Molly Claire: Hey, coach, welcome to the podcast. How is your business going? How is your life going? How are you doing? I hope that you are feeling a sense of openness and moving forward with all of it. I also hope you are enjoying this series and the podcast about the foundations of your business. I think the guests have been incredible. I love every single one of them. I hope you have too, and I hope that you have also been benefiting from the conversations that I've been having with you on these episodes about building a strong foundation. It's never too early or too late to build that strong foundation in your business. So today I'm bringing you Ashley Ford, who is the founder of Pretty Penny Accounting. This conversation is awesome, and I really think that the financial piece of your business and the bookkeeping, the accounting can be both exciting and scary. We have a lot of thoughts about money and it brings the whole range of emotions for everyone. And so what I want to offer up to you as you tune in and listen today is to really make some space and some peace for wherever you are with your money and your accounting and see what you can gain from this. I hope you love this interview. As much as I loved having this conversation with Ashley, let's go ahead and dive in. All right, coaches. I am so excited to bring Ashley forward to you. I was just yesterday watching this amazing training that she sent over that is living in the foundations program, and it was so good, and I just thought, I'm so excited to have you here talking to these coaches because finances is a place we can really get stuck. So welcome, Ashley. Thank you for being here. Ashley Ford: Thank you. I'm so excited to be here today and to get to chat with you. Molly Claire: This is great, and first of all, tell my audience what you do and why you love it. And I love your business name, so tell them. Ashley Ford: Aw, thank you so much. So I own a business called Pretty Penny and we do accounting for small businesses, and I started doing accounting for small businesses, a little over 10 years ago now. I was thinking about it this morning before we hopped on and I was like, "Wow, it is, we've passed the 10-year mark, so that feels a little bit wild. From when I started, the thing that I have loved the most has always been getting to hear entrepreneur stories, like, really understanding what it is that encouraged them to get started, how it is that they do what they do, what lights them up, and just their process. Because everyone is so different. Even if people are providing the exact same service or the exact same product, or if you're coaching even the same type of audience, everyone has their own way of going about it and I just find it so fascinating. And so as I've really built my business, it's just been so fun. We really pivoted to working with female entrepreneurs and women in business. And that has felt so aligned. It has really allowed me to connect with our customers on a different level. I feel like the women that we work with really get to open up to us. And we get to help them. We provide really accurate numbers, accurate financials, but we're also teaching them how to better understand their numbers, how to know their numbers, how to feel really confident about the money in their business. And that just brings me so much joy to get to work with them. Molly Claire: Yeah. Yeah. So, okay. I'm interested to know your take on this, having been in this space for 10 years, and well, I wanna ask you first, when did you pivot to working with female entrepreneurs specifically? Ashley Ford: Just a few years ago. Yeah, it was after the pandemic, so that was kind of a black hole of time, you know? But somewhere pretty shortly after. Molly Claire: Yeah. Okay. Okay. So yeah, this is what I'd be curious to know because, I know in my work for sure, I see interesting common money beliefs, limiting beliefs - because we are female, because we are women - ways of thinking about it. Have you found that too, that there are these common threads that exist with the female entrepreneurs that maybe didn't exist as much with the men? Or what's your take on it? Ashley Ford: Oh, I mean 100%. It actually is something that I read a lot about, because I find it incredibly fascinating. And there's so much history behind it that I think we don't know. I think as women, we feel like it's sort of our fault that we aren't as confident with money, that we aren't as maybe "good with money" as men are. And so I've read a lot about it and it actually dates back to World War I, world War II, the Great Depression, when men were going off to war and they were leaving their wives at home to take care of the kids. And they were really leaving them with like, a set amount of money. And with that money they had to keep up the house, they had to feed the kids, they had to take care of the kids. They had to basically run the household on a set amount of money and really make that last and make it work. So women got really good at budgeting, at saving, at not spending frivolously or on anything that is deemed unnecessary. You know, I'm throwing that in quotes for anyone can see this. Women got really good at cutting back and really budgeting and finding discounts. And that has just been taught to us for generations. And so the only really narrative that we hear about money is to not spend on things that are unnecessary. Save and find discounts. Whereas men are traditionally taught to invest and really use their money and make their money work for them. So they're taught more money strategies about how to make their money work for them, whereas we're just taught to take what we have and make it last as long as we can. Molly Claire: Yeah, hang on to it. Ashley Ford: Yes, exactly. So it's just a really interesting difference in the way that traditionally women are taught about money, and traditionally men are taught about money. And I think women often think that that means that they're just not good with money because they don't understand how to make their money work for them. When everybody can understand it, if taught in the right way in a way that's really approachable and that applies to you, which is what we try to do. Molly Claire: Yeah. I love that. That's so interesting because when I asked the question, I was thinking about something slightly different than that. So this is interesting because where my brain went to was this idea of women can only make so much money, kind of this like glass ceiling. And so that's what I initially thought of, but as you started talking, I thought how interesting it is that those really in a sense fit together. Because if we have this limited amount, then doesn't it make sense that as female entrepreneurs, we would struggle to think that we could create more, that we could expand our income because it's just very foreign to what's embedded in our brains, right? Ingrained in our brains for so long. Ashley Ford: Yeah. And I think, just like you said, I think they really do go hand in hand because women just have naturally, or traditionally a little bit more limiting beliefs around money. Like we kinda feel like, like you said, there's this glass ceiling or there's this limit to how much we can achieve, whereas men are thinking, how can I make my money turn into more money? Like they just have this like expanding way, this abundance way that they think about it. And it's. It's so interesting to me because it's truly just a mindset and we can shift that. And it just takes that practice and that habit of shifting it. And if you believe you can achieve a lot more, then you're obviously gonna get a lot closer to that. Molly Claire: Right. Yeah. Yeah. Because I think men traditionally, typically have thought, "It's my job to make money. I'm supposed to do this." And for women, traditionally, "I'm supposed to support someone who does this." Right? Ashley Ford: Yep. Exactly. Molly Claire: That's my role. So, oh my gosh. Such a fascinating topic. I wanted to ask too, something you mentioned when you first started out talking about what you love about what you do and how different all of your clients are and how different each entrepreneur is. And I had a question for you. I'm wondering if you think that over time in your business, you've come to appreciate differences in different entrepreneurs more? Meaning, I know that as my audience, as newer coaches, they come in and there can be a lot of fear, like, "Oh no, there are too many coaches or too many people are doing this." And I know, I would say for me that the longer I've been in business and the more people I've met, the more I really see that everyone is so different. You just have to be you and lean into that. And there's not this major competition or scarcity happening. Would you say, has that shifted for you over time at all? What are your thoughts on that? Ashley Ford: Oh, absolutely. I mean, I think it's really common for people to feel like an industry is oversaturated and that there's not gonna be enough space for them there. Or why would someone choose them over someone else? And what I would say to coaches coming into that space is that coaching is not isolated. It is not the only space where people are feeling that way. I mean, in every single industry - I should say most is not all industries - there's more than one. There's more than one company doing whatever it is that that is. So I compare it to almost like, you can think of like a coffee shop, right? We have something like Starbucks who is such a mega in that industry. But there's local coffee shops that pop up all the time, and there's people who will prefer local coffee shops over something like Starbucks for the atmosphere, for the people, for the coffee, for the experience that they're getting when they go there. And you might even be paying more at the local coffee shop than you are at Starbucks for that experience. So I think coming into an industry and feeling like if it was a local coffee shop, and then saying, "Well, there's Starbucks around, so no one's gonna come buy my coffee." It's just not true. If you are creating a unique experience for your customer, they are going to want to buy from you and work with you. Molly Claire: Yeah, I love that. And I wanna highlight for all of you listening, you know, as a coach, thinking about this analogy for you, not only are your perfect clients going to prefer your service, your style, your experience, but also keep in mind that there's a pretty good chance that that local coffee shop owner much prefers to own a local coffee shop than the Starbucks. And so I think that a lot of times, as a coach, you can see a coach who is a "big coach". I'm using quotes now. Like a big coach or a big business or whatever it is. And we think that this business is the ultimate, but I want you to all just remember that, the business you want, that really fits your life, that is what you're going to enjoy, and that is what your clients will want. So I think it goes kind of both ways. Ashley Ford: Yeah, I totally love that. And accounting is the same way. There's so many accounting firms. I mean, people have so many options of who they wanna work with when it comes to accounting, but it doesn't mean that my services aren't, don't hold a space in that industry. And it also doesn't mean I wanna run a mega accounting firm, you know, one of the big four corporations. I think you find what you wanna do in that space and figure out a way to really find your customers and serve them really well. Molly Claire: Mm-hmm. Yes. And I think most of us are still kind of fine tuning and figuring it out. Ashley Ford: Totally. Molly Claire: I know that's true for me. Over this last year, I dissolved a partnership business and I've been really feeling out exactly how I want everything to look. And for me, I know more than ever, that small, intimate, close, connected is.-Those are my people. That's what I love. So, Ashley Ford: Yeah, I love that you say that. I have to giggle just a little bit because when I started my business and I went through some different coaching programs, the first thing that most people will talk you through is finding your purpose and your business, and really understanding what your purpose is. And I remember when I first started, feeling like I was trying to grasp at what that purpose was and sort of just being like, "Okay, I have to decide on one, so I'm just gonna sort of go with this." And I think it's such an evolving thing and if we can think of it that way, like our purpose of what we're reaching towards or what we wanna build, or what our dream business looks like, we don't have to set it in stone from the beginning, and then that's what it is for the rest of the life of the business. It's allowed to evolve and change as we go. Molly Claire: Yeah, that's right because, I mean, I know with my clients, I have a big focus on what is your ideal life and business. Because they are together. They're not in competition, they're in cooperation. And is your business supporting the life you want with that as the foundation? And just to what you were saying, what we're talking about is that what you want in your life and business, it can evolve too. Cause sometimes you don't know until you've experienced things. Yeah. Ashley Ford: Yep. Until you get there and you're like this, I want it to look a little different. This is what I thought I wanted. Molly Claire: Yeah. Yeah. So it's always nice to know, right? Nothing is set in stone. We are making up this entrepreneurial path as we go. So, Ashley Ford: Exactly. Yeah. That's the best part. Molly Claire: yeah. Okay. So here's what I wanna ask you, because you do finance, you do accounting, bookkeeping for female entrepreneurs, I know you work with them personally. You also have different levels of courses, which is awesome. And by the way, those of you listening in my program, there's a training there where there's access to purchasing that course. And also, if you're not doing my program, but you really want her help, we will have in the show notes access to all of that. So just throwing that out there, she can help you. But I would love for you to share with my audience some of the mistakes you see new business owners making, or even further along. Because I think everyone's financial journey in this is different, right? What are some of the common mistakes you see? Ashley Ford: Yeah, I think the biggest mistakes that I see, and they sort of go hand in hand when people overpay in taxes, or maybe they don't even really know that they're overpaying in taxes. It's cause they're not taking advantage of every tax deduction that's available to them. So the mistake usually looks like either not knowing what all is available, or this sort of takes me into my second thing, but is not tracking it. And so what I see happen sometimes is, if someone isn't tracking their income and expenses throughout the year, it gets to tax time and they're just sort of pulling together what they can or what they can remember and getting the tax return filed in order to just make it through tax season, rather than really throughout the year, tracking it, planning, making sure that everything is pulled together. For example, if you are someone who has a business account, so all your money is going in and out of your business account, but every once in a while there might be something you need to put on a personal credit card for whatever reason. Well, if you're not really making note of that, or tracking it throughout the year, then come tax time, you might forget about that and you're just like, I'm just trying to pull together whatever it is that I have. And you might be missing out on deductions that are available, meaning you're gonna spend more money on taxes. And we really wanna make taxes work in our favor. We wanna make sure we're writing off everything that we can so that you can not overpay taxes and use that money to pay yourself or invest in your business. And so it's really just the tracking of it. Molly Claire: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I wanna highlight something here for my listeners because I know there are a lot of you listening that are having all of this weight like coming upon you, right? "Oh no, I don't do a good job of this." Maybe some of you are thinking it's hard to track things. And I know a lot of times as creative entrepreneurs, it's like we're visionaries and we wanna be creating and flowing and it can feel so challenging to look at the details, to slow down, and it can almost feel like bogging you down. I know. I have felt that way for sure. Here's my tip. For all of you listening, if you're experiencing that, just breathe and remember that wherever you are right now is totally fine. Yes, there are things to figure out and you will figure it out. You're not supposed to know it all, just like one step at a time and it's okay. Right? It's okay. Ashley Ford: Yes. Yes. I love that so much. I mean, the goal of business, the goal of entrepreneurship is generally to make it last as long as we can, or as long as we want it to last, right? We wanna have the say of how long this is lasting. So I always like to tell people we're running a marathon, not a sprint. We're in this for the long game. Molly Claire: That's right. Ashley Ford: Which means you don't have to have everything figured out from the beginning. You have a lot of time to continue to evolve, to continue to learn, and to continue to get better at the different parts of your business. And finances is no different. And the training even that I sent over, I think I stay in there, but like, if you try to implement everything at once, all at the same time, and you take everything that you know about finance or you try to soak it all in and then implement it all tomorrow, you are going to be like, "I'm never doing that again. That was too much. My brain is exploding. Absolutely not." But if we just try to pick up little habits and try to build on those habits and build on those processes and systems, that's how we build a business that's sustainable and that is set up for a marathon rather than just feeling like I have to have everything figured out today. Molly Claire: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think right there as a principle to just highlight all of you listening, remembering that. This is a marathon, not a sprint. And I think that when we get in the world of building an online business, and especially for a lot of my listeners, you know, you're a coach and you got into this because you love helping people. You love coaching, you love working with people's thoughts and emotions and helping them move forward. And you didn't even know you were getting into really an online business building situation, right? But I think when we get in this world, we see so many things about hitting this income goal and doing it faster and bigger and better. And I think we can get confused and forget that this isn't a get rich quick hustle. This is building a long-term sustainable business. You know what's funny? So the training that you sent over is for my foundations program, and it's this adjustment on a program I've been offering the 10K accelerator because it's like, it almost feels like I wanted to make sure that I'm anchoring the work I'm doing with my clients in this idea of, "Yes, you can start making money now. You don't have to wait until everything is figured out and it's not a rush. We're also laying a foundation." And so you're not going to make millions of dollars immediately. And there's going to be a time and money and energy investment, but both can happen, right? Yes, we can bring money in and that foundation is important because I think it can help us to remember this is the long game. Ashley Ford: Yeah, and I think in the online space, I mean, I've worked with a lot of businesses. I didn't really have a website or Instagram page or anything like that until just a few years ago. And so even before that, when I was working with businesses, the online space more than anywhere else that I've seen, gets really competitive over like revenue numbers or these like milestone amounts that people want to hit. And I think in one breath, that can be really motivating, right? It can help us figure out maybe some goals to set, or where we wanna go. But I think we can get really caught up in that and we're setting goals based on what we're seeing from someone else, when we don't know what went into that, right? Social media is a highlight reel of someone's life. It's also the highlight reel of someone's business. So we don't know if someone had this huge launch, what went in to get to that huge launch. Did they actually lose money on the launch because they spent a lot to get there? Or maybe they were working a hundred hour weeks to get there and losing that quality of life and just work life balance. Maybe not. But we just don't know what went into it. So I think sometimes when we see what's going on on social media and we're like, "I need that quick. Like, how do they do that so fast? I wanna do that fast." We also don't know. Maybe they've been working towards that for 10 years and you're just seeing the boom, the explosion, that has all been leading up. Molly Claire: Yeah, that's right. And I, I wanna highlight that too because I did an interview, I don't know, it's been several months now with Katrina Yu Bell. She's an awesome coach. She's a multiple seven figure coach, and she actually, her first year as a coach, she hit a hundred thousand in revenue. And I remember actually talking to her when she had hit like 300,000 and I think she had gotten an award. She had been in front of people and she said, when we were sitting and eating together, she said, "I hope people realize I'm not even taking a salary. I, like, yes, I hit this number, but do you know what I've invested still financially, time-wise, like so much into it?" And then I did another interview recently with Amy Latta, my listeners, you can go back and listen, where she would hit these numbers, but she was working so hard to hit that she wasn't having the quality of life. She wasn't actually having the income because she was spending so much to make sure she could hit those numbers. Ashley Ford: Yeah. I think that's how some people choose to grow their business, which is very valid. It's not good and bad. It's just, we wanna make sure we're not setting ourselves up for a lot of like emotions or let down by trying to hit something when not knowing what they're putting in behind the scenes to get there. And so even that slow growth is so powerful, it gives us more runway. We can be able to pay ourselves through that process and really have that quality of life along the way. Molly Claire: Yes. You're right because I think there's a difference between I'm investing and I'm building and I'm not taking a salary and this is how I choose to build my business. Versus that sort of panic and rush where we're not really- it almost, it seems intentional because we have our mindset on this money goal, but there's a little bit of fear and rush in there too. Yeah. Yep. Oh gosh. We could have, I have so much to say. Ashley Ford: I know. I was gonna say we could go on. Molly Claire: I know, I know. And I'll just say too, you know, I had- last year we, I scaled a business to a million, and do I have millions of dollars in my bank right now? No, I don't. And I'm still figuring things out. And this is, I've been in my business nine years, so there's been so much time and money and everything invested. So it's, you know, Ashley Ford: That's the rollercoaster for you? I think that's the fun part. And I think sometimes we just want to hit these big numbers because we assume it's gonna mean big numbers in our account. And just like you said, that's just not the truth. And I think that rollercoaster and that learning curve is like the coolest part of entrepreneurship. So if we can just fall in love with the journey and let the journey be part of our goal to learn along the way. I think that that's the fun part. Molly Claire: Yes. I love it. Okay. Anything else you wanted to say about mistakes you see people making in their business. Ashley Ford: I think tracking is just the biggest one. I don't know, we might get into sort of this next part of the conversation, but it's really tracking and then taking the time to look at your numbers and really understand your numbers. And I think that's one of the biggest tips that I give people is just set the time aside every month to look at your numbers. Even if in the beginning, like if you're new and you're getting started and you don't know what you're looking at, you don't know even how to start or, or what to do with those numbers. If you do it every single month, each time it will get a little easier. You'll understand a little bit more. You'll just try to take away one little thing each time and really figure out what your numbers look like and where you want them to be. And just that the process of really looking at them, evaluating them is really powerful. Molly Claire: Yeah. Yeah, I've been doing a lot more of this. I will say I've been like getting in my account, looking at all of it because it's been a year of rebuilding and starting from, here we go, like start from the foundation, the ground up again. It's important and it makes a difference. I think the more aware you are of it, it makes you more aware of your choices too, and your spending and everything in your business. Ashley Ford: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Molly Claire: Okay, so, and maybe you've kind of already spoken to this, but I mean, just like one or two easy things, like if someone's listening and they're totally overwhelmed by this, what is like one thing you would tell them to do today? Ashley Ford: Well, on a high level, I would say try to shake the nerves as much as you can. I know that that is way easier said than done, but just like you were saying earlier, Molly, if someone is listening to this and thinking, "I am not tracking anything, I'm not doing any of these things, I'm feeling a little nervous, like I'm already behind." Or maybe you're trying to file taxes this year and are having to play a little bit of catch up, just try to sort of shake those nerves and know that not everybody has it figured out, and that it's all a process. It's a learning process to try to keep getting a little bit better and better. So if you do nothing else, my suggestion would be every month set a little time aside on your calendar and track your income and expenses. And what I mean by that is, you can use an Excel sheet if you wanna use something like QuickBooks or like an actual accounting software, you can. But you wanna actually plug in your income every month. Like, how much money came in, how much money you received. All of your expenses, every dollar you spent, how much money that went out, and the difference between those. So all your income minus all your expenses, that's your profit for the month. And just writing those things down, or getting them into an Excel sheet, or getting them into QuickBooks and really looking at them. If that's all you do, you are doing a great job. So if you can just kinda create a process for yourself to start that and just maybe do it once a month or do it 20 minutes every Friday or something so that you're staying consistent with it. Consistency really is key. Molly Claire: Yeah, I love that. And you know what I think is a good idea? Sometimes when you have something like that, especially if any of you are listening and thinking, "Okay, I can do it, but I might dread it and I don't want to." Have your favorite chocolate bar or something when you dread it or whatever is for you that kind of brings a little bit of joy or fun. I think it can help your brain to associate good positive feelings with something that might otherwise seem overwhelming. Ashley Ford: Yeah. Yeah. I always say people need to romanticize their finances. And it's, I'm a big, like, love romcoms. That's my guilty pleasure. And so I always try to put this picture in people's minds. Like, if you can picture yourself in a romcom, like, you're in this romantic comedy movie and there's always like the girl in the big city with the beautiful like suit or work outfit. And she's got her little work bag and she's like strutting down the street, looking very professional and she's going somewhere important. And she sits up in a little coffee shop and is like typing away at her computer. If you can almost take whatever would make you feel really confident and good and pair that with doing your finances. If it's taking yourself out for a glass of wine, or if it's cozy up on your couch and you're really comfy in your PJs or whatever, it's, pair it with something that you enjoy doing or that feels good. That way you're not just dreading it, you might have something to look forward to. Molly Claire: And I think one other thought, not to stay on this too long, but I do think creating an experience with it where you are moving toward it instead of trying to avoid it. And I think that any of those ways that we can think about how this will help our future self, how this will set, maybe our kids up in the future. If we're, saving for there- there are just a lot of things we can think about as to how this will benefit us and others in the future. And I think that can keep us more motivated with it too. Ashley Ford: Absolutely. Yeah. I love that. Molly Claire: Okay. So, uh, before we wrap up, I do want to ask for any parting words or parting advice from you. But I wanted to make sure, I can't remember if you said this here, or if this was in another conversation, but I know also one thing for sure is to make sure that your business and personal finances are separate, which is an easy thing you can do. Make sure, did you mention that on this interview? I can't remember if it slipped into the conversation. Ashley Ford: I think we breezed right over it. Yeah, but it was there. It was a little bit. That is huge. Separating your personal from your business finances. It, not only if you have an LLC, or if you have a, if your business is registered as an LLC, it is required to keep your business and personal finances separate. But I think almost where I can convince people a little bit deeper, a little bit more, is that it's gonna help you with understanding where your money is going. If you have everything co-mingled, and together, it's really hard to figure out like, "How much am I spending on personal? How much is for the business? Like, where is all the money going?" Whereas if you have it separate, it just gives you a little bit more clarity. It's adding a level of clarity for you to be able to understand where your money is going, where it's coming from. But it's super important to separate those. Molly Claire: Yeah. Yeah. And that's an easy thing, right? And I think not only is that easy, but then it makes all of the tracking and everything else easier too. Less work. Yeah. Okay. Ashley, this is awesome. What parting words, final advice, whatever, what would you like to leave my coaches with? Ashley Ford: I would just like to say, accounting and the numbers in your business can be so approachable. And I think a lot of people feel like they hate the numbers. They don't wanna have to look at them, but money is sexy. Making money, it looks good and we do like that. So if you can sort of pair those thoughts and just know that if you can manage your money well, it will benefit your business in the long run. So don't wait until later when there might be more money or more to worry about, to really get clear and start building those processes. Do it now. Whether you're in the beginning or the middle. Just get really clear now and learn habits on how to manage your money really well, because it really is gonna benefit you in your business and your personal life and just all around. Molly Claire: I love it. Perfect. And that's why this, this episode actually, Ashley is airing in my Foundations For Your Business series, which is why I wanted to bring you, because this is one of those foundational things. Yeah. Ashley Ford: Absolutely. Molly Claire: So, awesome. Okay, so Ashley, we'll have this in the show notes, but tell my audience how they can work with you, where they can find you, whatever you wanna share with them. Ashley Ford: Absolutely. So you can find me at Pretty Penny Accounting on pretty much any social media, but we're on Instagram the most, and we offer bookkeeping services if you just want to completely get things off of your plate. But we also offer different types of free resources and paid resources for people who want to do their own bookkeeping, but just need some guidance through the process and really need some help along the way with different varying levels of support. So, yeah, you can find me anywhere at Pretty Penny Accounting and I'm just so happy that you brought me on today and that we got to chat. Molly Claire: Great. Thank you so much, Ashley.