043: The Importance of Profit First for Small Business Growth and Freedom with Matt Jones

Profit First For Tradies

Do you ever feel overwhelmed or anxious about your business finances? Are you avoiding looking at the numbers because they stress you out? If so, it's time to get clarity and control with a simple cash management system, Profit First.

In this episode, Matt Jones explains how implementing Profit First transformed his marketing agency that serves trade businesses. With nearly 20 years of experience and 400 podcast episodes under his belt, Matt is an incredible resource for tradespeople transitioning into business ownership.

Once a plumber himself, Matt candidly shares his financial knowledge gaps and how he turned things around. With the help of Profit First professionals, he began dividing his revenue into separate accounts for profit, taxes, owner's pay, and operating expenses.

Matt also emphasises how Profit First is often misunderstood. It's not solely about maximising profits. Having funds consistently set aside provides peace of mind and options for investing in growth.

In this episode of the Profit First for Tradies, you’ll learn the following:

• Matt's career journey into marketing/business coaching (00:25)
• Matt's firsthand experience with Profit First (08:17)
• Common negative feedback about Profit First (12:50)
• How Profit First impacts forecasting and reverse engineering goals (18:37)
• How does Profit First help pay down debt faster (21:21)
• Matt's advice for people having doubts about Profit First (23:26)
• The importance of learning finances yourself and asking your team questions (31:05)
• Achieving more options and less stress with Profit First (37:01)
• When is the best time to start with Profit First? (40:23)
• How pain drives trades business owners to seek solutions (42:33)

Regularly checking your Profit First accounts allows you to spot potential issues early and make proactive changes. It's like a weekly checkup for your business money health. Stop avoiding your finances and limiting your growth potential. Become the profitable, freedom-focused business owner you desire to be.
QUOTES

"If you don't try Profit First, you'll never really know the benefits. But if you're gonna try it, you've got to give it the attention that it deserves." -Matt Jones

"Where you start is never where you end up." -Matt Jones

"There's a process to it, but you've got to get started somewhere. And if anyone is on the fence about Profit First, get off the fence, or just keep struggling." -Matt Jones

"There are so many people who are self-employed, who continue in their business, even though it's struggling because they don't want to go work for somebody else. But then they also don't know how to improve it." -Katie Crismale-Marshall

"When we stop overcomplicating it, we follow the system and we do as we should, Profit First is a simple system." -Katie Crismale-Marshall

Resources

• Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine

CONNECT WITH KATIE CRISMALE-MARSHALL

• Website: https://www.profitfirstfortradies.com.au/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitfirstfortradies9503/featured
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProfitFirstforTradies/

CONNECT WITH MATT JONES

• Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattjones1981
• Podcast: https://www.thesiteshed.com/