106 | Is Your Paycheck Shrinking? 5 Tips to Improve Cash Flow in Your Direct Sales Business
===
[00:00:00] Hey friends, welcome back to the Called to Lead podcast. So I'm really excited to dive in today's episode, which is going to be taking a little bit more of a focus. On the most important step in bringing your business back to growth or back to renewal. And it's kind of tied to the series on the last episode, I did, which was breaking down the six steps to leading your team to renewal . And so this is going to be step one, which is cash. So I already shared a couple of little tips and questions, and I gave a brief overview of what this looks like in the last episode. So feel free to catch back up on this. But if you are listening to this and you feel like your paycheck is going backwards or you're making less than you have, or maybe you aren't yet, but you've got a fear that that could happen in the future.
And you want to plan and best steward what you've been given and be smart about your money so that you can ride the waves of. That are in any business, but definitely the waves that can be present in a [00:01:00] network marketing business. Well, this episode is going to be specifically for you, cause I'm not just going to be addressing the reasons why your paycheck might be going backwards, but I'm going to be giving you five tips and ways that you can. Control the things you can. control to help improve your cashflow in your network marketing business.
So let's dive into today's episode.
[00:02:00]
All right. So let's talk about the money, honey. So you might be listening to this, even considering network marketing as a business model, or maybe you're just kind of getting started in your business and you're like, Whoa, she's diving into some deep and maybe even scary stuff. And you might be curious, first of all, if you can actually make money in this business model and make significant money.
And absolutely you can. So I am going to link to our income disclosure~ ~for our company. Seint just so you can see what the income levels look like across the all platforms. But I love our company because we are a product based company where you can make a great income just by sharing the product itself.
But of course a way to, you know, kind of multiply your income is by multiplying the people that you're serving through your product and help [00:03:00] them build a business as well. So the business model of network marketing, direct sales, multi level marketing, whatever you want to call it, can kind of get a little bit of a bad rap because You'll hear people say that you can't really make money in this business and I don't know any reputable company that's out there that has a solid product, a solid system in place to sell or share that product and you know, that doesn't have a success with people who are making money across the platform and so absolutely it can be done.
However, there are some realities with any business model that makes money and I know this. from a traditional business background as a boutique owner. And so I've had a lot of experience to know that your kind of habits when it comes to money or even your money mindset, which I did an entire episode around your money mindset and really did a whole series around the kind of cash and budgeting and all that good stuff.
So you can go back a little bit. I think it was last. Summer ish [00:04:00] when I did that series and go back if you want to deep dive on this, but essentially a lot of the habits or mindsets that we have around money are carried over into any business model that we start, whether that's a traditional business or a network marketing business.
In fact, I realized after having gone through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University twice myself, and then, well actually it might have been three times, I don't know, multiple times, to realize that what he says is true in that the, the knowledge around money is only 20 percent of the process, so knowing that we should have more money than we spend, right, or knowing that debt, although in certain And, industries or in certain aspects of business.
When you've got the foundational systems, right? Debt can be a way that you can build your business. But for most of us, for most Americans, people are living paycheck to paycheck. They have way more debt than they do have saved and things like compound interests that can work for you are working against you because.[00:05:00]
So I'm not going to be talking as much about those aspects of financial management because again, I kind of already did a whole series talking about that. People like Dave Ramsey or my friends at Seed Time. They have an amazing podcast, Bob and Linda, that will share specifics on how to manage your money.
But in this episode specifically, I want to be talking about where you are right now, which if you're listening to this, maybe you clicked on the title and you're like, Oh my gosh, Heather, my paycheck is going backwards. Why? And what can I do about it? So it's kind of finding solutions for where you are in the business.
wherever you are. So you might be listening to this way down, down the road. ~Um, ~and that's the cool thing about a podcast is it lives on, but essentially I know because I have been there in my business as a boutique owner, that these things work in any model, but they're super important. If your paycheck feels like it's going backwards or is a little unstable or.
Maybe you're doing great. I know I actually had, ~um,~ you know, my paycheck has been going [00:06:00] up steadily, but I know others that's not the case. And so I want to be honest and find ways to kind of serve you and support you. Okay, so let's dive into the five tips to help you get really streamlined when it comes to your cash so that you can grow your business because cash is king in any business model.
Okay, so the first tip, and this is by far, the most important is you have to acknowledge the source of where it's coming from to begin with and my friends. It's not your hard work, it's not your hustle, it's you taking action on the gifts, the ideas, and the inspiration that the Lord gives you.
So the Lord isn't just gonna, like, hand you a pile of money, but God is our source of all of it. Essentially, any dollar that we make, whether it's a dollar, hundred dollars, thousand dollars, million dollars, while we're here on this earth, is given to us. By [00:07:00] him, and it's our responsibility to be stewards of what we've been given, whether that's a little, whether that's a lot.
And you can find this directly in scripture. And one of my favorite passages in scripture addresses this directly. And that is. The parable of the talents, which is found in Matthew 25, where Jesus gives a story about a man who was traveling and left some money. To his servants to. Do good things with, and he entrusted them with that money.
And each was given a different Mount and each took a slightly different approach. But long story short, the one who gave the greatest return on what was given to him. Not only got high praise, but he actually also got the bunny that was given. To the one who actually squandered it away. So there's a lot of ways we can manage our money, but if you want to build [00:08:00] any sort of income, you have to number one. I acknowledge that God is the source of all of it.
And number two, that we are stewards of it that it's not our money to begin with. And again, as I mentioned in the last episode, if you're not stewarding, what has been given to you? Well, why would you think that your master or the traveling. Traveling person is going to entrust you with more. Right.
And so acknowledging him as the source, I'm telling you it changes everything for me. I could see that pretty clearly when I had my traditional business. And I've talked about this, I think before, but it's almost as though my business would make just enough money to cover my basic needs. My payroll. ~Um, ~I mean, barely I remember sweating it out before I had to make payroll.
And you guys, this was almost a million dollar retail business that was winning best of in our local newspapers and magazines and all of that stuff. So from the outside, looking in, it was this like rosy situation, but from the inside, I was totally dependent on the Lord. And thankfully he was giving me. Just enough [00:09:00] to get by, but what else was I also doing?
I was in debt. I had multiple credit cards. I was using the available credit on those cards as if it was available cash. And quite frankly, I had really, really terrible money mindsets and money. ~Um, ~habits that I had to really work through before he was going to give me this business model, which allows me to spend a lot less money in overhead, a lot less money up front, and truly be able to make a little, which then I can grow. Time over time. To a lot.
Right? So it takes a lot of hard work. It takes consistency. But through listening to the Lord through letting him guide my steps and most importantly, acknowledging him as the source. That my friends is how you can focus on growing your cash in the business. And trust me on this. I know it can be. A little overwhelming if you're not a believer and it sounds too good to be true, but I encourage you to dive into the word because the Bible talks a [00:10:00] lot about money and there are a ton of passages about it, and there's a lot of wisdom to be gained from the scriptures.
So dive into that and know that my tip number one is acknowledging that he is the source of all of it. Okay. Number two. And this is one that actually Sarah, my Seint mom and mentor that I talk about, we were, we were just having this conversation the other day, that so often what we see from our leaders or from other leaders outside our team, that that can tend to get frustrated or disgruntled about their, their paychecks is what happens is they'll have one really amazing month.
Maybe they push to hit a rank and sometimes it's even, they kind of forced it to happen. Like it didn't necessarily happen naturally. And they have this really, really big paycheck. Or maybe they have a real go viral and they get a ton of sales in that one. ~Uh, ~you know, that one month or even over a certain season. And it can be really, you. You know, easy, if you, especially, if you have a negative mindset around [00:11:00] money to hang your hat on, that's your expectation. Of what you're going to get every month or that's the baseline that you should plan on.
And if anything falls short of that, you're going to be disappointed. And I'm here to tell you that. The likelihood of you having either first of all, consistently growth month over month, year over year in this or any business model is. Probably not going to happen, but also you shouldn't be planning on your business, operating at that highest level of income.
Instead, look back over the last 12 months and look at what's your lowest. Month what's your lowest level of income in a month. And how can you plan on that being your income for the next 12 months, knowing that if you go above and beyond that, guess what? That's gravy, my friends that's money that you're putting in your pocket that you weren't expecting, that you can then see as an abundant blessing from the Lord, but you're not planning on. Your income level, being your highest paycheck, that you've, that you [00:12:00] made that one time and multiplying that by 12 to get your annual income.
Does this make sense? I really see a ton of people do this. I know I tend to even do this at the beginning or worse I would project. Okay. It's my goal to hit X rank by this day or by this time and you know, my journey. And so by then, I'm going to be making this amount of money because that's what my mentor makes at that rank, which again, she could have been getting paid at that rank for years, building her volume. which it's all based in the volume essentially.
And so you're, you're setting your sights, not even on the income that you've already made, but income that you hope to make in the future, which is even scarier. So I invite you to look, get. You know, get real clear on your cash that you have gotten over the last 12 months in your business. If you have you been here that long, and if you're new, just getting started, honestly, some of this might even be a little bit too high of a level for you at this moment, but it's good principles to know for when you get there.
I wish that, well, I actually think I was pretty well-prepared for this type thing, heading into network marketing because I had been through hell and back with my. [00:13:00] My, ~uh, ~boutique business when it came to cashflow. So I was so grateful for the model where I didn't have to worry about all of those things.
So anyways, ~um, ~you may be in that similar position that this is something you can put in your pocket for when, and it likely will be when, cause again, Brett Blake, the author of renewal for field leaders. He's the one that pioneered this chisel acronym that we're talking about. And that I touched on last, last,~ um, ~episode, but I'm just kind of going a little deeper and putting again, my Heather faith-based spin. On that first analogy.
There's lots more in that book, which of course I'll link in the show notes. If you want to give it a read, he has really brilliant wisdom, but essentially Azure budgeting or he calls it aiming in the book. I want you to look at the lowest that you've made the look your lowest month in the last 12 months, rather than your highest month, which is really tempting or worse.
What you hope to make this year, what you plan to make. Because as an optimist, I get it friends like, you know, you, you have confidence in your. Team that you're going to continue to grow or that. You know, you've got that gal [00:14:00] that's just really close to ranking, and then she's going to push you up, which means your paycheck is going to go higher.
And I'm not saying that can't happen. But what I am saying is if you plan on the baseline for your expectation on your lowest month, You're going to be elated when you have a higher month than that. Okay. So that's tip number two is planned for your worst month. Rather than your best month when it comes to projecting cash in your business. All right. Number three.
And this is something I probably have talked about on this podcast, but I'm going to repeat it again because I've had this conversation with multiple teams or multiple leaders over the years who really kind of grasp this concept and were able to improve their cash in a significant way in their business, because. What happens a lot of times, as you grow in leadership, you start to kind of slip into management mode, which means that your personal sales start to suffer, which means sometimes your income can dip. And balancing personal cells and team. You know, that's a whole other episode and a whole other [00:15:00] conversation. But what happens is out occasionally have a leader, someone come to me that says, okay, I think I'm going to need to go get a part-time job, or I might have to go back to work, or I'm looking for an additional income stream, something along those lines.
And while there is no shame in that, and Brett is, is very much, ~um,~ you know, in the book he talks about, we need to stop the stigma that you have to quit your job or be full-time with your network marketing business, which in reality, I still kind of stand by this. If you're working full time, meaning 40 hours a week. Unless you're in a season of full-on sprint. I honestly think you're, you're working too much in your business and I don't think that's what it takes in the business.
And so that does leave time for other passions or other income streams in your life. And if that is a part-time job or a full-time job, something like that, you can still do this business model. So I'm not saying that that's not a bad idea, but the conversation that I've had when leaders have approached me on, Hey, I've got to make an extra thousand dollars or $2,000 a month.
We've got to cover the bills. Maybe your [00:16:00] husband lost his job or. Or you, you know, maybe did decide to go full on in, in your network marketing business. And you've got to make up the difference from that other job. So if you need to make more money in your business, I would start with your personal sales, because for a couple of reasons, one it's the thing you can control the most.
So you can't technically control, like who's going to purchase from you and who's not, but it's a lot easier to control the actions that you can take personally to build your personal business than it is to force other people to do it so that you make a smaller percentage of what they do. So yes, this business model is amazing and that, you know, when you get to the highest levels of the business, Your income can be sustained by helping a lot of people do just a little bit of business.
That's an amazing, amazing thing to go to a goal to go for. But if you aren't there yet, which again, it takes. Five to seven years at a minimum to even think [00:17:00] about getting to that position and you find your paycheck going backwards. Turning your energy back to where you're likely going to make the highest commission percentage, which is your personal sales.
So for example, in our company and saying it's up to 40% commission, whereas a lot of times I'll see these leaders slip into like the 25% commission bracket or the 30% commission bracket. And they're just kind of hitting their minimums maybe to get paid at their rank. Whereas, if they strive to step it back up to the 40% commission bracket. Which, you know, isn't. You know, again, maybe. One to 5% of the company's doing so it's definitely a higher level, but that is something that I guarantee.
If you just go one commission bracket up or just continually increase your business and give yourself some time and space to do it or. Just go all in on setting that really, really big goal for your business. I started my business that way with trying to go for the 40% commission bracket. And so if you do that, if you, if you aim to focus on your personal sales, For example in our company, even without hitting [00:18:00] that 40% commission bracket, if you sell $3,000 in sales in the us, that's about 1,050.
And actually I think it might even apply to Canada as well for us, but that's a little over a thousand dollars a month in your pocket. And so it might seem really overwhelming to say, oh, I just need to go sell another $3,000 to make a thousand dollars in your business. But I promise you when you break that down over a month and you think that's less than a thousand dollars a month and you think, and you look over the ways that you make money in your business.
To where I know my average sale for a new customer is about 200, right? So if I go find 10 new customers, that's about 2000. So I could do that by maybe having a few in-person classes. Or I could best out more content than I typically do. However, you're currently getting your customers. If you were to step up. Your game and the scale it up just a little bit to get more business and then hopefully feed in from some additional reorders, maybe by serving your [00:19:00] customers even even better, you can grow your personal income in a greater level. But what's the best part about this is. ~Uh, ~momentum on your team starts with you. And the speed of the leader is the speed of the pack.
So as you start to increase and improve your personal business, your team is going to take notice, and they're going to start to do the things they see you do. And they're going to start to take action in their business, and they're going to start to see those results, which is also going to improve your own personal business.
So if you've taken a step back, if your paycheck has gone backwards, because you've taken a step back in your personal business. I encourage you to dive in. And focus back on how you can control your actions to bring in some income on the personal commission side of your business. And just reverse engineer it and scale it based off of what you need, because anything is possible. Leadership isn't easy.
And, but I know that you can do it. If you're listening to this podcast. You [00:20:00] have a heart for others, you have a heart for the Lord, and if you seek him and if you pray about it, he will give you the ideas and the actions. You just need to take the steps to make it happen. Okay. So that is number three is if you need more money now, focus on your personal sales, which is where you're going to get the highest commission and the highest level of control in your business. Okay.
Number four. And this is kind of, uh, I guess, tied to the, you know, more budgeting expense side of things. And we talked about this last week is that was one of my first three steps with the C and the chisel acronym was to kind of do a budget basically to analyze where you are, where you're spending your money, where you're making your money and going through all your expenses.
So this is kind of taking this a step further and asking yourself, is this expense something I would tell everyone. On my team to do. Or is it taking it a step further? Is this something that brings you money in your business? And if the answer [00:21:00] is no, you should absolutely stop spinning that. And so here's what I mean by that.
So for example, if you do a lot of online classes, Something like visibly. I can be an amazing investment for your business. So it's a, it's a monthly fee. That you, you pay for that can help automate some of the posts in an online business? Well, I was paying for this for awhile until I kind of stopped doing online classes.
Not because I don't believe in them. I just shifted it. Shift. shifted or pivoted my focus into generating revenue and other areas in my business, personal sales wise. And so it wasn't worth it for me to invest that $10 or whatever it is a month in something like viscerally. So I cut it even though I can afford it.
It's still smart to get really, really lean and only pay for the things that you need in your business. Same thing. You know, if I know that every time I send a text message to all of my customers, letting them know about whatever special, or even just checking in or saying, Hey, I'm closing out this month party link. You know, let me know if you need anything. Or just taking the time to touch base with them via [00:22:00] text message.
I know every time I do that in my business, I will get money in my business. So for me, absolutely investing in a text marketing platform. Is a worthwhile investment and yes, it's an investment rather than an expense because paying for that and having a separate place to communicate with my customers that gives me boundaries in my business, allows me to kind of feel like a big girl business owner with my own business number.
Right. It allows me to better serve my team and make use of that investment. But again, if you're not texting, if you're not taking advantage of this, first of all, you should be. Or if you're spending money on like one of the really big platforms, cause project broadcasts is super affordable, but there are others that cost a ton of money. ~Um, ~that in my mind, like I used to pay for those, but my volume of business doesn't necessarily justify spending that much money.
And plus I wouldn't tell except about 0.5% of my team to use those platforms. So I'd rather invest in the one that's [00:23:00] more affordable and the one that I would recommend almost anybody to use in their business. And so really take the time to analyze what you're spending your money on. Same thing with things like assistance.
I have had. I've definitely wasted a lot of money on assistance and coaching. And things that we're not bringing the value in my business, that I let you know, let go of my business, but then I've also invested time in coaching and in with my amazing assistant right now, she is such a blessing and a literal God-given. Gift to me. ~Uh, ~which I think I talked about in another episode.
And honestly, that was a perfect example of, I was not being a good steward of my resources nor the assistance that I was using. ~Um, ~prior to, because I was a horrible delegator. So what did I do? I prayed for wisdom from the Lord to improve that delegation skill, to help me find the right person that would be the right fit for me.
And he gave literally, I believe that with all my soul, that. He gave me [00:24:00] my assistant, Jess, who is just like one of the best investments I could have in my business. But if you're not there yet, or if you're like me where you're spinning. You know, a thousand or hundreds or whatever it is a month, but yet it's not bringing you value in your business.
Now is the time to analyze each. And one of those expenses and ask yourself, is this bringing value to my business? And is this something that I would tell anyone at my, at my level. ~Um, ~you know, cause that's the other thing is certain things like if you're not making the money, you definitely shouldn't be spending money on like an assistant, right?
Like you want to make sure you're not investing more than 20% of what you're making back into all of these expenses. And again, I talked about that way back in my finance CS series. So definitely go check out that if you want a deeper dive, but. If you, if the expense is something you would tell someone at that level, like at the highest levels of our business, having an assistant to help with the tasks that don't bring you joy. Or that drain your time.
It can give you so much more freedom in your business. And so some, some of these things, when I say, is it something you would want [00:25:00] your team to do? It might be, is it something you would tell your team to do at the level of income that you have in your business? If that makes sense. So that's number four is go through all your expenses.
Get really clear on the value that it's bringing to your business. And don't be scared to make some cuts so that you can operate from a more lean perspective, because if you're making a lot of money, but you're also spending a lot of money, that's not cash in your pocket and that's not going to serve you well, especially if you were check is going to dip or go backwards.
Okay. So that's number four. Number five. The last tip is one of the best ways that you can spend your money is something I consider an investment and not an expense. And that is getting yourself at as many of your Teenie's to in-person events or gatherings. So that can be as simple as having some local girlfriends out to dinner. You know, in your town and you split the bill. Uh, you know, you kind of just go have Mexican, something fun like that.
It could be you hosting a [00:26:00] retreat, which is something I'm going to be doing next week for my direct ladies in conjunction with our virtual conference. And it's going to be amazing cause it's nice and small and intimate. But it's a way that other leaders can connect with each other. And some of them aren't even leaders yet, but they're, they're here.
They love the product and they want to take the time to connect with other people. And it will be an investment on my part, both in terms of time and money. But it is the best money I could ever spend because it is creating that connection and that community that is quite honestly, one of the things people need and love the most about this business model. Same thing goes for a conference.
So ours is coming up this fall. It will be in September for our company. And this is one of those things that if you have the goals for your business, you have to be at that conference. You have to be there. I know this because I almost skipped the first one because I thought my husband, wasn't going to be happy with me going, because it was his birthday.
The girls were starting school the next day. And I just kind of [00:27:00] made excuses as to why it really wasn't gonna work out for me. And I think I was a little bit scared to be honest, but thankfully my mentor was like, no, you have to be there. You don't understand. You have to be there. And not only did she say that, but she said, I know from learning in this business model, Eric Warry says that. On average for every teammate that you bring to a conference, your company's annual conference or ours is every 18 months is a thousand dollars on your paycheck. Over the course of the next year.
So again, if you want to make thousands of extra dollars in your business over the next year, Get as many teams as you can to come to in-person conference with you or come and do a gathering like it doesn't have to be fancy. Just sit in your, you know, your living room. And get together again, go, go out to Mexican, but investing in times and ways for you to get together in person is going to be one of the best ways that you can. Grow your business and make more money so that you can [00:28:00] be a good steward of it and take advantage of this amazing business model. So I hope that this episode was helpful and giving you some kind of novel ideas for what you can do right now to help you grow your business.
And in particular, grow the cash in your business. So just know that this is something that you can get through with help from the Lord, seek him first, follow these simple steps. And again, if you don't quite yet have a full understanding of the mind money mindset, definitely check out the series and a few of the episodes that I did and I'll link a couple. ~Um, ~in the show notes for you guys to check out as well and check out the seed 10 podcasts, my friends, Bob and Linda you'll absolutely love them as well.
So thank you guys so much. Stay tuned for another episode next week. Bye. [00:29:00]
