Driver or Passenger?

January 24, 2022

I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t taught a lot about MONEY growing up. And money isn’t a topic taught much in schools. If you don’t mind me stepping onto my soap box for a minute. How much better would our country be if we provided an education on money and finances starting in elementary school? What if we taught what money is and how it works? What if we could help children understand what it means to SAVE, BUY, PLAN, HELP OTHERS? What if that education continued and strengthened in middle school and high school so that by the time they have their first job, our youth would have a solid understanding of how to work with their money? How much more empowered would our youth and young adults be if they grew up being in charge of their PERSONAL ECONOMY? What if they knew at the start of their first job that they are building towards self-reliance and sustainability?

I’ve taken the LONG road to learning about money and one of the things that shifted things drastically was when I read the book PROFIT FIRST by Mike Michalowicz. It turned my life around. I was IN! So much so, that I called to the company to see how I could be a part of it. Luckily, they were just launching the Profit First Professional program and I became a Profit First Coach to help my coaching clients and more! Our mission is to ERADICATE ENTREPRENEURIAL POVERTY and I absolutely love making that happen. Not only am I helping small business owners shift the financial health of their businesses, I am also mentoring them to eradicate personal poverty. Sometimes what you do in business, you do at home, so I have helped teach how to implement a Profit First lifestyle.

The implementation and CONSISTENT practice of Profit First has been life changing for my husband and I. Especially when we sold our house in 2014. We both had taken home office deductions each year and did not realize the tax impact once we sold our home. I don’t know how to explain it because I’m not a bookkeeper or CPA, but what I will tell you is that it landed us with a tax bill to the IRS for over $15,000!!!! OH MY GOD is what I heard in a high-pitched strain of a voice! And that was my husband! Luckily, I had just started practicing Profit First six months prior and had set aside money for taxes. I was able to apply a sizable payment towards the balance owed and then get on a payment plan. We have since paid off that debt. Here’s the BETTER news, since implementing profit first in my business, I have been able to sustain a financially healthy business and be in the driver seat of our personal finances. I have paid off the following debts: business loan, credit card, medical, student loan, and both of our vehicles. Do you know how FREEING that is? And here’s the thing, we weren’t deprived while paying down our debt. I paid down our debt, kept our bill payments automated, and reviewed our expenses every month. It’s about practicing a HEALTHY, SUSTAINABLE APPROACH. There’s no ALL or NOTHING in our mindset. My husband and I are able to have financial check-ins, updates and make decisions from there.

We both grew up being “passengers” in the world of money. I feel like Profit First gave me my Learner’s Permit until I was able to practice it enough to become a QUALIFIED driver. Now, every week, I can’t wait to review our numbers to check the pulse on our financial health.

“Words lie, numbers don’t.” ~ Suze Orman

Are you tired of being at the “expense” of what life brings and feeling powerless? What if you could move into the driver’s seat of your finances and start learning how to do it in a way that can eradicate personal or entrepreneurial poverty?

Imagine what that would feel like to have PEACE OF MIND. Talk to me. Let me know what your biggest challenges are and stay tuned for what’s coming! I’m about to open up an opportunity in FEBRUARY for people to get their “Profit First Learners' Permits” and give them the practice they need to move into the driver’s seat.

Download the first 5 Chapters of Profit First and subscribe to my mailing list.
Let’s get ready to DRIVE,
Janet