Ep 143: Toni Everard - The Foundation Every Successful Business Is Built On

Most business owners say they want more freedom.

More time.

More income.

More flexibility.

But what if the reason you're not creating the freedom you want isn't because you're working too hard?

What if it's because you're avoiding the very thing that creates freedom in the first place?

In this episode, Toni Everard explores the powerful relationship between freedom, responsibility, money, and business growth. She shares why so many business owners struggle to achieve consistent results, not because they lack passion or talent, but because they're disconnected from the numbers and realities that drive a successful business.

This conversation challenges common misconceptions about business, money, and personal power, and reveals why understanding your numbers is one of the most empowering things you can do as a business owner.

This episode explores:

• why numbers measure reality and why every business owner needs to understand them

• the common mistake heart-centered entrepreneurs make when building a business

• why "I'm not a numbers person" may be costing you more than you realize

• the connection between money, responsibility, and personal power

• how avoiding your numbers creates uncertainty, frustration, and inconsistency

• why freedom is not the absence of responsibility

• how structure creates greater flexibility, freedom, and growth

• the role responsibility plays in building a sustainable business

• why your ideal client should be determined by your business model, not just your preferences

• how scarcity thinking influences pricing, offers, and target markets

• the difference between running a business and simply creating yourself another job

• how understanding your numbers helps you make clearer, more confident business decisions

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by money, avoided looking at your numbers, or wondered why your business isn't creating the freedom you expected, this episode will help you understand what's really getting in the way and show you how to create a stronger foundation for sustainable growth, greater income, and genuine freedom.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] 
Well, it's an exciting time of year. I don't know about you, but, uh, many people find it surprising that I get excited about end of financial year. But it is that time of year, and I am excited, and I'm gonna tell you why. And, uh, you probably know by now that, um, before, you know, I started my business 10 years ago, I spent close to 20 years working in finance and accounting.

So, uh, I've al- I'm always really keyed into end of financial year. I'm thinking about it. I've got goals that I've got that I wanna reach by the end of financial year, and I'm also excited about the goals I'm gonna create for the new financial year. And when I work with my clients, I get, I, I get them keyed into this as well.
And, uh, and so the thing, though, is I'm not excited about tax and, you know, paperwork and all those 

[00:01:00] kinds of things. That's not what I get excited about. But what I really love is that end of financial year is where we really get some interesting feedback, and we get, uh, an opportunity to stop and look at what's really happening in our business.

And the interesting thing is that when you look at this and you really take the time to understand it and accept what's actually happening in your business, it might be a different story than what you were wishing for or hoping for, but nonetheless, very, very important. And being able to seek feedback and take feedback is a big part of what will make all the difference in, in your growth.

And when we think about numbers, the thing that I love about numbers and, and money is, uh, numbers measure reality, right? Numbers measure reality. And so whether you're making $30,000 a year or you're making 300,000 or 

[00:02:00] 3 million or 300 million, it doesn't really matter. But your numbers are going to constantly give you information about the business that you've built.

And now, this is why that one of the first things that I do when I work with my clients is, uh, well, first of all, we look at the vision. I'm always interested in what is someone's vision, 'cause you don't start a business for the sake of starting a business, right? You start a business because there's a purpose.

Like business itself is just a vehicle for you to create something, deliver something. It's just a structure and a vehicle. So there's gotta be an over, uh, over encompassing vision, overarching vision for what, what are you starting that business for? And if you're starting it just to make money, it's probably not the best start because you're gonna f- soon feel like there's needs to be more.

[00:03:00] But most people that I work with have got a real vision for their business, and it's around wanting to help people in some form or making some kind of impact in the world, and that they've seen a problem, they've overcome a problem, or there's something that they're passionate about helping people with, and that's their vision.

And then they decide that business will be the vehicle that they deliver that vision through. Now, if business is the vehicle that you choose, then we've gotta understand that the highest intention of business itself is to make money Right? That's the highest intention of business, is to make money. And, uh, because you don't have to choose a business as the vehicle to deliver your vision.

You could have a hobby, you could have a charity, you could have a not-for-profit, you could have whatever structure you like, but if you choose business, the intention of business is to make money. And so that's why we have to start at looking at the foundations. If you've got a business, what are your actual numbers?
And what are the numbers 

[00:04:00] between what you say you want and what you're actually doing and how you create that? And these are the foundations. And, you know, the reason that I started business coaching was because, uh, it came pretty natural for me to operate my business like a business and be really clear about my expenses and my income and my revenue and tax and all those kinds of things, and, uh, to really understand my capacity and what I needed to sell and what it needed to be priced at.

Like, it was something that I did naturally, and it's why, you know, I got to six figures and, and, you know, up from there, um, you know, within a couple of years of starting my business, even when I was sort of in and out of working part-time until my business got going. But then it was just, I was making well over six figures from there on in.

But it was because I was really clued in to the numbers and money in my business. Now, the reason I started business coaching was I realized that a lot of people, and especially in the coaching and wellbeing space, don't do that very [00:05:00] well. And, and they're really operating in that space of, like, "I just wanna help people."

But when we think, "I just wanna help people," yeah, it's great, but it's more of a job mentality. And, and if all you ever had to do is just rock up and provide the service that you do, then ultimately you need to have a job, because that's what you do in a job. 

Somebody else looks after the admin and the sales and the marketing and, you know, bookkeeping and all those things, and all you do is rock up and do the service.
Whereas when you have a business, you have to look after all of those things. Um, and it surprises me how many people don't know some of the, uh... It doesn't surprise me anymore 'cause I see it over and over and over again, but when I first started business coaching, how many people really didn't understand, number one, how much they wanna pay themselves, or that they didn't have their business set up in a way that would ensure that they paid themselves consistently throughout the year.

[00:06:00]  they weren't clear on what their business expenses were, or how many clients that they needed to work with, or how long did it take for them to deliver the service for each of those clients. Um, so, you know, they really had no idea on any of the measureables, any of the measureables of reality in their business.

So it's no r- surprise if you're not tracking any of that, or you don't know any of those numbers, that you're not gonna just coincidentally achieve them in your business. It's not gonna just randomly happen that you make enough money and pay yourself and, and sell the right amount of things, if you don't even know what the right number is.

And so this is the big thing that I see a lot of people struggling with, but there is, you know, some real deeper things under this. But what I often see that people say when we start talking about numbers is, uh, "I'm not a numbers person." Right? "I'm not a numbers person. 

[00:07:00] Um, it's all right for you, Toni, you worked in banking and finance, but I'm not a numbers person."
Well, you know, the thing is that we have to realize, like I know for myself, I wasn't born a numbers person. I just were in environments where I had to do numbers as part of my job, and that's what I learned to do. Um, and if you choose business, then you also have to choose to be a numbers person, because it's going to be the foundations of everything you do.

You won't be able to serve people, you won't be able to help people, you won't be able to live out your vision of the impact that you wanna make, unless you decide you wanna be a numbers person, because it's part of the reality of bringing your vision into life. And so the, the thing that I notice, though, is that this is more commonly a problem for really heart-centered, um, business owners, and there's a much deeper reason why this is.

[00:08:00] And because like, as I said- It's not just understanding numbers, it's understanding what those numbers represent. And numbers do measure reality, and reality requires a level of responsibility. And when we handle responsibility really well, it makes us powerful. And often people don't feel safe being powerful, or they have some kind of internal conflict around being powerful.

And so this relationship with power is directly related to how well you relate to money, because we know that having... If you make as much money as you want to make, it makes you powerful. 

[00:09:00] And I don't mean powerful over other people, I mean powerful over your own reality. And most people are unconsciously in conflict around having that level of power in their own lives, and they feel much more at home  when they are in a space of suffering or struggling or, um, you know, connecting with other people about how hard it is in the world that they can't create what they wanna create.

And so this is really interesting. Um, but when you really understand your numbers, you gain influence over the outcomes that you're creating, and you can make informed decisions, you can identify what's working and what's not working, you can make adjustments early, and you become an active participant in creating your own results.
Now, on the surface, many people will say, "Well, that sounds really empowering." But the truth is, if you're not doing that, then there is something underlying that's not aligned with you, at least at an uncon- um, unconscious level. And, you know, there's that saying that says, "With great power comes great responsibility."

[00:10:00] Um, and this is so true, because even if, um, you know, and I've talked about this a lot, uh, even if you were w- to win lotto tomorrow, if you won $10 million tomorrow- Most people go, "Yeah, that would be amazing." But what that $10 million would come with is a whole lot of responsibility that you don't have now.

And this is exactly why when we see people win lotto, that they always end up-- Well, majority of people end up spending it, losing it, or ending up in a worse situation than they were in before because they don't look at their numbers. They don't take responsibility for the money. They don't take responsibility for the things that they spend the money on, and they don't keep track of anything.

And so maybe they've gone out and they've given money away, or they've bought, you know, fancy cars or, um, you know, a new house or whatever. But they're not even looking at what does it cost me to run that car or that house or anything else. And before they know it, they've just created a whole bunch of responsibility that they don't know how to handle, and it all ends up collapsing in on itself.

[00:11:00] And so we need to get really comfortable with our relationship with responsibility. And that's why business is such an amazing vehicle for our own personal development because it teaches us where we need to take responsibility so we can create the outcomes that we want. And so most people think, "Yeah, but I just want freedom.
I just want flexibility." And I get that because that was me when I first started my business. I just wanted, um... Flexibility was actually my number one value, and I just wanted to not have to do anything that anyone told me. I wanted to do what I want, when I want, wh- when I want, how I want, without anyone telling me any different.

Right? But that was just me trying to avoid responsibility. That's what it was at the end of the day, and it didn't work as a strategy then, and it's-- I've never seen it work as a strategy for anybody else. 

[00:12:00] So we need to be able to take responsibility and create structure so that we can create freedom for ourselves. Because that's what people usually come into business for, is seeking freedom, so they can get out of somebody else's structure. 

But to get out of somebody else's structure, you have to create your own structure if you want to have freedom of time, or freedom of choice, and freedom of income, and freedom of lifestyle.

Whatever reality you think it is that you wanna live, it's going to require a structure through a set of responsibilities that you have to that structure to make it happen. 

And so this is the biggest takeaway that you can ever, ever have, is understanding that freedom is the ease at which you can handle your responsibilities and which you can create structure in your life to handle those responsibilities with.
And so that's why it comes back to your money and your numbers, because numbers measure reality. 

[00:13:00] Numbers will measure  how well you're taking care of your responsibility, and they will j- they will show how well you understand your capacity, how well you understand your offers. Uh, if you've got clear offers and clear structure and you're making really clear decisions, and you're, and you're creating goals that you actually achieve, you'll have clarity, um, and that's what will actually give you freedom.

 And so whenever someone tells me that they wanna have more clients or higher income or greater impact or, you know, a lifestyle that is supported by their business, I, I fully get it. I understand that. 

But before we start talking about marketing or sales or growth strategies, we have to understand the foundations, and that is the numbers as the foundations in your business. 

[00:14:00] Because without them, you're just guessing, and y- with them, you can make decisions with clarity that are based in reality, and you can create sustainable growth.

So and I'll give you an example. If when we look at your numbers first, your numbers will tell you if your ideal client base is actually the right client base for you. Because if your, uh, ideal numbers say that you need to be charging, uh, uh, say, you know, $5,000 or $10,000 for a program that you have, but y- the people you wanna serve aren't willing to pay five or $10,000 for that program, then you're, you're not gonna be able to sell them, right?

So your numbers will determine who your ideal market is, not the other way around. And that's what a lot of people do, is they go, "This is the market I wanna be in," and then try to make their numbers fit to them, and that is completely back to front. And this often happens because, 

[00:15:00] um, we tend to wanna connect with those people that we feel most comfortable with, and if we've got any kind of a scarcity mindset around money and numbers, you'll generally pick a target market that also have a scarcity mindset around money, and that's when you'll find you'll come up against these, um, you know, challenges of people saying, "I can't afford it.

I don't have any money." Uh, and you'll start convincing yourself that nobody has any money. But it's not about people not having money. It's about you not understanding business and making an offer that is suitable for people who have the money and want to pay for it This is a big shift that needs to happen in, uh, in mindset when you think about business, is that it's, it...

And I'm not here to say you can't help people that don't have any money. I'm not saying that at all. But you can do that in so many other ways, rather than 

[00:16:00] doing it in a way that makes you struggle in business. Okay? You could much easily be, uh, having a target market of people who can afford you, and who can afford to pay you well, and then creating some kind of way through your business that you help other people that don't, can't afford it.

You can do that. But you can't make money in business by, uh, creating a target market that's not gonna pay you, or is not gonna pay you well. So that's really important. So our numbers are the foundation. The numbers, uh, measure reality. We have to make sure that we know our numbers first, and then we match everything else to that reality.

Because- Otherwise, you just end up in a business where you feel frustrated, you feel worn out, you feel like you're working too hard, you feel like it's an effort every day. Um, and that's not freedom. 

[00:17:00] That's not freedom. That's the-- when you're in the realms of you'd be better off having a job. Uh, and if you've decided you don't wanna have a job and you wanna have a business, then you've gotta think like a business owner, and you've gotta decide to be a numbers person and to really look at reality and ultimately resolve your relationship with money, with power, with, uh, authority.

Um, and be able to then use your business in the structure in which it was intended for your business to succeed and for you to ultimately, ultimately be supported by your business. 

So, I hope this is landing well for you. If it's-- If you're, like, going, "Oh my God," got your fingers in your ear going, "No, no, no, no, no.
I don't wanna hear," um, you know, as I say to any of my clients, the thing that you reso-- Uh, the thing that you resist the most is the thing that you need to face the most. Um, 

[00:18:00] and it's all part of your growth. Now, this is definitely something that I help people with, and as we're moving into the financial year, I do have some spots available for my five-day challenge.

Now, over the last couple of months, I've had over twenty people go through this challenge. It's a one-to-one, five-day challenge where we go through the five, five key, uh, pillars of business. Um, we look at not just strategy, 'cause the strategy part is simple. So we look at strategy. 

It's very simple, but we look at what is the resistance underneath you actually implementing those things so that you have a successful business and you make sure that, um, you've got a clear path forward that is gonna be a realistic goal, uh, and pathway for the new financial year.

So if this sounds like something that you're ready for because, you know, whatever's happened this year, it's gonna be feedback. And if you're s- in 

[00:19:00] another year where things haven't changed in the way that you intended, then this is your sign to do something about it. End of financial year gives you plenty of feedback, and it gives you the perfect opportunity to set yourself up for a successful new financial year.

So I would love to hear from you if you're like, "Yes, Toni, I know that I need to have a clearer pathway forward, and I know there's some things here that I need to work on," then, uh, get in touch with me. You can find all my contact details in the show notes. You can email me, contact me on the socials, uh, and let me know what it is that you want help achieving in the new financial year, and let's get excited about business.

This is an exciting time to start fresh for the new financial year and have a clean, clear strategy for you to actually achieve the goals that you intend to while you're getting paid well and your business is supporting you 

[00:20:00] and not the other way around. Uh, well, that's it from today. I hope this has, uh, been a, an insightful session for you, and, uh, look forward to hearing from you and hearing your feedback.

Till next episode, bye-bye.