“Create what you consume.” - Kelsey Reidl In a competitive environment like the business industry, having the right strategies is the tool to success. While it is a fact that marketing should reflect a brand's personality and be fun, brands should focus on "self-expressed" marketing strategies as well. A good way to start creating a social media strategy for your brand is to create content that you would enjoy consuming. By creating content that aligns with your own preferences, you're more like...
Apr 10, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 143
"Every risk taken has something to teach us, and with each failure comes an opportunity to grow, learn, and move forward." —Melissa Houston It’s scary to take risks, but it’s more daunting not to take one. Taking risks also means taking a leap into our growth. It allows us to move beyond our comfort zones, confront our fears, and ultimately achieve our goals. In the realm of business and entrepreneurship, people are known to be risk-takers. Because the truth is, there’s more to risk and more to ...
Apr 03, 2023•16 min•Season 1Ep. 142
“Businesses need proper information to make informed business decisions. And key to that is the accounting information that the accounting professional should be offering to their clients.” —Roger Knecht In the ever-evolving business world, we are met with strict competition, different challenges and obstacles, and exciting opportunities to help us maximize our profits and scale our businesses. However, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. It requires different approaches as what worked for yo...
Mar 27, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 141
“Money dates are so helpful, and when you get into a regular routine of having maybe weekly or monthly money dates with your business, it's going to help your business in so many ways, and mostly by increasing profit.” —Melissa Houston Like it or not, any business's lifeblood is money; without it, it will be hard for the enterprise to thrive. There are many reasons why talking about money and finances is essential, yet many people, let alone business owners, still find it boring and uninterestin...
Mar 20, 2023•15 min•Season 1Ep. 140
“The biggest thing that I noticed in me after starting to work with you is just a boost in confidence. I certainly went into it having major imposter syndrome.” — Sarah Beth Davis As entrepreneurs, we know how valuable our financial resources are and want to make sure we put every cent of it to good use. Unfortunately, the most common mistake young businesses make is not hiring a professional to do their financial and business accounting. And this error could cost your young business thousands o...
Mar 13, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 139
“It's not enough to have a good business idea. You need to have the financial structure in place.” —Melissa Houston When you hear the word “rich”, what emotion or feeling do you attach to it? Is it a positive notion? Are you proud, excited, and inspired to act? Or are you left feeling bothered, guilty, or even repulsed by it? At the heart of being rich as a business owner is correcting that negative money mindset that being rich is bad. Getting rich is, first and foremost, more about financial c...
Mar 06, 2023•17 min•Ep. 138
“We are lending across one end of Canada to the next, on a microloan basis.” — Wendy Curtis Are you taking advantage of all of the resources available to you as a business owner? Based in Cobourg, Ontario, the Northumberland Community Futures Development Corporation, known as the NCFDC, provides financing and strategy for entrepreneurs. In this episode, I sit down with two of the NCFDC’s incredible leaders, Devon Girard and Wendy Curtis. Devon is the Program Lead for Women Entrepreneurship Strat...
Feb 27, 2023•22 min•Ep. 137
“There was a noticeable difference in the barriers that women were facing, being women entrepreneurs. They were different from what men were facing.” —Chris McMartin Get ready for an inspiring episode! My guest Chris McMartin is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to empowering women and nonbinary entrepreneurs and business owners. Chris leads the Scotiabank Women Initiative Small Business Strategy across Canada. This is a powerful program that helps women and nonbinary people overcome the...
Feb 20, 2023•23 min•Ep. 136
“It’s often difficult to stay on track and focus, especially when life throws you unexpected situations and surprises, but having that personal CFO can help alleviate some of that stress — this can be a gamechanger for your business.” — Melissa Houston How would it feel to have a personal CFO who could coach you through building a successful and profitable business? Who could help you pinpoint your biggest revenue opportunities and effectively plug the money leaks in your business? Who could pro...
Feb 13, 2023•20 min•Ep. 135
“The rhetoric out there at the moment is people aren’t buying—‘if you launch something at the moment, it’s really difficult.’ It isn’t. It’s just that our audiences have grown smarter.” —Lisa Johnson If you’re tired of trading time for money, and want to learn how to work smarter instead of harder in order to build your wealth, this is an episode for you. My guest Lisa Johnson is a multi-seven- figure global business strategist who makes 90% of her money through passive or semi-passive income st...
Feb 06, 2023•25 min•Ep. 134
“The biggest thing that will separate you from the crowd in your journey to wealth-building is believing that you are WORTH IT.” — Melissa Houston Interviewing Suze Orman for She Means Profit is one of the top highlights of my career (right up there with publishing my first book, Cash Confident: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Creating a Profitable Business)! As I was starting my own career, Suze was an absolute inspiration as both a female finance expert and as a role model devoted to empowering oth...
Jan 30, 2023•18 min•Ep. 133
“Good copy always connects before it converts.” — Megan Smyth Many entrepreneurs would say that making sales is the trickiest part of their business — but having the right copy on your website can help you sell your offers while you sleep! After realizing three years into her pre-med degree that she was chasing someone else's idea of success, my guest Megan Smyth decided to start her own business, one that allowed her to make her own roles, empower other women, and (most importantly) required ze...
Jan 23, 2023•22 min•Ep. 132
“Variance reports are essential for any business that wants to stay on top of their finances.” — Melissa Houston Having a business financial plan is essential — but you also have to monitor your results against that plan, each and every month, in order to understand how to create profit in your business. This is the reality: if you’re NOT monitoring those results, then you are out of the loop when it comes to the financial health of your business… and you won’t be able to make the informed cours...
Jan 16, 2023•19 min•Ep. 131
“When you say No out of love for yourself, that is when you start to be a truly profitable, strong, smart, and secure woman.” — Suze Orman My guest for this episode of She Means Profit is none other than Suze Orman! Suze is one of North America’s foremost experts on personal finance, a New York Times bestselling author, a magazine and online columnist, former contributing editor to “O” The Oprah Magazine, the host of the Suze Orman’s Women & Money podcast, and a co-founder of the employer-sp...
Jan 09, 2023•41 min•Ep. 130
“I believed that I was going to succeed right out of the gate because I had such a strong business acumen… however, I did not know a lot about being an entrepreneur .” — Melissa Houston When I first started my entrepreneurial journey, I had a basic idea of what I wanted to do, but my vision grew clearer and more defined through working with clients. If you’ve been a long-time listener of this podcast, then you’ll know that the show has also gone through a few different iterations, from Think Lik...
Jan 02, 2023•16 min•Ep. 129
“You don’t want any negative money mindset issues holding you back from being the best and most profitable business owner that you can be.” — Melissa Houston The end of the year means holiday get-togethers, warm mugs of cider or hot chocolate, some well-earned downtime… and planning. Setting goals and clearly planning out your next power moves is absolutely essential to growing your business, no matter which stage you are in. If you’re not setting out new goals, your business will become stagnan...
Dec 26, 2022•21 min•Ep. 128
“Planning can help you avoid being blindsided by a large tax bill and can also help you take advantage of opportunities to lower the taxes that are owed.” — Melissa Houston Tax season. Did those words just send a chill down your spine? Did you get a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach? Tax season is rarely pleasant for anyone, but business owners in particular often live in fear of being surprised by a large and unexpected tax bill… especially when they don’t have the savings to cover it ...
Dec 19, 2022•20 min•Ep. 127
“Your business finances are the backbone of your business.” — Melissa Houston Quick question: when was the last time that you evaluated your business’s financial practices? If the answer is “I can’t remember” or “never,” then this episode is for you. Every business should periodically review its financial practices in order to ensure that it’s operating as efficiently as possible. If your business isn’t humming along like a (profitable) well-oiled machine, it may just need a money makeover! A mo...
Dec 12, 2022•19 min•Ep. 126
“Making a lot of money doesn’t make you a bad person… it simply means that you have goals and ambition.” — Melissa Houston Society tends to side-eye the idea of women building wealth. Although women are starting businesses in record numbers — and generating billions of dollars in revenue — men continue to dominate when it comes to achieving millionaire status, making up two-thirds of the seven-figure-plus club. Ambitious women entrepreneurs often worry that they’ll be seen as greedy or money-gru...
Dec 05, 2022•17 min•Ep. 125
“By closely examining your spending habits, you can ensure that you’re living within your means — and staying on track with your financial goals!” — Melissa Houston What’s the most subtle, quiet, and insidious threat to your personal wealth? Lifestyle creep. Lifestyle creep (also known as creeping consumption) refers to a gradual increase in your standard of living. It doesn’t have to be as drastic as moving to a larger house or condo! Lifestyle creep can include going on shopping sprees, eating...
Nov 28, 2022•17 min•Ep. 124
“When you rely on one stream of income, you are revolving your entire business around that ONE way of earning revenue.” — Melissa Houston If you’ve been scratching your head trying to figure out how to diversify the income streams in your business — or wondering if it’s worth the effort — then you’ll definitely want to listen to this episode! Here’s the reality: even if your business is currently profitable, relying on a single source of income puts you in a very risky position. Income diversifi...
Nov 21, 2022•18 min•Ep. 123
“YOU get to define what being financially successful means to you.” —Melissa Houston Spoiler: this episode reveals 6 proven ways that your small business will make you wealthy (don’t worry, no get-rich-quick schemes are included)! If you’ve been building your business without a full understanding of how your businesses finances impact the success (or failure) of your business, then you’ve been lucky so far… and that luck will run out eventually. In order to consistently make the most profitable ...
Nov 14, 2022•18 min•Ep. 122
“The best day in my 9-5 job is still not even close to the worst day as an entrepreneur.” — Amy Porterfield Amy Porterfield helps women business owners around the world find professional autonomy, independence, achievement, and success that is FAR beyond what a corporate glass ceiling would traditionally allow — so you already know that I am a big fan of her mission! Through her bestselling courses and top-ranked podcast, Online Marketing Made Easy, she’s helped hundreds of thousands of entrepre...
Nov 07, 2022•24 min•Ep. 121
“You need to remain diligent to remain profitable in your business.” — Melissa Houston Is your pricing strategy leaving money on the table? Pricing is a practical piece of your business — but it’s also highly psychological. The purpose of choosing a good pricing strategy is to maximize your profit margins, so that your business can maintain a healthy profit as you grow and as your expenses increase. Your relationship with money WILL shape your relationship with your business, so developing a hea...
Oct 31, 2022•18 min•Ep. 120
“Investment fees, for most Canadians, really cause great damage to their ultimate retirement savings.” — Larry Bates Larry Bates is a name that my clients and long-time listeners know well — I recommend his book to them regularly! Larry is an independent investor advocate, former investment banker, and author of Beat the Bank: The Canadian Guide to Simply Successful Investing. So, it’s safe to say that Larry knows a thing or two about how the investment industry works — and how to minimize your ...
Oct 24, 2022•29 min•Ep. 119
“Money does not make you happy, but the reality is when you do have money, it does provide a lot of opportunity. Having money does buy financial security and financial peace.” — Melissa Houston From “old money” to self-made millionaires, wealthy people share a few things in common when it comes to the way that they use their wealth, their money mindset, and their beliefs around finances. From their lifestyle choices to their investment strategies, understanding how the wealthy approach spending ...
Oct 17, 2022•17 min•Ep. 118
“When you’re investing in yourself, be sure that you’re making the right investment that will get you the specific return that you’re looking for.” — Melissa Houston You know that I love to talk about profit, but you can’t fully understand your profit potential without understanding your expenses. The fact is that sometimes you need to spend money to make money. The money that you spend to build your business is an investment in your future earnings, whether you’re spending it on advertising you...
Oct 10, 2022•24 min•Ep. 117
“It’s one thing to want to grow your business. It’s a smarter choice to have a plan for that growth, because not all growth is considered good.” — Melissa Houston It’s October, and you know what that means: it’s time to close your books for Q3 and do your financial analysis. Taking a look at your business finances each quarter gives you the opportunity to reflect on what you’ve done, how you’ve performed, whether you’ve met your objectives, and what you can do to improve next quarter. As this qu...
Oct 03, 2022•20 min•Ep. 116
“If you think you should be measuring the success of your business through revenue numbers, think again!” — Melissa Houston Would you rather have higher revenue or higher profit? What if I told you that many businesses with high five-figure revenues are more profitable than many businesses with six-, or even seven-figure revenues? The key ingredient to a successful business is not revenue — it’s profit. Revenue and profit are both important, of course, but profit is the key to growth. Profit is ...
Sep 26, 2022•17 min•Ep. 115
“Even if you’re just starting out, you really are building a financial asset in building a business.” — Stephanie Burns You know that you have the potential to be your niche’s next great thought leader. So, how do you claim your share of the spotlight? And what happens when your name becomes known for reasons you never expected? My guest, Stephanie Burns travelled an unusual road to entrepreneurship — she used the money she won as a contestant on the Wheel of Fortune to launch her first business...
Sep 19, 2022•22 min•Ep. 114
