October 15, 2025 • 32 mins
In this week’s episode of The Mid Week Tease, Adelle continues her conversation with Susan Wanjiku, financial educator and founder of The Legacy Hub KE and She-E-O Africa. In Part 2, they dive into the realities behind entrepreneurship, the pressure to keep up appearances, the misconception that investing is only for people with “big money,” and the importance of structure in keeping your business and sanity intact. Susan shares powerful lessons on:
Smart Money Strategies for Entrepreneurs & Freelancers
🗓 Saturday 25th October | 🕘 9 AM – 11 AM | 💻 Virtual
💰 Tickets: Ksh 1,000: https://legallycluelessafrica.hustlesasa.shop/?product=69637
Led by Susan Wanjiku.
This interactive session will help you move from surviving your finances to strategically managing and growing them.
🔗 Links:
- Knowing when growth is real and when it’s just for show
- Why your business should grow at its own pace
- How to start investing with as little as Ksh 100
- Building a business emergency fund for the unpredictable
- Preparing for transitions like maternity, illness, or relocation
- Letting go of financial shame and learning discipline with “kidogo” money
Smart Money Strategies for Entrepreneurs & Freelancers
🗓 Saturday 25th October | 🕘 9 AM – 11 AM | 💻 Virtual
💰 Tickets: Ksh 1,000: https://legallycluelessafrica.hustlesasa.shop/?product=69637
Led by Susan Wanjiku.
This interactive session will help you move from surviving your finances to strategically managing and growing them.
🔗 Links:
- Newsletter signup: www.legallycluelessafrica.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/legallycluelessafrica
- TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@legallycluelessafrica
- YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/LegallyCluelessYoutube
- Story submission form: forms.gle/kMn7Wae5N563JFGQ8
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Midwick Te's with me adele Jangle, where
I share some random and not two random thoughts on things.
And in this episode, we're back with part two of
my convo with money educator and entrepreneur Susan Monjiku. And
in this part this is where things get real. We
(00:20):
talk about the pressure to look successful online. I know
you identify with that, isn't it. We talk about the
myth that you need huge capital to start investing, and
even the discipline it takes to keep your business aflute right,
especially when life LIFs. What I love about Susan is
(00:41):
she really digs deep and shares with us in a
very vulnerable way, just her own personal experiences. So in
this episode, she shares how she built a business emergency
fund that saved her during her maternity leave, and she
talks about why vibes can be very expensive and the
(01:02):
mindset shifts that every single entrepreneur freelancer needs to move
away from. And just to note, this conversation is leading
directly into our last wellness talk of the year that's
happening on the twenty fifth of October from nine am.
It's absolutely virtual, meaning what's the excuse for not checking
(01:26):
in regardless of where you are right and Susan is
our guest speaker, and she's going to be unpacking practical
smart money strategies for entrepreneurs and freelancers, including the money
mindset that we need to have so that we can thrive,
how to separate business and personal finances, how do we
budget with an irregular income, how do we create a
(01:49):
simple profit and loss sheet that we all need to have,
Why it's important to build an emergency fund for your
business and how you can do it, and then investing
as an entrepreneur or a freelancer, even small amounts go
a long way. Tickets are just a thousand, Bob, and
if you check out the show notes, you can grab
your ticket right now. We do have limited tickets because
(02:13):
once we hit our threshold, we're going to close our
ticket potle. But I can promise you that at this
talk you're going to get the financial clarity that every
single entrepreneur needs. But right now, let's get into part
two of my convo with Susan, and we kick off
with just the pressure that social media gives us to
(02:36):
look like we're running big businesses instead of us just
embracing where we're at, where we want to go, and
what money mindset is going to get us there.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Again, another reason I don't like social media is because
every weekend there's someone launching something. Every It's like, do
you know Yeah, I think I told you this before.
I started my business in my bedroom, right, guess where
I'm still. It's not in the bedroom, but yeah, in
(03:13):
my home with a very nicely done backdrop that I
can use for videos or whatever. Because I'm just like listen,
I know everyone, and occasionally we will get a phone
call from someone and.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Say, hey, financial advice.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
It could be offician, so you might feel, you know, people,
some people take me seriously if I don't have like
an office or whatever.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And those are some of the things I think.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I prefer to live by my truth as opposed to
setting up offices so that once in two weeks one
client can come in and you know, experience.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
For one hour for one hour.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
So I pay rent, I pay a receptionist, I do
fittings and fixtures in a new office space, just so
that on Instagram I can post and say, hey, guys,
this is the offer, like you can't find us, but
like seventy percent of my caln Teil is actually Kenyan's
in the diasports. Yeah, we are doing this thing on online, right,
So if I was to succumb to the pressure of
(04:12):
people saying, hey, but you've done this business so long,
now you guys need to have an office. So I
think also that growth is good, but as you said,
it really needs to be progressive. And I think for
me a nice rule of thumb that I use to
determine whether I need to be doing it. It's not
what people are doing or what people are asking for.
It is the business asking for reach. Yes, like, have
(04:35):
I gotten to a point like now I'm even leaving
the house three times in the day, or a meeting
three clients that needed a physical meeting, to the point
that now I'm just like, hey, now you guys will
succumb into my home. And because I can't bring people
to the sanctitude of my whole exactly, now, I decide, okay,
this business where it's gotten. First of all, the cash flow,
these people are willing to pay, they're willing to come.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Yeah, but otherwise it would just be for it looks.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
For vibes, and vibes can be expend.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yeah, So even where we choose. I mean, I also
work with a client she sells. She has a very
lucrative online shop on Instagram, and that's one of the
things she kept telling me, Coach, we just keep getting
people asking about offices whatnot. So I told her this month,
I want you to track how many people have actually
asked for the office, like where can I come? Versus
(05:26):
how many people just ordered online from like your website
on SEO or whatever, And like that month only was
like maybe eight people out of like almost one hundred
and something sales. Like that is something sales, So its like,
would these eight people have justified the amount of rent
you're trying to go pay in CBD so that you
can just say, Hi, guys, come for a sipen shop
(05:49):
our new store.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Da da da da da.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but I'm
also saying, eventually, let the business itself get to that
point where are now it's actually going to cost to
you not having an off the face or not having.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
A physical location, yeah or not.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
I mean freelancers, we go through it. I mean simple
things like even just upgrading your COCONSA asked who are
on the social space because now you you're thinking, this
is how branding has also been sold nowadays, that it's
also about like material.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Things like who does your hair?
Speaker 4 (06:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (06:24):
What are you driving?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
So someone would argue, Susan, I'm investing in my looks,
I'm investing in my skin, I'm investing in my clothes
because I'm the brand. But then how much of that
is actually where is it coming back? Where's the Yeah,
where's the arroy.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
And even then.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
And yeah, you understand, doc docu. You know, even then,
I'm still very I think we succumb to pressure a lot.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
So happy you brought that up, because even this week
on one of our shoes I talked about guy your
online like what you're consuming. And the reason I do
that is I don't want to feel rushed. I don't
want to if you get where I'm taking my business
on my end. I remember there's a time someone told
me you think about having your own studio and non Noah,
(07:15):
and I was like, we actually, when we are done
recording our full shoes, what pray tell is that studio
going to be doing and you hire ITTI but you see,
And then I was like, but that's not in line
with my vass with my vision, and it's not my business.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
It's such a solo decision.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
It's very solow because when it comes down to who
will accommodate the losses if any all the noises, everyone
else who had suggestions, ideas.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
I'm just telling you because.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
I think you will hear crickets. Oh if you don't
hear crickets, you'll be trending. Yeah, yeah, trending for or
you know, you shut down your shop, you close your business,
or now you your your your house was successed, a
lot of those things. Because it's very and I think
that's why it needs to be. It's it should be personal.
It's the same thing I think I keep saying about
personal finances. I think it's there's a reason they're called personal. Yeah,
(08:14):
it's just really personal.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
It should make sense to you. It should make sense to.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
You, and to you only because at the end of
the day, unless to Nachie, is the losses you people shareholders.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
In my business.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah, so now I won't pay you divid debts. If
we've made losses, that's a different story. But if it's
just us, the regular mess, you're just doing a small
micro enterprise or medium sizedness. I think as founders, as
the creative directors of different you know ventures. Yeah, it's
really really important that you are making financial decisions, not
(08:47):
just because of how it will appear, but because in
the books it actually makes financial sense. And I think
also something else is what you're you're trying to do,
going to actually move the needle, because fine, we've done it.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
It looks cute, but we need really move than needly.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Do you know when we started we had two shows.
We had our flagship show now Legally Clueless. We had
another show called Perspective. Perspective was a live show and
live venue, so completely different needs a lot more expensive.
I think each episode just for the taping and everything
(09:29):
would take when I've really squeezed, like NAT's one, right,
I think we did three and looked at the books
and I said, even the yeah, even you know, even the.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
The interest in the topic disappeared.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
I just said, I fact, those gender things, I don't
care anymore. Guys, myrth African stories goodbye.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
And I was like, there is no shame.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I was like, it's too expensive for me to sustain
the thing.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Jazz, So what's coming back?
Speaker 1 (10:03):
And you know, when you begin there's nothing coming back.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
You're hoping.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Okay, we need to have motion because then now I
can attach this to it. I can attach this to it.
And I just said, imagine you have to go. And
I actually have no shame. I think somebody asked me
about it. I said it was too expensive to run. Exact,
it had to go.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
It had to go.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
So another thing that we'll be talking about in our
wellness talk. I just love this conversation so much because
a lot of people are in these trades that we're
talking about. Is investments, right? I think again, like we
talked about earlier, is we shut ourselves off from those
spaces because you know, we're not having the every monthly payment.
(10:45):
It's not predictable. So when Susan comes around and starts
telling us about MMFs or putting our money here, I
subscribe to your newsletter. When we were talking about real estate,
there are the investment opportunities here, blah blah.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
You're just like with what my.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Susan, I'm not sure I'm gonna get I don't know, right.
Is it a fallacy we've told ourselves as entrepreneurs, as
freelancers that we don't have the financial structures to entertain
an investment. Yeah, yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Unfortunately, I'm sorry, but I have to now I can
say it is because times have changed.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Because with as little as a hundred bob.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah, I can put money in an MMF. Yeah, some
MMFs on the off the top of my men, I
know one that can give you at a hundred bond.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
Right.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Let me give you a good example of you say, like,
how we know bonds? For instance, So someone is like,
for me to buy a bond, I need fifty g's
or I need one hundred thousand, and I don't have
that kind of money lying around, which is a valid
experience for all of us, right.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
I think the gap is in.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
The financial literacy aspect of it, because we have funds,
for example, a fixed income found that actually invests your
money in bonds, but the entry level is five thousand, bob.
It's not the fifty or the one hundred thousand you
would put in the bond directly through the central bank.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
But you're still getting there.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
You're still in there through through like the unit trust.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Yeah. Another example, a real estate investment trust, for instance,
that has one unit selling for twenty three bob, and
they're telling you you can buy as little as the
one unit, or even ten units or one hundred units.
Say you decide to buy one hundred units, that's twenty
three hundred. You already invested in a real estate project. Yeah,
(12:43):
that pays dividends.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Think of it.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
At Safari Comp shares selling at twenty two book, for example,
you can buy before. Actually, we had an arrangement with
the an Aerobic Stock Exchange where you'd buy a minimum
of one hundred shares. So that means if Safari Com
is going for two three bob today and I want
to buy the bare minimum amount of shares as I
work on building that app, I just need two three hundred,
(13:06):
adell have not got into Tangi's all these examples.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Are like under five thousands.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
If I wanted to now, even I think the things
that the system is changing, they're now. They'll allow us
to buy from the Neurobi Stock Exchange, buying one.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
I was so excited when I saw that.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Yeah, yeah, a pension fund, which I believe.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
I hope during the wellness session you'll give me time
to talk about freelancers and how we never plan for retirement. Yeah,
because we think retirement is unemployed people think, Yeah, any
pension fund in Kenya right now can be funded with
as little as a thousand Bob.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
That's an investment.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Your maney market fand may not be a very fancy investment,
but it's earning you some interest, your stocks, your real
estate investment trust. We've not even gotten into Tangi.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
So for me, I think it's it's more of it's
not a matter of whether they are investments available for us.
It is that I don't know whether that's say it
in Kiswahili. I don't know a better way.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
We be little money.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Yeah, I could round. You're looking at it in terms
of what will three thousand do for me? Now?
Speaker 3 (14:15):
What will five thousand do for me?
Speaker 2 (14:18):
And I think one of the did I tell you
how like, for example, my pension fund, when I started it,
I was working with a company that was allowing us
to contribute as little as five hundred bob, you know
that's when I started in twenty twenty, because Mimi, when
I started my journey, I was starting from scratch.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
When I lost my job, I lost everything. Yeah, because
even the.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Little pensionnar care I asked for it, because now how
am I going to I didn't have saving, I didn't
have investments.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
I had that.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
So like for me, that's like two months pay they
gave me. I told them, Hey, you guys are telling
me some pension. W Wait, that money I wanted, so
they sent it. So not even when I was starting
my journey, I'm telling you, I didn't even start from zero, sorry,
from negative because I had to pay debts. Yeah first,
So for me it was really key. So I knew
(15:06):
of course, because I was working in financial investments and management.
I knew what I was supposed to do, but I
never did it. Yeah, so now that the reality slapped
my face, head was like, listen me, I don't even
need twenty thousand, give me one thousand.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
I know what to do with it. I mean formed,
I know what to do with it. Now, let me
tell you why that was powerful.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
With that kidogo money, I was learning because I was
before the coaching business became a thing by they. I
was doing feelance writing. I was writing articles on for
like do you know online writing?
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Yeah, so I was doing online writing and then sometimes
a transcribing. Think do like it's just the online gigie quay.
There was a leader I used to write for that.
Imagine would pay me two hundred boar per page, and
me I would just accumulate and accumulate America five pages level.
Tomorrow I've written eight pages, me with my entire degree
of economics and finance, writing articles Durrasia today they door.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Then tomorrow I'm a nurse and writing nursing proceedsors. Then
that day I'm a lawyer. I'm written a law article
for three pages.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
That was my life until I figured out the business.
So you see, just because I started there, I didn't
stay there. I started with the online writing.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
But I had a plan.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
I was like, I'm gonna start coaching for free, and
then these people I'm coaching for free will give me testimonials,
and then when they when they get results, then when
they give me the testimonials, I'm gonna post them on
my aichi and then more people will begin to see, hey,
this girl is helping people figure out that she's helping
people budget. Yeah, maybe now they will come for my
paid And that's so I had yeah, okay, yeah, And
(16:42):
it's the same thing with investing. How I behaved when
I had ten thousand book coming in perman is how
I behave when one million is my account.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
Now, okay, so that little money you're that way money
even if it's not moving. Then in terms of getting
you to meeting, yes, it's doing something to your discipline.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, it's giving you consistency. It's showing you that even
on the months I make kid do go, I'll do
what the bare minimum requirement is.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
So like, for example, my pension fund was five hundred.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Yeah, so like my commitment was just like as long
as Tony was quicker, five hundred. So you see, because
I made it mandatory to fund that account every month
as my income increased, we continue in the same trajectory.
Now I moved to two thousand, yeah, and five thousand.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
But the discipline was already learned.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
And now let me tell you the part of that
discipline I thought you have low incomemns. Do you know
to date, I still go back to funding a thousand
more on some man's because that's all I would get
for that particular month.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
But that a thousand both still comes in handy exactly. Yeah,
it's valid yeah, because of compounding.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
So for me, what I would say in terms of
how we think about investing, Number one, I think all
free lancers, not just free lancers, but everyone needs to
invest in financial literacy because a lot of us don't
invest for a lack of not wanting to. I think
it's because we only know of the mainstream, expensive yeah
kinds of investments, So you already decide that now this
(18:15):
doesn't work for me. Now we have like our financial
penetration in terms of like the different markets that are
now available for us is accessible for everyone, including Mama
Burga in the Soco or Monnatuzia Jenes in gi combat
these opportunities. So I think the lack of knowing those
opportunities is a contributing factor, but the most Another thing
(18:37):
that is really a limiting belief is the whole idea
that this is small money, it won't make a difference,
but it makes a whole lot of difference, because fine,
it may not be getting you to millionaire status, but
it's teaching you something. A lot of us, the problem
is not how much money we are earning, it's our
money habits. So I'd rather train myself with this little
(19:00):
money because I know if I can learn to save
and investido gole money, I can do way better with
a lot of money. And that for me, I mean genuinely, Adele,
that accelerated my process. You know, I've only had four years.
Sometimes I look at my portfolio.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
I'm just like, you did that.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Yeah, And it's not because I've ever gotten a check
for a million.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
It wasn't like one transaction.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
No, it's just twenty thousand here, another ten thousand there,
five thousand here, fifty thousand here. But then because of
the consistency, I'm just like, my only commitment to myself,
by the way, every month is that in my accounts,
it will not be a zero if that man, all
I can do is a thousand.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
That's what we're doing.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
That's what I'm doing, and I'm not gonna be like concert.
There's a friend of mine that was laughing at me
because there was a month genuinely just recently. I was like,
we were with her, so I was showing her how
I do my paiday routine and it's like, surely a thousand.
And then she was asking me how these people for
this company don't know you are the finance I'm like, say,
they know, They're like, You're not worried about what they
(20:03):
will think about you putting a thousand Bob, and I
was like.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Me, do I live in your house? Like I'm just like,
could not be bothered.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
So I think also the people pleasing in us, and
just also I think we think too much about people
who don't even.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Take out as that much.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Yeah, we're fleeting thought if at all, you know, even
if they did so wards So I as susan finance coach,
a maker a thousand, so.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
What and they probably don't.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Out of all the people they're serving, that person is
probably thinking of the end of the day.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
They probably even think it's another season. It can't be.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
And even if they did, And I think that's what
the that prison in our minds of you know what.
So I think we limit ourselves in that way. Investments
are there. They're accessible from as little as I've told
you a hundred five hundred, Bob, a thousand, five thousand
and below. You can access funds that expose your money
to bones, that suppose your money to the stock market.
(21:02):
You can find that pension founder a retirement fund with
that kid gole money. And because we said we're going
to start running our business is a bit more professionally
strategizing investing in the business, you won't stay at funding
a thousand bob every month. Yeah, eventually growth cas Yeah,
and especially if you're doing you're putting all of these
things in place, it will come. So I know, definitely
(21:24):
we are going to talk about.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
And that's the bits that I'm very interested in in
terms of like planning for retirement as an entrepreneur, as
a freelancer, because we think it's a it's.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
An employee benefit. Now you're the employee.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
You need to provide that benefit just for yourself employee.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Yo, it's what else does the person listening who's thinking, Okay,
I need to know more.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
I need to know more.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
What else will they benefit from during the wellness talk
when they come and listen to you.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Definitely we'll do practical examples of how to actually do
a P and L.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
I think a lot of people here P and L.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
So in our last wellness we did an excel shit, yeah,
personal finances, So we'll still have that just for viewing,
of course, because I'd want them to see so if
I'm to separate personal finances and business finances.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
What would that look like. I'd also like to demonstrate
for them how to do and you know me I'm
such a simple girally. Yeah. Again, it's to make it
simple and that sense.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Yeah, you don't have to be good at math. You
don't have to understand spreadsheets.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Yeah much.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
But I'll actually do like a demonstration and maybe share
a template that they can actually get that would help
them really just do simple things. What's my business income
this month? What are my expenses this month? So what
was my profit this math? How much do I need
to pay in taxes?
Speaker 3 (22:46):
If anything?
Speaker 2 (22:46):
It's a really nice template that helps you just track
this on my expenses.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
I need to be these utilities.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
This is my for the people who sell not just services,
but also where they need to track them cost of goods.
Let's say your manufacture peanut butter or sheer butter. In
these the raw materials. You're just simple a simple structure
of how to track those things. So we'll definitely talk
about that. We will talk about building an emergency front
(23:16):
for the business. Because listen, Adele, I think I was
telling you earlier on especially like for me my experience
when I gave birth around a year ago. Yeah, you
see when if I was employed and I've gone on
Matt Live.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
Yeah, and that hasn't paid thank you at this time. There.
Then there's there's your plans, and then there's this.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
There's life, and there's life, and then there's God sitting
in there like hold my cup of tea. My strong
sols are so imagine. I did have a plan be
off work. Thankfully I have an amazing supportive husband. Yeah,
so I knew like at the back of my mind,
like my bare minimums, my needs yeah me as Susan
(24:03):
or the needs of my home.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
I did not have to.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Worry about it. I can't think for like the first
six or seven months of my baby's but now I
run a business. Yeah, I still wanted the YouTube videos
to go up regularly because income. Yes, I needed my
VA to be on email so that like fine, we
were putting people on a waiting list because people kept
(24:27):
reaching out like I want with Susan and to walk
with Susan. If you ignore people for three months, six months,
they've already got one else to work with. So I
needed to actually retain my team to keep doing the
back end running of the business even if I was
in there. Now I'm the income generating a set in
the business because I can and unless I'm coaching training
and whatnot.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
So me me, I'm bapping, I'm changing the pass, I
have poke on me. The baby's crying. I'm crying. We
are you go and cry?
Speaker 2 (24:57):
I'm not coaching. So my plan was to actually be
away or work for three months. Unfortunately, my baby had
some challenges earlier on, so I actually stayed out of
work for six months going into seven. So I would
actually do it at seven.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Yeah, Adele, and you're paying salaries during this.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
No revenue is coming in.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
There's no money coming in, but there's money going out.
Every man.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
We have the newsletter platform, pay for it. We have
you understand like the business. And I keep telling people
every business person needs a business emergency. Yeah, and Susan's
emergency fan is not the legacy. Yea emergency. You need
money that can even give you runway for three months
or six months, so that you don't lose your team,
(25:44):
so that you don't lose your shop, so that your
assistant keeps supporting you. Maybe you've got an well you
broke at me.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Whatever things happen.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
The economic climates I told you this year just changed.
So for three months, yeah, we needed to.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
And okay, I've never been more grateful that I over
like every time when I was planning, but they I
was super stressed out my enter since the day I
found out I was pregnant to the day I gave birth.
My stress levels were like at one million because everyone
just kept telling me, you're ever thinking it's you have
a husband. Listen, husband's day.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
And he's not an employee.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
You're not you understand, like people, I'm so happy you
have a thing.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Because I planned for actually five months when I was
saving in that business emergency fan.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
So imagine for five months.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Much as I was towards the fifth month, I was
just like, kayaki, this babiness to let me at this
point now, So I started taking like two jobs kid
the cookie dogo. So someone be like, hey, we need
our stuff members trained, we met at you plus that.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Yeah, so I.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Was starting to kind of like if I get if
I can be away from one afternoon, I try, so
that kind of like and but for those five months,
I wasn't so worried that my view would have been
a madam you say yeah, my emails was still we
were we had by the time I was coming back
to work, we had over like forty people on the
waiting list. Waiting to work with me. And that's because
(27:11):
I had systems and structures in place to accommodate for
the fact that I wasn't around. But I also had
a plan to keep the people who kept on boarding,
these people waiting list flow the person who was you know,
we shot videos my entire pregnancy. We were shooting videos
that give me at least four months because by the
(27:32):
time I was giving birth in August, we had videos
for till December. So you say you need the person
editing and apploding doing all of that. Yeah, So we'll
definitely talk about like how to land for transitions. A
transition could be like I'm shutting things down to expand,
or I'm expanding, or I'm going on matleave, or I
(27:55):
need to relocate you as especially because we have freelancers
and business as people, the survival of that business depends
on your survival, so we need to figure out systems
and structures around accommodating for those shocks. Yeah, and inconvenience, yes, right,
So we'll talk about that. And I have said we
have to talk about investing because eventually, equally, much as
(28:18):
I love my business ad all, I'm not trying to
do this till I'm eighty.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
And who will have the energy and even just the
the interests.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
And have you ever.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Noticed when you feel like you're really really slaving in
your business, you begin to resent it.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
Yeah, you begin to hate it.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
You begin to not show up when your business is
running in such a way that you cannot even catch
a break.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Yeah, you don't.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
You don't like you don't show up. You show up
needs you to correct.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Yeah, So I think also talking about how you invest
as a business person, me honestly, not that I have
anything about employment.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
I've just died both ends. The potential is infinite on
the side. On the side we are. The stress levels,
obnestly also infinished.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
So choose your hard Genuinely, I feel like being employed
is hard, and I feel like being an entrepreneurs.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Yead, So just choose.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Actually, someone on our advisory board, whenever I go and
complain to he always asks when I say it's so hard,
he asks me what isn't And I'm like, good question.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
It's fine, exactly So you, I think as entrepreneurs we
probably just need to have that conversation. In terms of
I think the opportunities are infinite, the amount of money
I've made since I started my business cannot compare to
had I still been employed to date. There's a level
of money I would never have laid their hands on. Yeah,
and it's just the reality because there's no glass siling.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
Yeah. It just depends on am I up skilly?
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Am my branding world? Am I running the business world?
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Am my courageous now to do like there to even ask, yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
To even ask and say, hey, Adele, can I can
I come do your part?
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (30:00):
And I can we partner on something? Can you come
to mind those things?
Speaker 2 (30:05):
So when you understand there's a science to that madness.
Every business has a crack.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Code, ye, a cheat code.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
So you just need to work and figure that out
and then begin now to because for me, it's very
important where when the business makes money, where's that money going? Yeah,
that's really key to how you as the business person
will thrive financially. So I think also where we are
putting our money, how we are putting the money, why
we're putting the money there. We should definitely have a
(30:33):
conversation about why it's necessary for us as freelancers and
business people to invest in the way that we show
or the way that you know, I will recommend during
the session.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Yeah. Another thing that will happen during the session is
we have a Q and a segment where you get
to ask Susan the questions that maybe are very tailored
to your experience, and you can also ask the questions
anonymously in case you're just feeling like I know, I
don't no problem, we have a line that you can
send in your questions anonymously as well. Susan. It's I'm
(31:06):
just so excited for this. October came without me even
like I just feel like the year just flew me too.
And so I got a problem from Mercy, my colleague,
and You're like, Okay, we need to start getting on
getting ready for October.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
I was like, it's October.
Speaker 4 (31:21):
Really like that it's December, like you know, So I
really appreciate that you always have time for us, and
you always.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Have this this loving way that you're pouring into us,
not from a it's not clinical the way you did
of like one plus one. It's a very caring way
of like imagine, I want to see you be the
best to you, and so I'm very excited to have
you back back on the.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
I can't wait, I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
We'll just have to rock at nine Nam, no worries
I said. When she said, Susan once it's Saturn nine,
I was like, no problems. No, honestly, it's how you
pour into yourself. So if you really want to meet
a version of you, meet a version of your business
that is financially healthier. Sure, what's bad about waking up
(32:12):
at nine? You know? So? It said on the twenty
fifth of October. Nine AM is virtual, so wherever you're
in the world you can join us and in the
show notes there's a link with all the details. But
thanks Susan for being on the show.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Some I'm so excited for the wellness session for sure.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Thanks for listening to the midwik tis a Legally Clueless
Africa production. Episodes go out every Wednesday and you can
learn more about us by going to legally Clueless Africa
dot com.
Welcome to the Midwick Te's with me adele Jangle, where
I share some random and not two random thoughts on things.
And in this episode, we're back with part two of
my convo with money educator and entrepreneur Susan Monjiku. And
in this part this is where things get real. We
(00:20):
talk about the pressure to look successful online. I know
you identify with that, isn't it. We talk about the
myth that you need huge capital to start investing, and
even the discipline it takes to keep your business aflute right,
especially when life LIFs. What I love about Susan is
(00:41):
she really digs deep and shares with us in a
very vulnerable way, just her own personal experiences. So in
this episode, she shares how she built a business emergency
fund that saved her during her maternity leave, and she
talks about why vibes can be very expensive and the
(01:02):
mindset shifts that every single entrepreneur freelancer needs to move
away from. And just to note, this conversation is leading
directly into our last wellness talk of the year that's
happening on the twenty fifth of October from nine am.
It's absolutely virtual, meaning what's the excuse for not checking
(01:26):
in regardless of where you are right and Susan is
our guest speaker, and she's going to be unpacking practical
smart money strategies for entrepreneurs and freelancers, including the money
mindset that we need to have so that we can thrive,
how to separate business and personal finances, how do we
budget with an irregular income, how do we create a
(01:49):
simple profit and loss sheet that we all need to have,
Why it's important to build an emergency fund for your
business and how you can do it, and then investing
as an entrepreneur or a freelancer, even small amounts go
a long way. Tickets are just a thousand, Bob, and
if you check out the show notes, you can grab
your ticket right now. We do have limited tickets because
(02:13):
once we hit our threshold, we're going to close our
ticket potle. But I can promise you that at this
talk you're going to get the financial clarity that every
single entrepreneur needs. But right now, let's get into part
two of my convo with Susan, and we kick off
with just the pressure that social media gives us to
(02:36):
look like we're running big businesses instead of us just
embracing where we're at, where we want to go, and
what money mindset is going to get us there.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Again, another reason I don't like social media is because
every weekend there's someone launching something. Every It's like, do
you know Yeah, I think I told you this before.
I started my business in my bedroom, right, guess where
I'm still. It's not in the bedroom, but yeah, in
(03:13):
my home with a very nicely done backdrop that I
can use for videos or whatever. Because I'm just like listen,
I know everyone, and occasionally we will get a phone
call from someone and.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Say, hey, financial advice.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
It could be offician, so you might feel, you know, people,
some people take me seriously if I don't have like
an office or whatever.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And those are some of the things I think.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I prefer to live by my truth as opposed to
setting up offices so that once in two weeks one
client can come in and you know, experience.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
For one hour for one hour.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
So I pay rent, I pay a receptionist, I do
fittings and fixtures in a new office space, just so
that on Instagram I can post and say, hey, guys,
this is the offer, like you can't find us, but
like seventy percent of my caln Teil is actually Kenyan's
in the diasports. Yeah, we are doing this thing on online, right,
So if I was to succumb to the pressure of
(04:12):
people saying, hey, but you've done this business so long,
now you guys need to have an office. So I
think also that growth is good, but as you said,
it really needs to be progressive. And I think for
me a nice rule of thumb that I use to
determine whether I need to be doing it. It's not
what people are doing or what people are asking for.
It is the business asking for reach. Yes, like, have
(04:35):
I gotten to a point like now I'm even leaving
the house three times in the day, or a meeting
three clients that needed a physical meeting, to the point
that now I'm just like, hey, now you guys will
succumb into my home. And because I can't bring people
to the sanctitude of my whole exactly, now, I decide, okay,
this business where it's gotten. First of all, the cash flow,
these people are willing to pay, they're willing to come.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Yeah, but otherwise it would just be for it looks.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
For vibes, and vibes can be expend.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yeah, So even where we choose. I mean, I also
work with a client she sells. She has a very
lucrative online shop on Instagram, and that's one of the
things she kept telling me, Coach, we just keep getting
people asking about offices whatnot. So I told her this month,
I want you to track how many people have actually
asked for the office, like where can I come? Versus
(05:26):
how many people just ordered online from like your website
on SEO or whatever, And like that month only was
like maybe eight people out of like almost one hundred
and something sales. Like that is something sales, So its like,
would these eight people have justified the amount of rent
you're trying to go pay in CBD so that you
can just say, Hi, guys, come for a sipen shop
(05:49):
our new store.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Da da da da da.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but I'm
also saying, eventually, let the business itself get to that
point where are now it's actually going to cost to
you not having an off the face or not having.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
A physical location, yeah or not.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
I mean freelancers, we go through it. I mean simple
things like even just upgrading your COCONSA asked who are
on the social space because now you you're thinking, this
is how branding has also been sold nowadays, that it's
also about like material.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Things like who does your hair?
Speaker 4 (06:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (06:24):
What are you driving?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
So someone would argue, Susan, I'm investing in my looks,
I'm investing in my skin, I'm investing in my clothes
because I'm the brand. But then how much of that
is actually where is it coming back? Where's the Yeah,
where's the arroy.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
And even then.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
And yeah, you understand, doc docu. You know, even then,
I'm still very I think we succumb to pressure a lot.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
So happy you brought that up, because even this week
on one of our shoes I talked about guy your
online like what you're consuming. And the reason I do
that is I don't want to feel rushed. I don't
want to if you get where I'm taking my business
on my end. I remember there's a time someone told
me you think about having your own studio and non Noah,
(07:15):
and I was like, we actually, when we are done
recording our full shoes, what pray tell is that studio
going to be doing and you hire ITTI but you see,
And then I was like, but that's not in line
with my vass with my vision, and it's not my business.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
It's such a solo decision.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
It's very solow because when it comes down to who
will accommodate the losses if any all the noises, everyone
else who had suggestions, ideas.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
I'm just telling you because.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
I think you will hear crickets. Oh if you don't
hear crickets, you'll be trending. Yeah, yeah, trending for or
you know, you shut down your shop, you close your business,
or now you your your your house was successed, a
lot of those things. Because it's very and I think
that's why it needs to be. It's it should be personal.
It's the same thing I think I keep saying about
personal finances. I think it's there's a reason they're called personal. Yeah,
(08:14):
it's just really personal.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
It should make sense to you. It should make sense to.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
You, and to you only because at the end of
the day, unless to Nachie, is the losses you people shareholders.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
In my business.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah, so now I won't pay you divid debts. If
we've made losses, that's a different story. But if it's
just us, the regular mess, you're just doing a small
micro enterprise or medium sizedness. I think as founders, as
the creative directors of different you know ventures. Yeah, it's
really really important that you are making financial decisions, not
(08:47):
just because of how it will appear, but because in
the books it actually makes financial sense. And I think
also something else is what you're you're trying to do,
going to actually move the needle, because fine, we've done it.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
It looks cute, but we need really move than needly.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Do you know when we started we had two shows.
We had our flagship show now Legally Clueless. We had
another show called Perspective. Perspective was a live show and
live venue, so completely different needs a lot more expensive.
I think each episode just for the taping and everything
(09:29):
would take when I've really squeezed, like NAT's one, right,
I think we did three and looked at the books
and I said, even the yeah, even you know, even the.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
The interest in the topic disappeared.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
I just said, I fact, those gender things, I don't
care anymore. Guys, myrth African stories goodbye.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
And I was like, there is no shame.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I was like, it's too expensive for me to sustain
the thing.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Jazz, So what's coming back?
Speaker 1 (10:03):
And you know, when you begin there's nothing coming back.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
You're hoping.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Okay, we need to have motion because then now I
can attach this to it. I can attach this to it.
And I just said, imagine you have to go. And
I actually have no shame. I think somebody asked me
about it. I said it was too expensive to run. Exact,
it had to go.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
It had to go.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
So another thing that we'll be talking about in our
wellness talk. I just love this conversation so much because
a lot of people are in these trades that we're
talking about. Is investments, right? I think again, like we
talked about earlier, is we shut ourselves off from those
spaces because you know, we're not having the every monthly payment.
(10:45):
It's not predictable. So when Susan comes around and starts
telling us about MMFs or putting our money here, I
subscribe to your newsletter. When we were talking about real estate,
there are the investment opportunities here, blah blah.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
You're just like with what my.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Susan, I'm not sure I'm gonna get I don't know, right.
Is it a fallacy we've told ourselves as entrepreneurs, as
freelancers that we don't have the financial structures to entertain
an investment. Yeah, yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Unfortunately, I'm sorry, but I have to now I can
say it is because times have changed.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Because with as little as a hundred bob.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah, I can put money in an MMF. Yeah, some
MMFs on the off the top of my men, I
know one that can give you at a hundred bond.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
Right.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Let me give you a good example of you say, like,
how we know bonds? For instance, So someone is like,
for me to buy a bond, I need fifty g's
or I need one hundred thousand, and I don't have
that kind of money lying around, which is a valid
experience for all of us, right.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
I think the gap is in.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
The financial literacy aspect of it, because we have funds,
for example, a fixed income found that actually invests your
money in bonds, but the entry level is five thousand, bob.
It's not the fifty or the one hundred thousand you
would put in the bond directly through the central bank.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
But you're still getting there.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
You're still in there through through like the unit trust.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Yeah. Another example, a real estate investment trust, for instance,
that has one unit selling for twenty three bob, and
they're telling you you can buy as little as the
one unit, or even ten units or one hundred units.
Say you decide to buy one hundred units, that's twenty
three hundred. You already invested in a real estate project. Yeah,
(12:43):
that pays dividends.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Think of it.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
At Safari Comp shares selling at twenty two book, for example,
you can buy before. Actually, we had an arrangement with
the an Aerobic Stock Exchange where you'd buy a minimum
of one hundred shares. So that means if Safari Com
is going for two three bob today and I want
to buy the bare minimum amount of shares as I
work on building that app, I just need two three hundred,
(13:06):
adell have not got into Tangi's all these examples.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Are like under five thousands.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
If I wanted to now, even I think the things
that the system is changing, they're now. They'll allow us
to buy from the Neurobi Stock Exchange, buying one.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
I was so excited when I saw that.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Yeah, yeah, a pension fund, which I believe.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
I hope during the wellness session you'll give me time
to talk about freelancers and how we never plan for retirement. Yeah,
because we think retirement is unemployed people think, Yeah, any
pension fund in Kenya right now can be funded with
as little as a thousand Bob.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
That's an investment.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Your maney market fand may not be a very fancy investment,
but it's earning you some interest, your stocks, your real
estate investment trust. We've not even gotten into Tangi.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
So for me, I think it's it's more of it's
not a matter of whether they are investments available for us.
It is that I don't know whether that's say it
in Kiswahili. I don't know a better way.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
We be little money.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Yeah, I could round. You're looking at it in terms
of what will three thousand do for me? Now?
Speaker 3 (14:15):
What will five thousand do for me?
Speaker 2 (14:18):
And I think one of the did I tell you
how like, for example, my pension fund, when I started it,
I was working with a company that was allowing us
to contribute as little as five hundred bob, you know
that's when I started in twenty twenty, because Mimi, when
I started my journey, I was starting from scratch.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
When I lost my job, I lost everything. Yeah, because
even the.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Little pensionnar care I asked for it, because now how
am I going to I didn't have saving, I didn't
have investments.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
I had that.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
So like for me, that's like two months pay they
gave me. I told them, Hey, you guys are telling
me some pension. W Wait, that money I wanted, so
they sent it. So not even when I was starting
my journey, I'm telling you, I didn't even start from zero, sorry,
from negative because I had to pay debts. Yeah first,
So for me it was really key. So I knew
(15:06):
of course, because I was working in financial investments and management.
I knew what I was supposed to do, but I
never did it. Yeah, so now that the reality slapped
my face, head was like, listen me, I don't even
need twenty thousand, give me one thousand.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
I know what to do with it. I mean formed,
I know what to do with it. Now, let me
tell you why that was powerful.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
With that kidogo money, I was learning because I was
before the coaching business became a thing by they. I
was doing feelance writing. I was writing articles on for
like do you know online writing?
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Yeah, so I was doing online writing and then sometimes
a transcribing. Think do like it's just the online gigie quay.
There was a leader I used to write for that.
Imagine would pay me two hundred boar per page, and
me I would just accumulate and accumulate America five pages level.
Tomorrow I've written eight pages, me with my entire degree
of economics and finance, writing articles Durrasia today they door.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Then tomorrow I'm a nurse and writing nursing proceedsors. Then
that day I'm a lawyer. I'm written a law article
for three pages.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
That was my life until I figured out the business.
So you see, just because I started there, I didn't
stay there. I started with the online writing.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
But I had a plan.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
I was like, I'm gonna start coaching for free, and
then these people I'm coaching for free will give me testimonials,
and then when they when they get results, then when
they give me the testimonials, I'm gonna post them on
my aichi and then more people will begin to see, hey,
this girl is helping people figure out that she's helping
people budget. Yeah, maybe now they will come for my
paid And that's so I had yeah, okay, yeah, And
(16:42):
it's the same thing with investing. How I behaved when
I had ten thousand book coming in perman is how
I behave when one million is my account.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
Now, okay, so that little money you're that way money
even if it's not moving. Then in terms of getting
you to meeting, yes, it's doing something to your discipline.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, it's giving you consistency. It's showing you that even
on the months I make kid do go, I'll do
what the bare minimum requirement is.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
So like, for example, my pension fund was five hundred.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Yeah, so like my commitment was just like as long
as Tony was quicker, five hundred. So you see, because
I made it mandatory to fund that account every month
as my income increased, we continue in the same trajectory.
Now I moved to two thousand, yeah, and five thousand.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
But the discipline was already learned.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
And now let me tell you the part of that
discipline I thought you have low incomemns. Do you know
to date, I still go back to funding a thousand
more on some man's because that's all I would get
for that particular month.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
But that a thousand both still comes in handy exactly. Yeah,
it's valid yeah, because of compounding.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
So for me, what I would say in terms of
how we think about investing, Number one, I think all
free lancers, not just free lancers, but everyone needs to
invest in financial literacy because a lot of us don't
invest for a lack of not wanting to. I think
it's because we only know of the mainstream, expensive yeah
kinds of investments, So you already decide that now this
(18:15):
doesn't work for me. Now we have like our financial
penetration in terms of like the different markets that are
now available for us is accessible for everyone, including Mama
Burga in the Soco or Monnatuzia Jenes in gi combat
these opportunities. So I think the lack of knowing those
opportunities is a contributing factor, but the most Another thing
(18:37):
that is really a limiting belief is the whole idea
that this is small money, it won't make a difference,
but it makes a whole lot of difference, because fine,
it may not be getting you to millionaire status, but
it's teaching you something. A lot of us, the problem
is not how much money we are earning, it's our
money habits. So I'd rather train myself with this little
(19:00):
money because I know if I can learn to save
and investido gole money, I can do way better with
a lot of money. And that for me, I mean genuinely, Adele,
that accelerated my process. You know, I've only had four years.
Sometimes I look at my portfolio.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
I'm just like, you did that.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Yeah, And it's not because I've ever gotten a check
for a million.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
It wasn't like one transaction.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
No, it's just twenty thousand here, another ten thousand there,
five thousand here, fifty thousand here. But then because of
the consistency, I'm just like, my only commitment to myself,
by the way, every month is that in my accounts,
it will not be a zero if that man, all
I can do is a thousand.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
That's what we're doing.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
That's what I'm doing, and I'm not gonna be like concert.
There's a friend of mine that was laughing at me
because there was a month genuinely just recently. I was like,
we were with her, so I was showing her how
I do my paiday routine and it's like, surely a thousand.
And then she was asking me how these people for
this company don't know you are the finance I'm like, say,
they know, They're like, You're not worried about what they
(20:03):
will think about you putting a thousand Bob, and I
was like.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Me, do I live in your house? Like I'm just like,
could not be bothered.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
So I think also the people pleasing in us, and
just also I think we think too much about people
who don't even.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Take out as that much.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Yeah, we're fleeting thought if at all, you know, even
if they did so wards So I as susan finance coach,
a maker a thousand, so.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
What and they probably don't.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Out of all the people they're serving, that person is
probably thinking of the end of the day.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
They probably even think it's another season. It can't be.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
And even if they did, And I think that's what
the that prison in our minds of you know what.
So I think we limit ourselves in that way. Investments
are there. They're accessible from as little as I've told
you a hundred five hundred, Bob, a thousand, five thousand
and below. You can access funds that expose your money
to bones, that suppose your money to the stock market.
(21:02):
You can find that pension founder a retirement fund with
that kid gole money. And because we said we're going
to start running our business is a bit more professionally
strategizing investing in the business, you won't stay at funding
a thousand bob every month. Yeah, eventually growth cas Yeah,
and especially if you're doing you're putting all of these
things in place, it will come. So I know, definitely
(21:24):
we are going to talk about.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
And that's the bits that I'm very interested in in
terms of like planning for retirement as an entrepreneur, as
a freelancer, because we think it's a it's.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
An employee benefit. Now you're the employee.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
You need to provide that benefit just for yourself employee.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Yo, it's what else does the person listening who's thinking, Okay,
I need to know more.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
I need to know more.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
What else will they benefit from during the wellness talk
when they come and listen to you.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Definitely we'll do practical examples of how to actually do
a P and L.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
I think a lot of people here P and L.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
So in our last wellness we did an excel shit, yeah,
personal finances, So we'll still have that just for viewing,
of course, because I'd want them to see so if
I'm to separate personal finances and business finances.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
What would that look like. I'd also like to demonstrate
for them how to do and you know me I'm
such a simple girally. Yeah. Again, it's to make it
simple and that sense.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Yeah, you don't have to be good at math. You
don't have to understand spreadsheets.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Yeah much.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
But I'll actually do like a demonstration and maybe share
a template that they can actually get that would help
them really just do simple things. What's my business income
this month? What are my expenses this month? So what
was my profit this math? How much do I need
to pay in taxes?
Speaker 3 (22:46):
If anything?
Speaker 2 (22:46):
It's a really nice template that helps you just track
this on my expenses.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
I need to be these utilities.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
This is my for the people who sell not just services,
but also where they need to track them cost of goods.
Let's say your manufacture peanut butter or sheer butter. In
these the raw materials. You're just simple a simple structure
of how to track those things. So we'll definitely talk
about that. We will talk about building an emergency front
(23:16):
for the business. Because listen, Adele, I think I was
telling you earlier on especially like for me my experience
when I gave birth around a year ago. Yeah, you
see when if I was employed and I've gone on
Matt Live.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
Yeah, and that hasn't paid thank you at this time. There.
Then there's there's your plans, and then there's this.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
There's life, and there's life, and then there's God sitting
in there like hold my cup of tea. My strong
sols are so imagine. I did have a plan be
off work. Thankfully I have an amazing supportive husband. Yeah,
so I knew like at the back of my mind,
like my bare minimums, my needs yeah me as Susan
(24:03):
or the needs of my home.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
I did not have to.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Worry about it. I can't think for like the first
six or seven months of my baby's but now I
run a business. Yeah, I still wanted the YouTube videos
to go up regularly because income. Yes, I needed my
VA to be on email so that like fine, we
were putting people on a waiting list because people kept
(24:27):
reaching out like I want with Susan and to walk
with Susan. If you ignore people for three months, six months,
they've already got one else to work with. So I
needed to actually retain my team to keep doing the
back end running of the business even if I was
in there. Now I'm the income generating a set in
the business because I can and unless I'm coaching training
and whatnot.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
So me me, I'm bapping, I'm changing the pass, I
have poke on me. The baby's crying. I'm crying. We
are you go and cry?
Speaker 2 (24:57):
I'm not coaching. So my plan was to actually be
away or work for three months. Unfortunately, my baby had
some challenges earlier on, so I actually stayed out of
work for six months going into seven. So I would
actually do it at seven.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Yeah, Adele, and you're paying salaries during this.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
No revenue is coming in.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
There's no money coming in, but there's money going out.
Every man.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
We have the newsletter platform, pay for it. We have
you understand like the business. And I keep telling people
every business person needs a business emergency. Yeah, and Susan's
emergency fan is not the legacy. Yea emergency. You need
money that can even give you runway for three months
or six months, so that you don't lose your team,
(25:44):
so that you don't lose your shop, so that your
assistant keeps supporting you. Maybe you've got an well you
broke at me.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Whatever things happen.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
The economic climates I told you this year just changed.
So for three months, yeah, we needed to.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
And okay, I've never been more grateful that I over
like every time when I was planning, but they I
was super stressed out my enter since the day I
found out I was pregnant to the day I gave birth.
My stress levels were like at one million because everyone
just kept telling me, you're ever thinking it's you have
a husband. Listen, husband's day.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
And he's not an employee.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
You're not you understand, like people, I'm so happy you
have a thing.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Because I planned for actually five months when I was
saving in that business emergency fan.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
So imagine for five months.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Much as I was towards the fifth month, I was
just like, kayaki, this babiness to let me at this
point now, So I started taking like two jobs kid
the cookie dogo. So someone be like, hey, we need
our stuff members trained, we met at you plus that.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Yeah, so I.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Was starting to kind of like if I get if
I can be away from one afternoon, I try, so
that kind of like and but for those five months,
I wasn't so worried that my view would have been
a madam you say yeah, my emails was still we
were we had by the time I was coming back
to work, we had over like forty people on the
waiting list. Waiting to work with me. And that's because
(27:11):
I had systems and structures in place to accommodate for
the fact that I wasn't around. But I also had
a plan to keep the people who kept on boarding,
these people waiting list flow the person who was you know,
we shot videos my entire pregnancy. We were shooting videos
that give me at least four months because by the
(27:32):
time I was giving birth in August, we had videos
for till December. So you say you need the person
editing and apploding doing all of that. Yeah, So we'll
definitely talk about like how to land for transitions. A
transition could be like I'm shutting things down to expand,
or I'm expanding, or I'm going on matleave, or I
(27:55):
need to relocate you as especially because we have freelancers
and business as people, the survival of that business depends
on your survival, so we need to figure out systems
and structures around accommodating for those shocks. Yeah, and inconvenience, yes, right,
So we'll talk about that. And I have said we
have to talk about investing because eventually, equally, much as
(28:18):
I love my business ad all, I'm not trying to
do this till I'm eighty.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
And who will have the energy and even just the
the interests.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
And have you ever.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Noticed when you feel like you're really really slaving in
your business, you begin to resent it.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
Yeah, you begin to hate it.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
You begin to not show up when your business is
running in such a way that you cannot even catch
a break.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Yeah, you don't.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
You don't like you don't show up. You show up
needs you to correct.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Yeah, So I think also talking about how you invest
as a business person, me honestly, not that I have
anything about employment.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
I've just died both ends. The potential is infinite on
the side. On the side we are. The stress levels,
obnestly also infinished.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
So choose your hard Genuinely, I feel like being employed
is hard, and I feel like being an entrepreneurs.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Yead, So just choose.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Actually, someone on our advisory board, whenever I go and
complain to he always asks when I say it's so hard,
he asks me what isn't And I'm like, good question.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
It's fine, exactly So you, I think as entrepreneurs we
probably just need to have that conversation. In terms of
I think the opportunities are infinite, the amount of money
I've made since I started my business cannot compare to
had I still been employed to date. There's a level
of money I would never have laid their hands on. Yeah,
and it's just the reality because there's no glass siling.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
Yeah. It just depends on am I up skilly?
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Am my branding world? Am I running the business world?
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Am my courageous now to do like there to even ask, yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
To even ask and say, hey, Adele, can I can
I come do your part?
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (30:00):
And I can we partner on something? Can you come
to mind those things?
Speaker 2 (30:05):
So when you understand there's a science to that madness.
Every business has a crack.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Code, ye, a cheat code.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
So you just need to work and figure that out
and then begin now to because for me, it's very
important where when the business makes money, where's that money going? Yeah,
that's really key to how you as the business person
will thrive financially. So I think also where we are
putting our money, how we are putting the money, why
we're putting the money there. We should definitely have a
(30:33):
conversation about why it's necessary for us as freelancers and
business people to invest in the way that we show
or the way that you know, I will recommend during
the session.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Yeah. Another thing that will happen during the session is
we have a Q and a segment where you get
to ask Susan the questions that maybe are very tailored
to your experience, and you can also ask the questions
anonymously in case you're just feeling like I know, I
don't no problem, we have a line that you can
send in your questions anonymously as well. Susan. It's I'm
(31:06):
just so excited for this. October came without me even
like I just feel like the year just flew me too.
And so I got a problem from Mercy, my colleague,
and You're like, Okay, we need to start getting on
getting ready for October.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
I was like, it's October.
Speaker 4 (31:21):
Really like that it's December, like you know, So I
really appreciate that you always have time for us, and
you always.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Have this this loving way that you're pouring into us,
not from a it's not clinical the way you did
of like one plus one. It's a very caring way
of like imagine, I want to see you be the
best to you, and so I'm very excited to have
you back back on the.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
I can't wait, I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
We'll just have to rock at nine Nam, no worries
I said. When she said, Susan once it's Saturn nine,
I was like, no problems. No, honestly, it's how you
pour into yourself. So if you really want to meet
a version of you, meet a version of your business
that is financially healthier. Sure, what's bad about waking up
(32:12):
at nine? You know? So? It said on the twenty
fifth of October. Nine AM is virtual, so wherever you're
in the world you can join us and in the
show notes there's a link with all the details. But
thanks Susan for being on the show.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Some I'm so excited for the wellness session for sure.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Thanks for listening to the midwik tis a Legally Clueless
Africa production. Episodes go out every Wednesday and you can
learn more about us by going to legally Clueless Africa
dot com.
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