I’m really excited for this edition of FinanciElle “$tatements”.
I originally thought FinanciElle would be a great meetup group and so in October 2017, I had my first event, Lana was one of two people, who I didn’t work with, who showed up to the event – Lucky for me.
If you ever have an event and get discouraged that even only one person comes, don’t because that one person can be someone like Lana, she was gracious enough to meet me for a coffee a few weeks after the event and talk about ways I could make FinanciElle reach more people, and because of her tip, I got to see Sophia Amoruso speak and get a photo with her when she came to Ottawa. I’ve seen Lana at numerous networking events around Ottawa and got to hear her speak at the GEM conference in May.
Lana Dingwall helps women who run a service-based business, fill their business with high quality clients. She hosts the Changing the Story Podcast, and is a best-selling author of Women Who Influence.
Paolina: What is the most common money issue you see with your clients?
Lana:
The most common issue I see with clients is their money mindset blocks and hang-ups. Most of them want to make a lot of money in their business; but, they feel they are not deserving of, worthy of, or capable of doing that. They end up unconsciously sabotaging their ability to make money, because of their blocks. What that looks like in reality is them not having a handle on their bookkeeping (knowing what they are making vs. spending), they price their service or product below value, they offer countless discounts or do work for free when they shouldn’t, they have a hard time investing money into something that will make them money, they don’t market and sell their product/service properly etc.
Paolina: What has been your hardest experience dealing with your businesses and finance/money and what did you learn?
Lana:
Learning how to properly do my bookkeeping (and how to hire a good bookkeeper), and save properly for taxes is something I struggled with. Luckily I found QuickBooks to simplify bookkeeping, as well as taking off a certain % of each payment I receive for taxes (as well as save the HST).
Paolina: What advice do you wish you had gotten about finance when you were first starting your business?
Lana:
I wish I had read Profit First before I even started my business to get a handle on business finance management. This can be such a stressful thing for any new business owner. It’s important to know what money should be saved for taxes, expenses, growth, and what should be paid out to yourself every month.
Paolina: What are your current FinanciElle Faves?
- Favourite business/leadership book? Profit First, A New Earth – Eckhart Tolle, Radical Dharma, The Big Leap
- Favourite business/productivity tool? QuickBooks, Trello (for managing your team/projects)
- Favourite piece of media – TED talk, podcast…?
FinanciElle™ 