How to Set Financial Boundaries in Business

I think so often women in particular get nervous to chat about money, but when I really dug deep into what the “needle mover” tasks were to make an impact and an income, everything changed. 

My husband Scott is joining me on the blog to chat about how to set boundaries in business with your spouse, but more importantly financial ones. 

The reason why I wanted to share this topic is because running your own business requires  A LOT of roles. Everything from strategist, to accountant, to chief marketing, to let’s face it one of the most important roles: CFO. As in, are you really making money? 

If you missed the previous blog posts with Scott, I've shared how and why we decided to run this business together here, and then Scott and I talked about how it has been working together in this post.

Get your spouse on board 

If I am being super honest, the #1 way I got Scott on board with all of this (in addition to talking about it all the time)  was by building the bank account. While neither one of us is any sort of certified financial planner (insert all the legal terms here), I do have a master's in strategy and Scott in education and economics. So we both like data. 

When it comes to running your business and communicating with your spouse about it (especially around finances), we came up with 3 things we implemented in our family that might help you too. These things help us stay focused, on track, and efficient.

Three ways to communicate with your spouse about business

1. Set boundaries around when you communicate about business. Be upfront with your spouse about times that you prefer to talk about business and times when it is off the table. For me, I don't want to talk about business first thing in the morning. For Scott, if his wheels start turning at 10:30 at night he won't be able to fall asleep. While communicating is definitely important, so is being able to disconnect from it. Being so excited about your business and where things are headed can be consuming, so having white space is important.
   
   We take a daily walk and bring up pressing matters then. We make sure we have enough time to discuss the topic at hand. I think this is the most important one. Otherwise, you could be chatting about business and finances all day long. 
   
   
   
2. Create a shared system of data you both understand. *Insert my love for Google drive* we created a shared system where all the data can be tracked together. So if Scott wants to look at it at 10 pm but I am clearly watching Bridgerton or Real Housewives, it is available to him without a conversation.
   
   We have a shared:
   - Financial plan
   - Access to all of our platforms like Shopify, Kajabi, etc.
   - We've also implemented quick books to work with our accounting team and use the Profit First method, where we pay ourselves and taxes first. 
   
   The goal here is that we have a system where we can access the same things so we don't have to have a conversation about it, but rather go look yourself and get the answer to your question. 
   
   Do you love these tips? Take the Productivity Personality Quiz to get a Netflix-style binge-worthy resource list to help you find your focus and is customized to you! Take the quiz here. 
   
   
   One lesson learned here is that there is a learning curve to all of the terminology. While I knew all words like sequence conversion, lead magnet, etc, it took some time for Scott to learn. Take more time to learn at the beginning and make sure you are all talking about the same things. 
   
   
   
3. Hold a weekly planning meeting. We try to set aside an hour each week, usually on Mondays, to review what is coming up for the week. 
   
   

   We go over things like…

   1. Kids stuff
   2. Financials
   3. Weekly schedule
   4. Business operations

I know this may sound super formal, but sometimes our weekly planning meeting is while I am making breakfast or emptying the dishwasher. It doesn’t have to be fancy. 

Take the pressure off of Monday

I talk about the Sunday Scaries a lot (or how I used to have them so much when I worked full-time and was just starting this business) and I truly believe this meeting combined with our Sunday planning (hint-hint, the planner has all this), really takes the pressure off of Monday. It allows us each to know what we need to focus on to work towards a common goal. 

So to recap…Whether or not your spouse or partner is working with you, having a plan of how and when to communicate is key, especially around finances (and the impact your business can have on the family). It is what we preach here.

Build your business around your family and not vice versa. 

Looking for more on this topic and your High-Level Action items? Check out the Strategy Lab in the Crush the Rush Club!