• Understanding money stories
• The camaraderie between small businesses
• Getting control of your business finances
• When outsourcing is not a good idea
• Advancements in software

About Fiona

Transcript

Nicole Smith
Welcome to Take Control with Nicole. As business owners we experience firsthand the fine line between our personal and business lives. During our conversations, we will look at simple hints and tips to create time, reduce overwhelm, and help you to navigate through your journey to where you want to be. If you’re looking for smarter ways to work, and create space and time freedom in your day, then you’re in the right place. All right, let’s go.

Hello, I’m Nicole Smith, COO, Operations Specialist and Systems Designer over here at The Artisans Business Solutions, and welcome to Take Control With Nicole. Today I am speaking with a fabulous Fi Johnston all about structuring your business systems and processes with that fabulous finance lens that is so important as part of any business journey. So let’s start off by introducing the fabulous Fi. Fi is a chartered accountant all about purpose and impact. In her 20 plus years, she’s worked out what makes a business profitable and fulfilling for its founders. Fi works with founders of teams from one to 100 and believes that small business can change the world. Working as a business and finance strategist, Fi loves co-creating financial roadmaps and business plans. And you may hear her being curious with her fabulous favorite questions. Why? And how? Well hi, Fi welcome. So excited to have you on and have this conversation.

Fiona Johnston
Hi, Nicole. Thank you so much for having me. And just noting that I’m coming from the lands of the Orangerie and the Bunurong people of the Kulin Nations, and I wish to acknowledge those traditional owners. And thank you for having me.

Nicole Smith
Thank you. Thank you so much. Well, let’s dive in. I want to hear about all about you. Has finance and roadmaps always been a thing and business plans have been a thing in your world? Or tell us a little bit about your story.

Fiona Johnston
I can’t say that I grew up dreaming about becoming someone who made financial roadmaps. But I do have a quite an early memory of falling in love with small business when I was about eight years old. And I was working the ice cream truck at the school fete and I just absolutely fell in love with the idea of the customer service and the, you know, somebody putting in an order and me being able to fill it and, you know, giving them the change. And then, you know, handing the ice cream over. I just absolutely fell in love with that idea of small business being something really valuable and of service. And yeah, from eight year old me to current me, I have always worked in small business. I just love the passion, the creativity, the inclusivity of the small business community. And it just happens that I’m good with numbers. And I’m probably more of an ideas person than a numbers person in a way. Yeah, I really love sort of working or hearing what somebody’s saying about their business or their goals or their dreams, and then being able to turn that into a business plan, a financial roadmap. And, yeah, I love the way that the words and the numbers play together in that space.

Nicole Smith
And it’s sometimes the connection because as a creative entrepreneur, many of us have these fabulous ideas of things that we want to achieve, places we want to go, products we want to create. And it’s that action steps of well, how do I actually get from A to Zed that can sort of put a stop on some of those plans. And that’s where you jump on in and be like, here’s your pathway. This is yeah, we can do.

Fiona Johnston
Yeah, yeah, that’s right. And I think a lot of business owners, I suppose you probably see in your work, too, that the first couple of years of business ownership are really exciting. So, there’s a lot of adrenaline, there’s a lot of excitement. It’s all new. All the neurons are firing, your brain is absolutely loving, soaking in all the newness. However, after that, adrenaline starts to fade, business starts to get a little bit different, and it is more of a marathon than a sprint. It’s something that we need to be constantly tweaking and innovating and changing and, you know, connecting back into our purpose. And I think once you get a few years into business, you do really need to work with people like me and you and other specialists that can help you do all of those things and keep you moving forward in your in your business.

Nicole Smith
Yeah, I totally agree with that. And because we’re three and a half years in, and so we’re right there. But my business itself, probably about eight months ago, I reached out to a finance human just to get grounded on some foreigners things, and even for our own internal ways of working, that’s been a real focus for our business. As I’ve been growing and acquiring and attracting a team, it’s that we know this, I know this business is in for the long haul, as you said, and being able to structure it sustainably. And I’m not just talking about environmental sustainability, I’m talking about operational sustainability, is going to support you to continue to be able to serve your community and serve your clients.

Fiona Johnston
I love that. And what was working with the finance person like for you? What was the experience for you of having that insight?

Nicole Smith
Yeah, really good. So, we meet on a monthly basis still, and we go through all the numbers in the things in the Xeros, I’ve had Xero, funnily Xero was one of my first purchases. First investment for my business before I even had clients. I knew I needed that. And I needed my email, and I needed a way to work. So, they were my first three investments. And it served me well. Because now when we have those conversations each month, it’s really clear on where we’re at, where we’re going, when I have those moments of cash flow, we’ll jump in and she’ll, we’ll look at the forecast, and we’ll look at the numbers. And she’ll be like, you’re good. You’ve just done your biggest month ever. Doesn’t mean don’t feel like it from this side. But we look at the numbers. And we’re like, I now have confidence that this is a thing. And I can move that next way forward. So, it’s really refreshing. I love that. Yeah. So good. I’m guessing you get the same reactions from your clients as well.

Fiona Johnston
It’s that yeah, it’s a beautiful space to work in to have somebody share their kind of intimate thoughts, because finances and money and business are all very, you know, tightly held and very special parts of ourselves. And so, to have somebody trust me with those inner thoughts is a very powerful thing. And I think a lot of business owners really do need a bit of a pat on the bum or a pat on the back, whichever way you want to think about it. Even business owners that have been doing what they do for a long time. Still need that kind of affirmation and confirmation that yes, things are okay. You have just had your biggest months, or your cash flow is a little tight this month, but it looks like it’s going to be, you know, a lot better in the next few months. And yeah, I think there’s a really trusted place for finance and many other service professionals in the small business world to of course to yeah, really help someone to realize their dreams, whatever they might be.

Nicole Smith
I am looking at them as trusted partnerships. Yeah. We talked about the village, right. So, when you have a family, in your community, it’s this village that works together for the common good. And I know that when I was soloing it, I was doing fabulous things. But when I started to find my people, was when actually the real thing started to click into place and happen. And it is that trust, especially in the finance space, because you’re right, it is a real personal, personal connection. And there’s so many people with lots of different money stories going on that I’ll share one with you. I had a coaching session yesterday with Ami from Craft Coaching. She’s my business coach. And we were looking at those beliefs that sit underneath all the things. And one of them that I shared is my mind is about supporting my clients. It’s not ever been really directed at the profit side of things. And I understand how they connect with each other. But there’s a real story there to pull apart and create that way forward that when as a business, we’re serving clients, the result is making money. And then when we’re making profit, we can serve our clients more by reinvesting in things. And so I’m still working through that. So watch this space. But yeah,

Fiona Johnston
Yeah, I think the way that Australians particularly think about money and feel about money, it it doesn’t necessarily always serve us, I think in different countries around the world. There’s different thoughts about money, of course, because money is a very, you know, money is essential for our survival. And so it’s something that we can never kind of get away from, I think the three things that you don’t ever get to stop managing in your business and money, marketing and people. And even if that person is just yourself, those three things never, you know, never go away. They’re things that you always need to be on top of. And I think, you know, if you’ve come from, you know, a family where money was stressful, then you’ll take that stressful idea into your business. If you’ve come from a family where money was taboo or never talked about, you’ll have a weirdness around money that impacts every interaction you have in your business. So, if money is a secret, or something that we get in trouble about, or don’t tell that person that we bought this thing from the bank, or whatever it was, that’s going to mean that when you get into a business, you’re going to sound weird when you start talking about your prices to your clients. I think, yeah, those things that happen to us when we’re younger, impact our businesses when we’re older, unless we’re able to actually think about them and start wondering, is there a different way that I could think about this that might actually help me to, you know, move through this and make more money and be a better business owner. And I think the biggest mission that I am on, is to get money into the hands of good people. And small business ownership is such a great avenue to be able to do that.

Nicole Smith
Yeah, I loved your post yesterday that you popped up about supporting small business and those cardigans Wowzers. What’s the business name, again,

Fiona Johnston
The brand is Made590. And they make the most delicious Merino cardigans in Australia, in Sydney. And I think brands like that, who are making in Australia and making inclusive sizes as well, they go from 6 to 26, I think we need to really celebrate them. And I happen to be lucky enough to be one of their clients. I’m also wearing their clothes right now, because I wear their clothes a lot. And yeah, I think small business as a collective, there’s over 2 million of us, we are Australia’s biggest employer. And we have the power to create huge change. However, we need to get our marketing messaging to be louder than the likes of Amazon, and Asos and all of these kinds of massive worldwide conglomerates that want to send us products that are made from, you know, all over, made in places all over the world. When right now we really need to be leaning into supporting our manufacturers, our growers and our small businesses, our service providers and everybody that makes Australia a great place to live and work and be, we need to support each other. So yeah, I just love the camaraderie that goes with small business. And I read an article from the Australian Made Campaign. So, you know, the little certification that something is made in Australia, they put out some information last week that said, if every Australian spent $10 a week on an Australian made item, our economy would grow by $5 billion.

Nicole Smith
It’s amazing, isn’t it?

Fiona Johnston
It just absolutely blows me away to think that the issues that we’re having in our economy at the moment could actually be definitely made better. If more people were spending just that small amount of money on Australian made products and produce.

Nicole Smith
Yeah. It’s just like, it seems so easy. And yet, you know, I know something we caught up in the person, which was fabulous a few weeks ago, and it was you shared with me was why marketing businesses are so successful, because they’re really good at marketing. And that has embedded itself in my mind. I think I’ve told 100 people probably not 100 but a lot. Sorry, true, right? If we can really lean into that and share that goodness, with the stories behind these fabulous business owners and $10 a week I know, things can I’m not even going to go into the tight story, the story of that situation that’s going out there in the world or the words about it. But yeah, if we realigned $10 each week, that’s a lot like that’s such an increase for us all, isn’t it? Yeah, to do that, let’s do that.

Fiona Johnston
Yeah, let’s do it. Let’s do it. People. Let’s do it. From the inside out. Yes. Do it.

Nicole Smith
Ah, second. I do love small businesses as well. It’s just you know, during COVID and lock down, was always support small business it why did that doesn’t need to stop. That’s a continual story that we could always or just support Australian businesses, I think is probably the better thing than just small business. Right. It’s to support Australian businesses. That’s where it’s at.

Fiona Johnston
Yeah, I mean, I personally love Australian small businesses, but I also love Australian businesses. And I love you know, that’s not to say that everybody needs to have been born in Australia to run an amazing Australian business, I think. Yeah, there are so many incredible migrant run businesses in Australia. You know, migrants have changed the food landscape. They’ve changed the manufacturing landscape, you know, people born in other countries have done amazing things for Australia. And I think, yeah, it’s something to be celebrated. And the way to keep Australian businesses in business is to support them. And I think there’s a lot happening in the business world at the moment. And it is a bit scary. There’s also a really big opportunity to change the way we do things. And I think one industry that’s in trouble at the moment is the Australian music scene. And we can’t live without music. It’s impossible for me personally, to live without music. And I think if you want to support you know, our local artists, you need to buy tickets and go to their show. And you know, there are so many festivals and music shows being canceled at the moment because the ticket sales just aren’t there. And musicians are having to compete against huge marketing presences like Taylor Swift and Harry Styles. And all of these other artists who I’m sure are amazing in their own right. And they have a huge marketing force behind them. And our smaller Australian artists are having to compete against that sort of voice to be able to sell tickets to their shows. So yeah, there’s ways that we can support Australian business that aren’t just about buying, you know, Australian made corn or buying cardigans made in Sydney. It can also be about supporting Australian musicians and the whole Australian music scene.

Nicole Smith
Yeah, Fi is also a singer for everyone on who listens, probably sing at least once every podcast in some place. It comes out naturally, it’s not a forced thing. I cannot control it. But yeah, my brother’s a musician. And he plays in, he’s got bands, and he does. He’s a guitar and a singer. And he actually is a great example of how music then supports restaurants, pubs, scenes, right. So, him and his mate have a duo they play Northport Hotel, which is in Port Melbourne. When they go to play, the amount of patrons that come to watch him play and then purchase food and beverages and just generally enjoy it. Like they have, love it when they come because they’re like a, really everyone loves to come watch them. Right. And so that’s a really great example of Okay, so your duo’s playing at a pub, make that effort, go on that Sunday afternoon, have a nice lunch out, enjoy a couple of drinks, soft drink, whatever it might be. The kids love it, they go and play. So anyway, I’ll share on the social’s next time Dean and Sam are playing, they’re on hiatus for a bit, Sam’s overseas.

Fiona Johnston
But it’s a great example.

Nicole Smith
And what….

Fiona Johnston
Music makes the world go round. You know, humans are wired for music, like it’s part of our DNA to really want to experience music. It’s something that there’s, nothing else like music that actually makes us feel so much in such a short period of time.

Nicole Smith
Yeah, so it, isn’t it? Yeah. So beautiful. Well, let’s talk about some systems and processes.

Fiona Johnston
Yeah, let’s move on to the business. Yeah,

Nicole Smith
I also connected, right, it really is. And I know that one of the, again, the first sort of things that I invested in was Xero. And the reason being is that when you have those processes in place to keep on track of your expenses, or where your money is going in and out, that it makes things feel a lot more easier with that data that you’ve got that how is it that you sort of work in this realm? Supporting your people?

Fiona Johnston
Yeah, look, I think that having Xero is the first in a line of steps that you can take to tell the universe that you take yourself seriously, as a business owner, you know. I do see some sort of more sort of startup or smaller businesses that aren’t investing in Xero, or you know, something like Xero. And, you know, setting yourself up on Xero and getting yourself registered for GST, in my mind are two steps that you can take that show the universe and the community and yourself that you take yourself seriously as a business owner.

Nicole Smith
I really love that was really like tick tick, because they’re the two that I did register for GST straightaway as well. Yeah. My accountant was like, you don’t need to do it now. And I’m like, no, no, we’re doing it. We’re doing it. Let’s do it. And it did, it felt like from day one, I’m a business owner. Like, these are the things that I’m doing. So sorry. Yeah, the off mid-sentence.

Fiona Johnston
No, all good. Yeah. So I think that that’s a really nice step as an early business owner to take that you take yourself seriously and you want to have the right information in front of you. I don’t tend to play in the space of Xero so much. I mean, I do I look at Xero a lot all day, but the sort of work that I do, it’s almost like coming to, you know, sometimes my clients call me their business psychologist and spoiler alert, I am not a psychologist, but people come and we take them through a program where I want to understand why they’re in business. So, why did you start this business? Who is the, going to be the recipient of the impact that you want to create in your business? You know, how do you do things? What do you want to do? And how do you want your business to to exist alongside your life, because we can’t separate our own lives and our financial lives from our businesses and our businesses financials? So, I want to understand why you’re in business and how you do things like, what is your secret sauce? And I feel like that’s a real specialty of mine is helping someone to identify their how. So, we talk a lot in the kind of lofty places of the internet about why and purpose which I love. But I don’t think enough of is spoken about how. So, how do you do things? How is that different from others? And how are you going to reach your goals? Because setting yourself a target such as, I want to be a million – business? Is okay, that’s really interesting. But how are you going to do that. And so, my work really plays in that space of how, so trying to uncover how you do things that makes you really valuable as a service provider or a product-based business, and then translating that into, okay, let’s now set some financial goals. And let’s pull the purpose the why, the how into a financial plan that you can actually take through your business to, you know, the reason why I’m obsessed with this word, how is because when you’re deep in the trenches, you’re having a busy week, and you don’t know what you’re supposed to be doing, you don’t know where you’re going, knowing that you want to be a million dollar business or $100,000 business or wherever you’re at doesn’t really help you in those moments where you just don’t know what you’re supposed to be doing. So, I really love teaching my clients about how to get familiar with those numbers, whether those numbers are marketing activities, or whether they’re dollars, or whether they’re number of people that we’re planning to hire across, you know, a range of time, and then monitoring your progress towards that. So, these are the goals that we have in place, how are we tracking compared to the goals that we set, and I feel that a lot of business owners really need, and I love providing them that opportunity to see themselves making progress towards their goals. I know a lot of small business owners don’t actually know how much money they’re making until they do their tax. Yeah. And to me, that is just such a wasted opportunity, because by then it’s already over. Yeah. If you only know how much money you made by looking back at what’s already happened, you’re missing this amazing opportunity to look forward and say, How much money do I want to make? And please know that when I talk about how much money you want to make, I’m also putting that next to how much impact do you want to make? Or what impact do you want to make and who, because to me, money is an impact driving machine, if we know what we want to achieve, and we know how to achieve it. And we can actually stay connected to that the progress we’re making towards that. By the time It’s tax time, you know exactly what you wanted to achieve and what you did achieve. And you can have this amazing sense of satisfaction, knowing that you actually made progress in your business towards something. And I think that’s what comes from working with someone like me, I mean, I call myself a business and finance strategist. I work in a very similar way to a business coach, but I’m not a business coach. So, you know, business coaches, they’re amazing. And I love them. And I love Ami from Craft Coaching. She and I are great friends. And yeah, but I work in a slightly different way in that I’m looking at the big picture and trying to show you the path to where you want to go whilst also giving you advice when you want advice. Okay, so I think a lot of small business owners are looking for actual advice. So what should I do? And I won’t be prescriptive about it. I won’t say Nicole, you have to hire three people and charge this much and do it this way. And that’s how you’ll hit your goals. However, I will say, this is how I’ve seen it done with one of my other clients and it worked really well, or, this is a strategy that I’ve put in place in my business that I think you might consider trying. So, yeah, it’s very similar to how a business coach works but just a slightly different lens. So,

Nicole Smith
Yeah, it’s focused, isn’t it? You know, this is a conversation I had with Kathy who you also know fabulous Kathy Rast.

Fiona Johnston
Kathy Rast is the just the best.

Nicole Smith
She’s the bee’s knees. She’s lovely. Love it. Love it. Love it. Actually, I have one of her beautiful scarves with me today that she made. Oh, I love that, I guess. But it’s so gorgeous. It’s just perfect, for a cold winter day in Melbourne. Anyway, I digress. We were having a conversation as as my business has been growing. I’ve been, as you said, acquiring these partnerships, right. So I’ve got my OBM Leanne from Audacious Empires, who is beautifully marketing focused in and driving sort of that way got Steph who does my finance, Ami my business coach, Kathy just been fabulous Kathy. And what she brought into my attention a couple of months ago was I’ve got all these voices now. Right. But they’re all coming from that different lens, as you said, everyone has got their beautiful experience and their beautiful ways of doing things that are supporting the the way that we’re heading. But knowing that as a business owner, who you need to go to at the right time can be impactful for the progression, right, we might all think that social media outsourcing is where we need to be. But if we don’t have the plan that we’re actually going towards, then that’s just beautiful, beautiful noise over there, isn’t it?

Fiona Johnston
Yeah, look, social media as a, as a concept is a huge time investment. Yes, I was gonna say a time suck. But you know, it’s not always a time suck. Sometimes it is a time investment. And I think what you’re saying is totally true. Like, I think a lot of business owners focus a lot of their time and energy on their social media or on their marketing, or they might be focused on their systems, which is something that you can help them with. But they’re not actually spending the time to look at their business from a distance. So to zoom out and say, well, that’s great. I’ve got great systems, I’ve got great social media, my marketing is going well. But where are we going? You know, we’ve got all of the right people on the bus, but who’s driving it? And where are we going. And I think there are so many amazing service providers in our community, and you’ve just listed a whole heap of them. And I think finding the right person at the right time is really crucial. And I suppose that’s why getting recommendations from other business owners is a really great way of finding service providers.

Nicole Smith
Hello, there, I’m just interrupting this episode, as I would love to invite you to come on in and join us inside The Members Lounge. My community have shared with me that they joined initially, because they really wanted to discover the power of ClickUp. They wanted to be able to design, build, and connect their ClickUps within their own individual businesses. However, once they were inside, they really discovered how the power of looking at the foundations of your operational areas of your business. And designing those really to set you up for success is such a powerful element. And guess what else, we have a fabulous community inside. So, once you’re in, you’re never gonna want to leave. So, come on over, have a look. Go to my website, the artisans.com.au and pop up to The Members Lounge button at the top. And we look forward to supporting you as you discover how fabulous it is when you’re confidently starting Down Easy Street. See you inside The Lounge.

Fiona Johnston
The other thing that I want to say is that what I’ve noticed, you know, I’ve been working like this for 23 years and my business is nearly 13. So, I feel like a little bit of a business veteran in some ways. What I’ve noticed is that the business owners who ask for help are the most successful. And what I mean by that is the people like yourself who realize that there are specialists that can help them with this, that and the other thing will be the most successful in business. And there’s a real art to getting that right. So, understanding what level of investment is right for your business at what time is really critical. I think a lot of smaller businesses outsource way too early because they see all of the marketing messaging coming from, you know, the great marketers telling them that they should be outsourcing to them. Outsourcing is a fabulous way of growing a business, as is employing a team. However, there needs to be a certain amount of scale in your business in order for you to be able to not just afford those service providers, but actually be able to leverage what they’re doing for you. So, you know, I heard of a client the other day who had invested a significant amount of money in working with a marketing company. However, there were no defined goals, her website was not optimized or converting at all, the sales page that the traffic was being directed to was not, I think there may have even been broken links in it. And I think that’s a really good example of where that was an ill-conceived investment on that business owners behalf where they were probably doing the most amazing marketing in the world and earning, you know, being paid to do so. But it’s going nowhere. And I think that’s a real analogy for what a lot of business owners do, is that they start outsourcing everything in their business and getting all of those voices and, you know, having a team, but as Kathy rightly points out, you know, you’re the one who is actually at the wheel, you are the one that’s driving the bus, and you are the one deciding where it’s going. And if you’re not clear about that, and you’re not clear about you know, where you’re going, and how, how to get there, all of the other people become passages on the bus that are expensive. You know, if you’ve got all of these really specialized service providers in your business, who are amazing, but you’re all driving to a destination that nobody is really certain about what’s happening, then, yeah, a business owner can get into a lot of trouble, you know, managing paying for all of these different experts. So, yeah, what I’ve said kind of contradicted myself in a way. So, I’ll just recap that the business owners that I see are the most successful are the ones that do ask for help. And asking for help from the right people at the right time, is a really critical skill.

Nicole Smith
And you’re absolutely right. And I think the first couple of years, there’s so it’s so much noise out there, you should be doing this, you have to work with this person. Outsourcing is the only answer. And and the voice is allowed. Because there’s a lot, you’re doing all the things you may have moved from a corporate role, where you’ve had a team, for instance, to you’re a solo human now running a business, you have to learn marketing, you have to learn finance, you have to work with you learn it, you have to be customer service you so it’s that ingrained, I need help, I need help to do this, then even when you actually take a pause, and I’m speaking to a fabulous human human just before we were connecting after a little bit, and it was fabulous. And she’s took the opportunity to just be herself in her business for a period of time. And now she’s only now just outsourcing with intention with purpose, this particular thing that she needs support on. And that’s where the outsourcing comes in. And I look at that and think about my journey. I definitely outsourced too early. I know that. Lots of learnings there, lots of learnings, but I’m now in a space where I’m getting that focus in exactly what you said Fe like for us, it’s been the machine of driving and supporting and doing these fabulous things. But now it actually feels grounded. I know where we’re going, or where we’re heading, its a different experience. But it’s the right time as well. If I hadn’t done this at the start, I don’t know if it would have been the right time, because I didn’t know who I was as a business owner at that point.

Fiona Johnston
Yeah, I love that. And yes, I think a lot of people who come out of a corporate role who are used to structure and systems and support, you know, there’s somebody who does the photocopying or, you know, cleans the loos, or, you know, the other thing that I find really fascinating is when somebody starts a small business and then realizes that they’re going to have to do their own marketing. And so they might have been working in a company where the marketing was being done for them. And it felt like everything was just so easy. Yeah. But once you get out on your own, you realize that, yes, you have to manage your money, you have to manage your marketing, and you have to manage people, and you can outsource some of that to others. But you need to be the driver of the bus in all of those departments in your business. Yeah.

Nicole Smith
Love this. Thank you for that. It’s gonna be a really valuable piece of knowledge that whoever’s listening can pick up because it is, you know, all of these directions if we’re, yeah, if we know which way we’re going. It’s a lot easier to make decisions. When you know the numbers in your business. It’s easier to make decisions. If you understand who is surrounded and what lens they’re coming in at? It also helps you to make those more educated decisions. So,

Fiona Johnston
Yes. And an ethical service provider will tell you that you’re not ready for them. Yeah. So I think that is the sign of a very ethical and considered service provider, whether they’re a business coach or an accountant or, you know, a copywriter, somebody who really knows what they’re doing will actually be able to spot Hey, I’d really love to work with you. And I don’t think the time is just now. So these are the things that you could go off and do, and come back to me in six or 12 months when your business is doing these things. And then you’re actually going to get the bang for buck that you deserve from using my services. Yeah.

Nicole Smith
What a powerful experience when you’re on the receiving end of that. Because you could take it two ways, you’d be like, Oh, why don’t they want to work with me? I’m amazing, I’m fabulous. Or you can be like, Hi, yeah, they know what they’re, that’s why I’m going to them because they actually know what they’re doing and what they’re talking about. And they’ve actually invested a minute of time to provide that experience for me. That’s beautiful. We need to encourage that. That’s for sure. So this how a question that you lean into with your fabulous humans is a really integral place of when we support our clients if they have that knowledge that they’ve already worked with. And they’ve got that real clear pipeline or not even pipeline that focus of where they’re heading. That means that when we actually work with them, we can help to shape their operations to enhance that experience internally enhance the experience for the clients and the customers on the outside. And so that those efficiencies can be put in there to help them to move closer and closer and closer and closer. Is that something that you talk to your people about as well, about their ways of working? And I know for us being able to help people to design a really sustainable way of working is so in my tummy. Like it’s so yeah. Is that something that you talk to people about as well?

Fiona Johnston
Definitely, yes, I think the first thing about systems or sys, you know, service design, which is a bit of a crossover between what I do and what you do, or you and your team do. So, understanding how you best deliver your service or product to your audience. Does that look like, you know, done in a day services? Does it look like a retainer? Does it look like, you know, one on one sessions only on Thursdays between 12 and 4? Does it look like a subscription box that comes out once a month? Does it look like an E commerce business? Is it a launched business where you have intakes twice a year? So understanding how you want to deliver your service or product, some people would call that service design. And that is an integral part of building a business plan and a business strategy. Because a business strategy is about deciding, what are the steps that I need to take now in order to have the business I want in the future. Right. So, a lot of delivering our service or product is about systems. And I love the way that you work because I know that you are really considered and holistic about designing somebody’s systems for them. Because I think, I see a lot of businesses invest time and money into improving their systems without an actual end-goal or an understanding of how having automated emails or having a Dubsado or a program like that, how does having these actually impact my longevity as a business owner? How do these systems actually make my business work better? How do they make me either more profitable or more efficient or more joyful? You know, I think there’s a lot of systems out there that actually do make our lives a lot better. But there are also systems out there that don’t work for everyone. And I think, you know, my idea of the perfect system design is where somebody can actually get out a series of post it notes and start to build a process out using post it notes or a virtual version of post it notes. And it’s not about the actual software itself because I feel that that is a trap that a lot of business owners get into, is they build their ways of doing based on how the software works. And all that that does is give you the same process as others who may not have the same skills or way of working or or you know, whatever it is as you do. So, I really love when I see systems been designed to suit the person, the business and their goals. The software being the last part of the puzzle, not the first. Yeah, and I think, you know, systems, systems have completely changed our lives as business owners. So, for example, before there was Xero, there was my MYOB and QuickBooks, and you had to buy a CD, which was really expensive, you had to load it onto your computer. And then you have to hope that you could make that one last for two or three years, before you needed to buy it again. And my understanding is that Myob used to make 85% of their revenue from maintenance and upgrades, and basically being paid to fix software problems, which is just mind blowing. Now we have Xero, it’s on the browser, you pay a reasonable amount per month, it’s very user friendly. And it just does so much more than what the older versions before the cloud were able to do. If we think about Gmail, as an example of how has that changed our lives, you know, email used to be something that was incredibly clunky, required a whole IT department to sort of oversee. And I kind of imagine I’ve never worked in government or corporate. But I imagine what happens on a TV show Utopia is exactly what happens in a kind of IT world of, you know, free subscription and SAS or software as a service, which is what we all enjoy now. And, you know, there are some tools that have really impacted our lives in the last say, 10 to 15 years as business owners and users. And I would say the big ones have been Airbnb, Netflix, Uber, and UberEATS, of course, and then from this sort of small business space, it’s Xero. It’s Canva. It’s Gmail. It’s Squarespace. It’s Instagram, it’s Facebook, and the one that crosses both of them is Spotify. Because that’s both a business tool and a fun tool. What have I missed? I’m sure I’ve missed some really big…

Nicole Smith
We’ve got the project management tools. I think from like, my background was in corporate. Yeah. And so I always have always worked in the custom-built designed database software. Wow. And it’s yeah, it’s funny, I talk about it. But I sometimes forget that people don’t know that about me. My role was the middle human I was the integration language translation between business ways of working and what we wanted to see the software do. And so, I can speak the tech and I can speak the business and I loved it, because I could see the possibilities. And we were limited by the current development design of tech. And so when you have that opportunity to pull it out and make it a thing that suits you, even as simple as how do you extract the data in a report, you know, if you get that in a beautiful format, versus something that’s not usable, it really impacts the end users experience and time, the accessibility now, of these tech solutions, these tech tools, has just elevated the opportunity for businesses to actually work like those bigger organizations. And more quickly, as well, the transitions don’t need to take a month between designing what a report scope look like to get it quoted to send it to the dev team to build it to test it and deliver it. It’s like press button, new experiences its happened instantly. So, there’s this it’s just that’s why I would move into my space, my not Myspace, there’s at all. But not MySpace, that’s obviously gone and dusted, but into business myself is having that experience of how it can be and the clunks of the big business while and looking at the opportunities that we have as business owners to really quickly and change but also set systems up that support you way, way beyond where you’re at right now. It’s just a beautiful space to play in and so much potential, when you’re ready, sometimes thing when you’re ready to see it. That’s when you really feel that impact. Yeah. Oh, you got me on an exciting? Yeah, passion.

Fiona Johnston
I feel like a lot of business owners find it hard to imagine, or visualize, or think about how using systems in their business can actually work. And, you know, I suppose being able to use those tools such as Canva, which is just so user friendly, and keeps getting better and better every month. I suppose that gives them an insight into you know, what the project management version of Canva is or what the kind of email automation version of Canva might be for them.

Nicole Smith
Yeah, yeah. It’s so much possibilities and in a couple of weeks of just yesterday, I just recorded an episode that’s coming out in a couple of weeks, all about automations. And the possibilities. And it was a great conversation with a human that does the same as I did. Yeah. But his automations are like, I was like, we were having such a geek out on that conversation. It was amazing. But it really is, the options are limitless. But it all does come down to what you were talking about, that post it note design, we call it workflow design. And that’s a real big difference to what you get when you work with us. It’s not just about the tech system, we’re looking at the business system. So, the A to Zed, what’s involved? What are we doing? How are we doing it? Where are we doing it? Who’s doing it? And then actually making it a thing, connecting it in with the team. So that’s it. That’s where you see again, a real impact the change?

Fiona Johnston
Yeah, I love that. And I do think there’s a lot of crossover between system design and business design, which is where I like yeah, love that. Yeah,

Nicole Smith
Synergy. Love it. There we go. There you go. Tell us about Get Financially Fit, because I know a few humans that have been through your program. And it’s funny when the universes start connecting people. Oh, I heard about this program. Like, yeah, that’s what you need. You go over there. Thanks. It’s amazing. So yeah, tell us a little bit about it.

Fiona Johnston
Thanks Nicole. So, if people haven’t picked up on it already, I am extremely passionate about small business. And I’m also really passionate about teaching business owners about their finances and business strategy, because I think that that is sorely lacking in the accounting space. I think other industries are doing it better than we are. And, yeah, I really love teaching my clients about how to manage their own money and numbers not just being reliant on their accountant forever. So, Get Financially Fit was birthed in May 2020, when the world felt like it was completely upside down. My clients had started asking me different questions. They weren’t asking me, am I going to be okay, what’s going to happen with my finances? They were saying, to me, Fi, how do I work this out for myself? How do I work out my finances? How do I understand my money, because in May 2020, it did really feel like the world was about to end and things were feeling very upside down. So, I created my absolutely beautiful program called Get Financially Fit to teach solo and small business owners how to manage their money, understand their finances, and plan out their businesses, whilst at the same time getting comfortable with money and understanding that money mindset. And those money, beliefs that carry from childhood all the way through to business ownership. And the clients who’ve been through the program tell me that it helps them to feel empowered, and in control of their money. I give them really practical things that they can implement straightaway, to manage their cash flow, and just to be more across their numbers. So, we run the program twice a year in January and July, and we’ll be launching the seventh round of the program. The doors will be open in June 2023. It’s a small intake. So, we do, we have a maximum of 20 small businesses in each cohort. So, you get lots of really very personalized help within the program. And yeah, I’d love to see some of your podcast listeners on the list.

Nicole Smith
How’s that timing wise, though? This was not actually planned people, but highly recommend. Fi’s going to share the links with us, and put them in the show notes, but highly recommend. I know some of my friends personally have been through it and they rave, rave about you Fi. So, 100% highly recommended. Go forth, and get financially fit in the dancing sense. Not the exercise sense because yeah,

Fiona Johnston
I like to think of it more like yoga and walking meditation version of fitness and dance. We do a lot of dancing in the program. There’s a lot of music. Yeah, of course. Yeah. Why wouldn’t there be?

Nicole Smith
Perfect the world is a better place when you have song and dance. Oh, amazing. Is there anything else you want to leave us with? Before we jump into our three questions?

Fiona Johnston
I suppose I want everybody listening to this podcast to know that even if they think they are terrible with money, they are not terrible with money. They’re not terrible with numbers. They just haven’t been taught by the right person yet. And it is possible to manage your money and your mind really well. So keep searching for the right thing for you.

Nicole Smith
That feels so good. I love But that’s a thank you.

Fiona Johnston
Thanks because..

Nicole Smith
So true, though, isn’t it? Because we, you know, you get recommended to work with different people. But we’re all individual. And we all connect and resonate with different ways of being taught with people. So it’s exactly right. Just keep searching to find the right people. Yeah. Yeah. Love it. All right, let’s go three questions well, Allrighty. What is your go to App that creates ease in your day?

Fiona Johnston
Spotify. Because I’m obsessed with music and podcasts. And I spend at least two hours a day walking my dog who is currently snoring beside me, and I hope isn’t so well isn’t coming through the sound too much. But yeah, I spend a lot of time with Spotify in my ears.

Nicole Smith
Amazing. Do love Spotify. Online, paper, hybrid to-do-list lover?

Fiona Johnston
I’m going to break the mold here. I hate to-do-lists. I don’t have them.

Nicole Smith
Amazing.

Fiona Johnston
Yeah, I just am not. I’m actually quite a chaotic and disorganized person. And the way that I manage my workload is through my Google calendar. So if somebody is booked in to see me, they will have my 100% focus. And if it’s not in my calendar, love it, it’s almost certainly not going to be done doing.

Nicole Smith
Amazing. So, you’re more of a blocker of action?

Fiona Johnston
Yeah. To-do-lists, just stress me out.

Nicole Smith
Yeah. And I can get that because sometimes, I look at the lists of things. I’m like, Ah, so I have to take it away, pick the thing, the focus point. Yeah, amazing. Okay, final, what would you do if you created more space in your world?

Fiona Johnston
More space in my world would mean, having more people over for dinner.

Nicole Smith
Yes. I love that. Add me to the list. I’m coming.

Fiona Johnston
I feel like I just never have time. Yeah, I love that. I feel like I really have time to really put time into sort of entertaining and, and having people over and that’s something that I’d really like to be able to do more of. So, thanks for asking me the question.

Fiona Johnston
You’re welcome. We planted the seed. It’s gonna be a thing. Now we’ve made it Yeah, already made it. Yeah. Isn’t it interesting, like you think back on even just the generation Pre-us and going to people’s homes was just the norm. You know, you had family had barbecues as I grew up in, in Queensland, you know, you had barbeques. Yeah. And it was the weather was so much better there anyway. But I’m actively trying to actively not even trying to actively changing that for our family as well. We’ve got some really amazing families close by to us. And it’s like, Hey, what are you doing Saturday night? Nothing, cool. Let’s do the dinner thing. You know, the kids play, the adults chat. And it’s just such, just so enriching.

Fiona Johnston
Yeah, bring back the dinner party. There’s not enough of it. Yeah.

Nicole Smith
I want to go to a murder mystery one. Sorry. I really want to do that. So anyway, fun. Okay, thank you so much for joining me today. This has been so fabulous. I knew it was and I knew it would be because every time I have a guest on, it’s perfectly aligned with where my, I am. And the conversation has been fabulous. So many gyms there for people to dive on in and take those away. Where can we find you?

Fiona Johnston
So, the best place to head is Instagram, you can find me at peach dot business. And you can see all of the wonderful things I do there and head on over to my website by the LinkedIn bio, if that’s what you’d like to do.

Nicole Smith
Amazing. And we’ll also put the direct link to the program as well coming out in June. So people can really easily find that. Well, thank you again. It’s been fabulous.

Fiona Johnston
Thanks for having me, Nicole, and bye everybody. You’re welcome.

Nicole Smith
Thank you, everyone for joining us today. Have the most fabulous rest of your week creating clever systems for your business. Bye now. Well, there we go. Thank you so much for joining me today. It’s been such a pleasure having you on board. Have we connected on socials yet? If not, please come on over. Say hi, I’m on all the platforms at The Artisan Solutions. So, I’d really look forward to seeing you over there. And if you enjoy today’s episode, don’t forget to tag me and I’d love it if you could leave a review. And, of course, share this with others so others can come and join us next time. All right, then everyone have a fabulous rest of the week. And until next time see you then