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Managing Cash Flow as a Solopreneur

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Quick Spin:

• The Boom-Bust cycle
• 5 Tips for Optimizing your Sales Strategy
• Free Webinar Alert: How to Manage Cash Flow as a Solopreneur

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This newsletter is brought to you by Found banking software. I started using Found 10 months ago due to its ease of use, smart expense tracking and tax savings features. If you want to try Found for free - click here.​

♟️ MY TURN:

If you’ve ever worked for yourself you know the boom - bust cycle.

• Boom → Lots of inbound, clients and work to do. No time for sales.
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• Bust → Because you didn’t have time for sales, after a few clients turnover, you need to hustle to make back the money. Cash flow tightens.

This is a dangerous cycle for Solopreneurs or anyone in business for that matter.

As someone who has earned more than $500k in the past year through 5 different revenue streams, I can tell you that some months felt like I was going to be a bajillionaire and some months I was unsure of how I was going to pay rent….

….until I figured out managing cash flow and sales flow.

Join me on Thursday, February 20th for a FREE webinar on MANAGING SOLOPRENREUR CASH FLOW.

I will share my system for juggling sales vs. day-to-day work and share how I’m using Found software to create my P&L and cash flow statements.

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Today I’m sharing the 5 tips to get smarter with your sales flow as someone who has historically been overwhelmed by this area and felt 100 steps behind…..

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♟️ YOUR TURN:

Ready to get off the boom-bust solopreneur sales cycle? Follow these tips as you build your porfolio career ⬇️

#1: Marketing Strategy does not equal Sales Strategy

• 📣 A marketing strategy gets you eyeballs.
• 💰A sales strategy gets you dollars.

I know a lot of people with hundreds of thousands of followers and no reliable income.

Let’s get clinical for a second.

A sales strategy is a structured plan that outlines how a business or individual will identify, engage, and convert potential customers into paying clients.

It serves as a roadmap for achieving sales goals and includes the methods, tools, and processes used to attract leads, nurture relationships, and close deals.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Who are you selling to?
• What are you selling them?
• How are you telling them about the products?
• How are you warming them?
• How are you converting them?

If you can’t answer these questions you don’t have a sales strategy and you are relying on momentum which creates the boom-bust cycle we want to avoid.

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​#2: Nice “ABS” - Always be selling.

Dedicate specific blocks of time for sales-related activities, like sending pitches, creating warming tracks or following up with leads.

Track your progress and prospects to streamline follow-ups.

If you don’t have a CRM, here’s your sign to start now.

What's a CRM? Glad you asked.

Day one I just had all of my contacts in a google sheet so I could remember who I know and when I talked to them.

As you progress you can upgrade to Hubspot’s free plan to manage email tracking or Lemlist for LinkedIn sales outreach or Sales Navigator in LinkedIn directly.

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​#3: Know your numbers

One time someone asked me “so how much money will you make next month?” and I honestly didn’t know the answer.

This was a wake-up call.

I needed a reliable funnel to create a reliable forecast.

Here’s an oversimplified version of what I mean:

→ I know a newsletter will reach 60,000 people

→ 45% of the people will open it

→ 4% of people will click

→ The landing page will convert at 3%

→ Resulting in 32 buyers

This may ebb and flow based on positioning and copy but I can now estimate that a sales email will generate roughly 32 times AOV (average order value).

So in order to hit my sales goal, I need to send X number of sales emails.

But the same goes for higher ticket products like consulting.

→ You may send 20 of prospecting emails/DMs a day

→ 50% of the people might open it

→ 10% of people will reply

→ Resulting in 1-2 calls set up to pitch

If you need 3 consulting clients at at time to hit your goals, you can do the math and know when you need to start your sales funnel machine to fill an open slot.
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#4: Social proof

Whenever I’m about to hire a new agency or buy something off Amazon I look at reviews. I want to see that they have PROVEN they can satisfy my needs.

The majority of consumers rely heavily on reviews when making purchase decisions. According to recent data:

• 92% of consumers hesitate to buy products that don’t have reviews, showcasing the importance of having visible customer feedback
• 88% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, demonstrating their influence on purchasing decisions
• For higher-priced products, 93% of Gen Z consumers and 70% of Baby Boomers read reviews before buying, indicating their critical role across demographics

Build case studies and ask for reviews from existing clients to help attract future clients.

Solopeneur Tip: I use Senja.io to collect reviews after every course, challenge, etc.

#5: Know your expenses

Repeat after me: Revenue does not equal profit

After uploading all my expenses into Found, I realized my profit margin was NOT where I wanted it to be and I could start making a plan using the easy-to-use features in Found to put money away for taxes, fixed expenses and properly see my take home profit.

Now I use Found's "pockets" to ensure I set aside money for my monthly fixed expenses and 30% tax holdback.

PS - If you want to learn how I use FOUND - a FREE software for your business - I'll be sharing mroe in the Thursday, February 20th FREE webinar on MANAGING SOLOPRENREUR CASH FLOW.

I will share my system for juggling sales vs. day-to-day work and I will also share how I’m using Found software to create my P&L and cash flow statements.

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To recap: If you want to get off the boom-bust sales cycle, remember these 6 tips:

1. Marketing Strategy vs. Sales Strategy
2. Always Be Selling
3. Know Your Numbers - Part 1
4. Use Social Proof
5. Know Your Numbers - Part 2

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