[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to the Human Factor. I'm Kimberly diamond and today we're talking about real challenges and real wins behind building strong teams. You're watching now Media Television.
[00:00:12] Speaker B: Hello everyone, it's Kimberly Diamond. How are you today? Super excited. Today we are joined by a powerhouse of experience and results.
Our guest today is Krishna Mohan. He's a serial entrepreneur, a speaker and the number one best selling author who has been featured on Fox TV and across numerous media outlets. He has 27 years of leadership experience across industries like manufacturing, IT, energy and telecom. Krishna has worked with both Fortune 500 companies and startups to drive sales, business development and international growth.
A proven strategist, he's generated millions of revenue by helping leaders strengthen decision making, client relationships and market expansion strategies. I'm really glad to have you here today, Krishna. Super excited about our conversation.
I'd like to start out with, you know, many leaders struggle with overthinking and when do they stop thinking and start taking action?
You know, delayed decisions, you know, what does, what can that cost them as far as business goes?
[00:01:15] Speaker C: It's a great question.
So I call it as analysis paralysis. Right. So we get into overthinking and there are several probabilities in terms of outcomes. And not every decision gives you the luxury of time.
Sometimes you have to decide quickly.
Not every time. As a leader you have complete data, complete information or even access to people that can give you the information that you actually need to take a decision.
But it's imperative that you still take decision.
Okay, so that's a tough spot and I think it requires some kind of internal, you know, training. One needs to kind of incorporate and then try to, you know, see how it goes. You know, nothing is black and white.
You know, your decisions will cost money, time and, and resources in many cases. But, but I think there is this time factor and there is this urgency factor between the urgent is it urgent and is, is, is it time bound? Right.
Is, is it important?
Is it urgent and is it time bound?
And then you need to, you know, can it wait?
And sometimes can it wait, you know, but if it can't wait and it is urgent and it is important and I don't have time, then I have to decide.
I really have to decide and then go with it. I may be wrong.
So my approach, my personal approach would be I may be wrong, but I'm never in doubt.
[00:03:09] Speaker B: I'm sure a lot of leaders would hope to feel that same way. I think some still lean on doubt and then they hesitate even longer. So I think you're Right. Prioritizing what, what's, you know, what's the situation? How quickly do you need to make that decision versus can you wait?
You know, you know, weighing those. That situation out is probably key where some people might feel if I don't make this decision now, you know, like they may. They aren't seeing the big picture of where that decision is taking them.
[00:03:40] Speaker C: Right, Right.
So oftentimes, you know, if we delay the decision process, you have to take multiple decisions. Right. As a leader, you're not taking decision.
[00:03:53] Speaker B: Right.
[00:03:54] Speaker C: You know, almost in all cases. Every other scenario is, is a decision, you know, of not doing something or doing something or doing something about it or proactively doing something, you know, so you cannot avoid taking decisions. But that doesn't mean that you can delay taking decisions, keep on analyzing on one thing. You know, you have to develop an ability to analyze quickly and come to some quick conclusions or, or be decisive. Again, like I said, you know, you won't be right all the time, you know, but it is what it is. Okay, so if I'm wrong, then what happens? Then I will take another decision.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: This is true, right?
[00:04:41] Speaker C: Yeah. So then that becomes my starting point. And then I will take another decision. Which also means course correction or whatnot. Right. It's a continuous learning process and it's almost like a war.
You don't have time. You cannot sit and analyze and analyze and analyze.
But I think it's like I said, it's a skill that one need to inculcate and they just need to refine and refine and refine and get better and get better. And the confidence comes by making mistakes.
Confidence comes by taking wrong decisions or tough decisions in many cases, again, like I said, that's the only way you can get better.
[00:05:25] Speaker B: And I think they have times where decisions are.
Information is readily available and there are other times when it's not. So, you know, again, prioritizing where you can make those decisions. Because like you said, it's not just one decision. There's multiple decisions going on at any given time, especially in a leadership position.
Well, do you have an example of a time that someone, you know, made a very, you know, took their time, delayed a decision and maybe it, you know, cost the business or the team, you know, momentum.
[00:05:52] Speaker C: Yeah, all the time. You know, we are in M and A business and we look at, you know, deals from an acquisition angle. We're constantly deciding whether we want to pursue this deal or not.
So we work with many team members internally and, you know, financial due diligence you know, all kinds of due diligence that we perform on these opportunities that we look at.
Oftentimes I, I, I encounter situations where we will never complete our analysis. We will never come to a place where we can say yes, now we have everything in place, now I'm ready to. It never happens. There is that gut feeling, there is that intuition that is that something is telling that this is right.
You know, so, so I have seen with my team members internally, we lost some amazing deals just because we did not decide on time.
We did not decide on time. There is some other competitor, some other, some other, you know, buyer, potential buyer fast because we think it is not at the right valuation.
That doesn't mean they are right.
But, but, but there are, there are options for the other, you know, seller and, and they, they got the deal. So we lost a lot of opportunities that way just because we have been procrastinate. I mean, I would rather use word, the word procrastination at a point, you know, because if you keep analyzing and analyzing, you will never get to a point where you will be having complete information taken. Yes, you know, but then, you know, those, those decisions are some sometimes calculated risks. There is a mix yes to it and then attest to certain valuation and then maybe I'm wrong and that means that I'm wrong by half a million dollars.
But it is what it is. But if I'm so right in other areas that I took this decision, so that would be a hedge against this decision. Right?
There are multiple decisions involved in one process, then I may be able to adjust my terms on, on the same valuation.
So that's my hedge against this decision.
So, so, so that way, you know, I, I have continuous and ongoing examples of examples and examples of where we lost opportunities while we win.
We can always say why we are right. But, but I can, I can watch internally. We, we constantly take those decisions and, and some of our team members are kind of stuck with analysis and then they kind of, they try to stop me, you know, don't go or we are not ready yet. But then I just move forward. In some cases where I believe in my own people call it as gut feel it has no backup.
But you have to do what you have to do.
[00:08:51] Speaker B: Well, sometimes that's actually, you know, a very important component to making that decision is the gut. I mean, I work with lots of organizations that are always, you know, in mergers and acquisition activity. And you know, we would hear about it and then we would talk about it. You know, as far as People go, I'm in the people space. And you know, does it make sense? And so on and so forth. And you're right. It just seemed to take a very long time to make a decision about that. And I know there's a lot of analysis that goes behind that. But at some point, like you said, when have you analysis paralysis and then, you know, I don't know exactly what, what, you know, opportunities they may have lost, but I do know that they were definitely taking a significant amount of time to analyze every aspect and I'm just part of the people aspect of it. So.
[00:09:40] Speaker C: Yeah. One other thing that I observed just as a, as an observation in my own experience is that people and the world rewards people who are decisive.
You will be rewarded, you will be well received. People like that in the business world, you know, that shows confidence. You know, again, like I said, you know, you're not right all the time, but that's okay, right? You know, we, like I said, we can, we can handle that by other decisions.
I'm wrong on, you know, on the price. I can adjust my terms. If I'm wrong on my terms, I can adjust on something. Then they're willing to work with you if you're really coming forward with that decisive mentality. Do you, are you, are you, are you serious? Are you ready to take a decision if I'm going to work with you? That's the psychology that's going on in real world. And, and it's not what I am doing only matters other parties always it's like that non verbal negotiation that happens in real world where both parties are not speaking to each other, but both parties are, you know, subconsciously observing the other person and then they feel your energy.
And, and if you are a person, they, they like to work with you not because you're great, not because you're something, it's just because they, they, they want to work with you because things happen with you.
[00:11:06] Speaker B: You make decisions, you make decisions even.
[00:11:08] Speaker C: In case of internally hiring, you know. Yeah, I mean not always we are right in hiring folks and, and we are just, you know, and it's, that's just the way it works. You know, sometimes when you feel, you know, this is the kind of person need to come and work for us. Right? You go with that. You just go with that. It's not based on resume, it's not just based on references.
[00:11:30] Speaker B: It's just absolutely no, I have not.
[00:11:32] Speaker C: Seen your sales track record, but I can make you a VP because if I feel are capable enough that, that's that's just my personality that I'm bringing to the table. But is that the way the hiring is done? Probably not.
[00:11:45] Speaker B: Yeah, you're absolutely right and this is a great conversation. So I definitely like to continue this. So up next we're going to move on from the decision making. Even though that's the tough part, one of the toughest parts, leadership often comes with another hidden challenge. Loneliness. We'll explore why many leaders feel isolated at the top. You know, how they build the right support system to move forward with strength. So stay us and we will be right back with Krishna. Thank you.
[00:12:13] Speaker A: We'll be right back with more stories, insights and real world strategies for leading with purpose.
This is the Human Factor on NOW Media Television.
[00:12:22] Speaker B: And we're back.
[00:12:23] Speaker A: I'm Kimberly diamond and you're watching the Human Factor on NOW Media Television. Let's dive back into today's conversation.
[00:12:33] Speaker B: Hello. We're here with Krishna Bohan and in this segment we're looking at one of the most powerful but hidden realities of leadership.
It's loneliness. From the outside, leadership can look glamorous, but on the inside it often feels heavy and isolating.
So Krista, I wanted to talk with you about, you know, obviously people do think it's glamorous to be the leader but I've known many leaders and I know that that's exceptionally challenging and incorrect.
So share with us. You know, when you as a leader have felt the weight of how, of being isolated and having to make all the pertinent decisions and, and you know what that's like in that environment.
[00:13:15] Speaker C: Yeah, it is definitely lonely out there because the most important problems that you are facing or you're ever going to face are going to stay with you because you don't have anybody to empathize or sympathize or emote with you when you are at the top. Right. Because everybody are playing their own roles. You delegate what they are supposed to do and then they have their own challenges and their roles. And you, you know, you take the responsibility of the consequences of every decisions that your team takes and finally the buck stops at you.
And then you take financial decisions, you take leadership decisions, you take people decisions, market a lot, many things. Right. You're the one who is moving the needle. And again, not always you're right and it's a constant stress and constant, you know, you know, thinking and you're, you're trying to handle many, many parts. And then you have numbers to achieve. You, you have certain metrics to, you know, meet.
But then Again, like I said, you, you don't have anybody to share these things. So I think somewhere you need to figure it out to develop some kind of a peer network who are playing at level, and then, you know, probably have the trusted relationship where you could share, you know, and get some, you know, ideas in terms of how they are. And again, not, not always you're, you're right, you're trying to look for solutions, but at least you have someone to share your problems and, you know, understand your journey. And then also your mentors, you know, whoever are above you, that you look forward, you know, they may be able to throw some light or even help you to identify some of your blind spots.
Maybe. I'm so much into this business, so my mind is so stuck up with these things that I'm looking at as problems. But there may be a different perspective that someone who is neutral, not in my business, has been there, done that, can open up a new perspective for me and that can be a refreshing perspective.
Maybe you should consider this. Maybe you need to do this, or maybe this is the way it works.
So these are some of the ways that the loneliness can be, you know, not so lonely.
[00:15:46] Speaker B: Right. And that's great because I was, I was going to ask you that question. I was like, how can people, you know, look to others, peers, mentors, coaches, to make sure that, you know, like you said, that they're, when they're struggling with being in that position, you know, of authority and, you know, just how do they lean on different people and do they open up, you know, you know, because connections with teams and, and blurring the boundaries and losing authority, you know, how do you manage those lines? Because, you know, obviously some people, I think there are some leaders that feel like that shows a sign of weakness, you know, that they're losing their authority versus a sign of, you know, just looking for a different perspective.
[00:16:27] Speaker C: Yes.
Yeah. Also, again, this is my own style, is developing a culture of ownership is, is one way to handle this, right? Like, if I have, you know, you know, tough. I go to guys that I can rely upon and they can, they can, they can take some of my load and they take the ownership of running their own organization within the organization, then that makes my life a little more easy.
Makes sense.
So my CFO can be one, one among them. My chief HR officer can be one among them. My VP sales can be one among them.
But again, it requires coaching, it requires grooming, it requires making them accountable for certain things way beyond just the job role, you know, so if I can break down, like, my top three metrics that I'm looking at and then break that down to, like 15 metrics and then. And assign each metric to someone who can take the ownership of that metric.
Make sense?
[00:17:42] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely.
[00:17:43] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely.
But that requires a skill by itself.
[00:17:47] Speaker B: Right.
[00:17:48] Speaker C: That will also make you not so lonely because you have these, you know, this army working for you with you, and it's as if my problem is their problem.
[00:18:03] Speaker B: Yeah, you're creating collaboration.
[00:18:05] Speaker C: Exactly, exactly. And then also creating. Again when. When you create the sense of ownership, that also means that they feel they're important.
[00:18:14] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:18:14] Speaker C: So what they do is critical. It's not just their job. It's going to make it real to the organization.
So that's a sense of pride, you know. You know, I did this, and because of this, this happened. Right. So I came up with this product design, and then that became a, you know, $200 million, you know, portfolio for my company.
I was the one who did it. Right. So that's. That's a different way of. Way of looking at it. Right. And then, you know. Yeah. So if you. If you make your CFO responsible for certain, you know, certain metrics. Right. Like whether it is.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: Right.
[00:18:50] Speaker C: Profitability or if you look at, you know, whether it is receivables, whether it is treasury, or whether it is, you know, whatever, and then they keep. Their job is to keep the tab on that and it changes, happens from there. You know, you. You know, you know, you know, and. And then everything else, organization has to adjust itself to make sure those numbers come into place. Right.
So that's a different style, you know, but not everybody can let it go.
[00:19:19] Speaker B: I was just gonna say that. I go there. Then there's the challenge of really letting it go and actually sharing the credit with the actions that they take control.
[00:19:30] Speaker C: Credit, you know. Yeah, that's a perspective.
But, yeah, I always feel that that's a cost of the cost of the price that you pay. You know, I want to become gold medalist in Olympics.
I had to be prepared to be alone because there's only one gold medal.
You want friends you can get. Silver you want, you want. You can get something else if you want. Too many friends don't even go to Olympics. Right, right.
[00:20:03] Speaker B: That's excellent. That's excellent. Yeah.
Well, what kind of encouragement would you give leaders watching right now who feel like they're carrying the load? All of them, all themselves, you know, what would you share with them?
[00:20:16] Speaker C: I think you're not alone by carrying the load. You have lot more CEOs who are sitting at the top has been there, done that, done that successfully and learn the process and toughen up.
You know, you have to toughen up. You, you have to, you have to be resilient. You know, you have to develop that thick skin that they talk about, right? And, and you, right, you need to, like I said, you know, you need to coach yourself internally. You don't expect, you don't seek external, you know, coaching for you to toughen up. You know, nobody can teach you courage, you know, you, you develop your own courage, you know, when you have to be decisive. But, but I think it's a process. I think one need to be prepared for it.
That preparation will make them ready. So they're not. There is no, there's, there is no much surprise, right? And, and while you take so much responsibility, why you take so much accountability.
Now you don't have anybody to share your problems or you don't have anybody to kind of, you know, share your own problems and provide solutions for you.
But it is what it is.
That's just the nature of it. But like I said, seek mentors.
Seek your ideal role models. Right? Who has already done this many times, so seek them.
They're out there, but they're not easily available. But it's your job to go and seek them, seek and try to be part of some of the masterminds that are available out there. There are so many resources available, high quality resources. You just need to do your own research.
You need to do research and in their pretty niche and very narrow industry specific and, and whatnot.
And that would definitely give, give, give an edge not only to conquer your loneliness, but also to, to be a great performer, to be a great leader.
[00:22:16] Speaker B: Right. I mean, you're right, they do. There's plenty of options out there, groups, you know, connections that you can make. Especially, you know, I've seen plenty of them come up more and more now, you know, with the various ce their fractional and so forth. So I think that there are people that they could do their research to find people that are in a similar industry, similar situation, connect with them, you know, and, and learn as well. I think that's a great recommendation and would really help them with some of that isolation feeling.
[00:22:47] Speaker C: Yes, yes.
[00:22:49] Speaker B: Well, today has been incredibly valuable as, as you know, we go through this. I would continue to talk with you for much longer.
So I've worked with a lot of different, similar industries as we discussed, but this has been very valuable. So where can people follow your work, connect with you and your in your group and continue this conversation.
[00:23:08] Speaker C: Yeah, LinkedIn is the best way to connect with me.
Other than that I can be available for a free strategy session or consultation.
They can email me krishnaenius visionary inc.com again
[email protected] and they can refer to the show. I'll be happy to do a confidential consultation and help them and guide them in any which way and form.
[00:23:38] Speaker B: That's wonderful. That's great. Well, again, thank you so much for joining us today and being so open and practical. You know, what stands out to me is how your insight for leaders, it isn't about perfection, it's about courage, clarity, connection, building that confidence.
So maybe in the audience you've been hesitating on making a decision and carrying the weight alone. Take this as a reminder that movement is better than waiting and support is closer than you think. Whether it's building a peer network, finding a mentor, or simply starting small with a brave choice, you don't have to do this journey alone. This is Kimberly diamond and this is the Human Factor. Thank you for joining us. Remember, the Human factor, the key to leading with authenticity and strength.
[00:24:22] Speaker A: We'll be right back with more stories, insights and real world strategies for leading with purpose.
This is the Human Factor on NOW Media Television.
[00:24:31] Speaker B: And we're back.
[00:24:32] Speaker A: I'm Kimberly Dimon and you're watching the Human Factor on NOW Media Television. Let's dive back into today's conversation.
[00:24:42] Speaker B: Welcome back. So now we've moved on to an inspiring entrepreneur who knows firsthand what it means to turn financial chaos into clarity. Olga Hurtado is the founder of Neat Books, a firm she built from 12,000, $12,000 solo venture into over a million dollar plus success.
With her MBA, business analytics, profit first expertise and proven strategies, she's helped countless entrepreneurs organize their finances and gain control of their businesses. So thanks so much for joining us today, Olga, welcome to the show. So I would like to start out with the fact that leaders struggle with messy, disorganized books and I'm probably one of them, and then eats up their time and causes unnecessary stress.
So how you know, you know, when finances are unclear, decisions become harder. You know, you get sidetracked uncertainty, you know, what does poor bookkeeping cost?
You know, why does it cost so much stress and wasted time for leaders?
[00:25:47] Speaker D: Well, Kimberly, thank you for having me. And to be honest, leaders often see the bookkeeping as the second priority. Like they focus on sales and operations, on growth, but they avoid looking at their financial results which, you know, basically they Try to hide from the monster. And sometimes they look at their financials as, oh, I'm so scared about this monster. You know, so they try to save money by doing it themselves or they just use AI because now, you know, AI is very popular and they are just relying on AI to handle everything.
But soon they realize that they don't have the time, they don't have the expertise. And even worse, they understand that the mistakes they made, the mistakes have filed out. So at that point, all those savings that they were doing with their business, it turns into stress, wasted hours, expensive fixes.
So to me, this is more like, I'm going to save money on this, but at the end of the day, it's going to be more costly and more expensive for every single business owner.
[00:27:03] Speaker B: That brings me to that. You mentioned the AI. So people are actually using that to streamline their books and things like that. I mean, I, I'm, I use it to a certain degree, but I don't, I don't, I certainly don't use it for that.
[00:27:18] Speaker D: Well, yeah, but listen, AI, it's a lot of things, you know, people think AI is only chatgpt, but right now, no, it's not. And right. QuickBooks is actually using a lot of AI even though it's not perfect, they're starting to implement again.
So business owners are now thinking that they are going to fix that part of their processes in their bookkeeping, which is not ready yet. I would say that it's going to happen, but it's not happening right now. Because bookkeeping, it's like a world.
You have a type of business, I have a different type of business. And the bookkeeping, it might sound similar, but it's different in the judgment of the accountant that is preparing both sets of books. So AI in that part is not ready yet, but the business owners think it is.
[00:28:17] Speaker B: Yeah, well, that's what I was wondering. I'm like, I, I don't think I would attempt that right now, but. And I'm very small, so I, you know, but the bookkeeping, for me at least, it is, it is easy and streamlined, but it's still, I don't necessarily keep up with it as often as I should.
It can take some time away from me. Well, can you share an example of how cleaning financial records has changed? Cleaning up financial records has changed the way the leader was able to manage their business.
[00:28:45] Speaker D: Well, let me tell you a story. We had a client and she accidentally found us. She thought Neat Books was a bookstore. She came to our office and she Was like, I need to sell some books, you know, and then it was so hilarious. And then she found out that we were a bookkeeping and accounting firm. And then out of curiosity, she started, like, asking questions about, oh, and how can I do this?
Can I do this to grow my business?
And we were like, yes, you can. We can help you with that. And we started, like, reviewing all her books and doing all the fixings that she needed to do. And for the first time, she understood her numbers. Not for the tax filing, because remember, business owners, most business owners prepare their books for taxes.
[00:29:42] Speaker B: Okay, yes.
[00:29:43] Speaker D: They don't prepare their books for decision making.
So she was actually using that, that, those financials to proactively guide her business.
And she was not being reactive, which is. Most of the business owners do that throughout the year. Like, they react to the tax, you know, to the tax liability. Oh, why I, why am I owing so much in taxes? So together we align her finances with her goal because she had, you know, this big goal for her business, but she wasn't being, she wasn't going to be able to implement it if she just kept saying, reacting to her financials at the end of the year.
So right now, she's one of her, you know, one of our strongest advocates. Like, she is a proof, a living proof that making the right decisions throughout the year helps you increase your cash flow, making better decisions for growth, acquiring assets so you can, you know, save money on taxes. And that story proves that when leaders clean up their books and have their financial records on a timely manner, let's say monthly, they shift their perspective. They shift from reactive to strategic right away. And that's something that happens not only to her. Like, you know, I've seen it a lot in our, in our clients, you know, like, they understand their finances and that's when they start making, like, strategic decisions.
[00:31:13] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree.
Yes, for me, it's a little bit simpler, so I'm very fortunate. But I know it can be very complex. My family has owned businesses, restaurants, to be specific, in the past, so been engaged in a lot of that. So, yes, there is some complexity. Well, how can a leader delegate financial tasks without losing the visibility of the control?
[00:31:37] Speaker D: Well, to me, it's a structure. Okay. You use tools that create workflows, dashboards, and segregation of duty. I am a fan of internal controls. Okay.
Whatever your business stage is, if you are a small business just starting your business, you need to start working on your segregation of duty because you're thinking about growth, you know, and let's say for example, on the restaurant business, restaurant owners, they often make the mistake, mistake of letting one person both do the closing of the day, the reconciliation of the day, then that that same person goes to the bank the next day and the passage and deposit the cash.
Oh my God.
Everything in just one person. How can you control that? Like you need to, to have at least another person who has that disability, that control because that's very risky.
So you need to design processes that you have at least two people involved in the check and balances.
And then you can create some sort of like dashboards, very simple, nothing complex. Because delegation works when you have that visibility as well, right?
[00:32:50] Speaker B: Yes. And unfortunately my parents owned their own business, so they were the ones responsible for all of those things.
As much as they didn't want to be, they had to be based on that.
So what advice would you give leaders who've feel embarrassed about their messy books and don't know where to start?
[00:33:08] Speaker D: Listen, don't feel embarrassed, okay? You're not going to be the first and you're not going to be the last, that's for sure. But I think the most important thing is to act like you need to hire a professional bookkeeper or a part time accountant because that's an investment for your business. Some people look at that as an expense, you know, like oh, if the accountants are very expensive, the bookkeepers are very expensive.
But from my experience fixing messy books later, it's always more costly than doing them right since day one.
[00:33:42] Speaker B: That would make absolute sense. Are there any specific tools you would recommend that they look to utilize? I mean obviously your services would be great, but there's other systems that, that they might, you know, think about implementing or having, you know, especially for anybody who's starting a business business obviously.
[00:34:00] Speaker D: Well, if you're just starting your business, I think keep it simple, you know, like if you have just few transactions, just start an Excel spreadsheet and have a clear separation of your personal and your business finances.
That can be enough for someone that is starting and just you know, like drop into the Excel spreadsheet, okay, this is the money I made this month and these are the expenses that will give you like a, like a visibility of what you're doing right now in your business. As you grow, then you can acquire proper accounting system like QuickBooks for example. That becomes essential for a business owner. You need to have this type of ledgers in your day to day operations so you can track and have visibility of your business. But the more you grow, there are a lot of Tools that you can use for automations like Build a Com, for example.
And because it helps you automate your payables and receivables, we also use Relay bank which helps you automate your cash flow and gives you the option to create these cash back baskets. So it's a lot of gaining confidence by the tools that you are acquiring. In the same stage that your business is growing. Do not start big because you're going to get that with a lot of expenses and do some subscriptions for that.
But if you start small and you keep growing and keeping track of those finance finances, you're gonna do great.
[00:35:28] Speaker B: One of the things that, that I did for myself was I just utilized credit, like a credit, I set up a credit card right, for my expenses. So that, and nothing personal is on there. That's all strictly business. Because then, you know, these days you can get a statement and it can break it down for you on what you, what those items were.
And that's helped me tremendously in being able to observe that each month, look at that and see where the expenditures are and keep it completely separate from my personal life. And it really helps.
[00:35:58] Speaker D: The key is keep it simple. You keep it simple like that you have a credit card, you do your, your expenses with that credit card. You keep it simple, it works for you.
[00:36:08] Speaker B: Right?
[00:36:08] Speaker D: Like sometimes business owners, they get drunk into the accountants process.
Okay, yes, you are the business owner, you are the one who makes decisions. So decide what type of complexity or simplicity you want for your processes and that's it. That works for you. But probably it doesn't work for someone who has, you know, a million of transactions every month.
[00:36:31] Speaker B: This is true obviously. And I don't have a bunch of employees, so there's a completely different component there. It's just, you know, from my perspective that has helped me in keeping those expenses separate and not intermingling them and trying to separate them in the future. So well, this has been good information. So we're going to be back. You know, up next, if messy books weren't stressful enough, unpredictable cash flow and it can often push a leader over the edge. We all know that. We'll talk about why keeping money flowing smoothly is one of the biggest challenges in business and how to take that control back. So stay with us. We'll be right back with Olga. Thanks.
[00:37:06] Speaker A: We'll be right back with more stories, insights and real world strategies for leading with purpose.
This is the human factor on NOW Media Television.
[00:37:16] Speaker B: And we're back.
[00:37:16] Speaker A: I'm Kimberly diamond and you're watching the Human Factor on NOW Media Television. Let's dive back into today's conversation.
[00:37:26] Speaker B: Welcome back. Welcome back. We're here with Olga Hurtado, the founder of Neat Books. And in this segment, we're going to dive into one of the biggest stress points for leaders, cash flow.
We all know how it feels when the numbers don't quite line up and the money doesn't come in as fast as it goes out.
You know, cash flow problems are amongst the hardest challenges in running a business. I know for myself that that's sometimes a challenge. I got to keep my eye on it. Leaders constantly juggling bills, payroll, investments while worrying whether the money will last.
So I want to dive into this with Olga and say, you know, what is one of the hardest parts of running a business?
[00:38:03] Speaker D: I think cash flow.
Definitely, you know, because many leaders confuse profit with cash flow and that's a huge mistake because sometimes you, you know, sometimes business have, are profit rich but are cash poor.
And that's deadly for them. You know, you can show profit in a paper but you have no money in your bank account.
How can you pay, you know, how can you pay payroll? How can you pay your expenses, your bills, everything?
So the hardest part of running business is keeping track of your cash flow. Not, don't look at, don't look at the profit and loss only that's a, that's a piece of paper that is showing, oh, you made this amount of net income, it's your cash, how many, how much money it flows to your bank account, how much money is going out of your bank account.
[00:38:55] Speaker B: Right, right. Well, and I know that this can also affect, you know, your business, your, your culture of your business if you're stressed about cash flow.
[00:39:04] Speaker D: Right.
[00:39:05] Speaker B: So, you know, how does that, you know, how do you see that affecting businesses when they are not managing that properly?
[00:39:11] Speaker D: Well, you know what business owners, what happened with business owners, not it doesn't only like steal their peace of mind, but they feel insecure, they feel frustrated, they feel short tempered. So that energy, it goes into the workplace, it lowers the morality of the employees and it damages the culture of the company. But it doesn't stop there, Kimberly, because the stress follows that business owner to their homes and it affects their family and even marriages, you know, because I've seen it like I've seen a lot of our, you know, customers getting divorces because of that, because of money. And while money doesn't buy you happiness, it buys you tranquility.
And that when that tranquility disappears, everything around the business owner they suffer a lot.
[00:40:08] Speaker B: They do. Is there any simple strategies that they can use to stabilize their cash flow?
[00:40:13] Speaker D: Well, of course, I think keep it simple. I think that's one of my mottos. Always keep it simple.
And I think, Kimberly, that money needs to have a purpose. During the pandemic, I watched a lot of businesses crumble because all of these closing businesses and the loans that the government was giving out at that time.
So during that time, I was scared and I created like my own system and I didn't have enough money saved for my business because if you don't have money saved, then you're not going to be able to grow.
So I basically recommend set a goal. Okay? Set a goal for your business. Let's say $10,000. I'm going to save $10,000 this year.
You're going to need to watch your expenses and cut unnecessary spending. Like you need to thin your expenses the more you can so you can achieve that goal. It doesn't have to be big, okay. It has to be credible for you, like doable.
Use a structure like the spreadsheet, for example. You monitor your cash flow, your inflows and outflows every day. It gives you the visibility to track every single dollar that is coming out of and coming into your bank account.
That's very simple. And then you can create cash baskets. I have them. That's why I use, you know, the relay bank, because they help me create these bank accounts that I can give purpose to it. For instance, taxes. I have an account only for taxes. I have an account only for my profits. I have another account for my working capital. I have an account for bonuses. I know it sounds like very crazy, but at the end of the day, I have my cash visibility in just one dashboard. I go into my bank and I see exactly how much money I have saved. Even $10. I don't care. Whatever is left, I transfer it, you know, and you need to monitor your cash on a daily basis. And if you can adapt this process and keep it simple and stay consistent and fine tune it as you go, I think you can have zero cash flow problems in the future.
[00:42:36] Speaker B: I appreciate you bringing up some of those buckets. Because I do this, I've done the same thing. I have separate accounts for taxes, separate accounts for profit, so that, you know, keep keeping all that separate. You know, it's been, you know, because initially I was like, how do, how do I go about this? I don't, you know, I want to make sure I'm not losing track.
[00:42:55] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:42:56] Speaker B: So you Know, every time I needed to, you know, you know, obviously I pay taxes quarterly. And so, you know, there's that bucket. So everything's. It's put in there, it's ready to go. I'm not caught off guard.
[00:43:05] Speaker D: You know, it gives you peace of mind, right?
[00:43:09] Speaker B: It's like, okay, I know I put it aside. So now this is my bottom line now, right? Now that I've removed all these, you know, either upcoming expenses, you know, you know, what you're going to have in the future, you know, there are certain standard expenses that aren't going away.
So, you know, putting that in place, well, then I think that kind of leads us into unexpected, you know, expenses. How do leaders plan for that? I think that we're kind of leading into that. Maybe that. That extra slush fund for the unexpected.
[00:43:36] Speaker D: Definitely, that's the answer. You need to save consistently. And even you can assign like, a percentage of your net income. Let's say, for example, I'm going to save 5% of my net income regardless. Like, you forget about that 5%. You put it into your savings accounts and you put it in your cash baskets. You know, like, you can even that 5%, you gotta spread it into your cash baskets. And that will allow you to invest without fear. That will allow you to grow. Because if you don't have money, enough money to grow, then you will not have money to invest. But if you don't invest, then you will not be able to grow. So it's like the speech that is, you know, always, you know, chasing it, fail. You need to be consistent if you want to grow.
[00:44:24] Speaker B: And yeah, I think that we talked about this. You know, the first step is when cash flow feels out of control.
This is ways to get it into control, you know, is that we, we set these buckets up and, and we, you know, put things aside. And again, it's been a learning experience for me, and I'm. I'm always forever looking at it. I am that person that hovers over it. But, but thank heavens. I mean, I. Again, a lot of the businesses that we're addressing today in our audience have much more complexity around their situation. And this is, you know, very good advice. Is there anything else you would like to share, you know, about, you know, how they can stay ahead of some of these, you know, unexpected challenges with respect to cash flow and messy books and all those fun things?
[00:45:07] Speaker D: Well, listen, what I think people need to understand is that when the cash flow is completely out of control, they need to make a pause. Okay, grab a pencil Print out your bank statement and do the math, plain and simple. Okay? Because two plus two is not six.
You just look at every expense, every single tiny little one, even the coffees that you buy on a daily basis for $8 that is impacting your cash flow. Because if you multiply those $8 times five days a week, then times 52 weeks during the year is going to drain out your cash.
So just compare your inflows, your outflows, including the loans you pay and the personal money that you take out of your business, and do the math and ask immediately if you see yourself as running out of cash. Just act, don't wait until the account runs dry to make any changes because that will be maybe too late.
[00:46:14] Speaker B: I think you're right. I'm always looking ahead. How much do I have for the next, you know, six months are my business ebbs and flows, you know, so it's, it's not so being that, that sometimes there's dry spells. So you have to prepare for the dry spells. And so that is definitely something that I'm always monitoring on a regular basis. So.
[00:46:31] Speaker D: Yeah, me too. I'm obsessed.
[00:46:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I am. Till.
No. Okay, get busy today. Something has to change. Well, this has been incredibly, you know, valuable information as always. So, you know, where can people follow and connect with you to get, you know, additional advice and learn more about what you provide for them?
[00:46:53] Speaker D: Of course, I have. Well, we have our business website, which is needbooks llc.com and also they can find me on LinkedIn. Olga Hurtado, you just, you know, look for me there and invite me so we can connect. We also have social media, Instagram, Facebook, that we all are always sharing information, you know, with our followers. And if you want to send us an email, we have an email which is customersuccessitbooksllc.com just drop us a question and we will be very happy to answer anything that you might have.
[00:47:31] Speaker B: Well, thank you again so much. You know, that's great information and I hope people take, you know, take initiative and reach out if they're struggling with messy books and cash flow.
[00:47:38] Speaker D: Please, definitely, we are here to help you.
[00:47:43] Speaker B: Well, thank you so much for sharing your expertise and your story today. Your perspective helps understand, you know, helps us understand that finance isn't just numbers. It's clarity and it's confidence and it's freedom for leaders to actually run their business instead of having the business run them. For our viewers, think about where you might be losing energy or peace of mind because of messy books or cash flow struggles. Take one small step today.
And clarity can be the turning point that helps you move from chaos to control.
I'm Kimberly Diamond. This is the Human Factor. Thank you for joining us today. Until next time, remember, the Human Factor is what makes the difference. Also, don't forget you can find us on Roku tv.
