the route for the most part of people that I knew. Most of my top leadership are people that I knew. I only have, like, 1 or 2 people that are in my leadership, more than that now since we've grown so much. But really, my key people have been people that I've had relationships with the number of years.
Hawley:The other thing is, you know, hiring a good assistant or hiring a good social media person, asking a lot of questions. There's a saying that says hire slow, fire fast, because somebody who's not cutting it can really ruin the culture of your team. And so I would say, you know, now my team requires very little effort from me because they're so strong. However, in the beginning, I was doing Tuesday morning trainings at 7 AM for, like, 3 or 4 years. I was doing additional trainings on certain nights or whatever.
Hawley:I would go and meet with certain people that were my leadership team. And it did take us a good few years to really figure out who was going to be successful and who might not be successful because of, you know, their skill set or what they wanna learn or how often they wanna work. I mean, sometimes, you know, one of the things that you have to identify when you're the when you're the business owner is is this person able to switch from being a 9 to 5, somebody tells them what to do, to being an independent contractor. I've had several people, even some close friends of mine, that have come into the business and it hasn't been the right fit for them because they haven't figured out how to be a self starter or how to, you know, really ask the right questions when they're with their client or whatever. They've always been in a position where somebody like, they had an objective.
Hawley:Once that objective was done, they went to a manager to ask them what was next. So that's definitely not this business. This business is once you get your training that completed, then you go out and you produce that over and over and over again.
Allie:I think being a business owner in general is it's a whole new mindset of you are the driver, and when you wake up in the morning, no one's gonna tell you what to do. You have to generate that. And, I listened to Brendan Burchard, and he talks about being a power plant. And, like, a power plant doesn't get its energy from other power plants who get their energy from other, you know, they generate their own power, and I think that's valid as being a business owner, or being a solopreneur that you've got to be your power plant on a daily basis and really have that discipline of of choosing the next step and being organized and knowing what's going to get you where. And I like I like Sandra's having the end in mind, because when when you're looking at goals, it can be especially, like, we're we're talking about starting a business.
Allie:Just the thought of starting a business can be so overwhelming for some people that they just don't because they don't know where to start.
Hawley:Exactly.
Allie:But instead, if you look at, okay, I wanna have a restaurant. Okay. What do restaurants need? They need health licenses. They need I need funding.
Allie:Then you so with the end goal in mind, now you're working backwards, and, I think it makes it a lot easier. So as a business owner on your day to day, you can look and say, okay, what do I wanna accomplish Friday? Now take that back, and you can see what you need to do on a daily basis. I need to have x amount of appointments. I need to close x amount of business or whatever your industry is, you can and I like that Sandra also takes it on a she does her whole year goal, and then she does it by what's okay.
Allie:What's your quarterly goal to get to your yearly goal? What do you need to accomplish each quarter? What main four things do you need to accomplish each quarter to get to your year. And she breaks it down by quarters, months, weeks, days, and that's beautiful. If you can get in the habit of doing that if I could get in the habit of doing that, man,
Hawley:the Three things. Impact What are the three things you need to accomplish before you lay your head on the pillow each night? It's very good. I love it.
Allie:Yes. Alright. Well, I think
Hawley:we're ready for our fast round, our fast finance, lightning round. So the first question is coffee or co working. Which which expense is more critical in the early stages? What do you think?
Allie:Oh, coffee or coworking? Which expense is more critical in the early stages?
Hawley:So does that mean, like, going to get coffee with people or just working with people? This is a lightning round question, so you answer it the way you read it.
Allie:I'd say coffee.
Hawley:I'll go with coffee also. I mean, co working can be helpful, but usually if you're co working, you're co working with people that are either already your clients or they're already your people. So if you're out in the coffee if you're out getting coffee, you can always talk to someone new.
Allie:I think also co working, it has multiple people involved. And when you have too many opinions, things get, a little too complicated.
Hawley:Okay. What is your quick answer for initial funding? Credit card or business loan?
Allie:Credit card.
Hawley:Business loan. Rates are so much lower, so you can get you can get a business loan from the SBA. If you qualify, you can get a business loan for the SBA where you're probably paying, like, 3 or 4%. I know those COVID loans that we had, they started out at 1%. Now they're at, like, 3 and a half percent or whatever.
Hawley:That's a great rate compared to your credit card. Because think about it, when you first start your business, you're probably not in a position to keep paying that credit card every month. And so if you wanna do if you wanna start your business and start it out right, you wanna find a low interest rate loan where you can definitely take your time to pay it back. Now if it's something that you can pay off every month, then credit card's the way to go because then you can get miles.
Allie:You can tell I am not in the business of needing large sums of money.
Hawley:We're a cat afford to pay off your credit card, so we'll get from there. Okay. Listen to the podcast with Ali's mom to find out why Ali is so financially savvy.
Allie:Holly, bookkeeper bookkeeper or DIY?
Hawley:Definitely outsource your financial tracking as soon as you can. There is a lot of apps that will help you do it yourself. However, the best thing you can do in business is to build your team, which not is not only includes, like, your assistant and the people who are working with you, but also your bookkeeper, your business banker, your CPA, your attorney. All of these are essential, to your business, and these are going to be things that people, that can really, really help you and get you in the right direction. And don't be afraid to interview them with the questions that we're gonna provide to you.
Hawley:Alright. So we're gonna jump into hiring a friend or family member, pros and cons. One word one word each. Okay. Well, Ally, you have experience with working with a family member?
Hawley:Mhmm. Couple of them, actually. What are the pros?
Allie:Fun. What's the con? Word. I know.
Hawley:We know I'm not gonna be able to answer it in one word, so go for it. What's the con?
Allie:Oh, time. Too much time together. When you love, eat, sleep, go to the gym together.
Hawley:Yes. That's why I love that I work with, my husband and my brother and other people that are family members, but I don't actually really work with them on a day to day basis. So that'll change for you guys. Once you're both out building your own team, training different people, that'll change for you. What I love about it is, like, there's no, secret in what's happening in our lives or in our business.
Hawley:Right? It's like everything is black and white right in front of us. We can talk about it. We cannot talk about it. However, it's right there.
Hawley:And then what I what the drawback is is sometimes at dinner, well, sometimes all we do is talk about work. And so that's the that's definitely the part that, in our house, we give our 11 year old permission to tell us to stop talking about work. You guys are talking about work again. Stop it.
Allie:Yeah. Well, you cheated, and you got a lot more words than I did.
Hawley:It's our podcast. We can make up our own rules, Ally. Come on now.
Allie:But, yes, I'm already starting to see that the the con of too much time together is, is fading, and it's it's always nice hanging out with him. But, you know okay. Next question. Remote work or in office team?
Hawley:So I think remote work has its place. However, I think people get zoomed out. So I think in a combination of both is a really good mix. So being able to have both options is nice. It's nice to be able to help people, you know, since the pandemic.
Hawley:The insurance rules and regulations have changed a a little bit to allow us to be able to be more effective online. Before that, we couldn't sign contracts or do anything like that via Zoom. And now that we're able to do that or deliver policies or whatever, I think it's nice to have a combination of both. I definitely think better work gets done in person. However, I think that, remote gives you more access to do things quickly.
Allie:And I'd like to add to that because we meet with clients, that I prefer in person just because your communication and your body language is all in person, and they can see they can see your body language, and it's more of a human interaction rather than through a computer screen. And I do have Zoom clients. However, I feel like I am more connected to the clients that I've met in person. And, you know, we talk about our families and this and that, and we just have more of a community family type feel than the clients that I've only met on Zoom. However, on the flip side, it allows me to have clients all over.
Allie:And so there's a little bit of give and take. I prefer in person. However, having that flexibility is also very nice.
Hawley:So she has the same answer as me both. Yes. Hybrid. Hybrid. Alright.
Hawley:So the next question that we're gonna answer is mentorship or networking, top priority for building your team. So for me, I would say networking is the number one priority for building your team. Mentorship is more well, if you're the mentor, then that's more for once you have some success, then you can mentor others who are coming up. Or having a mentor myself, you know, there's a difference between mentor and coach. A mentor is more like they've been there, done that, and they can help guide you against the pet pitfalls.
Hawley:A coach is more gonna work with you on this is, you know, where you are. This is what holds you back. This is what helps you move forward, based on who you are and what your personality is. And mentorship is, in my opinion, more about somebody who's already been there, done that. So networking is going to help you, in my opinion, build your team faster.
Allie:I like that, and I'll agree with all of it.
Hawley:Awesome.
Allie:Alright. If our podcast was a movie, what genre would it be, and who would play us?
Hawley:Well, that's a fun question. I think it would be like a comedy and also like a drama at the same time. I mean, to do so, like, what we do is we help people with life insurance. It's kinda like the most drama series you could think of. It's like we ask people questions like, you know, young couples who just had a baby.
Hawley:We ask them questions like, if something were to happen to you, who would raise your kid? Like, that doesn't mean if something were to happen to you, like, you fell down and broke your leg. That means, like, if you die, who's gonna raise your child? Right? We ask people these questions.
Hawley:So there's a lot of drama behind it, but if we can't keep it light and be and be able to laugh at ourselves and laugh at some of the other people around us, then I think we would go crazy. Playing us, I would have to say that Sandra Bullock from The Blind Side would have to be my character.
Allie:Alright. And so we're just gonna talk about so the question was our if our podcast was a movie, but I think if our business was a movie is more of an appropriate question.
Hawley:Okay.
Allie:Yeah. So, yes, a drama. I feel like it's, like, a reality TV show and
Hawley:And we're playing our own characters.
Allie:Yeah. There yeah. Drama, but also helping people. Man, should we start our own reality TV show too?
Hawley:Thank you.
Allie:No. Thank you. Who would play my character? Oh my gosh. I can't think of her name right now.
Allie:Emma, whoever plays Hermione.
Hawley:Is that Stone? Emma Stone?
Allie:No. Emma Emma Watson? No. I'm totally butchering it. I'm sorry, Hermione.
Hawley:But her.
Allie:Her. She's like she is.
Hawley:Hermione, what movie is that? Harry Potter. Come on. I'm so not a Harry pot Potter.
Allie:I'm why can't I think of her name?
Hawley:Her name is Emma Watson. You were right second time.
Allie:Was it? Okay. Yeah.
Hawley:Yeah. Okay.
Allie:Emma Watson. Know why it just didn't sound like right. But, yeah, she would be playing me because, yeah, she's like she's cool. She's like cool, smart. She, like, cares about other people.
Allie:You know? I don't know. And it'd be Hermione in Harry Potter too just because, yeah, she's the best.
Hawley:Good to know. Mine's Santa Balick in the blind side.
Allie:But now I'm picturing Hermione in a reality TV show, so that's kinda funny.
Hawley:Oh, I am. Alright. We wanna thank you all for joining in. We had no too much fun on this topic. Join us again next week as we launch another great podcast from Women of Wealth.
Allie:And let us know what questions you have regarding a business or if you're starting a business, finances, life insurance, whatever it is in our realm, ask us. We'd love to answer your questions on an episode and just get to know whoever's listening in our community. So until then,
Intro:catch us
Allie:on the next episode. Thank you for joining us
Hawley:on this week's episode. We'd love to hear from you.
Intro:So make sure to follow and tag us on Facebook and Instagram at women of wealth podcast.
Allie:Your support means the world to us until next time. Remember your financial future is in your hands.
Intro:Stay informed, stay inspired, and embrace your wealth. See you on the next episode.
