March 16, 2025 • 18 mins
Smart entrepreneurs gearing up for 2025 need to embrace AI tools while developing multiple aligned income streams and prioritizing financial literacy for sustainable growth. We share actionable strategies that balance technological advancement with practical business fundamentals.
• Implementing AI as a virtual assistant to automate customer service, analyze data, and enhance content creation
• Building a strong online presence through personal websites and strategic social media content
• Developing multiple revenue streams that stay closely aligned with your core business competencies
• Balancing digital networking with meaningful in-person connections to build authentic community
• Creating comprehensive financial plans using software tools or professional accountants
• Focusing on financial literacy as the foundation for sustainable business growth
• Maintaining realistic expectations about investment returns through proper planning
Remember to pick up a book or watch videos about financial planning - it's something that's not taught automatically when starting a business but is crucial for your success!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello world, welcome back to Not Just Candle Talk.
Today's episode is going to becentered around strategies to
smart strategies to succeed in2025 for entrepreneurs.
Right, we're going to get rightinto it.
A few topics I want to hit onreal quick, the first being
(00:27):
adapting to the digitalevolution which is AI.
Of course, everyone sees thatyou can't open up your newsfeed
anywhere without seeingsomething about AI and how it
helps productivity andefficiency.
It helps productivity andefficiency.
I'm going to talk about theimportance of your online
(00:49):
presence.
Of course, no matter what yourbusiness is, big or small Having
a strong online presence isimportant.
We're going to touch ondiversifying your revenue
(01:11):
streams, having multiple streamsof income.
Leveraging.
Another topic real quick isgoing to be leveraging your
community and networks, which isalways key.
You got to have a network, yougot to have a community.
That's one of the mostimportant aspects of having a
small business or any type ofbusiness.
It doesn't have to be small.
I tend to go to smallbusinesses because I'm, you know
(01:34):
, advocate for small businessesalways.
Last but not least, smartfinancial planning, how we
implement that in our businesstoday and how we implement AI in
that strategy.
So let's get into AI real quickBecause AI can help free up a
(01:58):
lot of your time as anentrepreneur.
If you're using the AI poweredtools on your website, it can
automate a lot of your customerservice through managing
schedules.
It can process data entry tasksand it can also be your virtual
(02:25):
assistant with the chatbots andeverything.
You can implement that intoyour website.
If you have any type of accessto that type of software, To
have it on your website isdefinitely a plus.
Your website is definitely aplus.
(02:52):
Ai can also analyze largeanalytic database.
It can be a database for youranalytics so you can foresee
marketing trends, what yourcustomers prefer, what your
customers prefer.
It can also be a strategicplanning tool when you implement
(03:12):
AI in your website or yourcontent that you're creating
online.
It can also be an advocate foryour personalized marketing how
you want to market your brand.
It can analyze customerbehavior depending on what your
(03:33):
brand is.
That's part of your community,right?
Your customer behavior is tiedinto your network and your
community.
Ai can help you with that Toyour network and your community.
Ai can help you with that Tostay Consistent right with your
With your people.
Um, it can also help withinventory, which is by far.
(03:55):
Well, if you're selling, right,if you're selling Retail or
whatever business, it candefinitely help with Um,
overstock, um, well, I guessthat can be in any form.
But overstocking,overestimating what your product
(04:18):
levels are AI can help withthat.
Reduce waste which is by farone of the biggest things in
business is reducing waste andimprove your supply chain
efficiency AI can help with that.
Also, it can help with beingcreative, right, if you
(04:44):
visualize the type of contentthat you want to present,
especially on social media.
Ai, they have tons of AI umenhanced software to help you
with your um content.
Um, you can definitely takeadvantage of that.
(05:04):
It's so much software out herefor that Um.
And how do you um put that intoyour, your business and reduce
time, reduce your time inmarketing?
Just create some good contentfor social media and you can
also use it for customerfeedback, right, which is that's
(05:28):
probably one of the biggestthings, especially if you have a
website.
That's probably one of thebiggest features uh to to have
have a website.
That's probably one of thebiggest features to have on your
website is the customerfeedback, customer reviews.
That's how you stay competitiveas well, and let's get into.
So those are some things thatAI can do and I think it's
(05:50):
important, especially if youhave a website, to incorporate
as much AI software as possible.
Just to say competitive notreally ahead of the game,
because competition iscompetition, but it can help you
improve, catalyze or notcatalyze, but it can help you
(06:11):
stay, Stay Relevant looking forthe word it could help you stay
relevant in your field ofbusiness that you're in.
So let's get into, like thewebsite aspect of it, the
importance of having a strongline presence.
(06:33):
I think to me, the website isprobably.
Having a website is probablyone of the best ways you can
control your business.
Having your own website as asmall business owner, social
media is good, but to have tohave something more personal,
build your website or havesomeone build your website and
(06:54):
have someone put those AIfeatures in there is definitely
a game changer.
Of course, social, I'm sorry.
(07:22):
Having AI boost your contentlevels on social media
definitely implement that in,especially if you create short
form content on TikTok orInstagram, definitely put AI as
one of your assistants.
I think to me, ai is anassistant, right, a virtual
(07:49):
assistant.
That's a step above the humanaspect of it.
Next I want to touch on so thatwas my little bit about AI.
I know it's quick, brief.
It's so much stuff out there.
I mean I can't just.
You know it's a lot ofinformation about AI on there,
but I think it is important tolearn about it, implement it as
much as you can, just to stay inthe know.
(08:11):
Right, a lot of, a lot of smallbusinesses that's part of our
juice is to stay in the know,and AI right now is staying in
the know.
Uh, let's.
I want to get into um, havingmultiple streams of income.
Now, this one to me is it'slike it's important, but you
(08:37):
have to know what is importantfor your business when it comes
to because you can go all overthe place with multiple streams
of income.
I mean it's so much stuff outhere that you can really get
overwhelmed.
So I think the most importantthing is to within your niche,
because everyone has one.
Try to have your multiplestreams of income close to what
(09:05):
your business is already doing,because you can get overwhelmed
if you're having multiplestreams of income in different
things, if that makes any sense.
I mean I've tried it myself,trying different things, but if
I'm all over the place, it's notgoing to hit the same as if I
stay within my context of whatI'm already doing.
(09:30):
If that makes any sense to you,thumbs up, okay.
But having yes, I agree, havingmultiple streams of income is
very important, especially now.
That's not even small businessstuff, that's just that could be
personal as well, but stayingclose to what you know, as you
know, what you know, will helpyou minimize a lot of being here
(09:55):
, being there just stretchingyourself out too thin, um, but
there is so many.
To have multiple streams ofincome, um, and if you're, you
know, if you're one of thosetype of people that, hey, I can
do this, I can do that, I'm allyou know, go for it.
But to stay strong and lessstress on you, I think, like,
(10:23):
say, like, having digitalproducts, if that, if you're
going to do digital products,have it to to where it is
something close to what yoursmall business is already the
forefront of your small business.
If you're going to have adigital products, if you're
going to have memberships, allof that, consulting courses,
(10:45):
subscriptions have that in thesame category as and I think a
lot of people don't touch onthat they say, yeah, get
multiple streams of income, buthave it so it's close to your
niche as much as possible, allright, so that's all I'm gonna
say on that one, because youknow, I think a lot of people
they miss the ball on that whenthey, when people say, um,
(11:10):
multiple streams of income,because you literally can be all
over the place, it's mindboggling how much stuff is out
here.
I want to get into less.
Let's get into networking andleveraging your community on
(11:39):
your.
As far as social media, that'sdefinitely the package, comes
into creating content.
Okay, that's how you leverageyour.
To me, this is just my opinion.
I'm not an expert, I don'tpretend to be.
This is these are just my, myviews on how to leverage your
business.
And when they say leverage yourcommunity, that has to be.
To me that's social media.
(12:00):
Right, when it comes tonetworking, I think I'm old
school.
I think getting out there inthe world is the best.
Sure, you can do it on socialmedia, but to actually get the
real feel of people, I thinkgetting out doing social events
(12:22):
to me is the best way to network.
That's just my opinion.
That's just my opinion.
Again, whatever works for you,works for you.
But at the end of the day, tome, when I, when I hear.
(12:45):
Networking.
I'm thinking people to people.
You know, let's not get awayfrom that.
But, like I said, if you areone of those people that can,
can do the content and get thatfollowing on social media,
absolutely go for it, thumbs up.
The last part I want to get intois smart financial planning,
and this is like crucial right.
Being financially literate iscrucial to all small business
(13:11):
businesses, any business.
I can't just say all small, I'mjust a small business person.
But being financially literateand what works for you and what
you're trying to accomplish Now,when it comes to AI and
financial planning, yes,absolutely, because you have to
(13:33):
have a plan when you want to go,where you're at, where you want
to go, I think it's importantTo budget so you can get a
financial picture Of whereyou're at, where you're going,
how you get to the next level.
(13:54):
I think right now, 2025,financial planning is should be
at the forefront of anyentrepreneur.
Pick up a book, look at a video, look at several videos, look
at, read several books aboutfinancial planning, because you
(14:14):
will see that uh, because youwill see that that's something
that's not taught right.
That's something that's notautomatic when it comes to
having your own business.
It's probably not even at theforefront of a lot of people's
mind.
It's financial planning.
That's one of the hardestthings people struggle with and
(14:47):
if you have to use AI which Inow, I would say yes, I would
any type of form of put thosenumbers in, see what comes, you
know, pushes back out at you andyou can go from there.
Ai definitely, or any software,doesn't even have to be like
Just AI stuff, but any type of,any type of Financial planning
(15:10):
you can do, even if it's with anaccountant, a human accountant.
If you don't want to even gothe software where you don't
want to even go the softwarewhere you don't understand what
you're putting in and what wasit's like, what, what is this?
What am I putting in?
What am I putting out, what isthe, the software getting
putting me at, you might notunderstand that if you need an
(15:30):
accountant to, you know, putthose numbers down on paper so
you can better see whateverworks for you.
But having some type offinancial plan is so important
right now.
I mean myself, I, you know, I,with my business, I have started
(15:53):
using a certain software and,trust me, it it works and you
can separate your personal fromyour, your business and, um, I
recommend.
I won't say you know what Irecommend, because I'm not.
You know, that's not, that'snot my job here.
I'm just saying, like, havesome type of plan, have some
(16:16):
type of guide.
It's so worth it when you havea small business, because the
money you putting in you mightnot be seeing it on the other
end.
Right, and you think you areright.
You think you are like, hey, Iput this much money in.
Why I'm not getting this inreturn is because you're not
(16:36):
planning.
Like, hey, I put this muchmoney in, why I'm not getting
this in return, it's becauseyou're not planning.
It's not you, you're notplanning, you're just putting
money out there and nothing'scoming back.
So, anyway, I don't want to godown a rabbit hole, but that is
my take on strategies.
I hope I hit the mark mystrategies for entrepreneurs in
(17:06):
2025,.
I hope it helped.
If it didn't, sorry, those aremy thoughts.
I'm not a professionalpodcaster.
I'm not a professional anything.
I get on here and I do my thing.
So, with that being said, Iwant to end this podcast right
now, in this episode, and staywith me.
I have more to come.
Thank you for listening.
Bye.
Hello world, welcome back to Not Just Candle Talk.
Today's episode is going to becentered around strategies to
smart strategies to succeed in2025 for entrepreneurs.
Right, we're going to get rightinto it.
A few topics I want to hit onreal quick, the first being
(00:27):
adapting to the digitalevolution which is AI.
Of course, everyone sees thatyou can't open up your newsfeed
anywhere without seeingsomething about AI and how it
helps productivity andefficiency.
It helps productivity andefficiency.
I'm going to talk about theimportance of your online
(00:49):
presence.
Of course, no matter what yourbusiness is, big or small Having
a strong online presence isimportant.
We're going to touch ondiversifying your revenue
(01:11):
streams, having multiple streamsof income.
Leveraging.
Another topic real quick isgoing to be leveraging your
community and networks, which isalways key.
You got to have a network, yougot to have a community.
That's one of the mostimportant aspects of having a
small business or any type ofbusiness.
It doesn't have to be small.
I tend to go to smallbusinesses because I'm, you know
(01:34):
, advocate for small businessesalways.
Last but not least, smartfinancial planning, how we
implement that in our businesstoday and how we implement AI in
that strategy.
So let's get into AI real quickBecause AI can help free up a
(01:58):
lot of your time as anentrepreneur.
If you're using the AI poweredtools on your website, it can
automate a lot of your customerservice through managing
schedules.
It can process data entry tasksand it can also be your virtual
(02:25):
assistant with the chatbots andeverything.
You can implement that intoyour website.
If you have any type of accessto that type of software, To
have it on your website isdefinitely a plus.
Your website is definitely aplus.
(02:52):
Ai can also analyze largeanalytic database.
It can be a database for youranalytics so you can foresee
marketing trends, what yourcustomers prefer, what your
customers prefer.
It can also be a strategicplanning tool when you implement
(03:12):
AI in your website or yourcontent that you're creating
online.
It can also be an advocate foryour personalized marketing how
you want to market your brand.
It can analyze customerbehavior depending on what your
(03:33):
brand is.
That's part of your community,right?
Your customer behavior is tiedinto your network and your
community.
Ai can help you with that Toyour network and your community.
Ai can help you with that Tostay Consistent right with your
With your people.
Um, it can also help withinventory, which is by far.
(03:55):
Well, if you're selling, right,if you're selling Retail or
whatever business, it candefinitely help with Um,
overstock, um, well, I guessthat can be in any form.
But overstocking,overestimating what your product
(04:18):
levels are AI can help withthat.
Reduce waste which is by farone of the biggest things in
business is reducing waste andimprove your supply chain
efficiency AI can help with that.
Also, it can help with beingcreative, right, if you
(04:44):
visualize the type of contentthat you want to present,
especially on social media.
Ai, they have tons of AI umenhanced software to help you
with your um content.
Um, you can definitely takeadvantage of that.
(05:04):
It's so much software out herefor that Um.
And how do you um put that intoyour, your business and reduce
time, reduce your time inmarketing?
Just create some good contentfor social media and you can
also use it for customerfeedback, right, which is that's
(05:28):
probably one of the biggestthings, especially if you have a
website.
That's probably one of thebiggest features uh to to have
have a website.
That's probably one of thebiggest features to have on your
website is the customerfeedback, customer reviews.
That's how you stay competitiveas well, and let's get into.
So those are some things thatAI can do and I think it's
(05:50):
important, especially if youhave a website, to incorporate
as much AI software as possible.
Just to say competitive notreally ahead of the game,
because competition iscompetition, but it can help you
improve, catalyze or notcatalyze, but it can help you
(06:11):
stay, Stay Relevant looking forthe word it could help you stay
relevant in your field ofbusiness that you're in.
So let's get into, like thewebsite aspect of it, the
importance of having a strongline presence.
(06:33):
I think to me, the website isprobably.
Having a website is probablyone of the best ways you can
control your business.
Having your own website as asmall business owner, social
media is good, but to have tohave something more personal,
build your website or havesomeone build your website and
(06:54):
have someone put those AIfeatures in there is definitely
a game changer.
Of course, social, I'm sorry.
(07:22):
Having AI boost your contentlevels on social media
definitely implement that in,especially if you create short
form content on TikTok orInstagram, definitely put AI as
one of your assistants.
I think to me, ai is anassistant, right, a virtual
(07:49):
assistant.
That's a step above the humanaspect of it.
Next I want to touch on so thatwas my little bit about AI.
I know it's quick, brief.
It's so much stuff out there.
I mean I can't just.
You know it's a lot ofinformation about AI on there,
but I think it is important tolearn about it, implement it as
much as you can, just to stay inthe know.
(08:11):
Right, a lot of, a lot of smallbusinesses that's part of our
juice is to stay in the know,and AI right now is staying in
the know.
Uh, let's.
I want to get into um, havingmultiple streams of income.
Now, this one to me is it'slike it's important, but you
(08:37):
have to know what is importantfor your business when it comes
to because you can go all overthe place with multiple streams
of income.
I mean it's so much stuff outhere that you can really get
overwhelmed.
So I think the most importantthing is to within your niche,
because everyone has one.
Try to have your multiplestreams of income close to what
(09:05):
your business is already doing,because you can get overwhelmed
if you're having multiplestreams of income in different
things, if that makes any sense.
I mean I've tried it myself,trying different things, but if
I'm all over the place, it's notgoing to hit the same as if I
stay within my context of whatI'm already doing.
(09:30):
If that makes any sense to you,thumbs up, okay.
But having yes, I agree, havingmultiple streams of income is
very important, especially now.
That's not even small businessstuff, that's just that could be
personal as well, but stayingclose to what you know, as you
know, what you know, will helpyou minimize a lot of being here
(09:55):
, being there just stretchingyourself out too thin, um, but
there is so many.
To have multiple streams ofincome, um, and if you're, you
know, if you're one of thosetype of people that, hey, I can
do this, I can do that, I'm allyou know, go for it.
But to stay strong and lessstress on you, I think, like,
(10:23):
say, like, having digitalproducts, if that, if you're
going to do digital products,have it to to where it is
something close to what yoursmall business is already the
forefront of your small business.
If you're going to have adigital products, if you're
going to have memberships, allof that, consulting courses,
(10:45):
subscriptions have that in thesame category as and I think a
lot of people don't touch onthat they say, yeah, get
multiple streams of income, buthave it so it's close to your
niche as much as possible, allright, so that's all I'm gonna
say on that one, because youknow, I think a lot of people
they miss the ball on that whenthey, when people say, um,
(11:10):
multiple streams of income,because you literally can be all
over the place, it's mindboggling how much stuff is out
here.
I want to get into less.
Let's get into networking andleveraging your community on
(11:39):
your.
As far as social media, that'sdefinitely the package, comes
into creating content.
Okay, that's how you leverageyour.
To me, this is just my opinion.
I'm not an expert, I don'tpretend to be.
This is these are just my, myviews on how to leverage your
business.
And when they say leverage yourcommunity, that has to be.
To me that's social media.
(12:00):
Right, when it comes tonetworking, I think I'm old
school.
I think getting out there inthe world is the best.
Sure, you can do it on socialmedia, but to actually get the
real feel of people, I thinkgetting out doing social events
(12:22):
to me is the best way to network.
That's just my opinion.
That's just my opinion.
Again, whatever works for you,works for you.
But at the end of the day, tome, when I, when I hear.
(12:45):
Networking.
I'm thinking people to people.
You know, let's not get awayfrom that.
But, like I said, if you areone of those people that can,
can do the content and get thatfollowing on social media,
absolutely go for it, thumbs up.
The last part I want to get intois smart financial planning,
and this is like crucial right.
Being financially literate iscrucial to all small business
(13:11):
businesses, any business.
I can't just say all small, I'mjust a small business person.
But being financially literateand what works for you and what
you're trying to accomplish Now,when it comes to AI and
financial planning, yes,absolutely, because you have to
(13:33):
have a plan when you want to go,where you're at, where you want
to go, I think it's importantTo budget so you can get a
financial picture Of whereyou're at, where you're going,
how you get to the next level.
(13:54):
I think right now, 2025,financial planning is should be
at the forefront of anyentrepreneur.
Pick up a book, look at a video, look at several videos, look
at, read several books aboutfinancial planning, because you
(14:14):
will see that uh, because youwill see that that's something
that's not taught right.
That's something that's notautomatic when it comes to
having your own business.
It's probably not even at theforefront of a lot of people's
mind.
It's financial planning.
That's one of the hardestthings people struggle with and
(14:47):
if you have to use AI which Inow, I would say yes, I would
any type of form of put thosenumbers in, see what comes, you
know, pushes back out at you andyou can go from there.
Ai definitely, or any software,doesn't even have to be like
Just AI stuff, but any type of,any type of Financial planning
(15:10):
you can do, even if it's with anaccountant, a human accountant.
If you don't want to even gothe software where you don't
want to even go the softwarewhere you don't understand what
you're putting in and what wasit's like, what, what is this?
What am I putting in?
What am I putting out, what isthe, the software getting
putting me at, you might notunderstand that if you need an
(15:30):
accountant to, you know, putthose numbers down on paper so
you can better see whateverworks for you.
But having some type offinancial plan is so important
right now.
I mean myself, I, you know, I,with my business, I have started
(15:53):
using a certain software and,trust me, it it works and you
can separate your personal fromyour, your business and, um, I
recommend.
I won't say you know what Irecommend, because I'm not.
You know, that's not, that'snot my job here.
I'm just saying, like, havesome type of plan, have some
(16:16):
type of guide.
It's so worth it when you havea small business, because the
money you putting in you mightnot be seeing it on the other
end.
Right, and you think you areright.
You think you are like, hey, Iput this much money in.
Why I'm not getting this inreturn is because you're not
(16:36):
planning.
Like, hey, I put this muchmoney in, why I'm not getting
this in return, it's becauseyou're not planning.
It's not you, you're notplanning, you're just putting
money out there and nothing'scoming back.
So, anyway, I don't want to godown a rabbit hole, but that is
my take on strategies.
I hope I hit the mark mystrategies for entrepreneurs in
(17:06):
2025,.
I hope it helped.
If it didn't, sorry, those aremy thoughts.
I'm not a professionalpodcaster.
I'm not a professional anything.
I get on here and I do my thing.
So, with that being said, Iwant to end this podcast right
now, in this episode, and staywith me.
I have more to come.
Thank you for listening.
Bye.
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