Everything you do within your business has a financial impact<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI thought we\u2019d crack on with the idea that business owners, when they start their business, they don\u2019t tend to be numbers people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They are either an amazing baker or an incredible carpenter, or they\u2019ve got a great idea for an app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what tends to go wrong when you haven\u2019t got your head in numbers mode from day one, from the jump?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s always dangerous not knowing your numbers because it\u2019s the actions that you\u2019re taking around your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I say that everything you do in business has a financial impact, whatever it is you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So from the moment you wake up in the morning and make a decision or take an action, when you turn the light on, you\u2019ve incurred a cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you open an email, or ignore an email, you could either make a sale or reject a sale or you\u2019ve upset your customer and you\u2019ve lost a customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So every single action and thought that you have can potentially have a financial impact, and knowing that then helps you take actions that are data-driven or you know what the impact is going to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s not a case of doing something and hoping for the best. You can then have an understanding as to what potentially might happen and be mindful of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI was going to say this sounds like mindful finance, where literally every action you\u2019re sort of pulling yourself back to what are the implications for my business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely. And then if you understand the actions and then you understand what the numbers are, then you could own it a bit better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not like these numbers sit outside of your business because a lot of people, as you say, they focus on the fulfilment side of whatever their business is, so they shovel it all in and then they focus on the marketing and sales and doing all that stuff and then hope the numbers fall out the bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But actually, if you know what\u2019s going to impact it, then you can drive what your fulfilment process might be or what you\u2019re selling and your services and then actually understanding that to drive your sales and marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then it all comes together and I think of it a bit like a three-legged table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re only focusing on the sales and marketing, or you\u2019re focusing on the fulfilment. If you\u2019re not looking at your finances, your business is going to fall over somewhere along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can wing it for a bit, but as those two grow, the disparity will grow and then your table will just fall over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conquering our fear of numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWhy aren\u2019t people hotter on their numbers? I mean, for as long as I can remember, I have voices in my head saying, \u201cI\u2019m not good at math\u201d or, \u201cOh, these numbers confuse me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is that basically what holds people back that they\u2019re worried it\u2019s too boring or that they\u2019re worried they\u2019re not good enough at it? What is it that\u2019s the blocker here when clearly it\u2019s such an integral part of this three-legged table?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think it\u2019s the fact that especially in the UK, we are taught to be scared of numbers and I don\u2019t even know why because I think learning numbers 1 to 10 was far easier than learning the alphabet at the end of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s visual as well, it\u2019s a quantifiable thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they think, \u201cOkay, it\u2019s numbers\u201d, but if you can add, subtract, multiply and divide, that is all you need to understand your numbers and it\u2019s being connected to what that number actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s like a vocabulary. What does this number mean in essence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So your finances and your accounts are a bit like your health metrics. If you know what number is good, so what is your weight in kilos? Well, you begin to know what you want that number to look like and it\u2019s different for every person, like it is for different for every business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then you start learning the more complicated numbers like your blood pressure and your body fat and your cholesterol levels and all these numbers are just adding to the vocabulary in the same way that your finance is just adding to the vocabulary, and you become connected to that number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I sit there eating doughnuts, my weight\u2019s going to go up, as is my cholesterol, as is everything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so you go back to mindful action, and you go, “Okay, what is going to affect my profit?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then that is just a factor of your revenue and your costs, and so it is just understanding all the numbers behind each different number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most common financial mistakes people make<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo tell me a bit about the common mistakes that you see business owners making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean at the beginning I talked about profit and loss and cash flow. Are they things that tend to boggle people\u2019s minds?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are the top three, I suppose, financial mistakes that people often make?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nFirst thing is when people are starting up, they use their bank account as a measure of profitability, and that\u2019s very, very dangerous because it doesn\u2019t give you the bigger picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s only a snapshot of a moment in time. It doesn\u2019t show what you owe to somebody, and it doesn\u2019t show what somebody else owes to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And a bit like having a train coming down a track, you don\u2019t know when that train\u2019s going to hit you, just like the big bills that are going to hit you and can you afford those?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s trying to look ahead and so many business owners don\u2019t understand that you can use your finances to look at the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All the bookkeeping and accounts that people think about, it\u2019s all historic, it\u2019s all the road that you\u2019ve covered behind you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think people sit there thinking, \u201cOh, the accountants and bookkeepers are just sweeping up the numbers behind them\u201d and that isn\u2019t the case. You take that data and you can start predicting what the road ahead actually looks like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the first mistake is using your bank account to predict your profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other mistake typically, is more of a vanity thing. It\u2019s the, \u201cOh, I\u2019ve sold X amount.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so, they look at how much they\u2019ve sold, which is the turnover figure, but actually they\u2019ve forgotten how much it costs them to sell that product or service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They don\u2019t understand the full extent of what a fixed cost is, which is the cost that gets incurred irrespective of whether you are making a sale or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People also call it the cost of standing still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then your variable costs are driven by if you make a sale, you\u2019ve incurred that cost. If you don\u2019t make a sale, then you don\u2019t incur that cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding the difference between those two and the liability of the fixed cost, which is what can send businesses under, because if your sales go down, you still need to have all these financial commitments like rent or salaries and all these other obligations that you need to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding those key numbers is very important to understanding your cash flow, which also then drives your profitability as well, which is slightly different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding your margins<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd when people talk about margin and profit, why are they different terms and why should people be aware of the margin they\u2019re making on a product or service versus the profit they make maybe at the end of the 3 months or the end of the year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo margin, there\u2019s two margins that people tend to focus on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One is the gross profit margin, which is your sales once you\u2019ve taken away your actual direct cost, which is the cost of sales. That is a very good indicator of how well you\u2019re delivering a service because every time you sell, say a single product, you make your gross profit on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Say for example, you make a gross profit of a \u00a3100 (CA$174) per product that you sell. That is also known as your contribution because every time you sell 1 product, you\u2019re contributing a \u00a3100 (CA$174) towards your fixed costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your fixed costs were a \u00a31,000 (CA$1740), then you need to sell 10 items in order to cover your fixed costs before you start being actually profitable in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding that gives you your breakeven point and your target as to how many sales you need to make, how many conversations you need to have in order to make those sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It starts driving all the other activity around your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gross profit margins are also a good indicator as to how you are comparing to the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you are being more efficient, you managed to buy a product cheaper than anybody else or manufacture it cheaper than anybody else, then it stands you in good stead to be more profitable because you can sell fewer products before you start hitting your profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And understand the margins around your markets and your industries because it will vary and that is a good indicator of how you\u2019re performing against the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Breaking down what having a financial strategy really means<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is so interesting because as soon as you said, \u201cIf you can work out, you need to sell 10 of these items, these products to cover your fixed costs\u201d, to have that information going into your working day, going into your working month, that changes your outlook immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it gives you, I suppose something to aim for beyond, \u201cOh, I just want to be successful\u201d or, \u201cI just want to sell lots of things this month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can see how that then focuses the mind, so immediately it starts making sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But maybe we can break down, I mean taking it to its most basic level, what do we mean by financial strategy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you mean by that and why is that something that people should prioritize in times of their time when they\u2019re already really busy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely, it is the case. Sometimes you need to take time out in order to plan where you didn\u2019t plan your next day, otherwise you are just running from pillar to post. The hamster wheel starts kicking in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So every business owner I see has a goal, an objective, a vision where they want to go to. And so visually I imagine it like a destination they want to go to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so your business, like a car, takes you to a destination, but you\u2019ve got to work out how you\u2019re going to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that essentially is your strategy. What does your vision look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it tends to be words or pictures and that\u2019s really hard to gauge and measure. How do you know when you\u2019re going to achieve it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the best.\u201d I mean, what does that actually mean to be the best?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the most efficient, I want to be the best well known\u201d or whatever that vision might look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can\u2019t quantify it and you can\u2019t measure it in that case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you say, \u201cI want to lose weight.\u201d Well, how much weight do you want to lose? By when?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a strategy tends to be words and pictures. A financial strategy is literally converting that into numbers so that you can track how you\u2019re going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of a financial strategy a bit like the Google Maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know how you\u2019re going to get there, what route you\u2019re going to take, how long it\u2019s going to take you, and how you are going to track the milestones on your route. And also understanding what resources you have in order to get you to that destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the key resource would be cash. So like a vehicle needs fuel, your business needs cash and cash is essentially the sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you\u2019ve got to have some sense of understanding how much cash you need in your business and how long that will last you until you need more revenue again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hence the burn rate, you need to know how long it will take you to get to your destination and how much cash you\u2019ll need to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m loving these examples because it feels like you are really breaking down these financial concepts to things like managing your weight and getting from A to B in your car, how you\u2019d get to your destination?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you feel like that is the way to help people get over that financial fear factor, making the concepts a lot more relatable in this way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely. I think all my analogies are just the way I visualize things, and so I then use it to describe, and I\u2019ve realized that it does really help people make it feel relatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because they think, \u201cOkay, I can have this analogy\u201d and it does help join the dots in their head as to what it actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I try and make it relatable to everybody in their specific industry because whilst the concepts are very generic, trying to bring it into a different person\u2019s industry, it has to connect the dots for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So whether you\u2019re a service-based industry or a product-based industry, you just have a slight nuance in how it\u2019s applied and it does help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding your finances in detail can help you optimize your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThere might be people listening thinking, \u201cOh, you know what? I know basically if I sell this many I\u2019m doing all right. I don\u2019t need to dig into my numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you\u2019ve helped a lot of business owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you see in terms of their confidence, their ability to succeed once they do face their financial fears? What is the consequence? Is there a general improvement in their ability to get results? What have you seen in your experience?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDefinitely. Especially for females, because we focus on what we don\u2019t know and it\u2019s kind of like the little elephant in the room and you know it\u2019s there, but you\u2019re kind of like, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll deal with it later and I vaguely know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you know something with a bit more certainty, then you can understand whether to go forward with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So back to the car analogy, if you can visualize the road ahead and you can see the road is clear, you know you can put your foot down and you\u2019ve got plenty of fuel in the tank you need, you can just go for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you\u2019re driving through fog, you\u2019re kind of guessing your way and you can hamper your own progress because you don\u2019t know the road ahead is clear, and you can get really ahead of the competition if the road is clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if the competition knows the road is clear, they\u2019re going to beat you to the destination if the destination is of a very similar place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So knowing where you are and what you have with vision and clear understanding, you can then optimize your own business, irrespective of anybody else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we always hesitate in life when we don\u2019t know what we\u2019re doing and if we\u2019re going for funding and we don\u2019t know the numbers, it\u2019s going to come across when you\u2019re pitching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know that if you ate a donut one day, you need to compensate by not eating donuts and being really good for the next few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the same thing with business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have a bad decision, or a bad situation, you then know, \u201cOkay, well that happened. I need to find some other way to mitigate or compensate for that downside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if you know for a fact that something went really well, you can double down and go, \u201cRight, I can really forge ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s being far more proactive around your decisions when you really know the finances and the implication of all your actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyone can learn to understand numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting there that you mentioned women in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a trend that you see amongst the female business owners that come and see you that there\u2019s a lot higher barrier to the grappling with the finances, grappling with the numbers, or is it sort of equal for men and women?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think women are far more willing to admit to it, and I think personally, I\u2019m not very good at blagging it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think it does hamper women because they can\u2019t blag it. Men can blag it and they sound more confident, like they know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I don\u2019t think necessarily men know any better when it comes to their numbers because sometimes, they think they know and that can actually be a disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They start forging ahead thinking they\u2019ve got money in the bank, et cetera, but they don\u2019t realize the fact that they actually don\u2019t, their profitability is not being measured correctly, they don\u2019t have the right records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, if you put numbers in the wrong buckets and you\u2019re looking at the wrong number, it\u2019s telling you a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we go back to the metrics, your numbers tell you a story, but if you\u2019ve got the wrong words telling you the wrong story, then you\u2019re going to take the wrong actions as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So in that sense, male and females, not necessarily, but women just are more reticent, they tend to admit they don\u2019t like numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think it\u2019s also probably societal pressures and thinking women are no good with numbers. I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s the case at all because like you say, anybody can add, anybody can subtract and just understanding what that number means, good or bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you can understand your own weight number, you can understand a number in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From dentistry to becoming an accidental accountant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nNo, that\u2019s really interesting. And how did you get here, Julie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s your background? How did you become the financial fortune-teller? I would want to know a bit about your path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, you\u2019ll never believe this, but I\u2019m a completely accidental accountant, I became a reluctant accountant and became an accidental mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So really dialing back, I mean at the age of 10 I wanted to be a dentist and so I did all my A-levels, got to university [collage], did 1 year of dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, I actually like sciences, not knowing that at the age of 10 I was actually any good at sciences, but I did love science and math and things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So anyway, I got to dentistry, I didn\u2019t want to be a dentist, so switched over into business, and became an accountant because I wanted to do business, but my sister said, \u201cNo, don\u2019t do business, do accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up graduating, got offered a job as a chartered accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I trained as an auditor and it was so dry. I mean really, it was not a gratifying experience. I understand why people think numbers are just boring because they are, until you understand the story behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had many different jobs trying to find my niche. I went from practice to different industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve walked so much distance width ways as opposed to the classical finance director route. I\u2019ve been in banking, and I mean budgets, I completely understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was doing a banking budget at 3am in the morning at Canary Wharf, not a gratifying experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I took a massive career break after that, not surprisingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then somebody invited me to collaborate and support her being a business mentor, and I started doing accelerators for universities and I became a mentor for the British Library on the finance modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was during lockdown when somebody said, \u201cJulie, you\u2019re not the typical accountant, that is not what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went like, \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, I\u2019ve just literally got goosebumps now just remembering that because it made me really happy dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was about helping people and I suddenly thought, \u201cOh my god, yeah, I now understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s not about what I do, it\u2019s about helping others with the knowledge, and that\u2019s what I find really gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really about helping everybody else achieve their dreams and remove their blockages when it comes to numbers because it then helps them just go ahead and just do what they want to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the bit that makes me excited and everybody has a greater risk appetite than I do, and it is just brilliant. I love that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can literally see you radiating enthusiasm and joy through the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You clearly, you are just glowing thinking about the fact that this is the path your career has taken, whereas when you were talking about becoming a dentist, you were just all freezing up, withdrawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted you to say, \u201cYeah, I would say then I looked into someone\u2019s mouth and realized I never wanted to do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDidn\u2019t get as far as looking into somebody else\u2019s mouth. It was a pre-clinical year, but I did get to dissect a cadaver, which was interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, I\u2019ve done a few interesting things in my life, so it\u2019s gratifying for that reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Becoming a better business mentor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you are obviously building a brand now, so you are not only advising other business owners, you are yourself a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to know a little bit about any interesting challenges or bumps in the road that you have experienced which have made you in turn a better mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI completely understand the whole journey of being a mentor, what it takes to be a business owner. Because when I switched over to being a business mentor, I didn\u2019t have a steady income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was literally like, \u201cOh my God, what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s like I have all this knowledge, I want to share this knowledge, but how does that actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s packaging up my services and then who is my ideal client? I mean, that is still slightly more generic than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everybody says niche, niche, niche, but I feel like a chef that can cook anything, but it\u2019s what do you want to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somebody might want a burger, somebody might want something more refined, somebody might just want a sandwich, but I can do all of those, but who actually wants something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the problem with finance is that most business owners think of finance as being the historic bookkeeping, annual accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call those people the file and forget brigade because you literally get it, put it in the drawer and you\u2019ve forgotten about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s so much magic in unlocking those numbers and trying to tell somebody the story of the magic that\u2019s there is quite hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not selling, but it\u2019s trying to convince people the value that is there because small business owners don\u2019t have an in-house strategic element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas you think about big businesses, they\u2019ve got whole teams of people crunching numbers going, \u201cWhere are we going? What is the business doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of it a bit like Lewis Hamilton out on the pit lane. He\u2019s driving, he\u2019s the CEO of his vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s driving there, but he\u2019s got a whole pit lane team with all the data telling him where is the competition? What is the track ahead like? Is there going to be a wet weather spell? And all the data around his car, are you going fast? Have you got enough fuel? What\u2019s the state of your tires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your engine\u2019s overheating, your fins need adjusting. You\u2019re not holding track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all this data that your pit lane team is feeding you and that\u2019s what your financial metrics can help you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that story is quite hard to convince people when they\u2019re focused on trying to make a sale and bring business in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re early stage, you need to have a high level, a bit like me, I need to vaguely know how many sales I need to make, and then you can focus on the marketing and sales side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as you get bigger, you\u2019ll start looking at the numbers because the numbers will get more complicated as you go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s a bit like learn a bit of knowledge, go away, learn a bit of knowledge, go away, until you then need somebody, like a personal trainer, by your side. Because this is when you really need somebody by your side constantly feeding you the information because the information is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re early stage, the information doesn\u2019t change as much. So it\u2019s just understanding when you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How delving into your numbers can effectively change your business strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg\")
\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thow to grow your business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
I thought we\u2019d crack on with the idea that business owners, when they start their business, they don\u2019t tend to be numbers people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They are either an amazing baker or an incredible carpenter, or they\u2019ve got a great idea for an app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what tends to go wrong when you haven\u2019t got your head in numbers mode from day one, from the jump?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s always dangerous not knowing your numbers because it\u2019s the actions that you\u2019re taking around your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I say that everything you do in business has a financial impact, whatever it is you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So from the moment you wake up in the morning and make a decision or take an action, when you turn the light on, you\u2019ve incurred a cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you open an email, or ignore an email, you could either make a sale or reject a sale or you\u2019ve upset your customer and you\u2019ve lost a customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So every single action and thought that you have can potentially have a financial impact, and knowing that then helps you take actions that are data-driven or you know what the impact is going to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s not a case of doing something and hoping for the best. You can then have an understanding as to what potentially might happen and be mindful of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI was going to say this sounds like mindful finance, where literally every action you\u2019re sort of pulling yourself back to what are the implications for my business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely. And then if you understand the actions and then you understand what the numbers are, then you could own it a bit better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not like these numbers sit outside of your business because a lot of people, as you say, they focus on the fulfilment side of whatever their business is, so they shovel it all in and then they focus on the marketing and sales and doing all that stuff and then hope the numbers fall out the bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But actually, if you know what\u2019s going to impact it, then you can drive what your fulfilment process might be or what you\u2019re selling and your services and then actually understanding that to drive your sales and marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then it all comes together and I think of it a bit like a three-legged table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re only focusing on the sales and marketing, or you\u2019re focusing on the fulfilment. If you\u2019re not looking at your finances, your business is going to fall over somewhere along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can wing it for a bit, but as those two grow, the disparity will grow and then your table will just fall over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conquering our fear of numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWhy aren\u2019t people hotter on their numbers? I mean, for as long as I can remember, I have voices in my head saying, \u201cI\u2019m not good at math\u201d or, \u201cOh, these numbers confuse me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is that basically what holds people back that they\u2019re worried it\u2019s too boring or that they\u2019re worried they\u2019re not good enough at it? What is it that\u2019s the blocker here when clearly it\u2019s such an integral part of this three-legged table?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think it\u2019s the fact that especially in the UK, we are taught to be scared of numbers and I don\u2019t even know why because I think learning numbers 1 to 10 was far easier than learning the alphabet at the end of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s visual as well, it\u2019s a quantifiable thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they think, \u201cOkay, it\u2019s numbers\u201d, but if you can add, subtract, multiply and divide, that is all you need to understand your numbers and it\u2019s being connected to what that number actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s like a vocabulary. What does this number mean in essence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So your finances and your accounts are a bit like your health metrics. If you know what number is good, so what is your weight in kilos? Well, you begin to know what you want that number to look like and it\u2019s different for every person, like it is for different for every business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then you start learning the more complicated numbers like your blood pressure and your body fat and your cholesterol levels and all these numbers are just adding to the vocabulary in the same way that your finance is just adding to the vocabulary, and you become connected to that number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I sit there eating doughnuts, my weight\u2019s going to go up, as is my cholesterol, as is everything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so you go back to mindful action, and you go, “Okay, what is going to affect my profit?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then that is just a factor of your revenue and your costs, and so it is just understanding all the numbers behind each different number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most common financial mistakes people make<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo tell me a bit about the common mistakes that you see business owners making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean at the beginning I talked about profit and loss and cash flow. Are they things that tend to boggle people\u2019s minds?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are the top three, I suppose, financial mistakes that people often make?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nFirst thing is when people are starting up, they use their bank account as a measure of profitability, and that\u2019s very, very dangerous because it doesn\u2019t give you the bigger picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s only a snapshot of a moment in time. It doesn\u2019t show what you owe to somebody, and it doesn\u2019t show what somebody else owes to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And a bit like having a train coming down a track, you don\u2019t know when that train\u2019s going to hit you, just like the big bills that are going to hit you and can you afford those?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s trying to look ahead and so many business owners don\u2019t understand that you can use your finances to look at the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All the bookkeeping and accounts that people think about, it\u2019s all historic, it\u2019s all the road that you\u2019ve covered behind you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think people sit there thinking, \u201cOh, the accountants and bookkeepers are just sweeping up the numbers behind them\u201d and that isn\u2019t the case. You take that data and you can start predicting what the road ahead actually looks like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the first mistake is using your bank account to predict your profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other mistake typically, is more of a vanity thing. It\u2019s the, \u201cOh, I\u2019ve sold X amount.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so, they look at how much they\u2019ve sold, which is the turnover figure, but actually they\u2019ve forgotten how much it costs them to sell that product or service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They don\u2019t understand the full extent of what a fixed cost is, which is the cost that gets incurred irrespective of whether you are making a sale or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People also call it the cost of standing still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then your variable costs are driven by if you make a sale, you\u2019ve incurred that cost. If you don\u2019t make a sale, then you don\u2019t incur that cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding the difference between those two and the liability of the fixed cost, which is what can send businesses under, because if your sales go down, you still need to have all these financial commitments like rent or salaries and all these other obligations that you need to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding those key numbers is very important to understanding your cash flow, which also then drives your profitability as well, which is slightly different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding your margins<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd when people talk about margin and profit, why are they different terms and why should people be aware of the margin they\u2019re making on a product or service versus the profit they make maybe at the end of the 3 months or the end of the year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo margin, there\u2019s two margins that people tend to focus on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One is the gross profit margin, which is your sales once you\u2019ve taken away your actual direct cost, which is the cost of sales. That is a very good indicator of how well you\u2019re delivering a service because every time you sell, say a single product, you make your gross profit on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Say for example, you make a gross profit of a \u00a3100 (CA$174) per product that you sell. That is also known as your contribution because every time you sell 1 product, you\u2019re contributing a \u00a3100 (CA$174) towards your fixed costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your fixed costs were a \u00a31,000 (CA$1740), then you need to sell 10 items in order to cover your fixed costs before you start being actually profitable in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding that gives you your breakeven point and your target as to how many sales you need to make, how many conversations you need to have in order to make those sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It starts driving all the other activity around your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gross profit margins are also a good indicator as to how you are comparing to the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you are being more efficient, you managed to buy a product cheaper than anybody else or manufacture it cheaper than anybody else, then it stands you in good stead to be more profitable because you can sell fewer products before you start hitting your profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And understand the margins around your markets and your industries because it will vary and that is a good indicator of how you\u2019re performing against the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Breaking down what having a financial strategy really means<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is so interesting because as soon as you said, \u201cIf you can work out, you need to sell 10 of these items, these products to cover your fixed costs\u201d, to have that information going into your working day, going into your working month, that changes your outlook immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it gives you, I suppose something to aim for beyond, \u201cOh, I just want to be successful\u201d or, \u201cI just want to sell lots of things this month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can see how that then focuses the mind, so immediately it starts making sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But maybe we can break down, I mean taking it to its most basic level, what do we mean by financial strategy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you mean by that and why is that something that people should prioritize in times of their time when they\u2019re already really busy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely, it is the case. Sometimes you need to take time out in order to plan where you didn\u2019t plan your next day, otherwise you are just running from pillar to post. The hamster wheel starts kicking in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So every business owner I see has a goal, an objective, a vision where they want to go to. And so visually I imagine it like a destination they want to go to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so your business, like a car, takes you to a destination, but you\u2019ve got to work out how you\u2019re going to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that essentially is your strategy. What does your vision look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it tends to be words or pictures and that\u2019s really hard to gauge and measure. How do you know when you\u2019re going to achieve it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the best.\u201d I mean, what does that actually mean to be the best?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the most efficient, I want to be the best well known\u201d or whatever that vision might look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can\u2019t quantify it and you can\u2019t measure it in that case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you say, \u201cI want to lose weight.\u201d Well, how much weight do you want to lose? By when?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a strategy tends to be words and pictures. A financial strategy is literally converting that into numbers so that you can track how you\u2019re going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of a financial strategy a bit like the Google Maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know how you\u2019re going to get there, what route you\u2019re going to take, how long it\u2019s going to take you, and how you are going to track the milestones on your route. And also understanding what resources you have in order to get you to that destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the key resource would be cash. So like a vehicle needs fuel, your business needs cash and cash is essentially the sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you\u2019ve got to have some sense of understanding how much cash you need in your business and how long that will last you until you need more revenue again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hence the burn rate, you need to know how long it will take you to get to your destination and how much cash you\u2019ll need to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m loving these examples because it feels like you are really breaking down these financial concepts to things like managing your weight and getting from A to B in your car, how you\u2019d get to your destination?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you feel like that is the way to help people get over that financial fear factor, making the concepts a lot more relatable in this way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely. I think all my analogies are just the way I visualize things, and so I then use it to describe, and I\u2019ve realized that it does really help people make it feel relatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because they think, \u201cOkay, I can have this analogy\u201d and it does help join the dots in their head as to what it actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I try and make it relatable to everybody in their specific industry because whilst the concepts are very generic, trying to bring it into a different person\u2019s industry, it has to connect the dots for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So whether you\u2019re a service-based industry or a product-based industry, you just have a slight nuance in how it\u2019s applied and it does help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding your finances in detail can help you optimize your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThere might be people listening thinking, \u201cOh, you know what? I know basically if I sell this many I\u2019m doing all right. I don\u2019t need to dig into my numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you\u2019ve helped a lot of business owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you see in terms of their confidence, their ability to succeed once they do face their financial fears? What is the consequence? Is there a general improvement in their ability to get results? What have you seen in your experience?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDefinitely. Especially for females, because we focus on what we don\u2019t know and it\u2019s kind of like the little elephant in the room and you know it\u2019s there, but you\u2019re kind of like, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll deal with it later and I vaguely know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you know something with a bit more certainty, then you can understand whether to go forward with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So back to the car analogy, if you can visualize the road ahead and you can see the road is clear, you know you can put your foot down and you\u2019ve got plenty of fuel in the tank you need, you can just go for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you\u2019re driving through fog, you\u2019re kind of guessing your way and you can hamper your own progress because you don\u2019t know the road ahead is clear, and you can get really ahead of the competition if the road is clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if the competition knows the road is clear, they\u2019re going to beat you to the destination if the destination is of a very similar place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So knowing where you are and what you have with vision and clear understanding, you can then optimize your own business, irrespective of anybody else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we always hesitate in life when we don\u2019t know what we\u2019re doing and if we\u2019re going for funding and we don\u2019t know the numbers, it\u2019s going to come across when you\u2019re pitching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know that if you ate a donut one day, you need to compensate by not eating donuts and being really good for the next few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the same thing with business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have a bad decision, or a bad situation, you then know, \u201cOkay, well that happened. I need to find some other way to mitigate or compensate for that downside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if you know for a fact that something went really well, you can double down and go, \u201cRight, I can really forge ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s being far more proactive around your decisions when you really know the finances and the implication of all your actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyone can learn to understand numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting there that you mentioned women in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a trend that you see amongst the female business owners that come and see you that there\u2019s a lot higher barrier to the grappling with the finances, grappling with the numbers, or is it sort of equal for men and women?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think women are far more willing to admit to it, and I think personally, I\u2019m not very good at blagging it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think it does hamper women because they can\u2019t blag it. Men can blag it and they sound more confident, like they know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I don\u2019t think necessarily men know any better when it comes to their numbers because sometimes, they think they know and that can actually be a disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They start forging ahead thinking they\u2019ve got money in the bank, et cetera, but they don\u2019t realize the fact that they actually don\u2019t, their profitability is not being measured correctly, they don\u2019t have the right records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, if you put numbers in the wrong buckets and you\u2019re looking at the wrong number, it\u2019s telling you a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we go back to the metrics, your numbers tell you a story, but if you\u2019ve got the wrong words telling you the wrong story, then you\u2019re going to take the wrong actions as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So in that sense, male and females, not necessarily, but women just are more reticent, they tend to admit they don\u2019t like numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think it\u2019s also probably societal pressures and thinking women are no good with numbers. I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s the case at all because like you say, anybody can add, anybody can subtract and just understanding what that number means, good or bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you can understand your own weight number, you can understand a number in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From dentistry to becoming an accidental accountant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nNo, that\u2019s really interesting. And how did you get here, Julie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s your background? How did you become the financial fortune-teller? I would want to know a bit about your path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, you\u2019ll never believe this, but I\u2019m a completely accidental accountant, I became a reluctant accountant and became an accidental mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So really dialing back, I mean at the age of 10 I wanted to be a dentist and so I did all my A-levels, got to university [collage], did 1 year of dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, I actually like sciences, not knowing that at the age of 10 I was actually any good at sciences, but I did love science and math and things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So anyway, I got to dentistry, I didn\u2019t want to be a dentist, so switched over into business, and became an accountant because I wanted to do business, but my sister said, \u201cNo, don\u2019t do business, do accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up graduating, got offered a job as a chartered accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I trained as an auditor and it was so dry. I mean really, it was not a gratifying experience. I understand why people think numbers are just boring because they are, until you understand the story behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had many different jobs trying to find my niche. I went from practice to different industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve walked so much distance width ways as opposed to the classical finance director route. I\u2019ve been in banking, and I mean budgets, I completely understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was doing a banking budget at 3am in the morning at Canary Wharf, not a gratifying experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I took a massive career break after that, not surprisingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then somebody invited me to collaborate and support her being a business mentor, and I started doing accelerators for universities and I became a mentor for the British Library on the finance modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was during lockdown when somebody said, \u201cJulie, you\u2019re not the typical accountant, that is not what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went like, \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, I\u2019ve just literally got goosebumps now just remembering that because it made me really happy dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was about helping people and I suddenly thought, \u201cOh my god, yeah, I now understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s not about what I do, it\u2019s about helping others with the knowledge, and that\u2019s what I find really gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really about helping everybody else achieve their dreams and remove their blockages when it comes to numbers because it then helps them just go ahead and just do what they want to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the bit that makes me excited and everybody has a greater risk appetite than I do, and it is just brilliant. I love that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can literally see you radiating enthusiasm and joy through the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You clearly, you are just glowing thinking about the fact that this is the path your career has taken, whereas when you were talking about becoming a dentist, you were just all freezing up, withdrawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted you to say, \u201cYeah, I would say then I looked into someone\u2019s mouth and realized I never wanted to do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDidn\u2019t get as far as looking into somebody else\u2019s mouth. It was a pre-clinical year, but I did get to dissect a cadaver, which was interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, I\u2019ve done a few interesting things in my life, so it\u2019s gratifying for that reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Becoming a better business mentor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you are obviously building a brand now, so you are not only advising other business owners, you are yourself a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to know a little bit about any interesting challenges or bumps in the road that you have experienced which have made you in turn a better mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI completely understand the whole journey of being a mentor, what it takes to be a business owner. Because when I switched over to being a business mentor, I didn\u2019t have a steady income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was literally like, \u201cOh my God, what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s like I have all this knowledge, I want to share this knowledge, but how does that actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s packaging up my services and then who is my ideal client? I mean, that is still slightly more generic than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everybody says niche, niche, niche, but I feel like a chef that can cook anything, but it\u2019s what do you want to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somebody might want a burger, somebody might want something more refined, somebody might just want a sandwich, but I can do all of those, but who actually wants something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the problem with finance is that most business owners think of finance as being the historic bookkeeping, annual accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call those people the file and forget brigade because you literally get it, put it in the drawer and you\u2019ve forgotten about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s so much magic in unlocking those numbers and trying to tell somebody the story of the magic that\u2019s there is quite hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not selling, but it\u2019s trying to convince people the value that is there because small business owners don\u2019t have an in-house strategic element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas you think about big businesses, they\u2019ve got whole teams of people crunching numbers going, \u201cWhere are we going? What is the business doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of it a bit like Lewis Hamilton out on the pit lane. He\u2019s driving, he\u2019s the CEO of his vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s driving there, but he\u2019s got a whole pit lane team with all the data telling him where is the competition? What is the track ahead like? Is there going to be a wet weather spell? And all the data around his car, are you going fast? Have you got enough fuel? What\u2019s the state of your tires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your engine\u2019s overheating, your fins need adjusting. You\u2019re not holding track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all this data that your pit lane team is feeding you and that\u2019s what your financial metrics can help you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that story is quite hard to convince people when they\u2019re focused on trying to make a sale and bring business in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re early stage, you need to have a high level, a bit like me, I need to vaguely know how many sales I need to make, and then you can focus on the marketing and sales side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as you get bigger, you\u2019ll start looking at the numbers because the numbers will get more complicated as you go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s a bit like learn a bit of knowledge, go away, learn a bit of knowledge, go away, until you then need somebody, like a personal trainer, by your side. Because this is when you really need somebody by your side constantly feeding you the information because the information is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re early stage, the information doesn\u2019t change as much. So it\u2019s just understanding when you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How delving into your numbers can effectively change your business strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tExplore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
I was going to say this sounds like mindful finance, where literally every action you\u2019re sort of pulling yourself back to what are the implications for my business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely. And then if you understand the actions and then you understand what the numbers are, then you could own it a bit better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not like these numbers sit outside of your business because a lot of people, as you say, they focus on the fulfilment side of whatever their business is, so they shovel it all in and then they focus on the marketing and sales and doing all that stuff and then hope the numbers fall out the bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But actually, if you know what\u2019s going to impact it, then you can drive what your fulfilment process might be or what you\u2019re selling and your services and then actually understanding that to drive your sales and marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then it all comes together and I think of it a bit like a three-legged table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re only focusing on the sales and marketing, or you\u2019re focusing on the fulfilment. If you\u2019re not looking at your finances, your business is going to fall over somewhere along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can wing it for a bit, but as those two grow, the disparity will grow and then your table will just fall over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conquering our fear of numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWhy aren\u2019t people hotter on their numbers? I mean, for as long as I can remember, I have voices in my head saying, \u201cI\u2019m not good at math\u201d or, \u201cOh, these numbers confuse me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is that basically what holds people back that they\u2019re worried it\u2019s too boring or that they\u2019re worried they\u2019re not good enough at it? What is it that\u2019s the blocker here when clearly it\u2019s such an integral part of this three-legged table?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think it\u2019s the fact that especially in the UK, we are taught to be scared of numbers and I don\u2019t even know why because I think learning numbers 1 to 10 was far easier than learning the alphabet at the end of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s visual as well, it\u2019s a quantifiable thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they think, \u201cOkay, it\u2019s numbers\u201d, but if you can add, subtract, multiply and divide, that is all you need to understand your numbers and it\u2019s being connected to what that number actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s like a vocabulary. What does this number mean in essence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So your finances and your accounts are a bit like your health metrics. If you know what number is good, so what is your weight in kilos? Well, you begin to know what you want that number to look like and it\u2019s different for every person, like it is for different for every business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then you start learning the more complicated numbers like your blood pressure and your body fat and your cholesterol levels and all these numbers are just adding to the vocabulary in the same way that your finance is just adding to the vocabulary, and you become connected to that number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I sit there eating doughnuts, my weight\u2019s going to go up, as is my cholesterol, as is everything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so you go back to mindful action, and you go, “Okay, what is going to affect my profit?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then that is just a factor of your revenue and your costs, and so it is just understanding all the numbers behind each different number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most common financial mistakes people make<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo tell me a bit about the common mistakes that you see business owners making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean at the beginning I talked about profit and loss and cash flow. Are they things that tend to boggle people\u2019s minds?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are the top three, I suppose, financial mistakes that people often make?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nFirst thing is when people are starting up, they use their bank account as a measure of profitability, and that\u2019s very, very dangerous because it doesn\u2019t give you the bigger picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s only a snapshot of a moment in time. It doesn\u2019t show what you owe to somebody, and it doesn\u2019t show what somebody else owes to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And a bit like having a train coming down a track, you don\u2019t know when that train\u2019s going to hit you, just like the big bills that are going to hit you and can you afford those?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s trying to look ahead and so many business owners don\u2019t understand that you can use your finances to look at the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All the bookkeeping and accounts that people think about, it\u2019s all historic, it\u2019s all the road that you\u2019ve covered behind you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think people sit there thinking, \u201cOh, the accountants and bookkeepers are just sweeping up the numbers behind them\u201d and that isn\u2019t the case. You take that data and you can start predicting what the road ahead actually looks like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the first mistake is using your bank account to predict your profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other mistake typically, is more of a vanity thing. It\u2019s the, \u201cOh, I\u2019ve sold X amount.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so, they look at how much they\u2019ve sold, which is the turnover figure, but actually they\u2019ve forgotten how much it costs them to sell that product or service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They don\u2019t understand the full extent of what a fixed cost is, which is the cost that gets incurred irrespective of whether you are making a sale or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People also call it the cost of standing still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then your variable costs are driven by if you make a sale, you\u2019ve incurred that cost. If you don\u2019t make a sale, then you don\u2019t incur that cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding the difference between those two and the liability of the fixed cost, which is what can send businesses under, because if your sales go down, you still need to have all these financial commitments like rent or salaries and all these other obligations that you need to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding those key numbers is very important to understanding your cash flow, which also then drives your profitability as well, which is slightly different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding your margins<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd when people talk about margin and profit, why are they different terms and why should people be aware of the margin they\u2019re making on a product or service versus the profit they make maybe at the end of the 3 months or the end of the year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo margin, there\u2019s two margins that people tend to focus on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One is the gross profit margin, which is your sales once you\u2019ve taken away your actual direct cost, which is the cost of sales. That is a very good indicator of how well you\u2019re delivering a service because every time you sell, say a single product, you make your gross profit on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Say for example, you make a gross profit of a \u00a3100 (CA$174) per product that you sell. That is also known as your contribution because every time you sell 1 product, you\u2019re contributing a \u00a3100 (CA$174) towards your fixed costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your fixed costs were a \u00a31,000 (CA$1740), then you need to sell 10 items in order to cover your fixed costs before you start being actually profitable in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding that gives you your breakeven point and your target as to how many sales you need to make, how many conversations you need to have in order to make those sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It starts driving all the other activity around your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gross profit margins are also a good indicator as to how you are comparing to the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you are being more efficient, you managed to buy a product cheaper than anybody else or manufacture it cheaper than anybody else, then it stands you in good stead to be more profitable because you can sell fewer products before you start hitting your profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And understand the margins around your markets and your industries because it will vary and that is a good indicator of how you\u2019re performing against the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Breaking down what having a financial strategy really means<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is so interesting because as soon as you said, \u201cIf you can work out, you need to sell 10 of these items, these products to cover your fixed costs\u201d, to have that information going into your working day, going into your working month, that changes your outlook immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it gives you, I suppose something to aim for beyond, \u201cOh, I just want to be successful\u201d or, \u201cI just want to sell lots of things this month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can see how that then focuses the mind, so immediately it starts making sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But maybe we can break down, I mean taking it to its most basic level, what do we mean by financial strategy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you mean by that and why is that something that people should prioritize in times of their time when they\u2019re already really busy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely, it is the case. Sometimes you need to take time out in order to plan where you didn\u2019t plan your next day, otherwise you are just running from pillar to post. The hamster wheel starts kicking in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So every business owner I see has a goal, an objective, a vision where they want to go to. And so visually I imagine it like a destination they want to go to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so your business, like a car, takes you to a destination, but you\u2019ve got to work out how you\u2019re going to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that essentially is your strategy. What does your vision look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it tends to be words or pictures and that\u2019s really hard to gauge and measure. How do you know when you\u2019re going to achieve it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the best.\u201d I mean, what does that actually mean to be the best?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the most efficient, I want to be the best well known\u201d or whatever that vision might look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can\u2019t quantify it and you can\u2019t measure it in that case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you say, \u201cI want to lose weight.\u201d Well, how much weight do you want to lose? By when?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a strategy tends to be words and pictures. A financial strategy is literally converting that into numbers so that you can track how you\u2019re going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of a financial strategy a bit like the Google Maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know how you\u2019re going to get there, what route you\u2019re going to take, how long it\u2019s going to take you, and how you are going to track the milestones on your route. And also understanding what resources you have in order to get you to that destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the key resource would be cash. So like a vehicle needs fuel, your business needs cash and cash is essentially the sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you\u2019ve got to have some sense of understanding how much cash you need in your business and how long that will last you until you need more revenue again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hence the burn rate, you need to know how long it will take you to get to your destination and how much cash you\u2019ll need to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m loving these examples because it feels like you are really breaking down these financial concepts to things like managing your weight and getting from A to B in your car, how you\u2019d get to your destination?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you feel like that is the way to help people get over that financial fear factor, making the concepts a lot more relatable in this way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely. I think all my analogies are just the way I visualize things, and so I then use it to describe, and I\u2019ve realized that it does really help people make it feel relatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because they think, \u201cOkay, I can have this analogy\u201d and it does help join the dots in their head as to what it actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I try and make it relatable to everybody in their specific industry because whilst the concepts are very generic, trying to bring it into a different person\u2019s industry, it has to connect the dots for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So whether you\u2019re a service-based industry or a product-based industry, you just have a slight nuance in how it\u2019s applied and it does help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding your finances in detail can help you optimize your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThere might be people listening thinking, \u201cOh, you know what? I know basically if I sell this many I\u2019m doing all right. I don\u2019t need to dig into my numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you\u2019ve helped a lot of business owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you see in terms of their confidence, their ability to succeed once they do face their financial fears? What is the consequence? Is there a general improvement in their ability to get results? What have you seen in your experience?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDefinitely. Especially for females, because we focus on what we don\u2019t know and it\u2019s kind of like the little elephant in the room and you know it\u2019s there, but you\u2019re kind of like, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll deal with it later and I vaguely know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you know something with a bit more certainty, then you can understand whether to go forward with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So back to the car analogy, if you can visualize the road ahead and you can see the road is clear, you know you can put your foot down and you\u2019ve got plenty of fuel in the tank you need, you can just go for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you\u2019re driving through fog, you\u2019re kind of guessing your way and you can hamper your own progress because you don\u2019t know the road ahead is clear, and you can get really ahead of the competition if the road is clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if the competition knows the road is clear, they\u2019re going to beat you to the destination if the destination is of a very similar place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So knowing where you are and what you have with vision and clear understanding, you can then optimize your own business, irrespective of anybody else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we always hesitate in life when we don\u2019t know what we\u2019re doing and if we\u2019re going for funding and we don\u2019t know the numbers, it\u2019s going to come across when you\u2019re pitching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know that if you ate a donut one day, you need to compensate by not eating donuts and being really good for the next few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the same thing with business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have a bad decision, or a bad situation, you then know, \u201cOkay, well that happened. I need to find some other way to mitigate or compensate for that downside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if you know for a fact that something went really well, you can double down and go, \u201cRight, I can really forge ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s being far more proactive around your decisions when you really know the finances and the implication of all your actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyone can learn to understand numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting there that you mentioned women in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a trend that you see amongst the female business owners that come and see you that there\u2019s a lot higher barrier to the grappling with the finances, grappling with the numbers, or is it sort of equal for men and women?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think women are far more willing to admit to it, and I think personally, I\u2019m not very good at blagging it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think it does hamper women because they can\u2019t blag it. Men can blag it and they sound more confident, like they know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I don\u2019t think necessarily men know any better when it comes to their numbers because sometimes, they think they know and that can actually be a disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They start forging ahead thinking they\u2019ve got money in the bank, et cetera, but they don\u2019t realize the fact that they actually don\u2019t, their profitability is not being measured correctly, they don\u2019t have the right records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, if you put numbers in the wrong buckets and you\u2019re looking at the wrong number, it\u2019s telling you a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we go back to the metrics, your numbers tell you a story, but if you\u2019ve got the wrong words telling you the wrong story, then you\u2019re going to take the wrong actions as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So in that sense, male and females, not necessarily, but women just are more reticent, they tend to admit they don\u2019t like numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think it\u2019s also probably societal pressures and thinking women are no good with numbers. I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s the case at all because like you say, anybody can add, anybody can subtract and just understanding what that number means, good or bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you can understand your own weight number, you can understand a number in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From dentistry to becoming an accidental accountant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nNo, that\u2019s really interesting. And how did you get here, Julie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s your background? How did you become the financial fortune-teller? I would want to know a bit about your path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, you\u2019ll never believe this, but I\u2019m a completely accidental accountant, I became a reluctant accountant and became an accidental mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So really dialing back, I mean at the age of 10 I wanted to be a dentist and so I did all my A-levels, got to university [collage], did 1 year of dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, I actually like sciences, not knowing that at the age of 10 I was actually any good at sciences, but I did love science and math and things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So anyway, I got to dentistry, I didn\u2019t want to be a dentist, so switched over into business, and became an accountant because I wanted to do business, but my sister said, \u201cNo, don\u2019t do business, do accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up graduating, got offered a job as a chartered accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I trained as an auditor and it was so dry. I mean really, it was not a gratifying experience. I understand why people think numbers are just boring because they are, until you understand the story behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had many different jobs trying to find my niche. I went from practice to different industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve walked so much distance width ways as opposed to the classical finance director route. I\u2019ve been in banking, and I mean budgets, I completely understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was doing a banking budget at 3am in the morning at Canary Wharf, not a gratifying experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I took a massive career break after that, not surprisingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then somebody invited me to collaborate and support her being a business mentor, and I started doing accelerators for universities and I became a mentor for the British Library on the finance modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was during lockdown when somebody said, \u201cJulie, you\u2019re not the typical accountant, that is not what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went like, \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, I\u2019ve just literally got goosebumps now just remembering that because it made me really happy dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was about helping people and I suddenly thought, \u201cOh my god, yeah, I now understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s not about what I do, it\u2019s about helping others with the knowledge, and that\u2019s what I find really gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really about helping everybody else achieve their dreams and remove their blockages when it comes to numbers because it then helps them just go ahead and just do what they want to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the bit that makes me excited and everybody has a greater risk appetite than I do, and it is just brilliant. I love that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can literally see you radiating enthusiasm and joy through the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You clearly, you are just glowing thinking about the fact that this is the path your career has taken, whereas when you were talking about becoming a dentist, you were just all freezing up, withdrawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted you to say, \u201cYeah, I would say then I looked into someone\u2019s mouth and realized I never wanted to do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDidn\u2019t get as far as looking into somebody else\u2019s mouth. It was a pre-clinical year, but I did get to dissect a cadaver, which was interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, I\u2019ve done a few interesting things in my life, so it\u2019s gratifying for that reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Becoming a better business mentor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you are obviously building a brand now, so you are not only advising other business owners, you are yourself a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to know a little bit about any interesting challenges or bumps in the road that you have experienced which have made you in turn a better mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI completely understand the whole journey of being a mentor, what it takes to be a business owner. Because when I switched over to being a business mentor, I didn\u2019t have a steady income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was literally like, \u201cOh my God, what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s like I have all this knowledge, I want to share this knowledge, but how does that actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s packaging up my services and then who is my ideal client? I mean, that is still slightly more generic than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everybody says niche, niche, niche, but I feel like a chef that can cook anything, but it\u2019s what do you want to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somebody might want a burger, somebody might want something more refined, somebody might just want a sandwich, but I can do all of those, but who actually wants something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the problem with finance is that most business owners think of finance as being the historic bookkeeping, annual accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call those people the file and forget brigade because you literally get it, put it in the drawer and you\u2019ve forgotten about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s so much magic in unlocking those numbers and trying to tell somebody the story of the magic that\u2019s there is quite hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not selling, but it\u2019s trying to convince people the value that is there because small business owners don\u2019t have an in-house strategic element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas you think about big businesses, they\u2019ve got whole teams of people crunching numbers going, \u201cWhere are we going? What is the business doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of it a bit like Lewis Hamilton out on the pit lane. He\u2019s driving, he\u2019s the CEO of his vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s driving there, but he\u2019s got a whole pit lane team with all the data telling him where is the competition? What is the track ahead like? Is there going to be a wet weather spell? And all the data around his car, are you going fast? Have you got enough fuel? What\u2019s the state of your tires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your engine\u2019s overheating, your fins need adjusting. You\u2019re not holding track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all this data that your pit lane team is feeding you and that\u2019s what your financial metrics can help you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that story is quite hard to convince people when they\u2019re focused on trying to make a sale and bring business in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re early stage, you need to have a high level, a bit like me, I need to vaguely know how many sales I need to make, and then you can focus on the marketing and sales side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as you get bigger, you\u2019ll start looking at the numbers because the numbers will get more complicated as you go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s a bit like learn a bit of knowledge, go away, learn a bit of knowledge, go away, until you then need somebody, like a personal trainer, by your side. Because this is when you really need somebody by your side constantly feeding you the information because the information is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re early stage, the information doesn\u2019t change as much. So it\u2019s just understanding when you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How delving into your numbers can effectively change your business strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tExplore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWhy aren\u2019t people hotter on their numbers? I mean, for as long as I can remember, I have voices in my head saying, \u201cI\u2019m not good at math\u201d or, \u201cOh, these numbers confuse me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is that basically what holds people back that they\u2019re worried it\u2019s too boring or that they\u2019re worried they\u2019re not good enough at it? What is it that\u2019s the blocker here when clearly it\u2019s such an integral part of this three-legged table?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think it\u2019s the fact that especially in the UK, we are taught to be scared of numbers and I don\u2019t even know why because I think learning numbers 1 to 10 was far easier than learning the alphabet at the end of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s visual as well, it\u2019s a quantifiable thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they think, \u201cOkay, it\u2019s numbers\u201d, but if you can add, subtract, multiply and divide, that is all you need to understand your numbers and it\u2019s being connected to what that number actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s like a vocabulary. What does this number mean in essence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So your finances and your accounts are a bit like your health metrics. If you know what number is good, so what is your weight in kilos? Well, you begin to know what you want that number to look like and it\u2019s different for every person, like it is for different for every business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then you start learning the more complicated numbers like your blood pressure and your body fat and your cholesterol levels and all these numbers are just adding to the vocabulary in the same way that your finance is just adding to the vocabulary, and you become connected to that number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I sit there eating doughnuts, my weight\u2019s going to go up, as is my cholesterol, as is everything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so you go back to mindful action, and you go, “Okay, what is going to affect my profit?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then that is just a factor of your revenue and your costs, and so it is just understanding all the numbers behind each different number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most common financial mistakes people make<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo tell me a bit about the common mistakes that you see business owners making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean at the beginning I talked about profit and loss and cash flow. Are they things that tend to boggle people\u2019s minds?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are the top three, I suppose, financial mistakes that people often make?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nFirst thing is when people are starting up, they use their bank account as a measure of profitability, and that\u2019s very, very dangerous because it doesn\u2019t give you the bigger picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s only a snapshot of a moment in time. It doesn\u2019t show what you owe to somebody, and it doesn\u2019t show what somebody else owes to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And a bit like having a train coming down a track, you don\u2019t know when that train\u2019s going to hit you, just like the big bills that are going to hit you and can you afford those?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s trying to look ahead and so many business owners don\u2019t understand that you can use your finances to look at the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All the bookkeeping and accounts that people think about, it\u2019s all historic, it\u2019s all the road that you\u2019ve covered behind you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think people sit there thinking, \u201cOh, the accountants and bookkeepers are just sweeping up the numbers behind them\u201d and that isn\u2019t the case. You take that data and you can start predicting what the road ahead actually looks like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the first mistake is using your bank account to predict your profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other mistake typically, is more of a vanity thing. It\u2019s the, \u201cOh, I\u2019ve sold X amount.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so, they look at how much they\u2019ve sold, which is the turnover figure, but actually they\u2019ve forgotten how much it costs them to sell that product or service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They don\u2019t understand the full extent of what a fixed cost is, which is the cost that gets incurred irrespective of whether you are making a sale or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People also call it the cost of standing still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then your variable costs are driven by if you make a sale, you\u2019ve incurred that cost. If you don\u2019t make a sale, then you don\u2019t incur that cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding the difference between those two and the liability of the fixed cost, which is what can send businesses under, because if your sales go down, you still need to have all these financial commitments like rent or salaries and all these other obligations that you need to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding those key numbers is very important to understanding your cash flow, which also then drives your profitability as well, which is slightly different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding your margins<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd when people talk about margin and profit, why are they different terms and why should people be aware of the margin they\u2019re making on a product or service versus the profit they make maybe at the end of the 3 months or the end of the year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo margin, there\u2019s two margins that people tend to focus on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One is the gross profit margin, which is your sales once you\u2019ve taken away your actual direct cost, which is the cost of sales. That is a very good indicator of how well you\u2019re delivering a service because every time you sell, say a single product, you make your gross profit on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Say for example, you make a gross profit of a \u00a3100 (CA$174) per product that you sell. That is also known as your contribution because every time you sell 1 product, you\u2019re contributing a \u00a3100 (CA$174) towards your fixed costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your fixed costs were a \u00a31,000 (CA$1740), then you need to sell 10 items in order to cover your fixed costs before you start being actually profitable in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding that gives you your breakeven point and your target as to how many sales you need to make, how many conversations you need to have in order to make those sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It starts driving all the other activity around your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gross profit margins are also a good indicator as to how you are comparing to the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you are being more efficient, you managed to buy a product cheaper than anybody else or manufacture it cheaper than anybody else, then it stands you in good stead to be more profitable because you can sell fewer products before you start hitting your profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And understand the margins around your markets and your industries because it will vary and that is a good indicator of how you\u2019re performing against the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Breaking down what having a financial strategy really means<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is so interesting because as soon as you said, \u201cIf you can work out, you need to sell 10 of these items, these products to cover your fixed costs\u201d, to have that information going into your working day, going into your working month, that changes your outlook immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it gives you, I suppose something to aim for beyond, \u201cOh, I just want to be successful\u201d or, \u201cI just want to sell lots of things this month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can see how that then focuses the mind, so immediately it starts making sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But maybe we can break down, I mean taking it to its most basic level, what do we mean by financial strategy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you mean by that and why is that something that people should prioritize in times of their time when they\u2019re already really busy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely, it is the case. Sometimes you need to take time out in order to plan where you didn\u2019t plan your next day, otherwise you are just running from pillar to post. The hamster wheel starts kicking in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So every business owner I see has a goal, an objective, a vision where they want to go to. And so visually I imagine it like a destination they want to go to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so your business, like a car, takes you to a destination, but you\u2019ve got to work out how you\u2019re going to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that essentially is your strategy. What does your vision look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it tends to be words or pictures and that\u2019s really hard to gauge and measure. How do you know when you\u2019re going to achieve it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the best.\u201d I mean, what does that actually mean to be the best?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the most efficient, I want to be the best well known\u201d or whatever that vision might look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can\u2019t quantify it and you can\u2019t measure it in that case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you say, \u201cI want to lose weight.\u201d Well, how much weight do you want to lose? By when?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a strategy tends to be words and pictures. A financial strategy is literally converting that into numbers so that you can track how you\u2019re going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of a financial strategy a bit like the Google Maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know how you\u2019re going to get there, what route you\u2019re going to take, how long it\u2019s going to take you, and how you are going to track the milestones on your route. And also understanding what resources you have in order to get you to that destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the key resource would be cash. So like a vehicle needs fuel, your business needs cash and cash is essentially the sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you\u2019ve got to have some sense of understanding how much cash you need in your business and how long that will last you until you need more revenue again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hence the burn rate, you need to know how long it will take you to get to your destination and how much cash you\u2019ll need to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m loving these examples because it feels like you are really breaking down these financial concepts to things like managing your weight and getting from A to B in your car, how you\u2019d get to your destination?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you feel like that is the way to help people get over that financial fear factor, making the concepts a lot more relatable in this way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely. I think all my analogies are just the way I visualize things, and so I then use it to describe, and I\u2019ve realized that it does really help people make it feel relatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because they think, \u201cOkay, I can have this analogy\u201d and it does help join the dots in their head as to what it actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I try and make it relatable to everybody in their specific industry because whilst the concepts are very generic, trying to bring it into a different person\u2019s industry, it has to connect the dots for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So whether you\u2019re a service-based industry or a product-based industry, you just have a slight nuance in how it\u2019s applied and it does help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding your finances in detail can help you optimize your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThere might be people listening thinking, \u201cOh, you know what? I know basically if I sell this many I\u2019m doing all right. I don\u2019t need to dig into my numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you\u2019ve helped a lot of business owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you see in terms of their confidence, their ability to succeed once they do face their financial fears? What is the consequence? Is there a general improvement in their ability to get results? What have you seen in your experience?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDefinitely. Especially for females, because we focus on what we don\u2019t know and it\u2019s kind of like the little elephant in the room and you know it\u2019s there, but you\u2019re kind of like, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll deal with it later and I vaguely know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you know something with a bit more certainty, then you can understand whether to go forward with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So back to the car analogy, if you can visualize the road ahead and you can see the road is clear, you know you can put your foot down and you\u2019ve got plenty of fuel in the tank you need, you can just go for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you\u2019re driving through fog, you\u2019re kind of guessing your way and you can hamper your own progress because you don\u2019t know the road ahead is clear, and you can get really ahead of the competition if the road is clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if the competition knows the road is clear, they\u2019re going to beat you to the destination if the destination is of a very similar place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So knowing where you are and what you have with vision and clear understanding, you can then optimize your own business, irrespective of anybody else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we always hesitate in life when we don\u2019t know what we\u2019re doing and if we\u2019re going for funding and we don\u2019t know the numbers, it\u2019s going to come across when you\u2019re pitching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know that if you ate a donut one day, you need to compensate by not eating donuts and being really good for the next few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the same thing with business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have a bad decision, or a bad situation, you then know, \u201cOkay, well that happened. I need to find some other way to mitigate or compensate for that downside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if you know for a fact that something went really well, you can double down and go, \u201cRight, I can really forge ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s being far more proactive around your decisions when you really know the finances and the implication of all your actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyone can learn to understand numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting there that you mentioned women in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a trend that you see amongst the female business owners that come and see you that there\u2019s a lot higher barrier to the grappling with the finances, grappling with the numbers, or is it sort of equal for men and women?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think women are far more willing to admit to it, and I think personally, I\u2019m not very good at blagging it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think it does hamper women because they can\u2019t blag it. Men can blag it and they sound more confident, like they know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I don\u2019t think necessarily men know any better when it comes to their numbers because sometimes, they think they know and that can actually be a disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They start forging ahead thinking they\u2019ve got money in the bank, et cetera, but they don\u2019t realize the fact that they actually don\u2019t, their profitability is not being measured correctly, they don\u2019t have the right records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, if you put numbers in the wrong buckets and you\u2019re looking at the wrong number, it\u2019s telling you a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we go back to the metrics, your numbers tell you a story, but if you\u2019ve got the wrong words telling you the wrong story, then you\u2019re going to take the wrong actions as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So in that sense, male and females, not necessarily, but women just are more reticent, they tend to admit they don\u2019t like numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think it\u2019s also probably societal pressures and thinking women are no good with numbers. I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s the case at all because like you say, anybody can add, anybody can subtract and just understanding what that number means, good or bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you can understand your own weight number, you can understand a number in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From dentistry to becoming an accidental accountant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nNo, that\u2019s really interesting. And how did you get here, Julie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s your background? How did you become the financial fortune-teller? I would want to know a bit about your path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, you\u2019ll never believe this, but I\u2019m a completely accidental accountant, I became a reluctant accountant and became an accidental mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So really dialing back, I mean at the age of 10 I wanted to be a dentist and so I did all my A-levels, got to university [collage], did 1 year of dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, I actually like sciences, not knowing that at the age of 10 I was actually any good at sciences, but I did love science and math and things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So anyway, I got to dentistry, I didn\u2019t want to be a dentist, so switched over into business, and became an accountant because I wanted to do business, but my sister said, \u201cNo, don\u2019t do business, do accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up graduating, got offered a job as a chartered accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I trained as an auditor and it was so dry. I mean really, it was not a gratifying experience. I understand why people think numbers are just boring because they are, until you understand the story behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had many different jobs trying to find my niche. I went from practice to different industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve walked so much distance width ways as opposed to the classical finance director route. I\u2019ve been in banking, and I mean budgets, I completely understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was doing a banking budget at 3am in the morning at Canary Wharf, not a gratifying experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I took a massive career break after that, not surprisingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then somebody invited me to collaborate and support her being a business mentor, and I started doing accelerators for universities and I became a mentor for the British Library on the finance modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was during lockdown when somebody said, \u201cJulie, you\u2019re not the typical accountant, that is not what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went like, \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, I\u2019ve just literally got goosebumps now just remembering that because it made me really happy dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was about helping people and I suddenly thought, \u201cOh my god, yeah, I now understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s not about what I do, it\u2019s about helping others with the knowledge, and that\u2019s what I find really gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really about helping everybody else achieve their dreams and remove their blockages when it comes to numbers because it then helps them just go ahead and just do what they want to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the bit that makes me excited and everybody has a greater risk appetite than I do, and it is just brilliant. I love that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can literally see you radiating enthusiasm and joy through the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You clearly, you are just glowing thinking about the fact that this is the path your career has taken, whereas when you were talking about becoming a dentist, you were just all freezing up, withdrawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted you to say, \u201cYeah, I would say then I looked into someone\u2019s mouth and realized I never wanted to do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDidn\u2019t get as far as looking into somebody else\u2019s mouth. It was a pre-clinical year, but I did get to dissect a cadaver, which was interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, I\u2019ve done a few interesting things in my life, so it\u2019s gratifying for that reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Becoming a better business mentor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you are obviously building a brand now, so you are not only advising other business owners, you are yourself a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to know a little bit about any interesting challenges or bumps in the road that you have experienced which have made you in turn a better mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI completely understand the whole journey of being a mentor, what it takes to be a business owner. Because when I switched over to being a business mentor, I didn\u2019t have a steady income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was literally like, \u201cOh my God, what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s like I have all this knowledge, I want to share this knowledge, but how does that actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s packaging up my services and then who is my ideal client? I mean, that is still slightly more generic than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everybody says niche, niche, niche, but I feel like a chef that can cook anything, but it\u2019s what do you want to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somebody might want a burger, somebody might want something more refined, somebody might just want a sandwich, but I can do all of those, but who actually wants something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the problem with finance is that most business owners think of finance as being the historic bookkeeping, annual accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call those people the file and forget brigade because you literally get it, put it in the drawer and you\u2019ve forgotten about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s so much magic in unlocking those numbers and trying to tell somebody the story of the magic that\u2019s there is quite hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not selling, but it\u2019s trying to convince people the value that is there because small business owners don\u2019t have an in-house strategic element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas you think about big businesses, they\u2019ve got whole teams of people crunching numbers going, \u201cWhere are we going? What is the business doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of it a bit like Lewis Hamilton out on the pit lane. He\u2019s driving, he\u2019s the CEO of his vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s driving there, but he\u2019s got a whole pit lane team with all the data telling him where is the competition? What is the track ahead like? Is there going to be a wet weather spell? And all the data around his car, are you going fast? Have you got enough fuel? What\u2019s the state of your tires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your engine\u2019s overheating, your fins need adjusting. You\u2019re not holding track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all this data that your pit lane team is feeding you and that\u2019s what your financial metrics can help you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that story is quite hard to convince people when they\u2019re focused on trying to make a sale and bring business in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re early stage, you need to have a high level, a bit like me, I need to vaguely know how many sales I need to make, and then you can focus on the marketing and sales side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as you get bigger, you\u2019ll start looking at the numbers because the numbers will get more complicated as you go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s a bit like learn a bit of knowledge, go away, learn a bit of knowledge, go away, until you then need somebody, like a personal trainer, by your side. Because this is when you really need somebody by your side constantly feeding you the information because the information is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re early stage, the information doesn\u2019t change as much. So it\u2019s just understanding when you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How delving into your numbers can effectively change your business strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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I think it\u2019s the fact that especially in the UK, we are taught to be scared of numbers and I don\u2019t even know why because I think learning numbers 1 to 10 was far easier than learning the alphabet at the end of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s visual as well, it\u2019s a quantifiable thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they think, \u201cOkay, it\u2019s numbers\u201d, but if you can add, subtract, multiply and divide, that is all you need to understand your numbers and it\u2019s being connected to what that number actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s like a vocabulary. What does this number mean in essence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So your finances and your accounts are a bit like your health metrics. If you know what number is good, so what is your weight in kilos? Well, you begin to know what you want that number to look like and it\u2019s different for every person, like it is for different for every business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then you start learning the more complicated numbers like your blood pressure and your body fat and your cholesterol levels and all these numbers are just adding to the vocabulary in the same way that your finance is just adding to the vocabulary, and you become connected to that number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I sit there eating doughnuts, my weight\u2019s going to go up, as is my cholesterol, as is everything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so you go back to mindful action, and you go, “Okay, what is going to affect my profit?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then that is just a factor of your revenue and your costs, and so it is just understanding all the numbers behind each different number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most common financial mistakes people make<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo tell me a bit about the common mistakes that you see business owners making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean at the beginning I talked about profit and loss and cash flow. Are they things that tend to boggle people\u2019s minds?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are the top three, I suppose, financial mistakes that people often make?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nFirst thing is when people are starting up, they use their bank account as a measure of profitability, and that\u2019s very, very dangerous because it doesn\u2019t give you the bigger picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s only a snapshot of a moment in time. It doesn\u2019t show what you owe to somebody, and it doesn\u2019t show what somebody else owes to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And a bit like having a train coming down a track, you don\u2019t know when that train\u2019s going to hit you, just like the big bills that are going to hit you and can you afford those?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s trying to look ahead and so many business owners don\u2019t understand that you can use your finances to look at the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All the bookkeeping and accounts that people think about, it\u2019s all historic, it\u2019s all the road that you\u2019ve covered behind you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think people sit there thinking, \u201cOh, the accountants and bookkeepers are just sweeping up the numbers behind them\u201d and that isn\u2019t the case. You take that data and you can start predicting what the road ahead actually looks like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the first mistake is using your bank account to predict your profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other mistake typically, is more of a vanity thing. It\u2019s the, \u201cOh, I\u2019ve sold X amount.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so, they look at how much they\u2019ve sold, which is the turnover figure, but actually they\u2019ve forgotten how much it costs them to sell that product or service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They don\u2019t understand the full extent of what a fixed cost is, which is the cost that gets incurred irrespective of whether you are making a sale or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People also call it the cost of standing still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then your variable costs are driven by if you make a sale, you\u2019ve incurred that cost. If you don\u2019t make a sale, then you don\u2019t incur that cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding the difference between those two and the liability of the fixed cost, which is what can send businesses under, because if your sales go down, you still need to have all these financial commitments like rent or salaries and all these other obligations that you need to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding those key numbers is very important to understanding your cash flow, which also then drives your profitability as well, which is slightly different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding your margins<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd when people talk about margin and profit, why are they different terms and why should people be aware of the margin they\u2019re making on a product or service versus the profit they make maybe at the end of the 3 months or the end of the year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo margin, there\u2019s two margins that people tend to focus on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One is the gross profit margin, which is your sales once you\u2019ve taken away your actual direct cost, which is the cost of sales. That is a very good indicator of how well you\u2019re delivering a service because every time you sell, say a single product, you make your gross profit on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Say for example, you make a gross profit of a \u00a3100 (CA$174) per product that you sell. That is also known as your contribution because every time you sell 1 product, you\u2019re contributing a \u00a3100 (CA$174) towards your fixed costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your fixed costs were a \u00a31,000 (CA$1740), then you need to sell 10 items in order to cover your fixed costs before you start being actually profitable in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding that gives you your breakeven point and your target as to how many sales you need to make, how many conversations you need to have in order to make those sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It starts driving all the other activity around your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gross profit margins are also a good indicator as to how you are comparing to the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you are being more efficient, you managed to buy a product cheaper than anybody else or manufacture it cheaper than anybody else, then it stands you in good stead to be more profitable because you can sell fewer products before you start hitting your profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And understand the margins around your markets and your industries because it will vary and that is a good indicator of how you\u2019re performing against the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Breaking down what having a financial strategy really means<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is so interesting because as soon as you said, \u201cIf you can work out, you need to sell 10 of these items, these products to cover your fixed costs\u201d, to have that information going into your working day, going into your working month, that changes your outlook immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it gives you, I suppose something to aim for beyond, \u201cOh, I just want to be successful\u201d or, \u201cI just want to sell lots of things this month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can see how that then focuses the mind, so immediately it starts making sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But maybe we can break down, I mean taking it to its most basic level, what do we mean by financial strategy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you mean by that and why is that something that people should prioritize in times of their time when they\u2019re already really busy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely, it is the case. Sometimes you need to take time out in order to plan where you didn\u2019t plan your next day, otherwise you are just running from pillar to post. The hamster wheel starts kicking in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So every business owner I see has a goal, an objective, a vision where they want to go to. And so visually I imagine it like a destination they want to go to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so your business, like a car, takes you to a destination, but you\u2019ve got to work out how you\u2019re going to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that essentially is your strategy. What does your vision look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it tends to be words or pictures and that\u2019s really hard to gauge and measure. How do you know when you\u2019re going to achieve it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the best.\u201d I mean, what does that actually mean to be the best?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the most efficient, I want to be the best well known\u201d or whatever that vision might look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can\u2019t quantify it and you can\u2019t measure it in that case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you say, \u201cI want to lose weight.\u201d Well, how much weight do you want to lose? By when?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a strategy tends to be words and pictures. A financial strategy is literally converting that into numbers so that you can track how you\u2019re going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of a financial strategy a bit like the Google Maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know how you\u2019re going to get there, what route you\u2019re going to take, how long it\u2019s going to take you, and how you are going to track the milestones on your route. And also understanding what resources you have in order to get you to that destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the key resource would be cash. So like a vehicle needs fuel, your business needs cash and cash is essentially the sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you\u2019ve got to have some sense of understanding how much cash you need in your business and how long that will last you until you need more revenue again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hence the burn rate, you need to know how long it will take you to get to your destination and how much cash you\u2019ll need to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m loving these examples because it feels like you are really breaking down these financial concepts to things like managing your weight and getting from A to B in your car, how you\u2019d get to your destination?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you feel like that is the way to help people get over that financial fear factor, making the concepts a lot more relatable in this way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely. I think all my analogies are just the way I visualize things, and so I then use it to describe, and I\u2019ve realized that it does really help people make it feel relatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because they think, \u201cOkay, I can have this analogy\u201d and it does help join the dots in their head as to what it actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I try and make it relatable to everybody in their specific industry because whilst the concepts are very generic, trying to bring it into a different person\u2019s industry, it has to connect the dots for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So whether you\u2019re a service-based industry or a product-based industry, you just have a slight nuance in how it\u2019s applied and it does help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding your finances in detail can help you optimize your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThere might be people listening thinking, \u201cOh, you know what? I know basically if I sell this many I\u2019m doing all right. I don\u2019t need to dig into my numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you\u2019ve helped a lot of business owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you see in terms of their confidence, their ability to succeed once they do face their financial fears? What is the consequence? Is there a general improvement in their ability to get results? What have you seen in your experience?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDefinitely. Especially for females, because we focus on what we don\u2019t know and it\u2019s kind of like the little elephant in the room and you know it\u2019s there, but you\u2019re kind of like, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll deal with it later and I vaguely know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you know something with a bit more certainty, then you can understand whether to go forward with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So back to the car analogy, if you can visualize the road ahead and you can see the road is clear, you know you can put your foot down and you\u2019ve got plenty of fuel in the tank you need, you can just go for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you\u2019re driving through fog, you\u2019re kind of guessing your way and you can hamper your own progress because you don\u2019t know the road ahead is clear, and you can get really ahead of the competition if the road is clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if the competition knows the road is clear, they\u2019re going to beat you to the destination if the destination is of a very similar place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So knowing where you are and what you have with vision and clear understanding, you can then optimize your own business, irrespective of anybody else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we always hesitate in life when we don\u2019t know what we\u2019re doing and if we\u2019re going for funding and we don\u2019t know the numbers, it\u2019s going to come across when you\u2019re pitching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know that if you ate a donut one day, you need to compensate by not eating donuts and being really good for the next few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the same thing with business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have a bad decision, or a bad situation, you then know, \u201cOkay, well that happened. I need to find some other way to mitigate or compensate for that downside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if you know for a fact that something went really well, you can double down and go, \u201cRight, I can really forge ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s being far more proactive around your decisions when you really know the finances and the implication of all your actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyone can learn to understand numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting there that you mentioned women in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a trend that you see amongst the female business owners that come and see you that there\u2019s a lot higher barrier to the grappling with the finances, grappling with the numbers, or is it sort of equal for men and women?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think women are far more willing to admit to it, and I think personally, I\u2019m not very good at blagging it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think it does hamper women because they can\u2019t blag it. Men can blag it and they sound more confident, like they know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I don\u2019t think necessarily men know any better when it comes to their numbers because sometimes, they think they know and that can actually be a disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They start forging ahead thinking they\u2019ve got money in the bank, et cetera, but they don\u2019t realize the fact that they actually don\u2019t, their profitability is not being measured correctly, they don\u2019t have the right records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, if you put numbers in the wrong buckets and you\u2019re looking at the wrong number, it\u2019s telling you a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we go back to the metrics, your numbers tell you a story, but if you\u2019ve got the wrong words telling you the wrong story, then you\u2019re going to take the wrong actions as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So in that sense, male and females, not necessarily, but women just are more reticent, they tend to admit they don\u2019t like numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think it\u2019s also probably societal pressures and thinking women are no good with numbers. I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s the case at all because like you say, anybody can add, anybody can subtract and just understanding what that number means, good or bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you can understand your own weight number, you can understand a number in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From dentistry to becoming an accidental accountant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nNo, that\u2019s really interesting. And how did you get here, Julie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s your background? How did you become the financial fortune-teller? I would want to know a bit about your path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, you\u2019ll never believe this, but I\u2019m a completely accidental accountant, I became a reluctant accountant and became an accidental mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So really dialing back, I mean at the age of 10 I wanted to be a dentist and so I did all my A-levels, got to university [collage], did 1 year of dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, I actually like sciences, not knowing that at the age of 10 I was actually any good at sciences, but I did love science and math and things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So anyway, I got to dentistry, I didn\u2019t want to be a dentist, so switched over into business, and became an accountant because I wanted to do business, but my sister said, \u201cNo, don\u2019t do business, do accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up graduating, got offered a job as a chartered accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I trained as an auditor and it was so dry. I mean really, it was not a gratifying experience. I understand why people think numbers are just boring because they are, until you understand the story behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had many different jobs trying to find my niche. I went from practice to different industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve walked so much distance width ways as opposed to the classical finance director route. I\u2019ve been in banking, and I mean budgets, I completely understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was doing a banking budget at 3am in the morning at Canary Wharf, not a gratifying experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I took a massive career break after that, not surprisingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then somebody invited me to collaborate and support her being a business mentor, and I started doing accelerators for universities and I became a mentor for the British Library on the finance modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was during lockdown when somebody said, \u201cJulie, you\u2019re not the typical accountant, that is not what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went like, \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, I\u2019ve just literally got goosebumps now just remembering that because it made me really happy dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was about helping people and I suddenly thought, \u201cOh my god, yeah, I now understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s not about what I do, it\u2019s about helping others with the knowledge, and that\u2019s what I find really gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really about helping everybody else achieve their dreams and remove their blockages when it comes to numbers because it then helps them just go ahead and just do what they want to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the bit that makes me excited and everybody has a greater risk appetite than I do, and it is just brilliant. I love that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can literally see you radiating enthusiasm and joy through the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You clearly, you are just glowing thinking about the fact that this is the path your career has taken, whereas when you were talking about becoming a dentist, you were just all freezing up, withdrawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted you to say, \u201cYeah, I would say then I looked into someone\u2019s mouth and realized I never wanted to do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDidn\u2019t get as far as looking into somebody else\u2019s mouth. It was a pre-clinical year, but I did get to dissect a cadaver, which was interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, I\u2019ve done a few interesting things in my life, so it\u2019s gratifying for that reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Becoming a better business mentor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you are obviously building a brand now, so you are not only advising other business owners, you are yourself a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to know a little bit about any interesting challenges or bumps in the road that you have experienced which have made you in turn a better mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI completely understand the whole journey of being a mentor, what it takes to be a business owner. Because when I switched over to being a business mentor, I didn\u2019t have a steady income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was literally like, \u201cOh my God, what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s like I have all this knowledge, I want to share this knowledge, but how does that actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s packaging up my services and then who is my ideal client? I mean, that is still slightly more generic than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everybody says niche, niche, niche, but I feel like a chef that can cook anything, but it\u2019s what do you want to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somebody might want a burger, somebody might want something more refined, somebody might just want a sandwich, but I can do all of those, but who actually wants something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the problem with finance is that most business owners think of finance as being the historic bookkeeping, annual accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call those people the file and forget brigade because you literally get it, put it in the drawer and you\u2019ve forgotten about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s so much magic in unlocking those numbers and trying to tell somebody the story of the magic that\u2019s there is quite hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not selling, but it\u2019s trying to convince people the value that is there because small business owners don\u2019t have an in-house strategic element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas you think about big businesses, they\u2019ve got whole teams of people crunching numbers going, \u201cWhere are we going? What is the business doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of it a bit like Lewis Hamilton out on the pit lane. He\u2019s driving, he\u2019s the CEO of his vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s driving there, but he\u2019s got a whole pit lane team with all the data telling him where is the competition? What is the track ahead like? Is there going to be a wet weather spell? And all the data around his car, are you going fast? Have you got enough fuel? What\u2019s the state of your tires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your engine\u2019s overheating, your fins need adjusting. You\u2019re not holding track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all this data that your pit lane team is feeding you and that\u2019s what your financial metrics can help you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that story is quite hard to convince people when they\u2019re focused on trying to make a sale and bring business in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re early stage, you need to have a high level, a bit like me, I need to vaguely know how many sales I need to make, and then you can focus on the marketing and sales side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as you get bigger, you\u2019ll start looking at the numbers because the numbers will get more complicated as you go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s a bit like learn a bit of knowledge, go away, learn a bit of knowledge, go away, until you then need somebody, like a personal trainer, by your side. Because this is when you really need somebody by your side constantly feeding you the information because the information is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re early stage, the information doesn\u2019t change as much. So it\u2019s just understanding when you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How delving into your numbers can effectively change your business strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsmall business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\t
\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tExplore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
So tell me a bit about the common mistakes that you see business owners making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean at the beginning I talked about profit and loss and cash flow. Are they things that tend to boggle people\u2019s minds?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are the top three, I suppose, financial mistakes that people often make?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nFirst thing is when people are starting up, they use their bank account as a measure of profitability, and that\u2019s very, very dangerous because it doesn\u2019t give you the bigger picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s only a snapshot of a moment in time. It doesn\u2019t show what you owe to somebody, and it doesn\u2019t show what somebody else owes to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And a bit like having a train coming down a track, you don\u2019t know when that train\u2019s going to hit you, just like the big bills that are going to hit you and can you afford those?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s trying to look ahead and so many business owners don\u2019t understand that you can use your finances to look at the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All the bookkeeping and accounts that people think about, it\u2019s all historic, it\u2019s all the road that you\u2019ve covered behind you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think people sit there thinking, \u201cOh, the accountants and bookkeepers are just sweeping up the numbers behind them\u201d and that isn\u2019t the case. You take that data and you can start predicting what the road ahead actually looks like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the first mistake is using your bank account to predict your profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other mistake typically, is more of a vanity thing. It\u2019s the, \u201cOh, I\u2019ve sold X amount.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so, they look at how much they\u2019ve sold, which is the turnover figure, but actually they\u2019ve forgotten how much it costs them to sell that product or service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They don\u2019t understand the full extent of what a fixed cost is, which is the cost that gets incurred irrespective of whether you are making a sale or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People also call it the cost of standing still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then your variable costs are driven by if you make a sale, you\u2019ve incurred that cost. If you don\u2019t make a sale, then you don\u2019t incur that cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding the difference between those two and the liability of the fixed cost, which is what can send businesses under, because if your sales go down, you still need to have all these financial commitments like rent or salaries and all these other obligations that you need to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding those key numbers is very important to understanding your cash flow, which also then drives your profitability as well, which is slightly different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding your margins<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd when people talk about margin and profit, why are they different terms and why should people be aware of the margin they\u2019re making on a product or service versus the profit they make maybe at the end of the 3 months or the end of the year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo margin, there\u2019s two margins that people tend to focus on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One is the gross profit margin, which is your sales once you\u2019ve taken away your actual direct cost, which is the cost of sales. That is a very good indicator of how well you\u2019re delivering a service because every time you sell, say a single product, you make your gross profit on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Say for example, you make a gross profit of a \u00a3100 (CA$174) per product that you sell. That is also known as your contribution because every time you sell 1 product, you\u2019re contributing a \u00a3100 (CA$174) towards your fixed costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your fixed costs were a \u00a31,000 (CA$1740), then you need to sell 10 items in order to cover your fixed costs before you start being actually profitable in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding that gives you your breakeven point and your target as to how many sales you need to make, how many conversations you need to have in order to make those sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It starts driving all the other activity around your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gross profit margins are also a good indicator as to how you are comparing to the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you are being more efficient, you managed to buy a product cheaper than anybody else or manufacture it cheaper than anybody else, then it stands you in good stead to be more profitable because you can sell fewer products before you start hitting your profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And understand the margins around your markets and your industries because it will vary and that is a good indicator of how you\u2019re performing against the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Breaking down what having a financial strategy really means<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is so interesting because as soon as you said, \u201cIf you can work out, you need to sell 10 of these items, these products to cover your fixed costs\u201d, to have that information going into your working day, going into your working month, that changes your outlook immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it gives you, I suppose something to aim for beyond, \u201cOh, I just want to be successful\u201d or, \u201cI just want to sell lots of things this month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can see how that then focuses the mind, so immediately it starts making sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But maybe we can break down, I mean taking it to its most basic level, what do we mean by financial strategy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you mean by that and why is that something that people should prioritize in times of their time when they\u2019re already really busy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely, it is the case. Sometimes you need to take time out in order to plan where you didn\u2019t plan your next day, otherwise you are just running from pillar to post. The hamster wheel starts kicking in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So every business owner I see has a goal, an objective, a vision where they want to go to. And so visually I imagine it like a destination they want to go to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so your business, like a car, takes you to a destination, but you\u2019ve got to work out how you\u2019re going to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that essentially is your strategy. What does your vision look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it tends to be words or pictures and that\u2019s really hard to gauge and measure. How do you know when you\u2019re going to achieve it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the best.\u201d I mean, what does that actually mean to be the best?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the most efficient, I want to be the best well known\u201d or whatever that vision might look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can\u2019t quantify it and you can\u2019t measure it in that case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you say, \u201cI want to lose weight.\u201d Well, how much weight do you want to lose? By when?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a strategy tends to be words and pictures. A financial strategy is literally converting that into numbers so that you can track how you\u2019re going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of a financial strategy a bit like the Google Maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know how you\u2019re going to get there, what route you\u2019re going to take, how long it\u2019s going to take you, and how you are going to track the milestones on your route. And also understanding what resources you have in order to get you to that destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the key resource would be cash. So like a vehicle needs fuel, your business needs cash and cash is essentially the sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you\u2019ve got to have some sense of understanding how much cash you need in your business and how long that will last you until you need more revenue again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hence the burn rate, you need to know how long it will take you to get to your destination and how much cash you\u2019ll need to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m loving these examples because it feels like you are really breaking down these financial concepts to things like managing your weight and getting from A to B in your car, how you\u2019d get to your destination?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you feel like that is the way to help people get over that financial fear factor, making the concepts a lot more relatable in this way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely. I think all my analogies are just the way I visualize things, and so I then use it to describe, and I\u2019ve realized that it does really help people make it feel relatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because they think, \u201cOkay, I can have this analogy\u201d and it does help join the dots in their head as to what it actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I try and make it relatable to everybody in their specific industry because whilst the concepts are very generic, trying to bring it into a different person\u2019s industry, it has to connect the dots for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So whether you\u2019re a service-based industry or a product-based industry, you just have a slight nuance in how it\u2019s applied and it does help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding your finances in detail can help you optimize your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThere might be people listening thinking, \u201cOh, you know what? I know basically if I sell this many I\u2019m doing all right. I don\u2019t need to dig into my numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you\u2019ve helped a lot of business owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you see in terms of their confidence, their ability to succeed once they do face their financial fears? What is the consequence? Is there a general improvement in their ability to get results? What have you seen in your experience?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDefinitely. Especially for females, because we focus on what we don\u2019t know and it\u2019s kind of like the little elephant in the room and you know it\u2019s there, but you\u2019re kind of like, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll deal with it later and I vaguely know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you know something with a bit more certainty, then you can understand whether to go forward with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So back to the car analogy, if you can visualize the road ahead and you can see the road is clear, you know you can put your foot down and you\u2019ve got plenty of fuel in the tank you need, you can just go for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you\u2019re driving through fog, you\u2019re kind of guessing your way and you can hamper your own progress because you don\u2019t know the road ahead is clear, and you can get really ahead of the competition if the road is clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if the competition knows the road is clear, they\u2019re going to beat you to the destination if the destination is of a very similar place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So knowing where you are and what you have with vision and clear understanding, you can then optimize your own business, irrespective of anybody else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we always hesitate in life when we don\u2019t know what we\u2019re doing and if we\u2019re going for funding and we don\u2019t know the numbers, it\u2019s going to come across when you\u2019re pitching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know that if you ate a donut one day, you need to compensate by not eating donuts and being really good for the next few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the same thing with business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have a bad decision, or a bad situation, you then know, \u201cOkay, well that happened. I need to find some other way to mitigate or compensate for that downside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if you know for a fact that something went really well, you can double down and go, \u201cRight, I can really forge ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s being far more proactive around your decisions when you really know the finances and the implication of all your actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyone can learn to understand numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting there that you mentioned women in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a trend that you see amongst the female business owners that come and see you that there\u2019s a lot higher barrier to the grappling with the finances, grappling with the numbers, or is it sort of equal for men and women?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think women are far more willing to admit to it, and I think personally, I\u2019m not very good at blagging it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think it does hamper women because they can\u2019t blag it. Men can blag it and they sound more confident, like they know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I don\u2019t think necessarily men know any better when it comes to their numbers because sometimes, they think they know and that can actually be a disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They start forging ahead thinking they\u2019ve got money in the bank, et cetera, but they don\u2019t realize the fact that they actually don\u2019t, their profitability is not being measured correctly, they don\u2019t have the right records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, if you put numbers in the wrong buckets and you\u2019re looking at the wrong number, it\u2019s telling you a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we go back to the metrics, your numbers tell you a story, but if you\u2019ve got the wrong words telling you the wrong story, then you\u2019re going to take the wrong actions as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So in that sense, male and females, not necessarily, but women just are more reticent, they tend to admit they don\u2019t like numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think it\u2019s also probably societal pressures and thinking women are no good with numbers. I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s the case at all because like you say, anybody can add, anybody can subtract and just understanding what that number means, good or bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you can understand your own weight number, you can understand a number in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From dentistry to becoming an accidental accountant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nNo, that\u2019s really interesting. And how did you get here, Julie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s your background? How did you become the financial fortune-teller? I would want to know a bit about your path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, you\u2019ll never believe this, but I\u2019m a completely accidental accountant, I became a reluctant accountant and became an accidental mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So really dialing back, I mean at the age of 10 I wanted to be a dentist and so I did all my A-levels, got to university [collage], did 1 year of dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, I actually like sciences, not knowing that at the age of 10 I was actually any good at sciences, but I did love science and math and things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So anyway, I got to dentistry, I didn\u2019t want to be a dentist, so switched over into business, and became an accountant because I wanted to do business, but my sister said, \u201cNo, don\u2019t do business, do accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up graduating, got offered a job as a chartered accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I trained as an auditor and it was so dry. I mean really, it was not a gratifying experience. I understand why people think numbers are just boring because they are, until you understand the story behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had many different jobs trying to find my niche. I went from practice to different industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve walked so much distance width ways as opposed to the classical finance director route. I\u2019ve been in banking, and I mean budgets, I completely understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was doing a banking budget at 3am in the morning at Canary Wharf, not a gratifying experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I took a massive career break after that, not surprisingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then somebody invited me to collaborate and support her being a business mentor, and I started doing accelerators for universities and I became a mentor for the British Library on the finance modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was during lockdown when somebody said, \u201cJulie, you\u2019re not the typical accountant, that is not what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went like, \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, I\u2019ve just literally got goosebumps now just remembering that because it made me really happy dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was about helping people and I suddenly thought, \u201cOh my god, yeah, I now understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s not about what I do, it\u2019s about helping others with the knowledge, and that\u2019s what I find really gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really about helping everybody else achieve their dreams and remove their blockages when it comes to numbers because it then helps them just go ahead and just do what they want to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the bit that makes me excited and everybody has a greater risk appetite than I do, and it is just brilliant. I love that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can literally see you radiating enthusiasm and joy through the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You clearly, you are just glowing thinking about the fact that this is the path your career has taken, whereas when you were talking about becoming a dentist, you were just all freezing up, withdrawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted you to say, \u201cYeah, I would say then I looked into someone\u2019s mouth and realized I never wanted to do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDidn\u2019t get as far as looking into somebody else\u2019s mouth. It was a pre-clinical year, but I did get to dissect a cadaver, which was interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, I\u2019ve done a few interesting things in my life, so it\u2019s gratifying for that reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Becoming a better business mentor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you are obviously building a brand now, so you are not only advising other business owners, you are yourself a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to know a little bit about any interesting challenges or bumps in the road that you have experienced which have made you in turn a better mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI completely understand the whole journey of being a mentor, what it takes to be a business owner. Because when I switched over to being a business mentor, I didn\u2019t have a steady income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was literally like, \u201cOh my God, what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s like I have all this knowledge, I want to share this knowledge, but how does that actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s packaging up my services and then who is my ideal client? I mean, that is still slightly more generic than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everybody says niche, niche, niche, but I feel like a chef that can cook anything, but it\u2019s what do you want to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somebody might want a burger, somebody might want something more refined, somebody might just want a sandwich, but I can do all of those, but who actually wants something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the problem with finance is that most business owners think of finance as being the historic bookkeeping, annual accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call those people the file and forget brigade because you literally get it, put it in the drawer and you\u2019ve forgotten about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s so much magic in unlocking those numbers and trying to tell somebody the story of the magic that\u2019s there is quite hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not selling, but it\u2019s trying to convince people the value that is there because small business owners don\u2019t have an in-house strategic element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas you think about big businesses, they\u2019ve got whole teams of people crunching numbers going, \u201cWhere are we going? What is the business doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of it a bit like Lewis Hamilton out on the pit lane. He\u2019s driving, he\u2019s the CEO of his vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s driving there, but he\u2019s got a whole pit lane team with all the data telling him where is the competition? What is the track ahead like? Is there going to be a wet weather spell? And all the data around his car, are you going fast? Have you got enough fuel? What\u2019s the state of your tires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your engine\u2019s overheating, your fins need adjusting. You\u2019re not holding track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all this data that your pit lane team is feeding you and that\u2019s what your financial metrics can help you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that story is quite hard to convince people when they\u2019re focused on trying to make a sale and bring business in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re early stage, you need to have a high level, a bit like me, I need to vaguely know how many sales I need to make, and then you can focus on the marketing and sales side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as you get bigger, you\u2019ll start looking at the numbers because the numbers will get more complicated as you go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s a bit like learn a bit of knowledge, go away, learn a bit of knowledge, go away, until you then need somebody, like a personal trainer, by your side. Because this is when you really need somebody by your side constantly feeding you the information because the information is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re early stage, the information doesn\u2019t change as much. So it\u2019s just understanding when you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How delving into your numbers can effectively change your business strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thow to grow your business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsmall business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\t
\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tExplore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd when people talk about margin and profit, why are they different terms and why should people be aware of the margin they\u2019re making on a product or service versus the profit they make maybe at the end of the 3 months or the end of the year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo margin, there\u2019s two margins that people tend to focus on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One is the gross profit margin, which is your sales once you\u2019ve taken away your actual direct cost, which is the cost of sales. That is a very good indicator of how well you\u2019re delivering a service because every time you sell, say a single product, you make your gross profit on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Say for example, you make a gross profit of a \u00a3100 (CA$174) per product that you sell. That is also known as your contribution because every time you sell 1 product, you\u2019re contributing a \u00a3100 (CA$174) towards your fixed costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your fixed costs were a \u00a31,000 (CA$1740), then you need to sell 10 items in order to cover your fixed costs before you start being actually profitable in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding that gives you your breakeven point and your target as to how many sales you need to make, how many conversations you need to have in order to make those sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It starts driving all the other activity around your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gross profit margins are also a good indicator as to how you are comparing to the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you are being more efficient, you managed to buy a product cheaper than anybody else or manufacture it cheaper than anybody else, then it stands you in good stead to be more profitable because you can sell fewer products before you start hitting your profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And understand the margins around your markets and your industries because it will vary and that is a good indicator of how you\u2019re performing against the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Breaking down what having a financial strategy really means<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is so interesting because as soon as you said, \u201cIf you can work out, you need to sell 10 of these items, these products to cover your fixed costs\u201d, to have that information going into your working day, going into your working month, that changes your outlook immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it gives you, I suppose something to aim for beyond, \u201cOh, I just want to be successful\u201d or, \u201cI just want to sell lots of things this month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can see how that then focuses the mind, so immediately it starts making sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But maybe we can break down, I mean taking it to its most basic level, what do we mean by financial strategy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you mean by that and why is that something that people should prioritize in times of their time when they\u2019re already really busy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely, it is the case. Sometimes you need to take time out in order to plan where you didn\u2019t plan your next day, otherwise you are just running from pillar to post. The hamster wheel starts kicking in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So every business owner I see has a goal, an objective, a vision where they want to go to. And so visually I imagine it like a destination they want to go to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so your business, like a car, takes you to a destination, but you\u2019ve got to work out how you\u2019re going to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that essentially is your strategy. What does your vision look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it tends to be words or pictures and that\u2019s really hard to gauge and measure. How do you know when you\u2019re going to achieve it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the best.\u201d I mean, what does that actually mean to be the best?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the most efficient, I want to be the best well known\u201d or whatever that vision might look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can\u2019t quantify it and you can\u2019t measure it in that case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you say, \u201cI want to lose weight.\u201d Well, how much weight do you want to lose? By when?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a strategy tends to be words and pictures. A financial strategy is literally converting that into numbers so that you can track how you\u2019re going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of a financial strategy a bit like the Google Maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know how you\u2019re going to get there, what route you\u2019re going to take, how long it\u2019s going to take you, and how you are going to track the milestones on your route. And also understanding what resources you have in order to get you to that destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the key resource would be cash. So like a vehicle needs fuel, your business needs cash and cash is essentially the sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you\u2019ve got to have some sense of understanding how much cash you need in your business and how long that will last you until you need more revenue again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hence the burn rate, you need to know how long it will take you to get to your destination and how much cash you\u2019ll need to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m loving these examples because it feels like you are really breaking down these financial concepts to things like managing your weight and getting from A to B in your car, how you\u2019d get to your destination?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you feel like that is the way to help people get over that financial fear factor, making the concepts a lot more relatable in this way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely. I think all my analogies are just the way I visualize things, and so I then use it to describe, and I\u2019ve realized that it does really help people make it feel relatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because they think, \u201cOkay, I can have this analogy\u201d and it does help join the dots in their head as to what it actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I try and make it relatable to everybody in their specific industry because whilst the concepts are very generic, trying to bring it into a different person\u2019s industry, it has to connect the dots for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So whether you\u2019re a service-based industry or a product-based industry, you just have a slight nuance in how it\u2019s applied and it does help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding your finances in detail can help you optimize your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThere might be people listening thinking, \u201cOh, you know what? I know basically if I sell this many I\u2019m doing all right. I don\u2019t need to dig into my numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you\u2019ve helped a lot of business owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you see in terms of their confidence, their ability to succeed once they do face their financial fears? What is the consequence? Is there a general improvement in their ability to get results? What have you seen in your experience?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDefinitely. Especially for females, because we focus on what we don\u2019t know and it\u2019s kind of like the little elephant in the room and you know it\u2019s there, but you\u2019re kind of like, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll deal with it later and I vaguely know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you know something with a bit more certainty, then you can understand whether to go forward with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So back to the car analogy, if you can visualize the road ahead and you can see the road is clear, you know you can put your foot down and you\u2019ve got plenty of fuel in the tank you need, you can just go for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you\u2019re driving through fog, you\u2019re kind of guessing your way and you can hamper your own progress because you don\u2019t know the road ahead is clear, and you can get really ahead of the competition if the road is clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if the competition knows the road is clear, they\u2019re going to beat you to the destination if the destination is of a very similar place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So knowing where you are and what you have with vision and clear understanding, you can then optimize your own business, irrespective of anybody else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we always hesitate in life when we don\u2019t know what we\u2019re doing and if we\u2019re going for funding and we don\u2019t know the numbers, it\u2019s going to come across when you\u2019re pitching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know that if you ate a donut one day, you need to compensate by not eating donuts and being really good for the next few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the same thing with business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have a bad decision, or a bad situation, you then know, \u201cOkay, well that happened. I need to find some other way to mitigate or compensate for that downside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if you know for a fact that something went really well, you can double down and go, \u201cRight, I can really forge ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s being far more proactive around your decisions when you really know the finances and the implication of all your actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyone can learn to understand numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting there that you mentioned women in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a trend that you see amongst the female business owners that come and see you that there\u2019s a lot higher barrier to the grappling with the finances, grappling with the numbers, or is it sort of equal for men and women?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think women are far more willing to admit to it, and I think personally, I\u2019m not very good at blagging it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think it does hamper women because they can\u2019t blag it. Men can blag it and they sound more confident, like they know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I don\u2019t think necessarily men know any better when it comes to their numbers because sometimes, they think they know and that can actually be a disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They start forging ahead thinking they\u2019ve got money in the bank, et cetera, but they don\u2019t realize the fact that they actually don\u2019t, their profitability is not being measured correctly, they don\u2019t have the right records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, if you put numbers in the wrong buckets and you\u2019re looking at the wrong number, it\u2019s telling you a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we go back to the metrics, your numbers tell you a story, but if you\u2019ve got the wrong words telling you the wrong story, then you\u2019re going to take the wrong actions as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So in that sense, male and females, not necessarily, but women just are more reticent, they tend to admit they don\u2019t like numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think it\u2019s also probably societal pressures and thinking women are no good with numbers. I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s the case at all because like you say, anybody can add, anybody can subtract and just understanding what that number means, good or bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you can understand your own weight number, you can understand a number in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From dentistry to becoming an accidental accountant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nNo, that\u2019s really interesting. And how did you get here, Julie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s your background? How did you become the financial fortune-teller? I would want to know a bit about your path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, you\u2019ll never believe this, but I\u2019m a completely accidental accountant, I became a reluctant accountant and became an accidental mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So really dialing back, I mean at the age of 10 I wanted to be a dentist and so I did all my A-levels, got to university [collage], did 1 year of dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, I actually like sciences, not knowing that at the age of 10 I was actually any good at sciences, but I did love science and math and things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So anyway, I got to dentistry, I didn\u2019t want to be a dentist, so switched over into business, and became an accountant because I wanted to do business, but my sister said, \u201cNo, don\u2019t do business, do accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up graduating, got offered a job as a chartered accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I trained as an auditor and it was so dry. I mean really, it was not a gratifying experience. I understand why people think numbers are just boring because they are, until you understand the story behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had many different jobs trying to find my niche. I went from practice to different industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve walked so much distance width ways as opposed to the classical finance director route. I\u2019ve been in banking, and I mean budgets, I completely understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was doing a banking budget at 3am in the morning at Canary Wharf, not a gratifying experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I took a massive career break after that, not surprisingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then somebody invited me to collaborate and support her being a business mentor, and I started doing accelerators for universities and I became a mentor for the British Library on the finance modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was during lockdown when somebody said, \u201cJulie, you\u2019re not the typical accountant, that is not what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went like, \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, I\u2019ve just literally got goosebumps now just remembering that because it made me really happy dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was about helping people and I suddenly thought, \u201cOh my god, yeah, I now understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s not about what I do, it\u2019s about helping others with the knowledge, and that\u2019s what I find really gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really about helping everybody else achieve their dreams and remove their blockages when it comes to numbers because it then helps them just go ahead and just do what they want to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the bit that makes me excited and everybody has a greater risk appetite than I do, and it is just brilliant. I love that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can literally see you radiating enthusiasm and joy through the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You clearly, you are just glowing thinking about the fact that this is the path your career has taken, whereas when you were talking about becoming a dentist, you were just all freezing up, withdrawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted you to say, \u201cYeah, I would say then I looked into someone\u2019s mouth and realized I never wanted to do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDidn\u2019t get as far as looking into somebody else\u2019s mouth. It was a pre-clinical year, but I did get to dissect a cadaver, which was interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, I\u2019ve done a few interesting things in my life, so it\u2019s gratifying for that reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Becoming a better business mentor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you are obviously building a brand now, so you are not only advising other business owners, you are yourself a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to know a little bit about any interesting challenges or bumps in the road that you have experienced which have made you in turn a better mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI completely understand the whole journey of being a mentor, what it takes to be a business owner. Because when I switched over to being a business mentor, I didn\u2019t have a steady income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was literally like, \u201cOh my God, what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s like I have all this knowledge, I want to share this knowledge, but how does that actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s packaging up my services and then who is my ideal client? I mean, that is still slightly more generic than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everybody says niche, niche, niche, but I feel like a chef that can cook anything, but it\u2019s what do you want to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somebody might want a burger, somebody might want something more refined, somebody might just want a sandwich, but I can do all of those, but who actually wants something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the problem with finance is that most business owners think of finance as being the historic bookkeeping, annual accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call those people the file and forget brigade because you literally get it, put it in the drawer and you\u2019ve forgotten about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s so much magic in unlocking those numbers and trying to tell somebody the story of the magic that\u2019s there is quite hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not selling, but it\u2019s trying to convince people the value that is there because small business owners don\u2019t have an in-house strategic element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas you think about big businesses, they\u2019ve got whole teams of people crunching numbers going, \u201cWhere are we going? What is the business doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of it a bit like Lewis Hamilton out on the pit lane. He\u2019s driving, he\u2019s the CEO of his vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s driving there, but he\u2019s got a whole pit lane team with all the data telling him where is the competition? What is the track ahead like? Is there going to be a wet weather spell? And all the data around his car, are you going fast? Have you got enough fuel? What\u2019s the state of your tires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your engine\u2019s overheating, your fins need adjusting. You\u2019re not holding track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all this data that your pit lane team is feeding you and that\u2019s what your financial metrics can help you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that story is quite hard to convince people when they\u2019re focused on trying to make a sale and bring business in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re early stage, you need to have a high level, a bit like me, I need to vaguely know how many sales I need to make, and then you can focus on the marketing and sales side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as you get bigger, you\u2019ll start looking at the numbers because the numbers will get more complicated as you go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s a bit like learn a bit of knowledge, go away, learn a bit of knowledge, go away, until you then need somebody, like a personal trainer, by your side. Because this is when you really need somebody by your side constantly feeding you the information because the information is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re early stage, the information doesn\u2019t change as much. So it\u2019s just understanding when you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How delving into your numbers can effectively change your business strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thow to grow your business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsmall business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\t
\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tExplore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
So margin, there\u2019s two margins that people tend to focus on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One is the gross profit margin, which is your sales once you\u2019ve taken away your actual direct cost, which is the cost of sales. That is a very good indicator of how well you\u2019re delivering a service because every time you sell, say a single product, you make your gross profit on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Say for example, you make a gross profit of a \u00a3100 (CA$174) per product that you sell. That is also known as your contribution because every time you sell 1 product, you\u2019re contributing a \u00a3100 (CA$174) towards your fixed costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your fixed costs were a \u00a31,000 (CA$1740), then you need to sell 10 items in order to cover your fixed costs before you start being actually profitable in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So understanding that gives you your breakeven point and your target as to how many sales you need to make, how many conversations you need to have in order to make those sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It starts driving all the other activity around your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gross profit margins are also a good indicator as to how you are comparing to the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you are being more efficient, you managed to buy a product cheaper than anybody else or manufacture it cheaper than anybody else, then it stands you in good stead to be more profitable because you can sell fewer products before you start hitting your profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And understand the margins around your markets and your industries because it will vary and that is a good indicator of how you\u2019re performing against the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Breaking down what having a financial strategy really means<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is so interesting because as soon as you said, \u201cIf you can work out, you need to sell 10 of these items, these products to cover your fixed costs\u201d, to have that information going into your working day, going into your working month, that changes your outlook immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it gives you, I suppose something to aim for beyond, \u201cOh, I just want to be successful\u201d or, \u201cI just want to sell lots of things this month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can see how that then focuses the mind, so immediately it starts making sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But maybe we can break down, I mean taking it to its most basic level, what do we mean by financial strategy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you mean by that and why is that something that people should prioritize in times of their time when they\u2019re already really busy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely, it is the case. Sometimes you need to take time out in order to plan where you didn\u2019t plan your next day, otherwise you are just running from pillar to post. The hamster wheel starts kicking in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So every business owner I see has a goal, an objective, a vision where they want to go to. And so visually I imagine it like a destination they want to go to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so your business, like a car, takes you to a destination, but you\u2019ve got to work out how you\u2019re going to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that essentially is your strategy. What does your vision look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it tends to be words or pictures and that\u2019s really hard to gauge and measure. How do you know when you\u2019re going to achieve it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the best.\u201d I mean, what does that actually mean to be the best?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the most efficient, I want to be the best well known\u201d or whatever that vision might look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can\u2019t quantify it and you can\u2019t measure it in that case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you say, \u201cI want to lose weight.\u201d Well, how much weight do you want to lose? By when?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a strategy tends to be words and pictures. A financial strategy is literally converting that into numbers so that you can track how you\u2019re going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of a financial strategy a bit like the Google Maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know how you\u2019re going to get there, what route you\u2019re going to take, how long it\u2019s going to take you, and how you are going to track the milestones on your route. And also understanding what resources you have in order to get you to that destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the key resource would be cash. So like a vehicle needs fuel, your business needs cash and cash is essentially the sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you\u2019ve got to have some sense of understanding how much cash you need in your business and how long that will last you until you need more revenue again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hence the burn rate, you need to know how long it will take you to get to your destination and how much cash you\u2019ll need to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m loving these examples because it feels like you are really breaking down these financial concepts to things like managing your weight and getting from A to B in your car, how you\u2019d get to your destination?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you feel like that is the way to help people get over that financial fear factor, making the concepts a lot more relatable in this way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely. I think all my analogies are just the way I visualize things, and so I then use it to describe, and I\u2019ve realized that it does really help people make it feel relatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because they think, \u201cOkay, I can have this analogy\u201d and it does help join the dots in their head as to what it actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I try and make it relatable to everybody in their specific industry because whilst the concepts are very generic, trying to bring it into a different person\u2019s industry, it has to connect the dots for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So whether you\u2019re a service-based industry or a product-based industry, you just have a slight nuance in how it\u2019s applied and it does help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding your finances in detail can help you optimize your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThere might be people listening thinking, \u201cOh, you know what? I know basically if I sell this many I\u2019m doing all right. I don\u2019t need to dig into my numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you\u2019ve helped a lot of business owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you see in terms of their confidence, their ability to succeed once they do face their financial fears? What is the consequence? Is there a general improvement in their ability to get results? What have you seen in your experience?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDefinitely. Especially for females, because we focus on what we don\u2019t know and it\u2019s kind of like the little elephant in the room and you know it\u2019s there, but you\u2019re kind of like, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll deal with it later and I vaguely know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you know something with a bit more certainty, then you can understand whether to go forward with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So back to the car analogy, if you can visualize the road ahead and you can see the road is clear, you know you can put your foot down and you\u2019ve got plenty of fuel in the tank you need, you can just go for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you\u2019re driving through fog, you\u2019re kind of guessing your way and you can hamper your own progress because you don\u2019t know the road ahead is clear, and you can get really ahead of the competition if the road is clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if the competition knows the road is clear, they\u2019re going to beat you to the destination if the destination is of a very similar place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So knowing where you are and what you have with vision and clear understanding, you can then optimize your own business, irrespective of anybody else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we always hesitate in life when we don\u2019t know what we\u2019re doing and if we\u2019re going for funding and we don\u2019t know the numbers, it\u2019s going to come across when you\u2019re pitching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know that if you ate a donut one day, you need to compensate by not eating donuts and being really good for the next few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the same thing with business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have a bad decision, or a bad situation, you then know, \u201cOkay, well that happened. I need to find some other way to mitigate or compensate for that downside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if you know for a fact that something went really well, you can double down and go, \u201cRight, I can really forge ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s being far more proactive around your decisions when you really know the finances and the implication of all your actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyone can learn to understand numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting there that you mentioned women in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a trend that you see amongst the female business owners that come and see you that there\u2019s a lot higher barrier to the grappling with the finances, grappling with the numbers, or is it sort of equal for men and women?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think women are far more willing to admit to it, and I think personally, I\u2019m not very good at blagging it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think it does hamper women because they can\u2019t blag it. Men can blag it and they sound more confident, like they know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I don\u2019t think necessarily men know any better when it comes to their numbers because sometimes, they think they know and that can actually be a disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They start forging ahead thinking they\u2019ve got money in the bank, et cetera, but they don\u2019t realize the fact that they actually don\u2019t, their profitability is not being measured correctly, they don\u2019t have the right records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, if you put numbers in the wrong buckets and you\u2019re looking at the wrong number, it\u2019s telling you a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we go back to the metrics, your numbers tell you a story, but if you\u2019ve got the wrong words telling you the wrong story, then you\u2019re going to take the wrong actions as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So in that sense, male and females, not necessarily, but women just are more reticent, they tend to admit they don\u2019t like numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think it\u2019s also probably societal pressures and thinking women are no good with numbers. I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s the case at all because like you say, anybody can add, anybody can subtract and just understanding what that number means, good or bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you can understand your own weight number, you can understand a number in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From dentistry to becoming an accidental accountant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nNo, that\u2019s really interesting. And how did you get here, Julie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s your background? How did you become the financial fortune-teller? I would want to know a bit about your path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, you\u2019ll never believe this, but I\u2019m a completely accidental accountant, I became a reluctant accountant and became an accidental mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So really dialing back, I mean at the age of 10 I wanted to be a dentist and so I did all my A-levels, got to university [collage], did 1 year of dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, I actually like sciences, not knowing that at the age of 10 I was actually any good at sciences, but I did love science and math and things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So anyway, I got to dentistry, I didn\u2019t want to be a dentist, so switched over into business, and became an accountant because I wanted to do business, but my sister said, \u201cNo, don\u2019t do business, do accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up graduating, got offered a job as a chartered accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I trained as an auditor and it was so dry. I mean really, it was not a gratifying experience. I understand why people think numbers are just boring because they are, until you understand the story behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had many different jobs trying to find my niche. I went from practice to different industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve walked so much distance width ways as opposed to the classical finance director route. I\u2019ve been in banking, and I mean budgets, I completely understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was doing a banking budget at 3am in the morning at Canary Wharf, not a gratifying experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I took a massive career break after that, not surprisingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then somebody invited me to collaborate and support her being a business mentor, and I started doing accelerators for universities and I became a mentor for the British Library on the finance modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was during lockdown when somebody said, \u201cJulie, you\u2019re not the typical accountant, that is not what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went like, \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, I\u2019ve just literally got goosebumps now just remembering that because it made me really happy dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was about helping people and I suddenly thought, \u201cOh my god, yeah, I now understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s not about what I do, it\u2019s about helping others with the knowledge, and that\u2019s what I find really gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really about helping everybody else achieve their dreams and remove their blockages when it comes to numbers because it then helps them just go ahead and just do what they want to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the bit that makes me excited and everybody has a greater risk appetite than I do, and it is just brilliant. I love that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can literally see you radiating enthusiasm and joy through the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You clearly, you are just glowing thinking about the fact that this is the path your career has taken, whereas when you were talking about becoming a dentist, you were just all freezing up, withdrawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted you to say, \u201cYeah, I would say then I looked into someone\u2019s mouth and realized I never wanted to do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDidn\u2019t get as far as looking into somebody else\u2019s mouth. It was a pre-clinical year, but I did get to dissect a cadaver, which was interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, I\u2019ve done a few interesting things in my life, so it\u2019s gratifying for that reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Becoming a better business mentor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you are obviously building a brand now, so you are not only advising other business owners, you are yourself a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to know a little bit about any interesting challenges or bumps in the road that you have experienced which have made you in turn a better mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI completely understand the whole journey of being a mentor, what it takes to be a business owner. Because when I switched over to being a business mentor, I didn\u2019t have a steady income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was literally like, \u201cOh my God, what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s like I have all this knowledge, I want to share this knowledge, but how does that actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s packaging up my services and then who is my ideal client? I mean, that is still slightly more generic than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everybody says niche, niche, niche, but I feel like a chef that can cook anything, but it\u2019s what do you want to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somebody might want a burger, somebody might want something more refined, somebody might just want a sandwich, but I can do all of those, but who actually wants something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the problem with finance is that most business owners think of finance as being the historic bookkeeping, annual accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call those people the file and forget brigade because you literally get it, put it in the drawer and you\u2019ve forgotten about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s so much magic in unlocking those numbers and trying to tell somebody the story of the magic that\u2019s there is quite hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not selling, but it\u2019s trying to convince people the value that is there because small business owners don\u2019t have an in-house strategic element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas you think about big businesses, they\u2019ve got whole teams of people crunching numbers going, \u201cWhere are we going? What is the business doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of it a bit like Lewis Hamilton out on the pit lane. He\u2019s driving, he\u2019s the CEO of his vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s driving there, but he\u2019s got a whole pit lane team with all the data telling him where is the competition? What is the track ahead like? Is there going to be a wet weather spell? And all the data around his car, are you going fast? Have you got enough fuel? What\u2019s the state of your tires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your engine\u2019s overheating, your fins need adjusting. You\u2019re not holding track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all this data that your pit lane team is feeding you and that\u2019s what your financial metrics can help you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that story is quite hard to convince people when they\u2019re focused on trying to make a sale and bring business in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re early stage, you need to have a high level, a bit like me, I need to vaguely know how many sales I need to make, and then you can focus on the marketing and sales side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as you get bigger, you\u2019ll start looking at the numbers because the numbers will get more complicated as you go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s a bit like learn a bit of knowledge, go away, learn a bit of knowledge, go away, until you then need somebody, like a personal trainer, by your side. Because this is when you really need somebody by your side constantly feeding you the information because the information is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re early stage, the information doesn\u2019t change as much. So it\u2019s just understanding when you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How delving into your numbers can effectively change your business strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thow to grow your business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsmall business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\t
\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tExplore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
That is so interesting because as soon as you said, \u201cIf you can work out, you need to sell 10 of these items, these products to cover your fixed costs\u201d, to have that information going into your working day, going into your working month, that changes your outlook immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it gives you, I suppose something to aim for beyond, \u201cOh, I just want to be successful\u201d or, \u201cI just want to sell lots of things this month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can see how that then focuses the mind, so immediately it starts making sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But maybe we can break down, I mean taking it to its most basic level, what do we mean by financial strategy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you mean by that and why is that something that people should prioritize in times of their time when they\u2019re already really busy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely, it is the case. Sometimes you need to take time out in order to plan where you didn\u2019t plan your next day, otherwise you are just running from pillar to post. The hamster wheel starts kicking in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So every business owner I see has a goal, an objective, a vision where they want to go to. And so visually I imagine it like a destination they want to go to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so your business, like a car, takes you to a destination, but you\u2019ve got to work out how you\u2019re going to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that essentially is your strategy. What does your vision look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it tends to be words or pictures and that\u2019s really hard to gauge and measure. How do you know when you\u2019re going to achieve it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the best.\u201d I mean, what does that actually mean to be the best?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be the most efficient, I want to be the best well known\u201d or whatever that vision might look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can\u2019t quantify it and you can\u2019t measure it in that case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you say, \u201cI want to lose weight.\u201d Well, how much weight do you want to lose? By when?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a strategy tends to be words and pictures. A financial strategy is literally converting that into numbers so that you can track how you\u2019re going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of a financial strategy a bit like the Google Maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know how you\u2019re going to get there, what route you\u2019re going to take, how long it\u2019s going to take you, and how you are going to track the milestones on your route. And also understanding what resources you have in order to get you to that destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the key resource would be cash. So like a vehicle needs fuel, your business needs cash and cash is essentially the sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you\u2019ve got to have some sense of understanding how much cash you need in your business and how long that will last you until you need more revenue again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hence the burn rate, you need to know how long it will take you to get to your destination and how much cash you\u2019ll need to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m loving these examples because it feels like you are really breaking down these financial concepts to things like managing your weight and getting from A to B in your car, how you\u2019d get to your destination?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you feel like that is the way to help people get over that financial fear factor, making the concepts a lot more relatable in this way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely. I think all my analogies are just the way I visualize things, and so I then use it to describe, and I\u2019ve realized that it does really help people make it feel relatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because they think, \u201cOkay, I can have this analogy\u201d and it does help join the dots in their head as to what it actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I try and make it relatable to everybody in their specific industry because whilst the concepts are very generic, trying to bring it into a different person\u2019s industry, it has to connect the dots for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So whether you\u2019re a service-based industry or a product-based industry, you just have a slight nuance in how it\u2019s applied and it does help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding your finances in detail can help you optimize your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThere might be people listening thinking, \u201cOh, you know what? I know basically if I sell this many I\u2019m doing all right. I don\u2019t need to dig into my numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you\u2019ve helped a lot of business owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you see in terms of their confidence, their ability to succeed once they do face their financial fears? What is the consequence? Is there a general improvement in their ability to get results? What have you seen in your experience?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDefinitely. Especially for females, because we focus on what we don\u2019t know and it\u2019s kind of like the little elephant in the room and you know it\u2019s there, but you\u2019re kind of like, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll deal with it later and I vaguely know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you know something with a bit more certainty, then you can understand whether to go forward with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So back to the car analogy, if you can visualize the road ahead and you can see the road is clear, you know you can put your foot down and you\u2019ve got plenty of fuel in the tank you need, you can just go for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you\u2019re driving through fog, you\u2019re kind of guessing your way and you can hamper your own progress because you don\u2019t know the road ahead is clear, and you can get really ahead of the competition if the road is clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if the competition knows the road is clear, they\u2019re going to beat you to the destination if the destination is of a very similar place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So knowing where you are and what you have with vision and clear understanding, you can then optimize your own business, irrespective of anybody else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we always hesitate in life when we don\u2019t know what we\u2019re doing and if we\u2019re going for funding and we don\u2019t know the numbers, it\u2019s going to come across when you\u2019re pitching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know that if you ate a donut one day, you need to compensate by not eating donuts and being really good for the next few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the same thing with business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have a bad decision, or a bad situation, you then know, \u201cOkay, well that happened. I need to find some other way to mitigate or compensate for that downside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if you know for a fact that something went really well, you can double down and go, \u201cRight, I can really forge ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s being far more proactive around your decisions when you really know the finances and the implication of all your actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyone can learn to understand numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting there that you mentioned women in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a trend that you see amongst the female business owners that come and see you that there\u2019s a lot higher barrier to the grappling with the finances, grappling with the numbers, or is it sort of equal for men and women?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think women are far more willing to admit to it, and I think personally, I\u2019m not very good at blagging it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think it does hamper women because they can\u2019t blag it. Men can blag it and they sound more confident, like they know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I don\u2019t think necessarily men know any better when it comes to their numbers because sometimes, they think they know and that can actually be a disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They start forging ahead thinking they\u2019ve got money in the bank, et cetera, but they don\u2019t realize the fact that they actually don\u2019t, their profitability is not being measured correctly, they don\u2019t have the right records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, if you put numbers in the wrong buckets and you\u2019re looking at the wrong number, it\u2019s telling you a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we go back to the metrics, your numbers tell you a story, but if you\u2019ve got the wrong words telling you the wrong story, then you\u2019re going to take the wrong actions as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So in that sense, male and females, not necessarily, but women just are more reticent, they tend to admit they don\u2019t like numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think it\u2019s also probably societal pressures and thinking women are no good with numbers. I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s the case at all because like you say, anybody can add, anybody can subtract and just understanding what that number means, good or bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you can understand your own weight number, you can understand a number in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From dentistry to becoming an accidental accountant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nNo, that\u2019s really interesting. And how did you get here, Julie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s your background? How did you become the financial fortune-teller? I would want to know a bit about your path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, you\u2019ll never believe this, but I\u2019m a completely accidental accountant, I became a reluctant accountant and became an accidental mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So really dialing back, I mean at the age of 10 I wanted to be a dentist and so I did all my A-levels, got to university [collage], did 1 year of dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, I actually like sciences, not knowing that at the age of 10 I was actually any good at sciences, but I did love science and math and things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So anyway, I got to dentistry, I didn\u2019t want to be a dentist, so switched over into business, and became an accountant because I wanted to do business, but my sister said, \u201cNo, don\u2019t do business, do accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up graduating, got offered a job as a chartered accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I trained as an auditor and it was so dry. I mean really, it was not a gratifying experience. I understand why people think numbers are just boring because they are, until you understand the story behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had many different jobs trying to find my niche. I went from practice to different industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve walked so much distance width ways as opposed to the classical finance director route. I\u2019ve been in banking, and I mean budgets, I completely understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was doing a banking budget at 3am in the morning at Canary Wharf, not a gratifying experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I took a massive career break after that, not surprisingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then somebody invited me to collaborate and support her being a business mentor, and I started doing accelerators for universities and I became a mentor for the British Library on the finance modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was during lockdown when somebody said, \u201cJulie, you\u2019re not the typical accountant, that is not what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went like, \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, I\u2019ve just literally got goosebumps now just remembering that because it made me really happy dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was about helping people and I suddenly thought, \u201cOh my god, yeah, I now understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s not about what I do, it\u2019s about helping others with the knowledge, and that\u2019s what I find really gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really about helping everybody else achieve their dreams and remove their blockages when it comes to numbers because it then helps them just go ahead and just do what they want to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the bit that makes me excited and everybody has a greater risk appetite than I do, and it is just brilliant. I love that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can literally see you radiating enthusiasm and joy through the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You clearly, you are just glowing thinking about the fact that this is the path your career has taken, whereas when you were talking about becoming a dentist, you were just all freezing up, withdrawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted you to say, \u201cYeah, I would say then I looked into someone\u2019s mouth and realized I never wanted to do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDidn\u2019t get as far as looking into somebody else\u2019s mouth. It was a pre-clinical year, but I did get to dissect a cadaver, which was interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, I\u2019ve done a few interesting things in my life, so it\u2019s gratifying for that reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Becoming a better business mentor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you are obviously building a brand now, so you are not only advising other business owners, you are yourself a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to know a little bit about any interesting challenges or bumps in the road that you have experienced which have made you in turn a better mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI completely understand the whole journey of being a mentor, what it takes to be a business owner. Because when I switched over to being a business mentor, I didn\u2019t have a steady income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was literally like, \u201cOh my God, what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s like I have all this knowledge, I want to share this knowledge, but how does that actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s packaging up my services and then who is my ideal client? I mean, that is still slightly more generic than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everybody says niche, niche, niche, but I feel like a chef that can cook anything, but it\u2019s what do you want to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somebody might want a burger, somebody might want something more refined, somebody might just want a sandwich, but I can do all of those, but who actually wants something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the problem with finance is that most business owners think of finance as being the historic bookkeeping, annual accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call those people the file and forget brigade because you literally get it, put it in the drawer and you\u2019ve forgotten about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s so much magic in unlocking those numbers and trying to tell somebody the story of the magic that\u2019s there is quite hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not selling, but it\u2019s trying to convince people the value that is there because small business owners don\u2019t have an in-house strategic element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas you think about big businesses, they\u2019ve got whole teams of people crunching numbers going, \u201cWhere are we going? What is the business doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of it a bit like Lewis Hamilton out on the pit lane. He\u2019s driving, he\u2019s the CEO of his vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s driving there, but he\u2019s got a whole pit lane team with all the data telling him where is the competition? What is the track ahead like? Is there going to be a wet weather spell? And all the data around his car, are you going fast? Have you got enough fuel? What\u2019s the state of your tires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your engine\u2019s overheating, your fins need adjusting. You\u2019re not holding track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all this data that your pit lane team is feeding you and that\u2019s what your financial metrics can help you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that story is quite hard to convince people when they\u2019re focused on trying to make a sale and bring business in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re early stage, you need to have a high level, a bit like me, I need to vaguely know how many sales I need to make, and then you can focus on the marketing and sales side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as you get bigger, you\u2019ll start looking at the numbers because the numbers will get more complicated as you go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s a bit like learn a bit of knowledge, go away, learn a bit of knowledge, go away, until you then need somebody, like a personal trainer, by your side. Because this is when you really need somebody by your side constantly feeding you the information because the information is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re early stage, the information doesn\u2019t change as much. So it\u2019s just understanding when you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How delving into your numbers can effectively change your business strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thow to grow your business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsmall business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\t
\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tExplore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
I\u2019m loving these examples because it feels like you are really breaking down these financial concepts to things like managing your weight and getting from A to B in your car, how you\u2019d get to your destination?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you feel like that is the way to help people get over that financial fear factor, making the concepts a lot more relatable in this way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsolutely. I think all my analogies are just the way I visualize things, and so I then use it to describe, and I\u2019ve realized that it does really help people make it feel relatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because they think, \u201cOkay, I can have this analogy\u201d and it does help join the dots in their head as to what it actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I try and make it relatable to everybody in their specific industry because whilst the concepts are very generic, trying to bring it into a different person\u2019s industry, it has to connect the dots for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So whether you\u2019re a service-based industry or a product-based industry, you just have a slight nuance in how it\u2019s applied and it does help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding your finances in detail can help you optimize your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThere might be people listening thinking, \u201cOh, you know what? I know basically if I sell this many I\u2019m doing all right. I don\u2019t need to dig into my numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you\u2019ve helped a lot of business owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you see in terms of their confidence, their ability to succeed once they do face their financial fears? What is the consequence? Is there a general improvement in their ability to get results? What have you seen in your experience?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDefinitely. Especially for females, because we focus on what we don\u2019t know and it\u2019s kind of like the little elephant in the room and you know it\u2019s there, but you\u2019re kind of like, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll deal with it later and I vaguely know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you know something with a bit more certainty, then you can understand whether to go forward with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So back to the car analogy, if you can visualize the road ahead and you can see the road is clear, you know you can put your foot down and you\u2019ve got plenty of fuel in the tank you need, you can just go for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you\u2019re driving through fog, you\u2019re kind of guessing your way and you can hamper your own progress because you don\u2019t know the road ahead is clear, and you can get really ahead of the competition if the road is clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if the competition knows the road is clear, they\u2019re going to beat you to the destination if the destination is of a very similar place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So knowing where you are and what you have with vision and clear understanding, you can then optimize your own business, irrespective of anybody else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we always hesitate in life when we don\u2019t know what we\u2019re doing and if we\u2019re going for funding and we don\u2019t know the numbers, it\u2019s going to come across when you\u2019re pitching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know that if you ate a donut one day, you need to compensate by not eating donuts and being really good for the next few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the same thing with business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have a bad decision, or a bad situation, you then know, \u201cOkay, well that happened. I need to find some other way to mitigate or compensate for that downside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if you know for a fact that something went really well, you can double down and go, \u201cRight, I can really forge ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s being far more proactive around your decisions when you really know the finances and the implication of all your actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyone can learn to understand numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting there that you mentioned women in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a trend that you see amongst the female business owners that come and see you that there\u2019s a lot higher barrier to the grappling with the finances, grappling with the numbers, or is it sort of equal for men and women?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think women are far more willing to admit to it, and I think personally, I\u2019m not very good at blagging it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think it does hamper women because they can\u2019t blag it. Men can blag it and they sound more confident, like they know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I don\u2019t think necessarily men know any better when it comes to their numbers because sometimes, they think they know and that can actually be a disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They start forging ahead thinking they\u2019ve got money in the bank, et cetera, but they don\u2019t realize the fact that they actually don\u2019t, their profitability is not being measured correctly, they don\u2019t have the right records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, if you put numbers in the wrong buckets and you\u2019re looking at the wrong number, it\u2019s telling you a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we go back to the metrics, your numbers tell you a story, but if you\u2019ve got the wrong words telling you the wrong story, then you\u2019re going to take the wrong actions as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So in that sense, male and females, not necessarily, but women just are more reticent, they tend to admit they don\u2019t like numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think it\u2019s also probably societal pressures and thinking women are no good with numbers. I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s the case at all because like you say, anybody can add, anybody can subtract and just understanding what that number means, good or bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you can understand your own weight number, you can understand a number in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From dentistry to becoming an accidental accountant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nNo, that\u2019s really interesting. And how did you get here, Julie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s your background? How did you become the financial fortune-teller? I would want to know a bit about your path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, you\u2019ll never believe this, but I\u2019m a completely accidental accountant, I became a reluctant accountant and became an accidental mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So really dialing back, I mean at the age of 10 I wanted to be a dentist and so I did all my A-levels, got to university [collage], did 1 year of dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, I actually like sciences, not knowing that at the age of 10 I was actually any good at sciences, but I did love science and math and things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So anyway, I got to dentistry, I didn\u2019t want to be a dentist, so switched over into business, and became an accountant because I wanted to do business, but my sister said, \u201cNo, don\u2019t do business, do accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up graduating, got offered a job as a chartered accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I trained as an auditor and it was so dry. I mean really, it was not a gratifying experience. I understand why people think numbers are just boring because they are, until you understand the story behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had many different jobs trying to find my niche. I went from practice to different industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve walked so much distance width ways as opposed to the classical finance director route. I\u2019ve been in banking, and I mean budgets, I completely understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was doing a banking budget at 3am in the morning at Canary Wharf, not a gratifying experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I took a massive career break after that, not surprisingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then somebody invited me to collaborate and support her being a business mentor, and I started doing accelerators for universities and I became a mentor for the British Library on the finance modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was during lockdown when somebody said, \u201cJulie, you\u2019re not the typical accountant, that is not what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went like, \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, I\u2019ve just literally got goosebumps now just remembering that because it made me really happy dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was about helping people and I suddenly thought, \u201cOh my god, yeah, I now understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s not about what I do, it\u2019s about helping others with the knowledge, and that\u2019s what I find really gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really about helping everybody else achieve their dreams and remove their blockages when it comes to numbers because it then helps them just go ahead and just do what they want to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the bit that makes me excited and everybody has a greater risk appetite than I do, and it is just brilliant. I love that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can literally see you radiating enthusiasm and joy through the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You clearly, you are just glowing thinking about the fact that this is the path your career has taken, whereas when you were talking about becoming a dentist, you were just all freezing up, withdrawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted you to say, \u201cYeah, I would say then I looked into someone\u2019s mouth and realized I never wanted to do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDidn\u2019t get as far as looking into somebody else\u2019s mouth. It was a pre-clinical year, but I did get to dissect a cadaver, which was interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, I\u2019ve done a few interesting things in my life, so it\u2019s gratifying for that reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Becoming a better business mentor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you are obviously building a brand now, so you are not only advising other business owners, you are yourself a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to know a little bit about any interesting challenges or bumps in the road that you have experienced which have made you in turn a better mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI completely understand the whole journey of being a mentor, what it takes to be a business owner. Because when I switched over to being a business mentor, I didn\u2019t have a steady income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was literally like, \u201cOh my God, what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s like I have all this knowledge, I want to share this knowledge, but how does that actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s packaging up my services and then who is my ideal client? I mean, that is still slightly more generic than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everybody says niche, niche, niche, but I feel like a chef that can cook anything, but it\u2019s what do you want to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somebody might want a burger, somebody might want something more refined, somebody might just want a sandwich, but I can do all of those, but who actually wants something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the problem with finance is that most business owners think of finance as being the historic bookkeeping, annual accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call those people the file and forget brigade because you literally get it, put it in the drawer and you\u2019ve forgotten about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s so much magic in unlocking those numbers and trying to tell somebody the story of the magic that\u2019s there is quite hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not selling, but it\u2019s trying to convince people the value that is there because small business owners don\u2019t have an in-house strategic element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas you think about big businesses, they\u2019ve got whole teams of people crunching numbers going, \u201cWhere are we going? What is the business doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of it a bit like Lewis Hamilton out on the pit lane. He\u2019s driving, he\u2019s the CEO of his vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s driving there, but he\u2019s got a whole pit lane team with all the data telling him where is the competition? What is the track ahead like? Is there going to be a wet weather spell? And all the data around his car, are you going fast? Have you got enough fuel? What\u2019s the state of your tires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your engine\u2019s overheating, your fins need adjusting. You\u2019re not holding track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all this data that your pit lane team is feeding you and that\u2019s what your financial metrics can help you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that story is quite hard to convince people when they\u2019re focused on trying to make a sale and bring business in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re early stage, you need to have a high level, a bit like me, I need to vaguely know how many sales I need to make, and then you can focus on the marketing and sales side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as you get bigger, you\u2019ll start looking at the numbers because the numbers will get more complicated as you go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s a bit like learn a bit of knowledge, go away, learn a bit of knowledge, go away, until you then need somebody, like a personal trainer, by your side. Because this is when you really need somebody by your side constantly feeding you the information because the information is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re early stage, the information doesn\u2019t change as much. So it\u2019s just understanding when you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How delving into your numbers can effectively change your business strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thow to grow your business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsmall business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\t
\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tExplore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThere might be people listening thinking, \u201cOh, you know what? I know basically if I sell this many I\u2019m doing all right. I don\u2019t need to dig into my numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you\u2019ve helped a lot of business owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you see in terms of their confidence, their ability to succeed once they do face their financial fears? What is the consequence? Is there a general improvement in their ability to get results? What have you seen in your experience?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDefinitely. Especially for females, because we focus on what we don\u2019t know and it\u2019s kind of like the little elephant in the room and you know it\u2019s there, but you\u2019re kind of like, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll deal with it later and I vaguely know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you know something with a bit more certainty, then you can understand whether to go forward with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So back to the car analogy, if you can visualize the road ahead and you can see the road is clear, you know you can put your foot down and you\u2019ve got plenty of fuel in the tank you need, you can just go for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you\u2019re driving through fog, you\u2019re kind of guessing your way and you can hamper your own progress because you don\u2019t know the road ahead is clear, and you can get really ahead of the competition if the road is clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if the competition knows the road is clear, they\u2019re going to beat you to the destination if the destination is of a very similar place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So knowing where you are and what you have with vision and clear understanding, you can then optimize your own business, irrespective of anybody else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we always hesitate in life when we don\u2019t know what we\u2019re doing and if we\u2019re going for funding and we don\u2019t know the numbers, it\u2019s going to come across when you\u2019re pitching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know that if you ate a donut one day, you need to compensate by not eating donuts and being really good for the next few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the same thing with business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have a bad decision, or a bad situation, you then know, \u201cOkay, well that happened. I need to find some other way to mitigate or compensate for that downside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if you know for a fact that something went really well, you can double down and go, \u201cRight, I can really forge ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s being far more proactive around your decisions when you really know the finances and the implication of all your actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyone can learn to understand numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting there that you mentioned women in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a trend that you see amongst the female business owners that come and see you that there\u2019s a lot higher barrier to the grappling with the finances, grappling with the numbers, or is it sort of equal for men and women?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think women are far more willing to admit to it, and I think personally, I\u2019m not very good at blagging it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think it does hamper women because they can\u2019t blag it. Men can blag it and they sound more confident, like they know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I don\u2019t think necessarily men know any better when it comes to their numbers because sometimes, they think they know and that can actually be a disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They start forging ahead thinking they\u2019ve got money in the bank, et cetera, but they don\u2019t realize the fact that they actually don\u2019t, their profitability is not being measured correctly, they don\u2019t have the right records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, if you put numbers in the wrong buckets and you\u2019re looking at the wrong number, it\u2019s telling you a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we go back to the metrics, your numbers tell you a story, but if you\u2019ve got the wrong words telling you the wrong story, then you\u2019re going to take the wrong actions as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So in that sense, male and females, not necessarily, but women just are more reticent, they tend to admit they don\u2019t like numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think it\u2019s also probably societal pressures and thinking women are no good with numbers. I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s the case at all because like you say, anybody can add, anybody can subtract and just understanding what that number means, good or bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you can understand your own weight number, you can understand a number in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From dentistry to becoming an accidental accountant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nNo, that\u2019s really interesting. And how did you get here, Julie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s your background? How did you become the financial fortune-teller? I would want to know a bit about your path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, you\u2019ll never believe this, but I\u2019m a completely accidental accountant, I became a reluctant accountant and became an accidental mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So really dialing back, I mean at the age of 10 I wanted to be a dentist and so I did all my A-levels, got to university [collage], did 1 year of dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, I actually like sciences, not knowing that at the age of 10 I was actually any good at sciences, but I did love science and math and things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So anyway, I got to dentistry, I didn\u2019t want to be a dentist, so switched over into business, and became an accountant because I wanted to do business, but my sister said, \u201cNo, don\u2019t do business, do accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up graduating, got offered a job as a chartered accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I trained as an auditor and it was so dry. I mean really, it was not a gratifying experience. I understand why people think numbers are just boring because they are, until you understand the story behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had many different jobs trying to find my niche. I went from practice to different industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve walked so much distance width ways as opposed to the classical finance director route. I\u2019ve been in banking, and I mean budgets, I completely understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was doing a banking budget at 3am in the morning at Canary Wharf, not a gratifying experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I took a massive career break after that, not surprisingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then somebody invited me to collaborate and support her being a business mentor, and I started doing accelerators for universities and I became a mentor for the British Library on the finance modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was during lockdown when somebody said, \u201cJulie, you\u2019re not the typical accountant, that is not what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went like, \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, I\u2019ve just literally got goosebumps now just remembering that because it made me really happy dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was about helping people and I suddenly thought, \u201cOh my god, yeah, I now understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s not about what I do, it\u2019s about helping others with the knowledge, and that\u2019s what I find really gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really about helping everybody else achieve their dreams and remove their blockages when it comes to numbers because it then helps them just go ahead and just do what they want to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the bit that makes me excited and everybody has a greater risk appetite than I do, and it is just brilliant. I love that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can literally see you radiating enthusiasm and joy through the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You clearly, you are just glowing thinking about the fact that this is the path your career has taken, whereas when you were talking about becoming a dentist, you were just all freezing up, withdrawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted you to say, \u201cYeah, I would say then I looked into someone\u2019s mouth and realized I never wanted to do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDidn\u2019t get as far as looking into somebody else\u2019s mouth. It was a pre-clinical year, but I did get to dissect a cadaver, which was interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, I\u2019ve done a few interesting things in my life, so it\u2019s gratifying for that reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Becoming a better business mentor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you are obviously building a brand now, so you are not only advising other business owners, you are yourself a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to know a little bit about any interesting challenges or bumps in the road that you have experienced which have made you in turn a better mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI completely understand the whole journey of being a mentor, what it takes to be a business owner. Because when I switched over to being a business mentor, I didn\u2019t have a steady income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was literally like, \u201cOh my God, what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s like I have all this knowledge, I want to share this knowledge, but how does that actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s packaging up my services and then who is my ideal client? I mean, that is still slightly more generic than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everybody says niche, niche, niche, but I feel like a chef that can cook anything, but it\u2019s what do you want to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somebody might want a burger, somebody might want something more refined, somebody might just want a sandwich, but I can do all of those, but who actually wants something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the problem with finance is that most business owners think of finance as being the historic bookkeeping, annual accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call those people the file and forget brigade because you literally get it, put it in the drawer and you\u2019ve forgotten about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s so much magic in unlocking those numbers and trying to tell somebody the story of the magic that\u2019s there is quite hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not selling, but it\u2019s trying to convince people the value that is there because small business owners don\u2019t have an in-house strategic element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas you think about big businesses, they\u2019ve got whole teams of people crunching numbers going, \u201cWhere are we going? What is the business doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of it a bit like Lewis Hamilton out on the pit lane. He\u2019s driving, he\u2019s the CEO of his vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s driving there, but he\u2019s got a whole pit lane team with all the data telling him where is the competition? What is the track ahead like? Is there going to be a wet weather spell? And all the data around his car, are you going fast? Have you got enough fuel? What\u2019s the state of your tires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your engine\u2019s overheating, your fins need adjusting. You\u2019re not holding track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all this data that your pit lane team is feeding you and that\u2019s what your financial metrics can help you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that story is quite hard to convince people when they\u2019re focused on trying to make a sale and bring business in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re early stage, you need to have a high level, a bit like me, I need to vaguely know how many sales I need to make, and then you can focus on the marketing and sales side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as you get bigger, you\u2019ll start looking at the numbers because the numbers will get more complicated as you go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s a bit like learn a bit of knowledge, go away, learn a bit of knowledge, go away, until you then need somebody, like a personal trainer, by your side. Because this is when you really need somebody by your side constantly feeding you the information because the information is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re early stage, the information doesn\u2019t change as much. So it\u2019s just understanding when you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How delving into your numbers can effectively change your business strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tExplore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
Definitely. Especially for females, because we focus on what we don\u2019t know and it\u2019s kind of like the little elephant in the room and you know it\u2019s there, but you\u2019re kind of like, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll deal with it later and I vaguely know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you know something with a bit more certainty, then you can understand whether to go forward with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So back to the car analogy, if you can visualize the road ahead and you can see the road is clear, you know you can put your foot down and you\u2019ve got plenty of fuel in the tank you need, you can just go for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you\u2019re driving through fog, you\u2019re kind of guessing your way and you can hamper your own progress because you don\u2019t know the road ahead is clear, and you can get really ahead of the competition if the road is clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if the competition knows the road is clear, they\u2019re going to beat you to the destination if the destination is of a very similar place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So knowing where you are and what you have with vision and clear understanding, you can then optimize your own business, irrespective of anybody else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we always hesitate in life when we don\u2019t know what we\u2019re doing and if we\u2019re going for funding and we don\u2019t know the numbers, it\u2019s going to come across when you\u2019re pitching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know that if you ate a donut one day, you need to compensate by not eating donuts and being really good for the next few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the same thing with business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have a bad decision, or a bad situation, you then know, \u201cOkay, well that happened. I need to find some other way to mitigate or compensate for that downside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if you know for a fact that something went really well, you can double down and go, \u201cRight, I can really forge ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s being far more proactive around your decisions when you really know the finances and the implication of all your actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyone can learn to understand numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting there that you mentioned women in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a trend that you see amongst the female business owners that come and see you that there\u2019s a lot higher barrier to the grappling with the finances, grappling with the numbers, or is it sort of equal for men and women?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think women are far more willing to admit to it, and I think personally, I\u2019m not very good at blagging it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think it does hamper women because they can\u2019t blag it. Men can blag it and they sound more confident, like they know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I don\u2019t think necessarily men know any better when it comes to their numbers because sometimes, they think they know and that can actually be a disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They start forging ahead thinking they\u2019ve got money in the bank, et cetera, but they don\u2019t realize the fact that they actually don\u2019t, their profitability is not being measured correctly, they don\u2019t have the right records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, if you put numbers in the wrong buckets and you\u2019re looking at the wrong number, it\u2019s telling you a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we go back to the metrics, your numbers tell you a story, but if you\u2019ve got the wrong words telling you the wrong story, then you\u2019re going to take the wrong actions as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So in that sense, male and females, not necessarily, but women just are more reticent, they tend to admit they don\u2019t like numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think it\u2019s also probably societal pressures and thinking women are no good with numbers. I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s the case at all because like you say, anybody can add, anybody can subtract and just understanding what that number means, good or bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you can understand your own weight number, you can understand a number in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From dentistry to becoming an accidental accountant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nNo, that\u2019s really interesting. And how did you get here, Julie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s your background? How did you become the financial fortune-teller? I would want to know a bit about your path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, you\u2019ll never believe this, but I\u2019m a completely accidental accountant, I became a reluctant accountant and became an accidental mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So really dialing back, I mean at the age of 10 I wanted to be a dentist and so I did all my A-levels, got to university [collage], did 1 year of dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, I actually like sciences, not knowing that at the age of 10 I was actually any good at sciences, but I did love science and math and things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So anyway, I got to dentistry, I didn\u2019t want to be a dentist, so switched over into business, and became an accountant because I wanted to do business, but my sister said, \u201cNo, don\u2019t do business, do accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up graduating, got offered a job as a chartered accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I trained as an auditor and it was so dry. I mean really, it was not a gratifying experience. I understand why people think numbers are just boring because they are, until you understand the story behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had many different jobs trying to find my niche. I went from practice to different industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve walked so much distance width ways as opposed to the classical finance director route. I\u2019ve been in banking, and I mean budgets, I completely understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was doing a banking budget at 3am in the morning at Canary Wharf, not a gratifying experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I took a massive career break after that, not surprisingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then somebody invited me to collaborate and support her being a business mentor, and I started doing accelerators for universities and I became a mentor for the British Library on the finance modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was during lockdown when somebody said, \u201cJulie, you\u2019re not the typical accountant, that is not what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went like, \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, I\u2019ve just literally got goosebumps now just remembering that because it made me really happy dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was about helping people and I suddenly thought, \u201cOh my god, yeah, I now understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s not about what I do, it\u2019s about helping others with the knowledge, and that\u2019s what I find really gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really about helping everybody else achieve their dreams and remove their blockages when it comes to numbers because it then helps them just go ahead and just do what they want to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the bit that makes me excited and everybody has a greater risk appetite than I do, and it is just brilliant. I love that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can literally see you radiating enthusiasm and joy through the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You clearly, you are just glowing thinking about the fact that this is the path your career has taken, whereas when you were talking about becoming a dentist, you were just all freezing up, withdrawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted you to say, \u201cYeah, I would say then I looked into someone\u2019s mouth and realized I never wanted to do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDidn\u2019t get as far as looking into somebody else\u2019s mouth. It was a pre-clinical year, but I did get to dissect a cadaver, which was interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, I\u2019ve done a few interesting things in my life, so it\u2019s gratifying for that reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Becoming a better business mentor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you are obviously building a brand now, so you are not only advising other business owners, you are yourself a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to know a little bit about any interesting challenges or bumps in the road that you have experienced which have made you in turn a better mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI completely understand the whole journey of being a mentor, what it takes to be a business owner. Because when I switched over to being a business mentor, I didn\u2019t have a steady income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was literally like, \u201cOh my God, what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s like I have all this knowledge, I want to share this knowledge, but how does that actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s packaging up my services and then who is my ideal client? I mean, that is still slightly more generic than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everybody says niche, niche, niche, but I feel like a chef that can cook anything, but it\u2019s what do you want to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somebody might want a burger, somebody might want something more refined, somebody might just want a sandwich, but I can do all of those, but who actually wants something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the problem with finance is that most business owners think of finance as being the historic bookkeeping, annual accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call those people the file and forget brigade because you literally get it, put it in the drawer and you\u2019ve forgotten about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s so much magic in unlocking those numbers and trying to tell somebody the story of the magic that\u2019s there is quite hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not selling, but it\u2019s trying to convince people the value that is there because small business owners don\u2019t have an in-house strategic element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas you think about big businesses, they\u2019ve got whole teams of people crunching numbers going, \u201cWhere are we going? What is the business doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of it a bit like Lewis Hamilton out on the pit lane. He\u2019s driving, he\u2019s the CEO of his vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s driving there, but he\u2019s got a whole pit lane team with all the data telling him where is the competition? What is the track ahead like? Is there going to be a wet weather spell? And all the data around his car, are you going fast? Have you got enough fuel? What\u2019s the state of your tires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your engine\u2019s overheating, your fins need adjusting. You\u2019re not holding track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all this data that your pit lane team is feeding you and that\u2019s what your financial metrics can help you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that story is quite hard to convince people when they\u2019re focused on trying to make a sale and bring business in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re early stage, you need to have a high level, a bit like me, I need to vaguely know how many sales I need to make, and then you can focus on the marketing and sales side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as you get bigger, you\u2019ll start looking at the numbers because the numbers will get more complicated as you go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s a bit like learn a bit of knowledge, go away, learn a bit of knowledge, go away, until you then need somebody, like a personal trainer, by your side. Because this is when you really need somebody by your side constantly feeding you the information because the information is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re early stage, the information doesn\u2019t change as much. So it\u2019s just understanding when you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How delving into your numbers can effectively change your business strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thow to grow your business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsmall business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\t
\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tExplore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
And it\u2019s interesting there that you mentioned women in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a trend that you see amongst the female business owners that come and see you that there\u2019s a lot higher barrier to the grappling with the finances, grappling with the numbers, or is it sort of equal for men and women?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think women are far more willing to admit to it, and I think personally, I\u2019m not very good at blagging it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think it does hamper women because they can\u2019t blag it. Men can blag it and they sound more confident, like they know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I don\u2019t think necessarily men know any better when it comes to their numbers because sometimes, they think they know and that can actually be a disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They start forging ahead thinking they\u2019ve got money in the bank, et cetera, but they don\u2019t realize the fact that they actually don\u2019t, their profitability is not being measured correctly, they don\u2019t have the right records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, if you put numbers in the wrong buckets and you\u2019re looking at the wrong number, it\u2019s telling you a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we go back to the metrics, your numbers tell you a story, but if you\u2019ve got the wrong words telling you the wrong story, then you\u2019re going to take the wrong actions as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So in that sense, male and females, not necessarily, but women just are more reticent, they tend to admit they don\u2019t like numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think it\u2019s also probably societal pressures and thinking women are no good with numbers. I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s the case at all because like you say, anybody can add, anybody can subtract and just understanding what that number means, good or bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you can understand your own weight number, you can understand a number in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From dentistry to becoming an accidental accountant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nNo, that\u2019s really interesting. And how did you get here, Julie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s your background? How did you become the financial fortune-teller? I would want to know a bit about your path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, you\u2019ll never believe this, but I\u2019m a completely accidental accountant, I became a reluctant accountant and became an accidental mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So really dialing back, I mean at the age of 10 I wanted to be a dentist and so I did all my A-levels, got to university [collage], did 1 year of dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, I actually like sciences, not knowing that at the age of 10 I was actually any good at sciences, but I did love science and math and things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So anyway, I got to dentistry, I didn\u2019t want to be a dentist, so switched over into business, and became an accountant because I wanted to do business, but my sister said, \u201cNo, don\u2019t do business, do accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up graduating, got offered a job as a chartered accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I trained as an auditor and it was so dry. I mean really, it was not a gratifying experience. I understand why people think numbers are just boring because they are, until you understand the story behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had many different jobs trying to find my niche. I went from practice to different industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve walked so much distance width ways as opposed to the classical finance director route. I\u2019ve been in banking, and I mean budgets, I completely understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was doing a banking budget at 3am in the morning at Canary Wharf, not a gratifying experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I took a massive career break after that, not surprisingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then somebody invited me to collaborate and support her being a business mentor, and I started doing accelerators for universities and I became a mentor for the British Library on the finance modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was during lockdown when somebody said, \u201cJulie, you\u2019re not the typical accountant, that is not what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went like, \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, I\u2019ve just literally got goosebumps now just remembering that because it made me really happy dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was about helping people and I suddenly thought, \u201cOh my god, yeah, I now understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s not about what I do, it\u2019s about helping others with the knowledge, and that\u2019s what I find really gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really about helping everybody else achieve their dreams and remove their blockages when it comes to numbers because it then helps them just go ahead and just do what they want to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the bit that makes me excited and everybody has a greater risk appetite than I do, and it is just brilliant. I love that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can literally see you radiating enthusiasm and joy through the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You clearly, you are just glowing thinking about the fact that this is the path your career has taken, whereas when you were talking about becoming a dentist, you were just all freezing up, withdrawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted you to say, \u201cYeah, I would say then I looked into someone\u2019s mouth and realized I never wanted to do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDidn\u2019t get as far as looking into somebody else\u2019s mouth. It was a pre-clinical year, but I did get to dissect a cadaver, which was interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, I\u2019ve done a few interesting things in my life, so it\u2019s gratifying for that reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Becoming a better business mentor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you are obviously building a brand now, so you are not only advising other business owners, you are yourself a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to know a little bit about any interesting challenges or bumps in the road that you have experienced which have made you in turn a better mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI completely understand the whole journey of being a mentor, what it takes to be a business owner. Because when I switched over to being a business mentor, I didn\u2019t have a steady income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was literally like, \u201cOh my God, what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s like I have all this knowledge, I want to share this knowledge, but how does that actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s packaging up my services and then who is my ideal client? I mean, that is still slightly more generic than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everybody says niche, niche, niche, but I feel like a chef that can cook anything, but it\u2019s what do you want to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somebody might want a burger, somebody might want something more refined, somebody might just want a sandwich, but I can do all of those, but who actually wants something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the problem with finance is that most business owners think of finance as being the historic bookkeeping, annual accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call those people the file and forget brigade because you literally get it, put it in the drawer and you\u2019ve forgotten about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s so much magic in unlocking those numbers and trying to tell somebody the story of the magic that\u2019s there is quite hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not selling, but it\u2019s trying to convince people the value that is there because small business owners don\u2019t have an in-house strategic element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas you think about big businesses, they\u2019ve got whole teams of people crunching numbers going, \u201cWhere are we going? What is the business doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of it a bit like Lewis Hamilton out on the pit lane. He\u2019s driving, he\u2019s the CEO of his vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s driving there, but he\u2019s got a whole pit lane team with all the data telling him where is the competition? What is the track ahead like? Is there going to be a wet weather spell? And all the data around his car, are you going fast? Have you got enough fuel? What\u2019s the state of your tires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your engine\u2019s overheating, your fins need adjusting. You\u2019re not holding track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all this data that your pit lane team is feeding you and that\u2019s what your financial metrics can help you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that story is quite hard to convince people when they\u2019re focused on trying to make a sale and bring business in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re early stage, you need to have a high level, a bit like me, I need to vaguely know how many sales I need to make, and then you can focus on the marketing and sales side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as you get bigger, you\u2019ll start looking at the numbers because the numbers will get more complicated as you go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s a bit like learn a bit of knowledge, go away, learn a bit of knowledge, go away, until you then need somebody, like a personal trainer, by your side. Because this is when you really need somebody by your side constantly feeding you the information because the information is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re early stage, the information doesn\u2019t change as much. So it\u2019s just understanding when you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How delving into your numbers can effectively change your business strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thow to grow your business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsmall business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\t
\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tExplore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nNo, that\u2019s really interesting. And how did you get here, Julie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s your background? How did you become the financial fortune-teller? I would want to know a bit about your path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, you\u2019ll never believe this, but I\u2019m a completely accidental accountant, I became a reluctant accountant and became an accidental mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So really dialing back, I mean at the age of 10 I wanted to be a dentist and so I did all my A-levels, got to university [collage], did 1 year of dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, I actually like sciences, not knowing that at the age of 10 I was actually any good at sciences, but I did love science and math and things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So anyway, I got to dentistry, I didn\u2019t want to be a dentist, so switched over into business, and became an accountant because I wanted to do business, but my sister said, \u201cNo, don\u2019t do business, do accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up graduating, got offered a job as a chartered accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I trained as an auditor and it was so dry. I mean really, it was not a gratifying experience. I understand why people think numbers are just boring because they are, until you understand the story behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had many different jobs trying to find my niche. I went from practice to different industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve walked so much distance width ways as opposed to the classical finance director route. I\u2019ve been in banking, and I mean budgets, I completely understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was doing a banking budget at 3am in the morning at Canary Wharf, not a gratifying experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I took a massive career break after that, not surprisingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then somebody invited me to collaborate and support her being a business mentor, and I started doing accelerators for universities and I became a mentor for the British Library on the finance modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was during lockdown when somebody said, \u201cJulie, you\u2019re not the typical accountant, that is not what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went like, \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, I\u2019ve just literally got goosebumps now just remembering that because it made me really happy dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was about helping people and I suddenly thought, \u201cOh my god, yeah, I now understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s not about what I do, it\u2019s about helping others with the knowledge, and that\u2019s what I find really gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really about helping everybody else achieve their dreams and remove their blockages when it comes to numbers because it then helps them just go ahead and just do what they want to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the bit that makes me excited and everybody has a greater risk appetite than I do, and it is just brilliant. I love that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can literally see you radiating enthusiasm and joy through the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You clearly, you are just glowing thinking about the fact that this is the path your career has taken, whereas when you were talking about becoming a dentist, you were just all freezing up, withdrawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted you to say, \u201cYeah, I would say then I looked into someone\u2019s mouth and realized I never wanted to do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDidn\u2019t get as far as looking into somebody else\u2019s mouth. It was a pre-clinical year, but I did get to dissect a cadaver, which was interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, I\u2019ve done a few interesting things in my life, so it\u2019s gratifying for that reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Becoming a better business mentor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you are obviously building a brand now, so you are not only advising other business owners, you are yourself a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to know a little bit about any interesting challenges or bumps in the road that you have experienced which have made you in turn a better mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI completely understand the whole journey of being a mentor, what it takes to be a business owner. Because when I switched over to being a business mentor, I didn\u2019t have a steady income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was literally like, \u201cOh my God, what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s like I have all this knowledge, I want to share this knowledge, but how does that actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s packaging up my services and then who is my ideal client? I mean, that is still slightly more generic than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everybody says niche, niche, niche, but I feel like a chef that can cook anything, but it\u2019s what do you want to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somebody might want a burger, somebody might want something more refined, somebody might just want a sandwich, but I can do all of those, but who actually wants something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the problem with finance is that most business owners think of finance as being the historic bookkeeping, annual accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call those people the file and forget brigade because you literally get it, put it in the drawer and you\u2019ve forgotten about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s so much magic in unlocking those numbers and trying to tell somebody the story of the magic that\u2019s there is quite hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not selling, but it\u2019s trying to convince people the value that is there because small business owners don\u2019t have an in-house strategic element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas you think about big businesses, they\u2019ve got whole teams of people crunching numbers going, \u201cWhere are we going? What is the business doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of it a bit like Lewis Hamilton out on the pit lane. He\u2019s driving, he\u2019s the CEO of his vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s driving there, but he\u2019s got a whole pit lane team with all the data telling him where is the competition? What is the track ahead like? Is there going to be a wet weather spell? And all the data around his car, are you going fast? Have you got enough fuel? What\u2019s the state of your tires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your engine\u2019s overheating, your fins need adjusting. You\u2019re not holding track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all this data that your pit lane team is feeding you and that\u2019s what your financial metrics can help you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that story is quite hard to convince people when they\u2019re focused on trying to make a sale and bring business in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re early stage, you need to have a high level, a bit like me, I need to vaguely know how many sales I need to make, and then you can focus on the marketing and sales side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as you get bigger, you\u2019ll start looking at the numbers because the numbers will get more complicated as you go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s a bit like learn a bit of knowledge, go away, learn a bit of knowledge, go away, until you then need somebody, like a personal trainer, by your side. Because this is when you really need somebody by your side constantly feeding you the information because the information is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re early stage, the information doesn\u2019t change as much. So it\u2019s just understanding when you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How delving into your numbers can effectively change your business strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thow to grow your business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsmall business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\t
\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tExplore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
You know what, you\u2019ll never believe this, but I\u2019m a completely accidental accountant, I became a reluctant accountant and became an accidental mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So really dialing back, I mean at the age of 10 I wanted to be a dentist and so I did all my A-levels, got to university [collage], did 1 year of dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, I actually like sciences, not knowing that at the age of 10 I was actually any good at sciences, but I did love science and math and things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So anyway, I got to dentistry, I didn\u2019t want to be a dentist, so switched over into business, and became an accountant because I wanted to do business, but my sister said, \u201cNo, don\u2019t do business, do accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up graduating, got offered a job as a chartered accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I trained as an auditor and it was so dry. I mean really, it was not a gratifying experience. I understand why people think numbers are just boring because they are, until you understand the story behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had many different jobs trying to find my niche. I went from practice to different industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve walked so much distance width ways as opposed to the classical finance director route. I\u2019ve been in banking, and I mean budgets, I completely understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was doing a banking budget at 3am in the morning at Canary Wharf, not a gratifying experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I took a massive career break after that, not surprisingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then somebody invited me to collaborate and support her being a business mentor, and I started doing accelerators for universities and I became a mentor for the British Library on the finance modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was during lockdown when somebody said, \u201cJulie, you\u2019re not the typical accountant, that is not what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went like, \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, I\u2019ve just literally got goosebumps now just remembering that because it made me really happy dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was about helping people and I suddenly thought, \u201cOh my god, yeah, I now understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s not about what I do, it\u2019s about helping others with the knowledge, and that\u2019s what I find really gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really about helping everybody else achieve their dreams and remove their blockages when it comes to numbers because it then helps them just go ahead and just do what they want to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the bit that makes me excited and everybody has a greater risk appetite than I do, and it is just brilliant. I love that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can literally see you radiating enthusiasm and joy through the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You clearly, you are just glowing thinking about the fact that this is the path your career has taken, whereas when you were talking about becoming a dentist, you were just all freezing up, withdrawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted you to say, \u201cYeah, I would say then I looked into someone\u2019s mouth and realized I never wanted to do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDidn\u2019t get as far as looking into somebody else\u2019s mouth. It was a pre-clinical year, but I did get to dissect a cadaver, which was interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, I\u2019ve done a few interesting things in my life, so it\u2019s gratifying for that reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Becoming a better business mentor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you are obviously building a brand now, so you are not only advising other business owners, you are yourself a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to know a little bit about any interesting challenges or bumps in the road that you have experienced which have made you in turn a better mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI completely understand the whole journey of being a mentor, what it takes to be a business owner. Because when I switched over to being a business mentor, I didn\u2019t have a steady income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was literally like, \u201cOh my God, what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s like I have all this knowledge, I want to share this knowledge, but how does that actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s packaging up my services and then who is my ideal client? I mean, that is still slightly more generic than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everybody says niche, niche, niche, but I feel like a chef that can cook anything, but it\u2019s what do you want to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somebody might want a burger, somebody might want something more refined, somebody might just want a sandwich, but I can do all of those, but who actually wants something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the problem with finance is that most business owners think of finance as being the historic bookkeeping, annual accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call those people the file and forget brigade because you literally get it, put it in the drawer and you\u2019ve forgotten about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s so much magic in unlocking those numbers and trying to tell somebody the story of the magic that\u2019s there is quite hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not selling, but it\u2019s trying to convince people the value that is there because small business owners don\u2019t have an in-house strategic element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas you think about big businesses, they\u2019ve got whole teams of people crunching numbers going, \u201cWhere are we going? What is the business doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of it a bit like Lewis Hamilton out on the pit lane. He\u2019s driving, he\u2019s the CEO of his vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s driving there, but he\u2019s got a whole pit lane team with all the data telling him where is the competition? What is the track ahead like? Is there going to be a wet weather spell? And all the data around his car, are you going fast? Have you got enough fuel? What\u2019s the state of your tires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your engine\u2019s overheating, your fins need adjusting. You\u2019re not holding track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all this data that your pit lane team is feeding you and that\u2019s what your financial metrics can help you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that story is quite hard to convince people when they\u2019re focused on trying to make a sale and bring business in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re early stage, you need to have a high level, a bit like me, I need to vaguely know how many sales I need to make, and then you can focus on the marketing and sales side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as you get bigger, you\u2019ll start looking at the numbers because the numbers will get more complicated as you go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s a bit like learn a bit of knowledge, go away, learn a bit of knowledge, go away, until you then need somebody, like a personal trainer, by your side. Because this is when you really need somebody by your side constantly feeding you the information because the information is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re early stage, the information doesn\u2019t change as much. So it\u2019s just understanding when you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How delving into your numbers can effectively change your business strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thow to grow your business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsmall business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\t
\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tExplore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
Didn\u2019t get as far as looking into somebody else\u2019s mouth. It was a pre-clinical year, but I did get to dissect a cadaver, which was interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, I\u2019ve done a few interesting things in my life, so it\u2019s gratifying for that reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Becoming a better business mentor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you are obviously building a brand now, so you are not only advising other business owners, you are yourself a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to know a little bit about any interesting challenges or bumps in the road that you have experienced which have made you in turn a better mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI completely understand the whole journey of being a mentor, what it takes to be a business owner. Because when I switched over to being a business mentor, I didn\u2019t have a steady income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was literally like, \u201cOh my God, what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s like I have all this knowledge, I want to share this knowledge, but how does that actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s packaging up my services and then who is my ideal client? I mean, that is still slightly more generic than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everybody says niche, niche, niche, but I feel like a chef that can cook anything, but it\u2019s what do you want to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somebody might want a burger, somebody might want something more refined, somebody might just want a sandwich, but I can do all of those, but who actually wants something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the problem with finance is that most business owners think of finance as being the historic bookkeeping, annual accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call those people the file and forget brigade because you literally get it, put it in the drawer and you\u2019ve forgotten about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s so much magic in unlocking those numbers and trying to tell somebody the story of the magic that\u2019s there is quite hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not selling, but it\u2019s trying to convince people the value that is there because small business owners don\u2019t have an in-house strategic element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas you think about big businesses, they\u2019ve got whole teams of people crunching numbers going, \u201cWhere are we going? What is the business doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of it a bit like Lewis Hamilton out on the pit lane. He\u2019s driving, he\u2019s the CEO of his vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s driving there, but he\u2019s got a whole pit lane team with all the data telling him where is the competition? What is the track ahead like? Is there going to be a wet weather spell? And all the data around his car, are you going fast? Have you got enough fuel? What\u2019s the state of your tires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your engine\u2019s overheating, your fins need adjusting. You\u2019re not holding track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all this data that your pit lane team is feeding you and that\u2019s what your financial metrics can help you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that story is quite hard to convince people when they\u2019re focused on trying to make a sale and bring business in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re early stage, you need to have a high level, a bit like me, I need to vaguely know how many sales I need to make, and then you can focus on the marketing and sales side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as you get bigger, you\u2019ll start looking at the numbers because the numbers will get more complicated as you go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s a bit like learn a bit of knowledge, go away, learn a bit of knowledge, go away, until you then need somebody, like a personal trainer, by your side. Because this is when you really need somebody by your side constantly feeding you the information because the information is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re early stage, the information doesn\u2019t change as much. So it\u2019s just understanding when you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How delving into your numbers can effectively change your business strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thow to grow your business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsmall business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\t
\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tExplore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
And you are obviously building a brand now, so you are not only advising other business owners, you are yourself a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to know a little bit about any interesting challenges or bumps in the road that you have experienced which have made you in turn a better mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI completely understand the whole journey of being a mentor, what it takes to be a business owner. Because when I switched over to being a business mentor, I didn\u2019t have a steady income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was literally like, \u201cOh my God, what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s like I have all this knowledge, I want to share this knowledge, but how does that actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s packaging up my services and then who is my ideal client? I mean, that is still slightly more generic than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everybody says niche, niche, niche, but I feel like a chef that can cook anything, but it\u2019s what do you want to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somebody might want a burger, somebody might want something more refined, somebody might just want a sandwich, but I can do all of those, but who actually wants something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the problem with finance is that most business owners think of finance as being the historic bookkeeping, annual accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call those people the file and forget brigade because you literally get it, put it in the drawer and you\u2019ve forgotten about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s so much magic in unlocking those numbers and trying to tell somebody the story of the magic that\u2019s there is quite hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not selling, but it\u2019s trying to convince people the value that is there because small business owners don\u2019t have an in-house strategic element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas you think about big businesses, they\u2019ve got whole teams of people crunching numbers going, \u201cWhere are we going? What is the business doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think of it a bit like Lewis Hamilton out on the pit lane. He\u2019s driving, he\u2019s the CEO of his vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s driving there, but he\u2019s got a whole pit lane team with all the data telling him where is the competition? What is the track ahead like? Is there going to be a wet weather spell? And all the data around his car, are you going fast? Have you got enough fuel? What\u2019s the state of your tires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your engine\u2019s overheating, your fins need adjusting. You\u2019re not holding track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all this data that your pit lane team is feeding you and that\u2019s what your financial metrics can help you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that story is quite hard to convince people when they\u2019re focused on trying to make a sale and bring business in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re early stage, you need to have a high level, a bit like me, I need to vaguely know how many sales I need to make, and then you can focus on the marketing and sales side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as you get bigger, you\u2019ll start looking at the numbers because the numbers will get more complicated as you go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s a bit like learn a bit of knowledge, go away, learn a bit of knowledge, go away, until you then need somebody, like a personal trainer, by your side. Because this is when you really need somebody by your side constantly feeding you the information because the information is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re early stage, the information doesn\u2019t change as much. So it\u2019s just understanding when you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How delving into your numbers can effectively change your business strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thow to grow your business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsmall business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\t
\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tExplore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019d love if you don\u2019t mind, if you could share some examples. You obviously don\u2019t have to use names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I understand you probably want to keep it all confidential, but I\u2019d love to hear about an example of where you\u2019ve delved into the numbers with a client and that has brought about maybe a complete change of strategy or a pivot or a focus on something that they perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done if they hadn\u2019t spent that time with you, when the insights meant that there was a demonstrative impact in terms of strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Julie Wong:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBrowse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentrepreneurship\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thow to grow your business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsmall business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\t
\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tExplore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
I had a client, she had a hospitality business, and on the face of it looked very good. It was in a wonderful location. She seemed to have a very nice lifestyle out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then when we looked at the numbers and we started looking at cashflow, and when she really looked at those sorts of numbers, she actually realized it wasn\u2019t as profitable as she thought it was, and she decided to exit her business instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So potentially she thought that she was ahead of the market, but she told me, she said, \u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t have looked at my numbers in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So she exited her business, which is not something typically people do when they think, \u201cI want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I have another client, they\u2019re debating whether they want to invest more money into growing their business in order to exit it and sell it on or just wind it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s another thing that you can look at is what do you need to do to get your business to where you want to be? Are you exiting, are you selling or are you just winding down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, something that I love is marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean that\u2019s why I wanted to do business actually. I love marketing and I think maybe that holds me in good stead is actually understanding the relationship between marketing and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so with another client, it\u2019s not necessarily a financial thing, but the blockage for her was she created paint products, but in order to test her paints, it wasn\u2019t like a colour chart, you had to buy the colour chart. But the colour chart was actually quite expensive compared to picking one up for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that became a barrier to entry for her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I just said, \u201cWell, can you break it down into smaller colour charts?\u201d And she said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so she did that and I think that just opened up the gateway for lots more people being to take the colour tiles and being able to then buy her paints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just little things like that, just little small tweaks that an outsider can sometimes bring you by looking at numbers and understanding what the obstacle is and seeing how to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Join our community to share your insights and stories on\u00a0X @Sage_Canada\u00a0<\/a>using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram\u00a0@SageOfficial<\/a>\u00a0or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can find out more about Julie on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n Get a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWant to know more about Julie Wong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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