On this episode of the podcast I announce the return of my Profit Reports and what they'll look like moving forward.

I'm launching a private podcast! This will be a second podcast exclusively for members of my free Facebook group, Braden's Besties. In the group I host a Friday Facebook Live where I answer questions I've collected throughout the week. I'll be turning this Q&A into a private podcast that will be accessible only to members of my Facebook group, so join now by clicking here or visiting www.bradensbesties.com

If you're new to the podcast in the last year you may not be familiar with my profit reports. These reports came to be in 2019 when I was reading the book Profit First by Mike Michalowicz where he walked readers through an exercise to determine the profitability of your business. I was operating at 30-40% profit at the time which was very low and I set out on a journey to operate at 70% profit. I started sharing my income and expenses with my...

On today's episode of the podcast I share part five of the Contract Series where I discuss the reasons you need more than one contract in your business.

A lot of us tend to only think about our Client Service Agreement when working on contracts for our business but there are other types of contracts you may need for your business so I'm breaking them down on today's episode. For downloadable contract templates, click here.

1. Client Service Agreement. This is the common, most important one, we sign with our clients. Typically, we need more than one Client Service Agreement. one for each service we offer and one for each package tier. I recommend having one template for each inside your CRM like Honeybook or Dubsado.

2. Contractor Agreement. This is what you will use if you're hiring a contractor to help with your business like a Virtual Assistant. If it's something project-based that the VA offers other people, ideally the VA should send you a Client Service...

Today's episode is part four of the Contract Series where I share what to do if a client is planning to sue you.

Client issues are more common than you think, and client issues do not mean you're not good at what you do. Sometimes we fuck up, sometimes we just have messy clients. There will always be client issues when it comes to owning a business.

Back on Episode 112, I spoke with DJ Kevin Dennis about his experience with the legal system with a lawsuit from a couple about Kevin's contract and COVID related cancellation refund. Similarly, last year on Judge Judy a client sued a wedding planner for a refund due to a COVID cancelation/postponement. The planner said the retainer was non-refundable and have already substantially performed under the contract.

I give you examples not to scare you but to show you that even for small businesses with contracts under $5,000 can get into legal disputes.

If it looks like you're heading down this road with a...

Today's episode is part three of the Contact Series.  If you missed the last two weeks, go back and check out the first two episodes in the series

Five Ways Small Businesses Typically Taking Payments:

1. Hourly Payment - Most common along virtual assistants, coaches, consultants. If you have a no cancelation policy, you are better off charging a package price so you are still compensated for any hours you miss due to the client's no-show

2. Monthly - Conover with coaches, VAs, and even wedding planners. Monthly payments can be on a schedule, for example for a wedding planner let's say it's $12,000 you can say it's $1,000 a month that way if there is a cancelation you've still been paid for the months of work you did leading up to the event. 

3. Flat fee per project - Common for graphic designers, web designers, creators who sell physical or digital goods.  When you offer a flat fee per project you can split the payments into all the payment up-front, half up-front...

On today's episode, I continue the Contract Series with the importance of outlining your scope of services as a way to avoid the dreaded "Scope Creep."

Scope of services is what I view as one of the two most important parts of a contract. Typically we enter a contract because we are selling something in exchange for money. The contract needs to define what it is we are giving the client (product, service, etc.) and what they are giving us in return (money, exchange, etc.).

In a barebones, napkin contract, you'd have the names of the parties, what it is you are offering (scope) and what it is you are receiving in return (payment terms).

Scope creep is a very real thing, often happening to service-based business providers when the client starts to ask for more and more things (often little by little) that are not explicitly highlighted in the contract.

If you have multiple packages available, you will want to have a contract template for each level of...

On today's episode I wrap up the Hiring Series discussing contractor laws by state and what you need to make sure you're legally hiring.

Click here to read this episode as a full blog post, "Contractor Laws State-By-State."

On this episode, we're kicking off the Hiring Series with a look at California's strict independent contractor laws, its most recent amendments and exceptions, and how the law is paving the way for changes on a federal level.

When someone is classified as an employee it means their taxes are withheld by their employer, something that the state favors over contractors who come with the risk of not reporting all their income on their tax returns. Even if you are not in California, the California law has paved the way for independent contractor laws nationwide. Currently at Congress, the House has already passed a bill called the PRO Act that is being debated in the Senate. For more info, check out my blog post on AB5 and dealing with California's new contractor laws.

You're invited to join Unf*ck Your Biz! The cart closes on Friday. Check out Tuesday's episode to hear from our previous students and learn more about what you'll get when you join the program.

Want a closer look at the content you'll get from the program? Click here.

This episode is brought to you by my new FREE Masterclass, "The Most Common Legal and Tax Mistake at Each Stage of Business and How to Avoid Them." In this Masterclass you will learn if it's time to go from a sole proprietorship to an LLC, an LLC to a S-Corp, and how to properly run an S-Corp. You'll learn how to get more profitable in a snap and put your taxes on auto-pilot as well as how to manage the growth of your business without fear or IRS hate mail or lawsuits. Click here to sign up for the Masterclass.

This week on Facebook Live I answered the following questions:

1. I have a business that was recently registered as an S-corp under the advice of my accountant. I registered my business in my home state of TX. Due to my husband's work in the military, we move every few years. What's the point of registering my company in my home state when apparently I need to register it in whatever current state we're living in as well? - submitted by Jen H

As a military...

On this episode of the podcast I talk abut what types of mail may be headed your way in regard to business documents and what you can expect to find when opening your mailbox.

This episode is brought to you by my new FREE Masterclass, "The Most Common Legal and Tax Mistake at Each Stage of Business and How to Avoid Them." This Masterclass will cover if it's time to go from a sole proprietorship to an LLC or an LLC to a S-Corp and how to properly run an S-Corp. You'll learn how to get more profitable in a snap and put your taxes on auto-pilot as well as how to manage the growth of your business without fear of IRS hate mail or lawsuits. Click here to sign up for the Masterclass.

Do you have an increase in panic every time you open the mailbox? Fear of getting bills on top of debt or IRS hate mail that you fear will be in there, leading to procrastinating in opening the mail?