Foreign to the Brilliant Pet Accountant Podcast with me, Vicky, where I will give you practical business and finance advice to help you grow a sustainable pet business.

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Let's get cracking.

Hello.

Hello.

Good afternoon, everyone.

How are you all?

Welcome back to episode three of the business series for you.

For those who don't know what today's topic is on, we're going to be talking about why you guys are flat out fully booked, working long days and still wondering why the money doesn't match the effort.

And we hear that a lot.

So that is what we're going to be talking about today.

So groomers, walkers, trainers, daycares, boarders.

If your diary's full but you're still not paying yourself properly and it feels difficult, then this is the episode for you.

If you can hear any noise in the background, that is my delightful Frenchie making those noises because she's rolling around on her back.

So if you just ignore that, if you can't hear it, it is not me, it is the Frenchie.

And like I said, we hear quite a bit in businesses where people always say, I'm fully booked, you know, I can't squeeze any more clients in, I've got a waiting list as long as my arm and for some reason I'm still not paying myself a wage or a good wage.

Fifi, stop.

Fifi's distracted me in the corner being a little bugger on her back.

So, yes, so that is something as an accountant, I hear quite a bit.

It's something that I see quite a bit on the socials of, you know, people just saying, I'm busy, busy, busy, working every hour under the sun, but my wage is still crap and I don't know what to do.

So that is what we're going to talk about today.

Because, you know, it's not that you have a client issue, it's more probably of a capacity issue.

But the problem is if you don't fix it, then the clients will overrule you and you will become busy.

And that is the problem.

Sometimes people mistake being busy as being profitable.

It might be, if Tegan's listened to this, she might have to come and get Fifi because she's very distracting.

She's literally underneath me, rolling on her back.

So we're going to go through why a full diary can still make you feel like you've got no money, what an appointment slots actually worth to you guys, and how not doing it properly can leak money.

And also how we can design a better diary.

So that's what we're going to go through today because if you don't control it, your clients will and that is not what we want.

So if you are listening, make sure that you ask any questions along the way.

I liked it when you got involved last time when we were talking about boundaries and pricing and it's all interlinked.

These aren't random topics that I've come up with.

These are all interlinked because they all work well together.

You can't have one without the other.

And pricing again is going to be a factor into this.

So please ask questions.

Let us know if you do this or if you understand what I'm saying or if you feel like that you are running up capacity but you don't seem to be paying yourself much, then please let me know and put it in the comments.

So just let us know because busy and being financially secure are two very different things.

And hopefully Fifi will calm down in a second because she's very distracting guys, but I think she's going to give up.

So what I found, obviously, for those of you who don't know, I'm one half of the pet accountants, so we deal with a lot of pet businesses varying in size from turnovers of 15 grand to turn overs of seven figures.

So we see it from all angles.

And I think the main thing that I see from you guys, and to be honest, I was guilty of it as well when I started the pet accountant, is we all always say yes to everybody.

And that could be like last minute requests, squeezing someone in, you know, yes to longer days because someone might ring up, oh, I don't suppose you mind just getting fluffy and quickly.

I know it's like half six and you finish, but do you mind?

And we all have a tendency to say yes.

And you almost feel like you're providing really good customer service because you've said yes, you've squeezed them in or you've said yes to a last minute request.

But unfortunately this is where it ties in with the other topics that we spoke about, is that it then doesn't strengthen your boundaries, okay?

Because from a numbers side, when your prices are low, your boundaries are weak.

The only thing left to to grow is the amount of hours that you work because that's the only thing that you can put in is a last minute request or squeezing someone in or working that extra hour.

And unfortunately that's where people get mixed up with being busy and being profitable because it's not the same Thing, it's not growth.

So you probably find yourself a bit of.

On a treadmill is a really good analogy that I can sort of put on for this.

And because you sort of.

You're burning energy constantly, but you ain't going anywhere.

Okay?

So that, imagine yourself on a treadmill when you're doing this is, yes, you move them, but we ain't going anywhere.

And you've got to realize, guys, that your capacity is finite, your time is finite and your energy is finite.

So, you know, you need to decide how your diary is going to work for you, otherwise it'll work the other way around.

And that's where we're going to chat about today, because like I said, a lot of clients, we speak to a lot of people that we see on the groups is that the.

They're just trying to put in extra hours without getting the boundaries right and without getting the pricing right.

Because if you haven't got the price right and you work in an extra 10 hours, you're going to be exhausted, but your profit margins are going to be exactly the same.

So all you're going to be doing is burning yourself out quicker by squeezing those extra clients in.

And again, this is where you've got to become strict with your diary.

And that's where the pricing comes into play, where the boundaries comes into play, and where this capacity issue comes into play.

Because if you can get all those in sync with each other, you'll be working less hours, but your profit margins will be bigger and therefore you will be a much happier person.

And you're not going to be a zombie by the end of the day, and you're not going to be working seven days a week.

I know a lot of groomers that squeeze people in, a lot of trainers or even like daycares where people try and stretch it and go, can you just have them for another few hours?

Well, that few hours is your time, so.

And again, guys, if you've got any questions or it kind of feels familiar, then please put it in the comments because it would be good to know or if you've got any ideas or anything that you guys have implemented that helps with it, it's always good to put in the comments because other people can look at it as well because they're on the same journey.

So please, please don't be shy.

There's a few of you watching.

Put some comments in and we can have a discussion about it.

So I want you to start thinking about your diary differently, okay?

I want you to think of every Appointment slot you have as inventory.

So rather than just whacking it in here, there and everywhere, not really thinking about it, think about the appointment slot as inventory.

And that slot, that one slot is responsible for way more than the £60 or £50 that you charge because that slot has to cover wages if you've got staff, it has to cover your overheads, it has to cover your profit and it also has to cover your own pay.

So that one slot is going to cover an awful lot.

And I think once you get your mindset around that, you will look at your diary differently.

Because I don't think people overly think about the slot in the diary.

It's just a case of Mrs. Smith's rang up monster jogging.

We're just, yeah, we'll just put them in at 6 o'.

Clock.

We don't really think about it.

So when that slot is cancelled last minute or moved repeatedly, which I think I saw, Dog Walker had that issue last week or overran and you haven't charged them that money, that 50 pound, that 60 pound is gone.

Okay?

Because you can't sell yesterday's 10am slot tomorrow.

So that's why again it runs into the boundaries and runs into the pricing and where this all sort of interlinks with each other.

And this is why we start talking about your diary today, to make sure that every one of those slots is inventory.

Okay?

And if you start looking at it like that, you'll start having a bit of a mindset shift after, you know, if someone cancels it.

Well, hang on a minute, you're not going to cancel it and if you do, then I'm going to charge you as per my terms and conditions.

So again it's about sticking to those boundaries and looking at those slots as individual inventory.

So again, while we have cancellation policies, again, it's not about you being strict or being harsh, it's about you protecting your income and protecting your revenue.

Okay?

So we've got to start treating time a bit better because if you treat it casually then that's where the money starts to leak and that's where you start losing money.

So that's what we've got to think about.

Hi Lee.

So Louise has put so many dog walkers and clients get hung up on the length of the walk.

I do an hour service that includes getting the dog ready and travel to a walk location nearby.

It's not an hour walk, usually 40 minute walk time, but on a hot day I can go a bit further and walk for 30 minutes.

Important distinction.

And I market this as being tailored to the dog's individual needs on a given day.

Yeah, I think you're right, Louise.

I think people get hung up on the hour and think that they must walk the dog for that hour again, again pricing yet.

I think someone put on one of the dog walking groups the other day.

They were in the northeast and I think they were charging 12 or 15.

No, I think it was 12 or 13 pound for a dog walk.

Now, for me, I said that was too cheap because A, you've got your travel time there.

So if you drive into the person's house, you've got the travel time, you've got the fuel it takes to get there, you've got your time, you've got any poo bags or treats that you've used now, you've got all those overheads to cover.

By the time you've taken that off that 13 pound, you're now doing that dog walk for less than minimum wage.

And it just doesn't make sense.

And I don't.

And I've said this on the other ones, I don't know where this common charge for dog walks is come in.

I think maybe because everyone asks each other and because everyone charges between like 13 and 15 or 13 and 16 quid, then that's kind of become the norm.

I mean, if there's any dog walkers listening, feel free to shout and say, I'm talking bollocks, it's fine.

I don't mind question awake because I love it.

But, yeah, I don't know why people have got this.

And I think again, people just make it up.

They're just like, oh, I'll just charge 13 quid, they're charging 13 quid.

But don't actually think, well, hang on a minute, I've got to drive, I've got the wear and tear of my vehicle, I've got the fuel, I've got the poo bags, I've got the treats, I've got my time, I've got a profit margin to put on that as well.

By the time you take all that out, you talking nine or ten pound for an hour's dog walk, which is below minimum wage.

So you need to start thinking about your prices and you need to start putting in the slots and not thinking that the time starts from the minute you get to the dog walk to the minute it ends an hour.

And then you drive back to the person's house because as Louise said, then we're cutting into maybe an hour and a half and then you still only charge in 13 to 15 pounds for an hour and a half's work when you've got all those overheads to cover.

Right, guys, I'm just going to interrupt the podcast for a quick second.

As an accountant, we're always trying to find ways of saving you guys some money, which is why we have teamed up with the brilliant Low Pay, who are half the price of summer.

So make sure you guys click the link in the bio and save those pennies.

Let's get back to the podcast.

So again, the time capacity side of it comes in really well with the price and really well with the boundaries.

And if you can just master those three things, then you'll see a massive difference in your money that you take every month because you'll have a lot more there to play with.

So try and think, if you know one of your most common appointments disappeared tomorrow, how much profit would you lose?

If you can't answer that, then this is where we need to start looking at the figures.

And I know, I always harp on about it every single episode that we do.

And you probably eye roll them because she's like, yep, you're an accountant, you're always going to talk about numbers, but it all comes down to numbers and getting those margins right.

And it'll make a huge difference.

Doesn't matter what everyone else is charging, just ignore them.

Louise has put.

There's also an idea that group walk should be cheaper.

Yeah, I've heard that.

I'm now doing a membership based thing and it's working so much better.

Again, doing something a bit different, like Louise doing a membership, get them to pay monthly, then it's regular income, regular cash flow for you guys.

By getting them to pay monthly, you're not having to chase them for money, you just put them on a direct debit.

So that could work.

Hi, Claire, let's have a look.

Let alone the massive responsibility, I charged 15 pound for dog walking five years ago and I would be closer to 20 pound.

And also group walking shouldn't be cheaper.

You pay for your dog.

Exactly.

I mean, Claire, if you were paying 15 quid, like if you charge them 15 quid five years ago, then it should, by inflation, it should go up.

So I think people should be charging 20, 25 quid for an hour's dog walk and people are going to probably be like, what the hell?

But why not?

Like, why can't you?

None of us, Lee, how many dog walkers think out of the box to cross sell and upsell different services or products?

Louise has put.

None of us, Lee, Haha.

Again these are things that you could try and upsell.

I know a client of mine, she's a dog walker in a daycare and she has like a mud daddy thing and she cleans and washes the dog especially in winter when they get muddy, not like a full on wash but like washes the dog, gets the mud off and dries them off and charges extra.

Yeah well she wasn't charged an extra until I had a conversation with her and said you need to charge extra.

That could be an extra service that you charge an extra tenor for.

You know I'll wash your dog, I'll get all the mud off it and I'll dry it down quickly so that it's not running mud into your house after the walk an extra 10 pound.

And then her argument is well yeah but then they might not want to pay the ten pounds and I'm like well then don't wash the dog because that's extra time, extra effort, extra overheads and they're not paying for it.

Give it to them as an option.

So it could be that you buy one of these washing things that might be other things out there, money.

I only know my daddy wash the dog down, dry it down, put it back in the owner's house, you know, semi clean.

I wouldn't say you're going to give it a full on groom charge an extra 10 quid if that was me.

And little Frank was going out in the decks of winter getting covered in crap and the dog walker said vicky, an extra 10 and I'll clean them up add paid and again if they don't want to pay it, they don't pay.

It's not then costing you any extra.

So like Lee said, think of stuff that you can do that is going to charge extra because it can.

Again from a dog walking perspective, linking back to the diary, there's only so many hours in a day.

There's only.

So if you're one person there's only so many dog walks you can do in a day.

Yes, you can do group walks which obviously then you get more money that way but unless you do in like six or seven group walks a day, you know, how are you making that extra income?

How are you going to grow?

Because like I said there's only so many hours in the day.

Same with the dog groomers, you can only dog groom or train so many dogs in a day.

So how are you going to get that extra income?

We've got to start thinking outside the box.

Think about what your USP Is and you know, we see all the time.

But there's 17 dog walkers opened up my area, or think the was one recently with a dog groomer.

That said a new dog groomer's opened up.

She's charging 20 quid for a dog groom with free teeth cleaning.

A, it's not going to be sustainable, so she'll go out of business within six months, so don't worry.

B, if the clients leave to go and get their dog groomed for 20 quid, they're not the right clients for you anyway.

And again, this goes back to the boundaries.

Don't worry if someone's charged 20 quid down the road because then this client was like, oh, I'll start introducing like pick up and drop offs and so it makes it easier.

So then they might come back, they might come back to my salon.

If they want to go somewhere else and pay 20 quid, it doesn't matter what you introduce, they're going to go somewhere else because it's cheaper.

We don't want those clients yet, we don't want them, so just let them go.

Plus that person that's charging 20 quid for a dog room plus free teeth cleaning can only do so many in a day.

And also unless they're a millionaire and doing it for shits and giggles is going to go out of business fairly soon, so don't worry about it.

Tegan's put the same goes for dog groomers, yet monthly in advance, holidays built in, no cancellation fees or holiday retainers.

Pricing should be assessed and calculated on an individual basis.

Exactly.

Which is what we discussed a couple of weeks ago.

Everyone's circumstances are different, but too many people compare and price match.

And again, this is what we went into yesterday, yesterday, last week.

And we are going off tangent slightly, but don't copy other people's prices.

If you take anything from these three podcasts, that is one, do not copy everybody else's prices.

Work on your own numbers, your own profit that you want to make the salary that you want to make.

Because again, going back to the diary, one of the biggest myths is if I just get more clients, things are going to improve.

If I just get 10 more clients, if I just get 20 more clients or fill my books, if I work that extra hour and take on 10 more clients, then everything's going to be fine.

But then you don't factor in, that's more admin, that's more reschedule and that's more boundaries being pushed and more stress.

Okay?

And from an accountant's Point of view, low margin businesses will suffer when they grow because you're getting more clients with zero margin.

So all you're doing then is working harder and working more hours and not getting any more money because everything else has stayed the same.

Okay.

So that will just magnify whatever is the issue in the first place.

High margin flexibility, low margin exhausted.

Okay.

Which is why pricing, boundaries and your capacity or diary must work together.

Okay.

Where can't be.

I'm just going to fill every slot and hope for the best because it won't work.

So think about this.

If you added 20% more clients to your books tomorrow, what do you think you'd feel?

Would you feel stressed or would you be like, oh yes, loads more money and that'll give you an indication of where you're at.

Because yeah, If I added 20, 30 more clients, I think I'd be stressed.

Especially today when I've spent half an hour trying to find a charging point for the bloody electric car and spent went for breakfast thinking, yep, charging, brilliant.

Got back, it disconnected after two minutes and I had to go and find another charger.

The joys of an electric vehicle from Lee.

The healthier margins, the more your business can cope with market trend squeezes.

Yep.

And again, people always say January is tough for groomers certain times of month, like winter or summer holidays for dog walkers, because people tend to be off and they walk their own dogs.

So again, you've got to think, get your money right and then you can structure it better to cope for the times that you know are going to dip slightly.

Louise has put stress purely for the amount of extra admin, but there we go.

And this is what I said before about the extra admin.

It's not a case of just fill in that slot.

You've got to get all the numbers and everything else right first, otherwise all you're going to do is add to the pin.

So you've got to look at your diary, okay?

And they sometimes you don't look at it and design it like to a specific thing.

It's kind of just evolves accidentally.

And I was in that trap back when I started the Pet Accountant.

I didn't really look at my diary and I was just plonking things in left, right and center discovery calls.

And then I realized before, after about a month and hang on a minute, why am I doing so many things in a day?

And my breaks disappeared, my days stretched longer, admin got pushed into the evenings and weekends and it just because I wasn't managing that diary Properly and it was managing me rather than the other way around.

So you've got to look at your diary deliberately.

So we're talking, like defined working hours.

I'm going to work between this time and this time and I'm not going to add any other in.

So if Mrs. Smith rings up on Friday afternoon, says, oh, do you mind just nip and fluffy in quickly at 6:00'?

Clock?

No, my business hours are from this time and this time and a capped appointments per day.

Tegan was guilty of this when she was doing our discovery calls, because she does the sales calls with our potential new clients.

And she was adding in at some points, like 10 or 11 in a day.

And I was like, what the hell are you doing?

And by the time she got to the end of the day, she was absolutely exhausted.

So now we've capped the number of people we take on a month and we've capped the number of people that she can speak to in one day because otherwise it's just pure exhaustion.

Protect your admin time.

So again, time block, say, right, I'm going to do admin at this time on this day and block it out, okay, and have buffer space for overruns.

So again, when I start the pet count, I would do a appointment and it would just be like 10 till 11, 11 till 12, you know, 12 to 1.

And I had no break in between.

And then I was like, oh, that doesn't have time to write my notes up.

I didn't have time to do anything.

So make sure again that you've got that buffer so that you're not literally going from one dog to the next dog to the next dog to the next dog.

If your diary is slightly less full, but you priced it correctly, it will outperform anybody else that is doing 15 dogs.

Whether that's a walk, a groom, a train, whatever, it will outperform that person because they won't have looked at their margins.

So don't look at someone else.

Oh, my God, they're fully booked.

Oh, my God.

They're doing dogs like six, seven days a week.

Because you don't know what their margins are.

You might have.

They might have 15 dogs in a day, you might have six dogs in a day.

But you're going to be less stressed, more organized, less exhausted.

And because you priced yourself right, you're probably in the end going to make more money than that person that's doing 15 dogs a day.

So that again, goes back to don't look at other people's prices and base it on Their prices.

Base it on your own, okay?

Otherwise you're just going to get paid for being busy, Right?

And we need structure and we need value, okay?

So go and look at your diary and say, right, if my diary said exactly the same as it is now for the next year, would my life improve or would I just be absolutely super stressed?

And that's a good way of looking at it and whether you should be telling yourself, I maybe need to make some changes.

Louise, I might need to have a word of my grimace.

She's only charging me 40 quid.

I don't.

What dog have you got, Louise?

Let's put it into context.

Who knows?

But if you think it's cheap, then tell her.

You know, some people think, I mean, I told Alicia, who's our dog walker, when she first started out doing dog sits, she was charging, like, a ridiculously low amount.

Now, when, you know, we weren't friends at that point, it was more of a business transaction.

But me and Tegan used to give her more money.

We'd give her money to go and buy a Chinese or whatever while she was dog sitting because it was just too cheap.

And she felt really awkward when we said to her when we came back, like, alicia, you need to sort your prices out.

Like, you need to be charging more.

Like, it's almost criminal that that's all you've charged us.

And we felt the need to give her more money because it was just daft.

I think it's important to screen your inquiries more.

Don't just book anyone in.

Quality over quantity.

Again, really good tip there from Tegan.

And that goes for anybody.

Louise sent her Vicky's pricing podcast.

Yeah, exactly.

Don't just book anyone in.

Qualify the calls on the phone, make sure that you ask them the questions, make sure that they're in line with your values, with how you want to work.

And if they're difficult on the phone from minute one, just tell them to go somewhere else.

You can do it politely and just say, look, I actually don't think you're the person for me.

I don't think we're the dog groomer for you, the dog trainer for you, but actually, there's three others that I can recommend to you that you can go and speak to.

It's your business, you can do that, you can do what you want, but you don't want difficult customers.

Again, they're the ones that are going to book a slot in and then change it, and then change it, cancel it, change it, not pay for days on end.

So Again, screen your calls and your inquiries better.

We want quality over quantity, peoples.

Yes.

Dee's put work smarter, not harder.

Exactly.

We all want to be working smarter, not harder, especially in this day and age with prices and things going through the roof and it all boils down to the numbers.

Getting those pricing right will make a huge difference to your back pocket and it will make you less stressed.

Everyone's guilty of it, no matter what job you do.

Me and Lee have done it before, you know, now we're changing how we work slightly where we're qualifying clients more, we're not taking on as many, and we are being a bit more selective because, again, we've only got so many hours in a day.

We can't take every single person that inquires with us.

Every month we get 30 to 50 inquiries a month and we physically can't do that many unless we just kept getting staff member after staff member after staff member, which just isn't a good working model.

So we're being a bit more selective, we're qualifying people more and we're taking on a set number of clients every month.

So that means Tegan can plan her diary properly.

We know as a company we can plan that.

You know, if we take on so many a month, this is how we need to plan moving forward.

And it works with every other business as well.

Liz put having an end goal also help you run your business.

The decisions you make will shape it towards that end goal.

And again, this is why we're doing a goals seminar as part of the success series for the Expo, which will be starting next month.

We're going to go through goals because again, if you don't have a goal, what we're working towards, it could be any goal.

It could be, I want to earn this much turnover by the end of the year.

I want to have had quality over quantity of clients.

It could be anything, but you need something to strive to, otherwise you kind of lose your way and go a bit all over the place.

Mainly make goals every April without fail.

We also have a to do list, which we've never actually completed in three years, but this year is different.

But we always have a goal and if we don't hit it for whatever reason, then we know we have to look back and go, well, what have we done?

Or what should we have done?

And what can we do to tweak that to make sure that we hit it next time?

So goals are massively important.

So if you're wanting to attend the expo on the 3rd of October if you get your ticket before January 31st, then you will be included in that success series where we'll be doing webinars like this, like the pricing one, like the boundaries one, to make sure that by the time we get to the expo in October, everyone has tightened everything and we're going to be absolutely flying.

So make sure that you get your ticket before the 31st, because the first seminar is going to be in February.

If you get it after that, obviously you can't be included because we've already started.

So if you want to do that, make sure you get your ticket.

Petroexpro.co.uk you can get your ticket from there.

And I've divulged with all the comments, which is amazing, guys, keep it up because it really helps people.

I know the pricing podcast I did a few weeks ago, it's gone absolutely nuts with, with people listening to it and hopefully getting their pricing right.

So some people think growth is more clients, longer hours, more services, but it's not.

That's what you've got to have the mindset shift.

It's your profit margins, it's your better systems you put in and your sustainable workloads.

A lot of pet business owners are run ragged because they're working so many hours, because they think more clients equals more money, which is better.

But if you haven't got those profit margins right, it ain't gonna work.

So before you take on staff, before you get that second salon, before you do anything, make sure that your prices are correct, make sure that your boundaries are in play and they're enforced, and make sure that the capacity you have is actually profitable.

Because again, we see so many people that have a second salon or get another staff member in or, you know, hire a subcontractor to do extra dog walks because they think that that's the answer.

Because I can just more dogs in.

But sometimes if they just price themselves better, you would actually make more money in that one salon or just yourself than spending the expense of getting a second venue or a second person in.

Because that's what they think the answer is.

But it's not just because their prices aren't correct.

So again, that's something that you've got to think of before you make that decision is, have I got my pricing right?

Have I got my boundaries right before I go and get that second venue, before I get that second staff member?

Because it won't.

The growth won't fix anything that's not being fixed in the foundations.

All it's going to do is magnify the issue.

Some of the healthiest businesses we work with as an accountant aren't the biggest.

You know, we have groomers that are fat registered and that they're sole groomers.

You know, we've got dog walkers that are fat registered and there's only one of them.

And they think, well, people probably think, well, how are they doing that?

And it's all about the numbers and the prices.

So maybe just look at, you know, what is going to be enough and just work backwards and look at the figures and think, well, actually if I just tweak this and that's going to make me an extra 500 pound a month.

Bosh, done.

So the growth side is not always necessarily the answer.

Well, is Lee's very chatty today.

Attending seminars and self improvement should be seen as an investment, not cost 1, quadrillion percent.

Make sure when you spend money, if money is tight and you think, right, I've only got, let's say £500 this year to spend on going out of the business.

So that could be seminars, you know, teaching cpd, whatever it may be, and make sure that you're spending that money wisely.

Is going to a grooming seminar to learn how to groom a certain dog, is that gonna help me make more money?

Obviously sometimes you might go there because you specialize in that dog and absolutely fine, but is that going to make you more money?

Is doing another training course in whatever it may be going to help my business and make more money?

If the answer is no, then that is a luxury that you're doing and not a necessity.

Look round.

Could it be that your marketing isn't as on point as you'd like it to be?

So maybe we look at Charlotte's membership, you know, for, I don't know how much it is, 20, 30 quid a month?

She's going to help you with the marketing.

That's the sort of thing I'd be looking at.

You know, could I have a business coach like Bill?

Am I better spending the money on him than going spending 500 pound going to an award show?

Who knows?

You've got to look at it from a business point of view.

I missed that one.

Need to go back and look for it if you want.

About the pricing and boundaries podcast, you'll find them on Spotify.

Just type in the pet accountant podcast and make sure you follow.

And then if you miss one of these lives, these always go live on the podcast every Monday, so you won't miss them for me.

From Louise, I Want to have more time for myself and having a small team to provide cover and consistency for the clients is my goal.

Yeah, if your ultimate goal, Louise, is to step back, then obviously you're going to have the staff there to take over it.

But again it's looking at your numbers to make sure that that staff member is going to make you money and then eventually you're going to be able to step back.

Teegan is only £31.50amonth to attend the Pepper Expo for six months.

She pays more in takeaways, which I can confirm she absolutely does spend more on takeaways than 30 quid a month for six months.

Or you can watch it online.

It gets live streamed for £16amonth for six months.

So we're not talking big books and is a business expense and we're going to have a networking party on the Saturday.

So you're going to make lots of new friends.

So check it out, the new website is coming very, very soon.

I'm very excited to release that, but we'll let you know when that is live.

So let's just remember before the I wrap this up, when you price yourself correctly, you enforce the boundaries, you design your diary capacity deliberately, you're going to start controlling your business more, which means you're going to start controlling the money more, which means you're going to have more money in your back pocket, which is the ultimate goal.

And also you're going to have a sustainable business.

The ones that pop up and charge 20 quid for a groom or five pound to walk your dog, they will not last, okay?

Unless they've got a millionaire husband or wife or whatever there may be, but they won't last because it's not sustainable.

So just stay in your lane, ignore everybody else and it doesn't matter if they pop up.

And if your clients leave and go to them down the road for 20 quid, then just let them go.

As Mel Robbins says, let them.

So my new quote of the year, just let them crack on.

So homework is for this week is to go and look at your diary and let's try and make one change to protect your capacity and so you're not working 50 hours a day, seven days a week.

All right, so that is your homework for today and we will be back.

I say we.

This is only me.

I will be back next week.

A lot less stressed because the tax year ends in three days.

So if you haven't submitted your tax return, please make sure you do it well in advance of the 31st, because you have to submit and pay your tax bill by the 31st.

So if you pay on the 31st, it takes three or four days to clear.

You will get a late filing penalty.

So make sure.

I'd be doing it now, don't leave it any later.

You've got until 31st and then the next deadline will be April for the end of the 25, 26 tax year and the fund starts again.

So we've got February, March to have some fun.

We'll be doing more of these podcasts.

I'm going to be doing the Success series webinars with the Expo attendees, so we're going to get down with that.

And we will be at Crufts as well as usual for the fourth year.

I think fourth or fifth year will be at Crufts Hall 1, stand 72.

We'll sort of like plonked in the middle, so make sure that you come and say hello and we'll always have a bit of Prosecco and a bit of no Seco there if you want to have a.

Come and have a little cheeky glass of fizz with us and say hello.

If you're a client, come and say hello.

If you have a client, come and say hello.

And it'd be nice to see everyone, Louise has put, yes, boss, I will.

This has been extremely helpful.

Thank you.

Welcome, Louise.

Debbie's put, I've just refused my first ever dog in six years.

I feel amazing.

Working smarter, not harder.

Exactly, Debbie.

Go, Debbie.

Everyone, look at Debbie's comment.

If you're listening, Debbie has refused her first ever dog in six years.

Well done, Debbie.

We don't want nightmare clients.

That's what we don't want.

Well, I actually own.

When do I pay it, Claire?

On the bottom of your tax return document, it tells you how much it is and you need to pay it now to make sure that it clears in time.

I as soon as I got off this live, I will check for you and I will drop you an email or a message just to let you know, Emily.

Yes.

See you at Crofts.

So, yes, fabulous.

Please, please, please do the homework at the end of these last three webinars, I've given you some homework to do, so please do it and then let me know how much it's changed after the month's end.

And if you haven't got your Expo ticket, it's still three days to be involved in the Success series where we'll be doing webinars like this, but in a bit more detail and we'll be holding everyone accountable to getting the shit done that we do in the webinar in time for October when we can have the networking party and have a few drinks and meet some amazing speakers.

So make sure you don't miss out on that.

You can pay monthly so you can spread the cost out.

Just gotta let us know.

And Emily, I hope you're wearing the doggy dungarees as Tegan said, but no.

Thank you guys.

I hope you enjoyed watching it.

This will go live on the podcast on Monday so spread it far and wide.

If you've got any friends that you think would value listening to it, especially the price and one I'm glad Debbie, do it.

I'm proud of you Debbie.

We'll do the next one next week.

I don't know what I'm going to do next week.

Maybe something around clients and we'll see what comes up.

But I will look forward to seeing you next week less stressed and in Crufts mode.

And yeah, we'll see you all next week.

Have fun, make lots of money.

Keep those receipts and we'll see you next week.

And yeah, bye guys.

Have fun.

Thanks for listening to the podcast.

I hope you found it helpful.

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See you next week.

Sam.