A common question from entrepreneurs is how to pay themselves from their business income. Here’s our advice:
At the beginning of your business journey, keep your salary as low as possible. It’s crucial to reinvest in your business and maintain low overheads. Think of your business like a baby—it needs nurturing before you can fully rely on it. Instead of taking a percentage of income, consider paying yourself a stable salary like you would for your employees. This approach ensures financial consistency and helps avoid the rollercoaster of taking more in good months and less in bad ones.
As your business grows, it’s wise to build a financial buffer—aim to save at least three months' worth of expenses for a rainy day.
For relational businesses like photography, sharing more of your personal side can build strong connections with your audience. However, if you want your brand to stand independently from you, such as with product-based businesses, it’s not always necessary to put yourself front and center.
Whether you're the face of your brand or not, focus on building a business brand over a personal brand. It’s not about selling yourself but demonstrating how you do what you do and the value you bring.
Managing social media can feel overwhelming, but with the right system, it can become manageable. The trick is planning. Block out a few hours each week (or every two weeks) to plan and schedule your posts. This minimises the daily grind of figuring out what to post.
We would also advise creating a content roadmap centered around your ideal content pillars. An example of this would be to create content around the following pillars; educate, trust, inspire, entertain, and sell.
When you have clear content pillars, you avoid the blank page syndrome. We would also recommend using scheduling tools to plan ahead. You can use Meta Business to schedule your posts and stories or you can use a third-party application, like “Later.” As your business grows, delegate tasks like responding to direct messages on social media to free up more of your time and focus on tasks you enjoy more.
Streamline your business processes with the right tools. Here are some of our favorites in different areas of business management:
- Workflow Management:Trello, Monday.com
- Database Management:Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive
- CRM System:Sendinblue, Zoho
- Scheduling Tools:Meta Business, Later
Efficient systems help you stay organised and focused on what matters most—growing your business.
When it comes to finances, balance is key. We believe in being good stewards of our resources while also having faith for the growth of our business. Generosity is central to our belief system, but discipline is necessary for sustainable growth. Be mindful of striking a balance between giving and growing.
Be bold and strategic in your marketing. Collaborating with other businesses or influencers can be a powerful way to reach new markets and audiences you haven’t tapped into yet. Dare to take risks, be intentional about initiating partnerships, and don't be afraid to ask for what you want and being bold enough to take big leaps that might have the opportunity to open new doors for your business.
Influencer marketing can also be highly effective, but make sure you’re strategic about who you collaborate with. Always try to stay true to who you are and what your brand represents. For us, collaborating with influencers who share the same values as we do has been a big win in ensuring that our clients can continue to relate in what we stand for as a business and what we believe in.
Fostering a good work environment is essential for employee relationships, retention and productivity.
Something that might be a really valuable addition to your company culture is holding monthly check-ins (one on one’s) where employees have the opportunity to share one positive and one negative experience about their work during that month. This simple practice opens the door for celebration and constructive feedback. It’s also important from your side as the employer to make your employees feel safe enough to share certain challenges they might be facing in the workplace. At the end of the day, the way we handle feedback is a vital part of the culture we foster in the workplace. We have found it helpful to maintain an open-door policy.
One of the most exciting aspects of running your own business is crafting the company culture.
One of the things we recently implemented is minimising long meetings in favour of quick and efficient check-ins with each other throughout the day.
We have also seen the benefit of keeping meetings short and efficient unless the specific opportunity requires more time allocated to it. We have also implemented Fun Fridays on a weekly basis where we try and enjoy a task that is not based on productivity or deadlines but merely on fostering healthy working relationships with each other and easing off some steam at the end of the week in an enjoyable way. An example of this would be playing online pictionary together, doing a Domestika course, or cooking a fun meal together during lunch. Regular celebrations also help to keep the team motivated and connected and it’s important for us to celebrate our employees well on special occasions and making them feel valued and appreciated.
To read more about our Business Culture and how we implement Christian values into our organisation, click the link below:
Finally, we thrive on testimonials. They are the heartbeat of our business, and we never miss a chance to share the stories of those we’ve helped in crafting their dream jewellery piece along the way. Highlighting your customers’ success not only builds trust but also serves as a constant reminder of why you do what you do.
To rewatch the Instagram Live where Jacomien shares our best tips in more detail, simply click below.
