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Get clear on your business finances as soon as you can. Many of us avoid the truth when it comes to our finances but also haven’t been taught how to have a healthy relationship with money.”

Freya Rose Tanner

Take control of your finances! Achieve financial wellbeing! We're often bombarded with statements like this, especially on social media. But what does it mean to actually take control of your financial situation and what is financial wellbeing?

We work with female entrepreneurs who are often in the process of upskilling – learning new and effective ways of running a business – whilst also managing personal accounts and balancing repayments, salaries and more.

Every businesswoman is different, which means control and wellbeing mean different things to each of them, but more generally, to take control of your finances and feel financially 'well' means establishing efficient and functional cash flow, healthy boundaries and a strong sense of financial literacy.

Freya Rose Tanner, a Brand Consultant and Web Designer based in Somerset and a friend of Lagom, runs a successful solo business supporting female entrepreneurs with creative services on a one-to-one basis.

We caught up with Freya to discuss her journey to financial wellbeing and to talk about money goals, being a female entrepreneur, self check-ins and how she's developed the ability to balance a creative business with technical financial boundaries, taking full control of her finances.

What was the biggest challenge you faced when starting your own business?

I actually started my business by accident so didn’t have a plan, which was definitely a challenge at times, but also I think it didn’t give me enough time to overthink things. I think the key to my success was that I cracked a process that suited me, my skills and my character.

The Two Week Website a website design process I discovered which allowed me to set boundaries with clients, be uber clear, hyper organised, and deliver a one-to-one process, within a contained framework.

The other key to building a sustainably successful business was the time I spent figuring out what my client's pain points were. I too knew these pain points, as I previously had a terrible time with a website designer – it really showed me that design just doesn’t need to be that complicated or painful.

This is why the core of my process is fun, ease and empowerment for my clients. I have to hear horror story after horror story about client's previous website experiences, and it makes me realise what a unique difference I'm making.

What advice would you give someone just starting out on the journey to financial wellbeing?

Firstly, if you are running your own business, it’s personal. Getting to know yourself is the key to your success. Whatever beliefs you have about yourself will be reflected in your business.

Understand that what works for other people, may not work for you. When starting out, we naturally adopt other processes or systems to see how they feel but remember: just because it was successful for them, doesn’t always mean it will be successful for you. You and your business are your own unique expression and that is where you will truly meet success.

Get clear on your business finances as soon as you can. Many of us avoid the truth when it comes to our finances but also haven’t been taught how to have a healthy relationship with money. It’s up to you to change that and to seek out resources.

I was so focused on surviving when I started out that I didn't even consider long-term financial plans, money goals or cash flow. I just wanted to know when I was getting paid next. There is no one way to manage your money and it truly is a journey for each of us individually. but it is about facing it and finding a system that works for you. Do your research, educate yourself and be empowered.

What processes have you put in place to take control of your finances?

I have money dates AKA a monthly financial review with myself, and most importantly, I make these money dates fun. So much of the time we experience resistance when looking at our finances because of the emotions this may bring up. This is why it’s super important to make these money dates as joyful and kind as possible – I like to have wine and eat cheese.

And these money dates pay off. They help you turn up for your business, take control of your finances and save time doing your tax, not to mention sleep at night – yep, no more mind whirlpools at 4 am – make your money work harder for you, have fun, and of course, put profit first and earn more.

What made you choose the Profit First methodology?

The Profit First majorly changed my business. When I started I just couldn't get my head around how complicated finances and tax were made out to be. I was totally overwhelmed but knew there had to be another way.

Total luck struck when a friend recommended Profit First. I think I devoured the book in three days and started implementing it into my business. I loved how clear it made everything, it’s like my brain could actually see which ‘pot’ income was going into and why. It helped me take full control of my finances.

For example, I now divide my income into –

20% Business Expenses
20% Tax
20% Profit
40% Salary

What is amazing with this as a small business is that I can very easily assess how much money I have in my Business Expenses and review whether or not I have enough to invest in a new online course/service/computer screen etc. Whereas when all your income is in one pot, how on earth could you know? Money mindfulness means total control and peace of mind.

Profit First

“A totally life changing that book teaches you a simple cash management system that help you avoid massive financial mistakes and supports you to actually create profit.”
- Freya Tanner

Buy it here

How do you set goals for yourself and your business?

This is an interesting one. I have quite a unique relationship with goal setting as I feel goals can be extremely harmful at times. Too much of the time we are taught to measure the quantitative values of our business, not the qualitative. We can feel we need to tick boxes that are handed to us, not ones that are true to us.

There is so little conversation and action around what we personally deeply value as individuals and would like to set our lives around, which is why so much of the time we feel deeply unfulfilled and lost. So when reviewing my business, I look at both quantitative and qualitative reviewing.

I believe that we need to build our lives around a foundation of qualitative truths – usually the thing you have to dive deep into yourself to find – in order to embrace wellness, control and feel deeply fulfilled.

I’ve created a PDF planner to keep track of your Quantitative & Qualitative experiences throughout the year which you can check out here. If you are interested in this topic you can also read my blog post – An honest & alternative business review & forecast. Or one on goal-setting – How to write goals if you hate writing goals.

If you could improve one thing about the way you manage your finances what would it be?

I'd love to have a buddy to do a money date with. I really want to dive deep into being empowered around my finances and want to explore all these intricacies and depths with others. I’m not sure where to find these people so please reach out if you are one.

Lots of my friends are not at this place in their business or not interested in looking at their finances with this personal/emotional depth but I believe that in order to take control of your finances, you need to feel fully comfortable and confident talking about them, like you would with any other aspect of your business.

If you want to keep up with Freya's musings on life philosophies and running your own business you can subscribe to her mailing list and resources. Find out more about Freya and her services here and follow her on Instagram here.