Blog - SMI Financial Coaching

Start Up + Organization

Ultimate Guide to Organizing Your Business Finances

After working with and studying many busy entrepreneurs, I found that most small business owners are great at what they do, but don’t understand the numbers. Or, they don’t know what they don’t know, and are overwhelmed trying to learn the business and financial side of running a business. I took these common mistakes, knowledge…

Opportunity Cost of Not Fixing What’s Broken

When writing my first book and getting behind on my initial deadlines, I realized that I had writer’s block because I couldn’t think clearly. I was never as productive when working from home, so I would often escape to my local coffee shop to write. Every once in a while, I would try to save…

5 Reasons Why You Need a Business Plan

Most business owners who are struggling to become profitable have not written a business plan. Some debate that a business plan isn’t necessary, especially if a business owner is not planning to obtain financing. While writing a business plan doesn’t sound fun and it’s more exciting to just jump right in and test out an…

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Finance + Taxes

The Diderot Effect: How It Affects Your Finances

In an effort to create better exercise and consistent writing habits this year, I recently read the book, Atomic Habits, by James Clear. To start a new habit, Clear shares that one of his favorite strategy is called habit stacking. After identifying a current habit that you already do each day, you stack your new…

How to Invoice Your Clients – Top 10 Must-Haves

When running your own business, getting paid for delivered products and services is key to your business survival. In order to get paid, you should have a way to send customers and clients an invoice and receipt – both for their records, as well as your own for taxes. While many entrepreneurs, independent contractors, and freelancers want to start…

5 Simple Questions Most Small Business Owners Can’t Answer

Many small business owners don’t like looking at their finances. They’re usually afraid, ashamed, overwhelmed, or don’t know how to make sense of the numbers. Or, they’ve signed up for an accounting tool that all their peers and CPAs are using, but find it too confusing and don’t even open it since they’re too busy…

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Products + Services

7 Tips for Getting Testimonials to Boost Business

How many prospects and clients have decided to reach out and work with you based on testimonials and online reviews? Testimonials are powerful ways to building credibility for your business and brand. The best time to ask for a testimonial and review is shortly after your client has experienced a success and big win after…

The Surprising Secret to Accelerate Your Small Business Success

Many small business owners tend to spend money on the wrong things to grow and maintain their businesses. Or they don’t invest in the right products and services at the right time to create the most long-term value for their business. Spending money on a website is often one of the first, and sometimes largest,…

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Tools + Resources

5 Simple Questions Most Small Business Owners Can’t Answer

Should You Pay to Stay at Conference Hotel?

Budgeting and attending at least one small business conference a year is a good goal for every entrepreneur. One of the biggest costs when calculating how much will it cost to attend small business conference is lodging, especially if the conference is over multiple days. While the event organizers will typically have negotiated a group…

How Much Does It Cost to Attend Small Business Conferences?

I’m a huge believer that entrepreneurs should attend at least one small business conference a year. You can try to search the Internet for answers, read books, and take online courses, but the benefits of attending a live event and business conference can be a big game changer. If you’re worried about “How much will…

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Inspiration + Success

7 Tips Before Investing in Vendor Booths

Conferences and trade shows can be a great way to showcase your company’s products and services. I’m a huge advocate for attending small business conferences to build your network of colleagues and potential prospects. The costs to attend a conference should be viewed as an investment in your business, especially if your ideal target audience will…

15 Lessons Learned from CampFI

I’m a huge fan of attending small business conferences. The ability to disconnect from your day-to-day routine to learn and build relationships with colleagues and influencers is always worth the investment, and I recommend adding conferences as a line item in your continuing education budget. While my must-attend each year is a financial media conference…

9 Tips to Getting Invited to VIP Events

Have you ever been to a conference and wondered how some people get invited to special VIP events and dinners by brands and key influencers? I know how it can feel to be an outsider, especially as a new attendee to a conference. As a newbie, it can seem like everyone already knows each other,…

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Personal Finance

Top 10 Gratitude and Money Lessons in the Eyes of Children

After reading Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project and Shawn Achor’s The Happiness Advantage, I started a gratitude journal because I realized that I was prone to what Shawn Achor describes as the Tetris Effect. He describes the Negative Tetris effect as when “our brains get stuck in a pattern that focuses on stress, negativity, and…

How to Physically Prepare for an Emergency and Natural Disaster

If you had to immediately evacuate your home, how many of you are prepared to grab all the essential items that you need to survive for three to five days? Would you be able to gather everything and leave your house within minutes not hours? And what if I told you that there was no…

How to Financially Prepare for an Emergency

What if you had to evacuate your home immediately and had MINUTES not HOURS to prepare? Would you be able to act quickly and think rationally, taking all the necessary and important items to survive for three to five days? There has been a lot going on in the world in the last few months,…

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