Scaling Rich: Redefining Growth for Long-term Success with Leslie Hassler

Hello everyone, and welcome to this week's edition of The Marketing, Media and Money podcast. I am so excited that you are here because I have to tell you, I think this is a topic that we're going to talk about today, and not everyone is talking about, and certainly no one is thinking about. So let me tell you a little bit about what we're going to talk about today. So first of all, imagine a world where entrepreneurs break free from the relentless cycle of merely coping and step into a model of genuine resilience that nurtures growth and balance. So today, we're going to explore the pivotal shift from reactive survival tactics to proactive resilience strategies that empower sustainable success and well being. So we're going to dive right into that. Our guest today is Leslie Hassler, and she is the Dynamo behind your business rules, a consultancy firm transforming small businesses into freedom, generating machines and with over 17 years of experience in marketing, finance and leadership. Leslie offers comprehensive audits, consulting and CFO services. She's the author of first this, then that, and the upcoming book, scaling rich. Her mission is to ignite the potential within business owners, empowering them to conquer challenges, unlock unprecedented growth and build a life of abundance and balance. So Leslie, thank you so much for being here with me today.

Patty, Patty, I'm excited to be here.

I am too, because I really love this topic. So I know that you say that resilience and survival mode can look the same on the surface, but they're actually very different. Could you break down the key differences and maybe some of the telltale signs and why business owners often confuse them.

Yeah. So, you know, resilience is a important skill set to have as an entrepreneur, because you gotta be in it for the long game, right? It's like running a marathon being able to sustain that run. But what we fail to realize is that even if you run a marathon, you eventually cross a finish line, and then you have rest and recovery, and then you go into training before you run the next marathon. It's not like you finish one race and then you go on to the next right? So how that's resiliently, being able to stay in the race? Survival, though, is the opposite. It doesn't allow for rest and recovery and training and space in between those two races. So when we're in survival mode, it's like we're running a constant marathon. We can never win, and eventually your body gives out, your mind gives out, your spirit gives out, your quality of work goes down, and then your business starts to go down. So then you start trying to hustle and grind your way out. And it's, it's almost a self defeating cycle that people get locked into. And there's a lot of reasons that that is our go to strategy when we're trying to get you know growth and scalability happening in your business, but truly, the difference between those two things is how long you're doing it. If you're hustle and grinding your way through three years, you're probably in survival mode. There's actually something not right in the business that needs to be fixed first, and then growth and scalability can happen.

That makes sense. So why do you think business owners resist that like taking breaks and and getting rest right? And how can they shift their mindset? Because it's definitely a mindset right to see rest as a growth strategy rather than just a luxury.

Yeah, so, and that's a really great point, because I think for most entrepreneurs, they're coming into business being very self reliant. Now this self reliance huge, another important skill set for success in entrepreneurs, however, we like to take it to the nth level and really take it to an extreme. So I do think that this is, you know, whether you're an entrepreneur or not, this really comes down to something that's part of our every fiber, and that is our relationship with work, and, more importantly, the relationship to hard work and the lessons that we learned as children, as young adults, As the only person on the team that actually brought the best to the table, and you were the one who got the project across the finish line, like that, that moment in time where you were the one that got the thing done. That is a bit addictive. It's a success, in a way, but we can get addicted to doing that, and we can get locked into the knowledge, or the belief that we're the only people that can do that. But we've proven to ourselves, over, I don't know how old, how many, over years you've been alive, that that's true. So it's really hard to break this cycle. Usually. Unfortunately, it has to, people have to get to a breaking point to want something different. But hey, that's why we're talking here, right? We're trying to help people understand that you do not need to get there. In fact, the moment you think you're down that path of burnout, that's that's a sign of pause. Hit pause and reevaluate, because really, success looks different for small businesses today.

Oh, that's so true. And I know that your business rules philosophy is that you've helped business owners turn unpredictable, exhausting businesses into profit generating machines. I love that phrase, just so you know. So why wouldn't you say the first step in creating a business that works for you instead of one that constantly demands more from you?

Yeah, so we're gonna start, we always start with money. It's It's the number one thing we look at when we've got a new client that comes on board. Because the truth is, a good business has good math. If the math of the business doesn't add up, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how hard you work, it won't work, you know. So it's like, Why? Why make things 10 times harder than they need to be? And truth is, harder than math is profitability. And we, you know people, I'm going to tell you of all the clients that we've served over the last 11 years, and it's quite a few. I have only had one who said they're a numbers person. Most everyone says I'm not a numbers person. I don't get the numbers. I just I'm not. That's not for me. And it's so entertaining to me, because those same people, I can ask, Hey, if you went into the store like, what's the what's the number one thing on your buy list right now, is it a TV? Is it an outfit? Is it a car? Is it? What is it? How much is that thing that you want? And if you walked into a store and it was 25% off, would you be able to tell me how much it would be, everyone can do this, even P big is so

Funny about this. So Leslie, here's what's funny about this. First of all, one of the things that I believe, with all my heart, is math doesn't lie, right? Math doesn't lie. You can't fake it out. Math does not lie. But what I love about what you just said and why I'm laughing is because I have six daughters, and when I used to take them shopping for clothes, I used to give them a set amount of money instead of because they would want a $50 sweater. And like, you know, they didn't have no so I started giving them a budget. Say, here, this is how much money you give for school clothes. Yeah, and I would take them, and when we would go shopping, they would see sales and they say, oh, buy one, get one 50% off, or they'd see 25% off. And I would always say, what is that? How much is that? And if you can't tell me, you can't buy it. And I taught them like they were, like in elementary school, when they were figuring out 25 percents and 50% because I took it to close, and that was what they really cared about, yeah? And exactly cracks me up. Now when they call me up and say, Oh, Mom, you're not going to believe the deal I got or or whatever you want to share with me, and they'll tell me the percent and whatever. And so it's like math doesn't lie, and you have to know the numbers,

Yeah? So I think you do. We do have to stop lying to ourselves, we're numbers people. If you can make money in a business, you're a numbers person. However, you just don't know how to use it to your advantage. So that's really what we try to educate with and help our clients see. But the point with profit is, profit is the result of a very simple equation, your revenue minus expenses equals profit. There has to be enough left over. And the truth is, you know, I don't know if you've heard this saying, but revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, but cash is king or queen. And I want to explain that just a little bit more, because so many people are, especially if they're young, in business, just focus on revenue, because they have this belief, if I'm big enough, if I make enough, if I'm serving enough clients, then the profits will just it'll happen. It's a given. It's not a given. Your business does not want to operate like that, unfortunately, but if you can understand, okay, so profit revenue is necessary. You have to have enough revenue. Your revenue needs to exceed your expenses, and then that generates profits. But you can have profit on paper and not have cash in the bank. So what is that about? You know, I don't know if you've ever had I think in my I've been an entrepreneur for 17 years. I think like in the second or third year of my first business, the CPA was like, Congratulations, you made a profit. This year. You're gonna owe taxes of X dollars. And I was like, oh, what? What do you mean? I made profit. I don't have any money in my bank account. What are you talking about? You. You know, and that is why we have to have a preponderance of profit so that it actually eats it produces cash in your bank account, because otherwise you have that cash, it's just in flow, and so it's just not sitting in your account, and it's hard to be able to manage. Now, this issue is so predominant in business. In fact, according to McKinsey Harvard Business Review, the average business center has nine to maybe 21 days worth of cash on hand. If you have this problem, here's what you're going to see. You're going to be worried about making payroll. Yet you always get to payroll, and you can pay payroll, and then you worry about the next payroll cycle. That's because you don't have enough money on hand to see the cash in your business far enough out, excuse me, so that's why we focus on the money of the business and looking for how small can the business be to generate a profit? If we can get that number to come in, into early six figures, then we know we have a viable business that can produce profit. If you're at half a million and you're still not profitable, you've got to ask why? Because that's a huge success marker.

And I think that there's different things, because people tend to focus on revenue and instead of profit, right? Because, well, first of all, unfortunately, some people think it's the same thing, but we won't even go there, right? But I think that sometimes people don't think about the right things. And I feel like for me, I know with a lot of my clients, one of the things that happens for them is when they don't focus on the right things, and they don't focus on the right things, a lot of times, what happens is they want to open up a new division, or they want to do this new thing, or they want to do that new thing, and they want their business to fund it. And I have a very strong belief in my business, that every division of my business, everything. So my podcast, my magazine, my events, every single thing has to pay for itself. Now, does that mean that sometimes when I open a new division, I say, Oh, I'm going to fund that for three months or whatever. But how are you going to know your numbers if you just put everything in one big pie and you just don't know? So I feel very strongly about making sure so I know what do I need to tweak what's happening so that I absolutely know, but I don't think a lot of times people do it. But I also think that there are profit leaks that people don't realize. And what would you say are the top I don't know, let's say three. What would you say the top three profit leaks? You see, the most frequent, and how can business owners plug

them? Yeah, so you're gonna love my first one, because I think I made up the word for it, and which I do, I tend to have that, that talent. So the first one is time slippage.

You're right. I've never heard that before.

Okay, so when we allow tasks and projects to elongate and keep stretching out. We're taking that profit, right, and we're stretching it out over time. It's in this way that a business can eat itself out of profit. So let me explain and give you one of my first examples. Again, in my first business, had a beautiful project come in luscious like, you know, those ones where you're like, yes, this means my business is growing. We've got it good. It's a great figure. And, you know, at the end of the day, like, I knew how much profit we were gonna make, and I think it was like, 20 or 30,000 off this project. And so I was like, Oh my gosh. That means I could buy a computer, I could invest in this marketing, I could hire this assistant, right? I had plans for the money, but the project went squirrely six ways come Sunday, and it should have been done in about six weeks, but it actually took closer to three months. So I remember the last the time I got that last paycheck, that last payment, and I opened up my bank account because I wanted to see the money. I mean, I'd been working so hard to see and realize this. I'd been planning on it, right? And I opened up my bank account and kid you not. Patty, thought somebody had stolen it, right? Did? I was like, was it? Have I had fraud? And I didn't know, and I balanced my checking account, I did all the things, and I'm like, No, my the business progressively spent it, not on anything irrational, not on six more weeks, right? Six more weeks of expenses that eroded the profitability like that to me, said, wow, so we're actually very conscious about the time that something should take and maintaining it, giving it tension, we call it tension and but giving it tension to perform within this realm so time slip. Knowledge is when you allow things to just keep taking three to four days. So in that business, one of the things we'd have to do is rely on other people for information, lot of coordination. And so if we didn't call, like my team had a rule, you place all calls, outbound calls by 10am if you haven't heard by 1pm you call again. If you have to pass it in the afternoon, you're going to call again before the end of the business day, and then it's your first call the next morning. Now that may sound aggressive, but when we're competing with somebody's attention, with a whole bunch of other people, right, that daily slip of waiting for a phone call. It can add up to a week.

And right now, the currency we have right now is attention.

It's attention and time. We cannot get back time. You can make more money. You can create another business like creation is all great and grieving. You can do so many beautiful things. The one thing you can't is time. You can't save it, you can't bake it, you can't put it into a little account to use more later. So we have to treat that precious resource as a precious resource. So time slippage, it just erodes profits in ways that you just don't even realize. The next one is sensuous, the sensuous moment. So I think this is Jeff Foxworthy, or one of those guys comedians where he's like, you know, since she's up, you get me a glass of water. You know, this is what our clients well, I won't say do to us, but this is our clients requesting of us. Hey, Patty, since you're already doing this. Do you think you could do that while you're there? It shouldn't take you much more time, right? And that's a scope creep coming at us. Okay? So that's going to erode your profits. Now, our business is set up in such a way to where I know that our clients are always going to need a little bit more from us than they think they're going to need. So we structure the whole model to make that okay. So we can say yes, but there is that limit, right? So that's when it happens here, but here's what's really funny. Business owners do it too, right? And here's where it happens. So especially if you're not used to value based pricing, you're making that chip that change to where you're no longer to trade time for money, right? You're going to charge for the value that you're providing. Typically, I have seen so many owners do one of two things. One, they increase the scope, because they are trying to prove justify that the work is worth the money. And honestly, they're trying to prove it to themselves. Or conversely, when they see the bill, they worry about somebody paying it, and so they discount it, 510, 15, 20% because the number themselves, they're having a mindset issue with. So that's when you're you're doing the scope creep or diminishing it. Nobody's asking you to, but you do it because you're unsure. You lack confidence in that area. So those are just quick free.

And those are really good, though. I think that it is really important sometimes people don't realize those things either. So I hope everybody out there that's watching or listening is getting that, and you've had this aha moment going, oh my gosh, that's me. Or, you know, sometimes it's hard to admit when you do something, but once you do now you're aware, and when you're aware, you can make changes, right? So it's kind of like a good thing. It's absolutely awareness is step one, exactly. So I know you had your book, and now we're going to talk about the first this, then that book, but, and then I want to talk about scaling, rich versus, yeah, fast. So many entrepreneurs focus on rapid scaling. Right now, you've talked about scaling rich. What does that mean? And how does it differ from the traditional growth at all costs approach?

Yeah, so scaling fast. I think that's personified by Reid Hoffman and bullet scaling, where even this is what happens with a lot of venture capital businesses, they're trying to outspend, out grow the money problem, and which means they have to go through a tremendous amount of money. They're incredibly inefficient. They are bleeding cash in every which way. But if they can get to the magical client number, then all in the math makes sense, right? And they can they they're basically like trying to fuel a rocket with money. That works in that environment, but it really doesn't. That's what's so funny. It's like we hear these magical unicorns and and rags to riches stories. But what we don't realize is that's one. One in 10 businesses. They're called a unicorn because they're rare, right? This is not a success model that predominantly works. Now, if you happen to have millions and millions and millions of capital that you can invest and grow into your business, by all means, take advantage of it. But for 99 99% of the businesses out there, this is not a it's not a healthy model, because what we're using to fund the growth is typically savings, 401, pays credit cards. There's a limit to that, and I will tell you it does take more to grow and scale a business than you ever imagined. So even if you have that nice little nest egg, it might not last to your point earlier, when you were like, if I have a new venture, I'm only supporting it for this amount of time, and then it has an intention. It has a job to do. And I love that attitude, because that's what we really need to be looking at our businesses. You have a job if I'm investing into my company, just as any investor, would I expect it to give me something back? Right? Most entrepreneurs are willing to have that happen for 10 years. That's the same model. So the other we're just really about updating that we like to say it's the answer to the hufflin girl. It is what happens. So what expectations? Some mining, some leadership there too. Because as an entrepreneur, as your business grows, you're going to personally need to grow. Nobody ever tells you this, when you when you start a business, how much personal growth you're going to go through. But it's true, and those things have happened. So with scaling rich, what we're looking at is we're looking at a business that's sustainable, meaning that it doesn't run out of resources, and you're one of the major resources for a lot a long time in a business, it doesn't run out of time, it doesn't run out of money. So instead of making it about hard work, going back to our very first part of the conversation, how can we do this the easiest way possible? How can we do this the quickest way possible? I will tell you we love exponential growth. We're phenomenal at getting 200 300% growth for companies, and even in the larger ones, to be able to get 50% but if you're a seven figure business and you get 50% that that's not so bad, right? There's, there's a relevance to it. So you can still get this exponential growth, but you have to do it in a different way. One of those ways is putting cash forward, coming back to that profitability, right? Setting up the business so it's not chasing dollars is huge. But if your model is such that, like we've had some companies that work like government procurement, where your pay cycle is nine months, you will get paid, but it won't take a long time, so we have to set up the safety nets in the business to allow for that model to function, because otherwise growth will actually grow you out of business.

Yes, I see that, and I think a lot of times it really is also how the business owner handles it, because sometimes the business owner themselves, like they're the bottleneck, yeah, they're the bottleneck, right? And because they want to have a finger on everything. And so sometimes I find that they're like, putting out fires all the time, and they're not really being a CEO, right? You know, they're spending their time reacting, right? And I think that happens. I think that happens a lot. What would you say is your best advice for like, you know, you've just been sharing with us some of these pitfalls and these common mistakes, you know, because I think it's really important to know what not to do, as well as it is to know what to do, right? You know, because you don't realize, because we get all excited about why we went into business anyway, right? You know what? Why we did it. You know, we're visionary. And so what would you say your best advice for avoiding some of these pitfalls and some of these mistakes? What should they be thinking about that's beyond just, oh, I just want to make XYZ money. I want to have freedom. I don't want to work the week, like all these things of why we go into business. But there are we need to think about, because there's this meme out there. It always cracks me up whenever I see it that says that being a entrepreneur is giving yourself permission to harder than you ever did when you had a job, right? We know, and I do see a lot better, right? And I see that a lot, but yeah, tell you I wasn't in business very long before freedom was so important to me that, you know, and then, to be totally honest, there are books out there that say, you know, you can make, you know, $100,000 a word, four hours a week and stuff like that. And, you know, while you can, but not year one. Do you know what it's all about? Like, what do you have you put in place? You know, like, realistically, I probably only work at. About 25 hours a week now, but it's because I have put all the things in place, and have done my share of working 50 hours a week, you know, in order to put those in place, and because I've done all the inner work, and I understand how money is made in my business, and how important my time, my energy and my money is all of those things, but until you really get those, or you hire somebody to really help you, because that's not something that people really think about doing. Oh, I should probably hire somebody who's going to help me really understand profit and really help me, you know, shift my mindset about money. I mean, it's not something that they think about, because they're out there thinking about, you know, profitability and all those other things. So they kind of fall into kind of this lull, this false sense of security that as long as they just make money, everything's going to be great. Yeah, that's not actually really true. There's more to business than just that. So what do you think are the things like, if you were gonna tell somebody, say, Hey, this is the thing that you really need to pay attention to. This is where you're probably not looking. And if things aren't going the way you want, if you're not as profitable, but you're creating revenue, or, you know, you realize that you are kind of unburned out. You're kind of burned out, and maybe even have some imposter syndrome going on because you don't understand why. What are some of the things that they can do? What are some of the things that they realize? Oh, wait, this is when I need to actually go out and hire someone. Because I think that sometimes people really don't realize that, and you have this whole financial background, right besides your consulting firm. So if I had to put it in simply, what would you say is one financial strategy or mindset shift that immediately would make a difference in a small business owner's bottom line, like immediately?

Thank you for narrowing that down, because the the question you're asking is a big rolled question, which is why we wrote the system that to handle the technical part of things right, and why wrote scaling rich? Because there's a lot to unravel. But if we had to say number one, what is that mindset shift that you need to make in order to become profitable? Is you have to stop trying to break even the straight up, it is the number one worst habit in the world. And why do we break even? Why is that the goal at the end of the year?

I don't know why anybody would want to just break even because they don't want to pay taxes. I know the more money you make, yes, you get. I think getting to pay taxes is like an A privilege. Now, do we like how much taxes we pay? I'm not going to go there. I'm not saying that. You know, I wish I didn't have to pay the taxes that I do. So I'm not going to say that, but what I am going to say, though, is, if I didn't have to pay taxes, that meant I didn't make any money. Yeah, and I'd rather make money and pay taxes.

There you. You were right there. We consider taxes a privilege, a profit, if you have a good management money management system, even paying those taxes is not complicated, like none of my my clients come to me with surprised tax bills that we rectify within 12 to 18 months, and then they're never surprised again. We're always prepared, right? So the system matters. But to your point there, if you break even every year, you are one bad client, one unpaid bill, one employee catastrophe away from shutting down your business, you will have absolutely no stability and security in the business. And so I think people come into business financial management with personal finance management ideas, right? So it's like, I need to have a balanced checkbook. I that's great, but that doesn't strategically help you forecast, right? So we we use a couple of things. We use a predictive cash flow tool, which is not books, it's actually something that shows our clients their anticipated daily balance for up to 10 years in advance. That is our tool to know whether or not we should be investing, how much we should invest, and will this create problems for us, we'll think of it like Google Maps for your business. But we also, yeah, we also use profit plans, which is, again, as soon as we have profit, right? So we're building that intention for profit, and we're saying we're going to put purpose to the money, because money likes to do two things, it likes to grow and it likes to flow. And if you're not giving it a job to do the responsibility, it will do jobs you just don't want it to do. And guess what? You're in debt. Debt. Debt is money growing. It gets compounded interest on a monthly basis, right? That can work against you, but oh my gosh, it can. Work for you too. We have a few clients where they've done the work right, and over the years, we're now earning money on money that is set aside for a safety net, or set aside for taxes or set aside for you can fill in the blank. So stop trying to break it.

Got it. We can think about it. But people have a business. This is not the things they think about. I mean, if they have a wellness business, or maybe they're a trainer, or they're in the mortgage business, or they're a realtor, like, I mean, there's whatever their business is, they don't have a financial degree, right? They don't have like, so they think, Oh, I just need to do this and this and this. And they don't realize that there are some foundational, really important things. And I have found that a lot of times when people are not profitable, it's because there's gaps in their foundation at the very beginning. And before they could do that, they have to go back and fix those gaps. Right? That the field gaps. I always like to joke, well, it's not really a joke, but I always like to say, no one of the things that we can help you do is really when you're thinking about that we can fill those gaps with money if you do it the right way. And a lot of times that requires them to change how they think and change a little bit of how they spend their money, make their money, and think about their money. And they don't always want to do that. But those that can really embrace that, though, I think that is really powerful for the long term, and actually even for the short term too, if they if they do it, right? So I know you have both these books. So first this, then that, and then the new book. So what is the difference between the two? Yeah, no, should they read the first one? First because it's first or because that is actually where you go into it, and then you build on it in the second one. So tell us a little bit about the difference in the books and what they're going to get out of each one of the books. And just before you answer, for those of you that are listening and for those of you that are watching, it's going to be below, and you're going to be able to get all of that content, so you don't have to worry about that. But go ahead, tell us the differences.

Yeah, sure, and you, you were touching on it to begin with. So first this, then that is about those foundations. But honestly, the mistake that we see people doing, and you even alluded to it in our conversation today, is, Listen, I need more cash, so I'm gonna grow, and I'm gonna grow in a way that's unsustainable or that you're not prepared to grow. So for I say that's a problem with sequence. It's like having an infant who's six months old that's just getting to their belly and expecting them to run a marathon. Because, you know, that's what you think you're going to need. So oftentimes, if you have that first business and you're going to open up another location, but that first business isn't profitable and lockdown and still is requiring you and you open up that second business. Guess what's gonna happen to the first one? Yeah, it's not gonna sustain itself because you haven't done the foundational work to make it sustainable. So first this, and that covers that. So we talk about money, we talk about marketing, we talk about pricing and some of the psychologies that go behind that. And truly understanding growth, growth I want people to get, is an important step. It is something that you can be done with a foundation go into scalability. Scalability is an important step, but neither of these two steps are you in in an indefinite period of time. So when you're done with growth, it's not like you never grow again. You'll go through scalability, and then when you've maxed that potential, you will reach it at a plateau, a glass ceiling. You just reach it where it no longer works, that's the sign that you have to actually build some new foundations, or rebuild some foundations so that you can get to the next period of scalability. So in that way, scaling and growth is a dance. They take turns leading it looks, you know, sometimes like the cha, cha, two steps forward, one step back, a step to the side, a twirl in the middle those types of things, scaling Rich is, is that book about scaling? But it is actually the book writing about how you're getting in your own way. So it is, I think you, you mentioned that I had a speaking engagement, and, you know, sometimes you get, I call them my downing Thomases, which that's an important role in the world. But they'll ask these really bomb questions. You know, they're trying to trip you up. And somebody's like, what is the number one thing that entrepreneurs get wrong? You know, what's the number one mistake? And I was like, number one, wow, it's not always the same. But I was like, Oh, I know what it is they get in their own way. They're so locked into a echo chamber in their own brain where they're having these conversations that they tend to stop the growth or stop the scalability, and they don't realize how they're actually a detriment to the business and. So often we have to that's based on one thing. The biggest thing I have seen it being based on is where you're deriving your personal value. Whoo, that's good. Okay, so going back to the hard work, when you're used to being good at a job, then you derive value from doing work. Sometimes people fail to realize that the evolution of an entrepreneur to go from being that worker bee to a manager to an owner to a CEO, because you can be an owner and not really a CEO, for sure, right? It is all about learning to go through this identity crisis that you're going to go through, not only once, but multiple times, and become the person who ensures that it's all done. Doesn't mean I'm doing all the work, but I'm ensuring that what is done is consistently done. It's going in the right direction. Everybody on my team is on the same page. Everybody has their zone of genius, and they're locked into it, right? That transition is one that a lot of entrepreneurs just miss. They don't know that it's a part of the journey.

No, I think that is really true, and they don't realize that, even when they're in it, and they don't really understand why they got into business in the first place, right? Because, at the end of the day, business owners don't just want financial success. What we really want is freedom. Yep, I you know. So how would you say that they can redefine success on their own terms and build a business that supports the life they actually want?

Scaling rich, right? This is totally the concept, but let's just start with reigniting your vision, understanding your Why. Why are you doing the work that you're doing? Why this? Because, like you said, that meme, nowhere else is there entrepreneurship, where you'll work longer, get paid less and not be able to take a vacation. Somebody that actually lost their vision along the road, and so we're always we ask our clients want to again, one of the first things they're working on is, what are we building and why? What does that do for you? What's the payoff? What are the things you're doing that for? Are you doing it to put food on your table? Are you doing it to build financial legacy for your family? Are you doing it because the work that you do is so impactful that you need to be the one doing the work? What is it right? And in that way, we're calling to the heart and the soul, and it needs to be part of what we call the North Star, right, the dieting element and building out that mission, vision, your values. What the soul of the business is about is such a crucial element when you're lost, and it's a crucial element when it's going to be about more than you, because we've got to give everybody that comes into the business the same lighthouse, if you will, the same process, the same reason to be in the business, so that you're moving together as an organization, so you don't need to always do that work when you start the business. Because honestly, most of us start a business to replace a job, and that's what we know, and we're good at doing the work. So we can do that, and it's us, because people are buying from us. You know, the know, like trust factor, it's all based on on you, but when it starts to be about more people, then you've got to do the work. And most people don't know that's the work to do at this moment, because it feels very frivolous, not important, but it is one of those reasons that you are where you are is you've lost sight of what you're building and why you're building, and

Why really, for sure, that really makes a lot of sense. So I love Leslie, that you came bearing gifts, right? So we correct the first this, then that, yeah. And so you literally brought a gift for my audience, and I love that. And again, if you're watching or listening, everything's in the show notes. Need to get a hold of her too, but tell us a little bit about what that gift is. So tell us about the discussion guide.

Yeah. So with first this than that, because it is so it's such important work, and it's taking you through how to do some of this work yourself. You know, a lot of people have got to be able to work on themselves first before they can come out and get help. And the guide really does walk you through those and really important questions to ask yourself as you're looking at your foundations, as you're going through first this, then that, asking yourself, what is what is my money attitude? Why do I feel that way about money? You know? Why is and how is it impacting my business? How am I nickel and diming myself to death because I need that quick fix, you know? Or how is it? I'm so afraid of what could go wrong that I actually won't invest, you know, and we talk about those things in versus and that, and then the marketing aspect and the pricing aspect this guide is huge. It's like having me in your back pocket, if you will, helping you step through the process. So that's what we're bringing to the table for your your listeners today.

Thank you so much. That's so generous of you. And so Leslie, I know everybody is going to want to connect with you, I am sure. And again, we have all of the your social and all of your links below. But where is the one place that you hang out that you would love for people to connect with you. Where should they go first?

So I would say you've got the link for the guide below. I would come check us out on LinkedIn. We have a phenomenal LinkedIn newsletter that is very well read and a lot of information, but we we published an article a a week on that going through, like the everyday things that you're going through. I betcha, there's an article out there about it. It's really a helpful resource. We get a lot of great feedback. It's called profitable growth for business. Is the name of the newsletter.

That is wonderful. So thank you so much for being here with me, Leslie. I really appreciate it. You were so generous with your knowledge and your zone of genius, and I appreciate that so much. So everyone, I have to tell you, 17 years she's been doing this, right, you know? And I know that she said some things that were writer downers and some real value add that was here. And dare I say, some questions you might be asking yourself now going, Wait a second, I didn't realize that. Or maybe you're thinking, oh, I want more profit, and I'm not going to worry so much about revenue. And maybe you're thinking you want to get her books, but whatever it is, we've got you covered, no matter what that is. So thank you again. So much. Leslie, we really appreciate you being here with us today, Patty, thank you for having me. It was good to be here. And to my audience, thank you so much for being here week after week. We really appreciate you being here, too. If you want a little bit more knowledge, check out our marketing media and Money Magazine. You can get your Free copy at www.m3digitalmag.com, and until then, we'll see you next week. Thank you so much. Have a phenomenal week.