#1 financial skill for every business owner - with Ingrid Thompson of Healthy Numbers

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Livelihood. It's how we live for many of us, but it's also about how much it costs us to live and run our businesses. For the lucky few, the financial side of starting a business comes easily. For others, the process can be one of the most daunting parts of getting started and being successful. Ingrid Thompson is probably one of the most empathetic people around when it comes to understanding this exact dilemma. Her business, Healthy Numbers is dedicated to helping you overcome financial challenges and sail into business success.

So what's the number one financial health skill that every business-owning mother should have at the ready?

“The number one financial skill is to believe that it's possible that you, as the business owner, are responsible for your money and your numbers and that you truly own that. The skill is for people to believe that they own the numbers, not the bookkeeper, not the accountant or whoever does the accounts.”

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Can you please share your pitch with us?

“So I believe that everybody deserves to feel financially safe, and it's possible for women to truly create financial safety for themselves. I believe that when you understand how money works, your life changes completely and forever. You can't unlearn once you get it. It's easier than most people think. So that's why I help people to understand their numbers.”

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How do you protect yourself from business risk?

“The first obvious risk is to make sure you've got all your insurances, your client agreements, make sure your website is protected. The actual practical things that are going to protect you from risk. Then being financially risky is when you're not making a profit. The revenue has to be more than what's going out. Be selective about who you work with and then just have a pricing structure that can sustain what you're doing. There's an emotional risk that's attached to getting your pricing wrong because if you end up doing stuff for less than you think you're worth, that is emotionally eroding to people.”

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What is the most important tip in that path to growing a business?

“It’s to absolutely establish a model that gives financial viability and that can create that financial safety. It's not a business if it's not making money to pay yourself as the owner, to pay your expenses, to make some profit, no matter how big or small. Then what you choose to do with that profit is up to you. But financial safety comes from financial viability and getting the pricing right. You are generating a continual flow of new clients. What are the systems and processes that will support you so you spend less time in the nitty-gritty? But truly, how do you establish a model to give financial viability?"

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Want to know more about how Ingrid Thompson and learning to love your numbers, especially when running your own business?

What does financial freedom look like to you? Have you ever taken a deep dive into your numbers? Why do you think learning about numbers seems so daunting?

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