Send a question or message to Kate & Sam

Welcome to Episode 6 of the Roadmap to Business Success series, and the first episode of Quadrant 2: Keep More | Profitable Operations!

You've done the work to generate revenue. Now it's time to talk about the part most business owners avoid until it's too late: keeping it.

In this episode, Sam takes the lead on one of her favourite topics: money. Not the fluffy version, but the practical, roll-up-your-sleeves kind that actually changes how your business feels to run day to day.

"Most business owners know what they're earning. Very few know what they're actually keeping."

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why traditional accounting often fails business owners: How accounting is largely historical and tax-focused, and rarely designed to help you make better day-to-day decisions.
• Markup vs margin: One of the most common and costly mistakes small business owners make, explained clearly and simply.
• How to make your chart of accounts work for you: Why restructuring how you categorise income and expenses gives you far greater clarity over where your money is going.
• Cost of goods sold vs operating expenses: Why separating these properly is essential for accurate forecasting and understanding your true profitability.
• The Profit First method: How splitting income across separate bank accounts for profit, tax, operating expenses and owner pay creates automatic financial discipline.
• How to build a cash buffer: Why a financial cushion isn't a luxury, it's a necessity, and how to start building one even when cash feels tight.
• Adjusting your Profit First percentages by business stage: Why the right allocation for a startup looks very different to an established business.
• Why you must never "steal" from your profit account: The habit that keeps business owners stuck in financial stress, and how to break it.

Sam and Kate also discuss why money slips through fingers even when revenue is strong, and why the solution isn't always earning more, it's managing better.

Recommended Reading: Profit First by Mike Michalowicz, the book that underpins Sam's entire approach to profitability.

Join the Workshop: Kate and Sam are hosting Profit Unlocked on Wednesday 20 May, 9–10:30am AWST | 11am–12:30pm AEST

You'll get 90 minutes of live profitability coaching.

🎟️ Attend LIVE: $110 | 🎧 Replay only: $50

👉 Register here

Coming Up Next: Episode 7 — pricing for profit, why you're leaving money on the table, and how to price based on value rather than time.

Connect with Your Hosts:

Kate De Jong, PhD | Inspired Business 🌐 Website: https://katedejong.com/ 📱 Instagram: @katedejong.inspiredbusiness ✉️ Email: kate@katedejong.com

Sam Morris | The O8 🌐 Website: https://www.theo8.com/ 📱 Instagram: @the_o8crew ✉️ Email: sam@theo8.com

Thriving Business Podcast 🌐Website: https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam

Welcome to Episode 5 of the Roadmap to Business Success series on the Thriving Business Podcast, and the final episode of Quadrant 1: Revenue Generation!

If the word "selling" makes you cringe, you're not alone. In this episode, Kate and Sam get honest about their own complicated relationships with sales, why most people do it badly, and how reframing selling as serving completely changes the game.

"People don't mind being sold to, they just don't like being sold to poorly."

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why selling is actually serving: How shifting your mindset from "closing a deal" to "solving a problem" transforms every sales conversation, and why genuine curiosity is the only attitude you need to bring.
• The danger of aggressive sales processes: Why pushing someone into a yes when they're not fully committed creates disengaged clients, resentment, and a poisoned experience for everyone involved.
• Emotional intelligence in sales: Why active listening, reading the room, and picking up on subtle cues matters far more than any sales tactic or script.
• Why non-attachment is your secret weapon: How the less attached you are to the outcome, the more people want to work with you, and why turning clients away can actually make them want you more.
• How your foundations do the heavy lifting: When your business identity is clear, your offer is irresistible, and your marketing is aligned, sales becomes a natural conversation rather than a chase. Low conversion rates are feedback that something earlier in the process needs attention.
• The energy and alignment factor: Why there are months where every conversation converts and months where nothing does, and what that's really telling you about your clarity and alignment.
• Leads, pipelines, CRMs and customer journeys: A plain-English breakdown of the sales terminology that gets thrown around and what it actually means for your business.
• The golden rule of sales = follow up: Why so many sales are lost simply because people don't follow up, how to do it without feeling pushy, and why you should always leave a voicemail.
• How to handle ghosting professionally: Why ghosting is almost never personal, how to stay non-attached, and the follow-up message Kate sends a week after a "no" that keeps the door open beautifully.
• How you respond to "no" says everything: Why your reaction to rejection, in direct conversations and in public Google reviews, tells potential clients more about your character than almost anything else.
• The underrated power of post-purchase nurturing: Why what happens immediately after someone pays you is just as important as what happened before, and how to make every customer feel seen, valued, and excited about their decision.
• Treat every customer equally: Why the person who buys your $47 product deserves the same quality of experience as your $30,000 client, and why that's also just smart business.
• Retention over acquisition: Why a repeat customer is far more profitable than constantly winning new ones, and how to build the kind

Connect with Your Hosts:

Kate De Jong, PhD | Inspired Business 🌐 Website: https://katedejong.com/ 📱 Instagram: @katedejong.inspiredbusiness ✉️ Email: kate@katedejong.com

Sam Morris | The O8 🌐 Website: https://www.theo8.com/ 📱 Instagram: @the_o8crew ✉️ Email: sam@theo8.com

Thriving Business Podcast 🌐Website: https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/

"Marketing is the communication bridge between your business and your potential customers."

In this fourth episode of the Roadmap to Business Success series, hosts Kate and Sam explore the next layer in the Revenue Generation quadrant of the Thriving Business Wheel: Marketing Strategy.

Now that you've nailed your business identity and crafted your irresistible offer, it's time to take it to market. But marketing is one of the most misunderstood, and misused, areas of business. In this episode, Kate and Sam cut through the noise and give you a practical, grounded framework for marketing your business without burning out or burning through your budget.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why foundations come first: If you haven't nailed your business identity and your irresistible offer, your marketing will struggle, no matter how much you spend. Kate shares the story of a client who spent $60,000 on a failed marketing campaign without a single sale, and exactly what went wrong.
• The three channels of marketing: Traditional (TV, print, letterbox drops), relational (networking, referrals, strategic partnerships), and digital (social media, SEO, email), and why you should never rely on just one.
• The truth about social media: Why organic social media posting builds visibility and brand awareness but rarely converts to sales on its own, and what to do instead.
• How to choose the right platform for your business: LinkedIn for B2B and professional services, Instagram for visual brands, Facebook for community-based businesses, and TikTok for reaching younger audiences. Sam shares a practical tip: start with the platforms you already use and understand.
• Inbound vs outbound marketing: The difference between pushing your message out (social media, ads) and drawing customers in (SEO, Google Business Profile, AI search), and why both matter.
• Getting found by AI: Why SEO is still the foundation of AI search, and how Sam's brand-new business was recommended by AI simply by being specific and optimising the basics.
• The power of email marketing: Why the money is still in the list, why you own your email list in a way you'll never own your social media following, and how to build a list that actually converts.
• Lead magnets and list building: How a free quiz, ebook or guide can bring in new subscribers consistently, even years after you create it.
• Email open rates and list hygiene: What good open rates look like, when to clean your list, and why you should never be offended by an unsubscribe.
• Sam's closing framework: Why marketing must be a multi-pronged approach. Choose one channel from each of the three categories and build from there.

Kate and Sam also discuss the rapidly changing landscape of AI search, why "AI junk" is flooding social media and how to stand out, and why just having the tools (AI, Canva) doesn't mean you know how to use them effectively.

Join the Workshop: Kate and Sam are hosting their Revenue Breakthrough Workshop on Wednesday 15 April — a live Zoom session where you can bring your real questions on marketing, business identity, branding, and revenue generation and get coaching directly from bot

Connect with Your Hosts:

Kate De Jong, PhD | Inspired Business 🌐 Website: https://katedejong.com/ 📱 Instagram: @katedejong.inspiredbusiness ✉️ Email: kate@katedejong.com

Sam Morris | The O8 🌐 Website: https://www.theo8.com/ 📱 Instagram: @the_o8crew ✉️ Email: sam@theo8.com

Thriving Business Podcast 🌐Website: https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/