Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studio in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio, brought to you by My Global Presence, the award winning Atlanta public relations agency that elevates brands and non-profits through authentic storytelling and national media campaigns. Find them at myglobalpresence.com. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio. And this is gonna be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, my Global Presence. If you want global visibility and meaningful impact, go to myglobalpresence.com. Today on the show, we have the founder of running with numbers, Michele Bell. Welcome.

Michele Bell: Thank you Lee. Thank you for having me on the podcast.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about running with numbers. How are you serving folks?

Michele Bell: Sure. So running with numbers is a platform that we offer practical resources and courses that make business finances easier to understand and use for small business owners. We teach small business owners how to understand what their numbers are telling them, and use that information to run stronger businesses. It’s it’s not meant to teach accounting. I know that can scare people. So this is really designed for small business owners who want clear, practical guidance and stronger financial habits so they can get more confidence in the decisions that they make. It’s it’s there to help them feel smarter and what their numbers are telling them, so they can work with their accountants and tax partners and have more productive conversations.

Lee Kantor: So what’s your backstory? How did you get involved in this line of work?

Michele Bell: Yeah. So. So I spent.

Michele Bell: More than 25 years in corporate finance, working with fortune 500 companies, later serving as a CFO of a startup. And then all of those companies, nearly every important decision that we made was supported by financial data. And I’m a data person. I love, just give me a bunch of numbers and I can like make a story out of it. And so then about ten years ago, I started working more directly with small business owners, and I started noticing a theme that they were all the business owners. They’re incredibly talented at what they did. Um, they’re very passionate about their business, but many of them felt intimidated by the financial side of running a business. And I realized that that same clarity you can get in the large companies, they needed that same clarity, but they rarely had a full finance team helping them understand the numbers. So funny story about two years ago or so, I guess. I was out on a run and this theme came to my head. This phrase said that said running with numbers. And so I was like, I don’t know what that means, but I loved it. And so I immediately came home and went out and bought the domain name. And then it just sat there. Like I said, for like two years. And so as I’ve been working more and more with small business owners, like the same theme came over and over again that they were passionate about business, but the financial side felt overwhelming. So and that they would put off looking at their numbers until tax time, which sometimes is too late. And they’d be surprised, you know, by something that they wish they’d known months earlier. And so that’s when it clicked. I was like running with numbers because It should become a place to teach business owners how to build confidence with their finances before tax season, not after. So it’s basically giving them tools, habits and clarity to build confidence with looking at their numbers and not avoiding them.

Lee Kantor: Now, how did did you kind of, um, weigh the trade offs of variety of ways to interact with that small business owner? Because as a small business owner myself, and having been one for many years, the number part is my least favorite part. Um, and, and in my mind, I’m hiring my CPA to kind of take care of that part. And historically, that hasn’t been a great idea because most CPA are backwards looking and they’ll tell you what happened and, and how to deal with the tax issues. And they’re very tax focused. And that’s their love language. I think, uh, that’s where they like to play. Most of them. Um, did you kind of contemplate, uh, where you should plug in with this information and what would be the best, most productive way to teach what you’re trying to teach?

Michele Bell: Yes, that’s.

Michele Bell: Definitely a good question. Um, and like I said, I’m not trying to teach accounting to business owners because that’s not why you went to school. You don’t, you know why you need to understand your numbers. You don’t care about the accounting side. Um, but what I realized was it’s more about giving business owners a way to create a habit, um, of looking at your numbers to get more comfortable with what they’re telling you. And then once you start getting in that habit and feeling more comfortable, then you can understand enough to ask the right questions to your tax accountant before tax season. Um, so it’s, it’s really to work in. To work with your bookkeeper and tax accountant that you already have on on staff. You know, I should say staff. Um, it’s not meant to replace those. It’s not meant to, to teach you, you know, accounting, it’s really to help you become more comfortable and not steer away from looking at numbers because you don’t understand them. I found a lot of business owners were also were embarrassed to say, you know, okay, my bookkeeper gave me this P and L, I don’t know what it means. And so they just put it to the side. And so there’s no embarrassment. You shouldn’t have any embarrassment on that. This. So this tool, this, these resources are meant to walk you through a simple weekly ten minutes each week. Look through four numbers cash revenue, profit and owner pay and really not analyze them. Just get comfortable with their showing you from week to week. You can say, what changed? Why did it change? Is there anything I need to do? It’s really again, this is creating habits and confidence so that you can work better with your accounting, bookkeeper, tax person that you already are engaged with.

Lee Kantor: So what is, um, the pain that your clients are having right before they contact you and begin working with you? What are some of the symptoms that maybe they need help in this area?

Michele Bell: Yeah, a.

Michele Bell: Lot of times it is they are focused more on revenue. And, you know, maybe they have a lot of good, um, revenue wins, but then they realize, oh, but I don’t have any cash in the bank. I don’t understand what’s happening. And so this, these resources are meant to help you look at all of those numbers and question what’s happening so that you can start building. Start looking at trends and and make decisions before something goes upside down.

Lee Kantor: So you mentioned revenue, and that’s an area where I’m sure a lot of entrepreneurs focus in on because they feel like they have some control over that, that they can make a difference in that area. Um, but you mentioned several other areas that they should be paying attention to. What are some of the ways that you help, um, kind of inform that client of yours, uh, to focus in on because like you didn’t, you mentioned only a few things that they should be focusing in on. And there’s lots of, like you said, you love data. There’s lots of data. Like it’s infinite, the amount of data you can get from your business, but you’re having them kind of hone in on four specific things that I guess you feel are the most impactful.

Michele Bell: That’s correct. So it’s meant to because, you know, a small business owner that is not there, accounting and looking at numbers is not their top skill set. It becomes overwhelming. Um, and so you don’t know where to start. You don’t, you know, and there’s, like you said, there’s so many things to look at. And so you just don’t look at it. So what I’m doing is breaking it down to four top things that can really drive your business. And it’s, this is how you start, you know, a weekly check in on those four numbers. Um, the, the reports you need to look at building a habit of looking at those numbers. And once you after like 30, 60 days, once you start getting in that habit, you get more comfortable at looking your numbers and you understand what’s happening. Then, you know, then you could probably get into more detailed, um, into more numbers and data if you want. But what I’m trying to do here is really build a habit, clarity and confidence with kind of breaking it down to four things that can make or break your business.

Lee Kantor: So let’s say you have somebody, you’re working with them. They got their four numbers. It, I guess on Monday or Sunday night, they look at the numbers. Um, what, what’s what do you also show them? What’s the actionable move based on how those numbers are going?

Michele Bell: Yes. As part of some of the resources in running with numbers, there’s some, um, questions that I’ve already got embedded in there to make you think, you know, about the different numbers, um, to help you decide what’s happening in your business and which way you need to go. And it could be, you know, okay, if I don’t, if I’m having a cash problem, is it because my pricing, my margins are off. Or is it? You know, I have way too many subscriptions. It’s, you know, there’s several different questions you can ask, but I guide you through those questions. Um, so that you’re not sitting out there alone and not knowing where to go from there.

Lee Kantor: And how are you delivering the services is something that is just kind of plugged into my accounting software. And then, uh, it’s giving me kind of a dashboard of these four things with some of the kind of where to look to fix some of them. Um, or is this you actually kind of on the phone or on Zoom with me and we’re working through the stuff together.

Michele Bell: Yeah. Good question. So, um, running with numbers.com is where the resources live. Um, and, um, it’s, there’s a core, we have our flagship course out there is not connected to your accounting software or again, trying to just make this as simple as you know as possible and not over complicate things. So we would just be plugging in those four numbers every week into a downloadable spreadsheet that I’ve created. And so it’s a way to track it. And then, um, as part of that platform and course, yes, there’s a option or not an option, but that’s part of the course to have a conversation with me to kind of help you through your questions around your numbers.

Lee Kantor: And, um, when you had the idea and you obviously it took some time to land on those four numbers. Uh, you probably, I’m sure at some point there were 6 or 5 or you three and then you landed on these are the four most impactful. Uh, when did you start kind of beta testing to see if, you know, the market was ready for this kind of solution.

Michele Bell: Right. Um, we started market testing last year, um, Starting with a focus group of 2 or 3 focus groups, we have with small business owners kind of asking them what are their challenges with running their business. Um, and it always came back to, I just don’t understand my numbers or I don’t even look at them until tax time. And so, um, it’s part of that focus group. We learned a lot of information about how small business owners look at their, their financials or, or, or not look at their financials.

Lee Kantor: So was that kind of an, um, just it reaffirmed what you already believed. It kind of validated the hypothesis at that point. Or was this some were there some surprises in these focus groups?

Michele Bell: Um, it more or less validated what I saw because I’d been working with small business owners for ten years. Um, and you know, something that did surprise me was how many? How many of the small business owners would say, I don’t want another spreadsheet. I don’t want another tool. I need help, you know, creating this habit so that I can look at, you know, even if it’s monthly, like some business owners don’t look at their numbers until the end of the year. So it was more about, I just need somebody to tell me what to do. I don’t know what, I don’t know what questions I need to ask. I don’t know what to look at. Just tell me what I need to do. And so that’s this resource is meant to help business owners. We draw the information that’s out there and just stick to four core themes while they get their arms around their business.

Lee Kantor: So is there any advice you could share with that business owner who is overwhelmed by their business finances? Is there some kind of baby steps they can be doing to prepare themselves so they can implement and stay compliant with the habit. It sounds as simple as this.

Michele Bell: Yeah. Um, so yeah, so somebody, a business owner who’s been avoiding their numbers, I would say just start small. Don’t, don’t overwhelm yourself. Uh, block ten minutes on your calendar this week and look at your cash revenue, profit and owner pay. You know, don’t feel like you’ve got to have an answer. Don’t feel like you’ve got to analyze it. Just start looking at it. You don’t have to understand everything immediately. Um, just write down one thing that surprises you and one question you want answered. I always say curiosity comes first and confidence follows. So, you know, again, start small. It’s kind of like starting a fitness program. You know, you want to get to a certain goal weight or, or, um, you know, if you’re running, you want to get training for a marathon, just start small. It’s week over week habits build. The confidence and build the strength.

Lee Kantor: Now, in the work that you’ve done thus far, do you have kind of a sweet spot in terms of, um, size type or industry that you work in? I would imagine this is kind of industry agnostic, but I don’t know, maybe you have kind of a, an area where you have maybe domain knowledge that’s useful for your clients. Is there a niche that you kind of focus in on or just small businesses that the niche?

Michele Bell: Yeah, it’s.

Michele Bell: It’s not really industry specific. It is small business owners. And this, uh, running with numbers resource is more than likely pointed towards those business owners that are growing. They, most of them may not have even have a bookkeeper. They’re doing it all themselves. Or if they do have a bookkeeper, they still don’t really understand their numbers. So it’s really a, it’s a, it’s a market that’s too small to hire somebody to help them. They’re trying to do it themselves. You know, it’s a, as a, you know, as a business owner, you wear a lot of hats, you do accounting, you do accounting, HR, marketing, everything. And so a lot of times these, this resource is meant for those business owners that are in that market size that really just needs to understand their numbers.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there a story you can share that maybe illustrates how somebody can benefit from working with you on this? Um, just maybe share the challenge they had when they came to you and how you were able to help them get to the, a new level, maybe a more confident place.

Michele Bell: Yeah. Um, let’s see. One business owner I worked with, she had told me, I just don’t feel like I understand what’s going on in the business because she said the business was making money, but she was really just looking at her bank balance because she didn’t know which numbers mattered. So she was overwhelmed with her report. So she just looked at her bank balance. And so we started with a simple weekly check in again, focus on cash revenue, profit, owner pay, and not trying to understand every line of every report. And over time, after several weeks and over time, something really interesting happened with her. She started asking different questions. Instead of saying, how did we do? She’d ask, why did our profit drop this month? Or can we afford to hire some someone? So she started really looking at our numbers and using those numbers to ask the right business decisions. And so, you know, the the biggest transformation wasn’t that our financial statements changed. It was that she became confident enough to use them. So that’s what this running with numbers resource is meant to do.

Lee Kantor: So now is the coaching. Does that happen kind of asynchronously, like so anybody can kind of jump in whenever. Or do you have cohorts or classes or groups? Um, just throughout the year?

Michele Bell: Good question. I don’t right at this point, I don’t have a cohort. That’s something on the horizon right now. The, the, um, resource is course is self-directed and it’s got several different modules. And once you get through, um, certain modules, then it opens up access to me because I want you to be able to have gone through this weekly habit and understand, you know, you can’t just start with me day one, I want you to start your own process. And then, um, it opens up one on one calls with me. But, but it is on the horizon to have a cohort group, because I think that would be beneficial for small business owners to, you know, talk with each other and talk with the struggles they have on just running a business. Um, it’s always good to hear from someone else because you, you, as you said, you’re a small business owner. It’s I always tell people it’s not for the faint of heart. You know, you don’t coming from corporate, I had all sorts of, um, support and resources. And when you started your own business, like you’re just kind of out there on your own trying to figure out what you need to do. And so being able to have people to talk with and run ideas by is very helpful. Um, and makes you feel like you can actually move the needle a little bit.

Lee Kantor: Now, do you find that, um, a CPAs and bookkeepers are good referral sources for you, or do they feel kind of threatened by what you’re offering?

Michele Bell: No, actually.

Michele Bell: They’re really good referrals because, um, a lot of CPAs, they want their business owner to look at their financials throughout the year, because at the end of the year, when the CPA is getting their numbers and they’re like, oh my gosh, there’s a lot of cleanup I have to do. And they would rather have an engaged business owner to talk with throughout the year. So it’s definitely a good referral.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you. Um, is there a website? What’s the best way to connect?

Michele Bell: Yeah, sure.

Michele Bell: Um, the best place to start is running with numbers.com. Um, that’s where you can find the practical resources and courses. And you can also connect with me with Running with Numbers on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. And then you can connect with me directly on LinkedIn. Michele Bell and that’s Michele with one L. Um, and then I’m happy to, to talk further with anyone that’s interested.

Lee Kantor: So what do you need more of? How could we help you right now?

Michele Bell: Yeah.

Michele Bell: Again, just, you know.

Lee Kantor: So are you looking for more? Are you looking for more clients or clients. Are you looking for more referral partners? All the above.

Michele Bell: Yeah. All. All the above. Definitely would like more clients to work with. Um, because I think this could help small business owners and help them get confident. Um, so definitely if you follow me on Instagram and LinkedIn, I’ve got a lot of resources out there, free resources and ways to connect with me. Um, so that’s probably the best way to get more information and, uh, definitely reach out to me directly.

Lee Kantor: All right. Well, Michele, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Michele Bell: Thank you.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.