Women, Books and Business Issue No. 9

Gift Giving, Financial Wellness and Business Creation

Author

Tashaya Singleton
December 18, 2024

INSPIRATION

“One of the greatest gifts you can give

to anyone is the gift of attention.”

—Jim Rohn

Women, Gift Giving & Financial Wellness

Gift Giving and Financial Wellness Can Go Hand-in-Hand

We all understand the importance of prioritizing of our physical, mental and emotional wellness. However, many of us fail to understand and prioritize the value of financial wellness. With approximately 72% of Americans feeling stressed about their finances, according to a survey from the American Psychological Association.  According to the 2021 Financial Wellness Survey, by Ellevest Magazine, 67% of women worry about their finances daily, with almost have of us admitting that financial stress has affected our mental and emotional health.

Financial wellness is important because our finances impact every area of our life. Financial stress can have a negative impact on your physical and mental health causing insomnia, headaches, anxiety, depression, and even increase the risk of developing chronic health conditions. Also, financial stress can negatively impact your relationships by causing increased disagreements with partners, family, friends and co-workers. For these reasons financial wellness should become a top priority for many of us.

As you are handing out gifts this holiday season, be sure to give yourself the gift of Financial Wellness by not going into debt in an effort to please everyone. You can create a gift budget, and stick to that budget, to prevent price shock when you open your credit card bills in January. If you have already overspent, during the Black Friday and Cyber Week sales events, then now is the time for you to take a hard look at your monthly budget and find places you can cut back so that it balances out in the end.

If you still need gifts for people on your list, then you may want to think about giving budget friendly gifts like books, candy, flowers, board games, wine or homemade gifts. For the people you won’t see until after Christmas, you can save money by buying their gifts at deep discounts during the “After Christmas Sale” or by regifting.

The secret to enjoying this gift giving season is to plan ahead, as much as possible, give gifts from the heart, and spend time with your loved ones while practicing good money management habits. Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy Chanukah!

LEADERSHIP & BUSINESS

It’s Time To Get Your Business Plan Done

December is National Write A Business Plan Month, because more business plans are written this month than at any other time of the year. As we get closer to the end of the year many people take time to evaluate their goals and the progress, they’ve made towards achieving them. People are also thinking about their New Year’s Resolutions and what they want to achieve in the coming year, as well as their lifetime.

With these things on their mind, people feel encouraged and empowered to make a change for the better. Many make the decision to go all in on their goals and dreams. And since almost half of Americans want to start a business, they feel there is no better time to start planning than now so they can make their dreams happen in the coming year.

If this is your first time writing a business plan, then you should become familiar with the three main types

Traditional Business Plan

Mini Business Plan

One Page Business Plan

Each type of business plan has its own unique purpose. A traditional business plan is best if you are going to get a bank loan or funding from investors to start and grow your business. A mini-business plan is good for self-funding or getting financial support from family and friends. It has all the same categories as a traditional business plan, but it does not dive as deeply into the details that banks or investment professionals require. And with things changing at almost the speed of light, a lot of people are opting for a One Page Business Plan. This type of business plan is the most flexible, it can easily be modified to change with the trends, and to immediately start your business using your own money.

Now, whatever type of business plan you choose to write, you must still do your research. This may seem time consuming, but as the saying goes “No one plans to fail, they just fail to plan”. So, investing your time in research as well as taking advantage of free resources from the Women’s Business Center, SCORE, SBA, SBDC, and your local economic development department you can increase your chances of creating a successful business plan, and business.

INSPIRATION

“The future will be owned and operated

by the entrepreneurially minded.”

—Mark Victor Hansen

BOOK OF THE MONTH

“Build An Empire” by Elena Cardone is our book of the month. This book is not just about building a highly successful business, it is also about giving you the tools to create a life that is amazing to you.

During this time, many people live their life according to societal norms to fit in with everyone else. Many times, this causes people to live an average life, instead of one that is amazing, or even pleasing, to them. However, if you aspire to create a highly profitable business and lead a life that is amazing to you then you are going to have to break away from the crowd by doing things everyone else is not doing, as well as create your definition of what an amazing life means to you. 

In Chapter 1, Define Your Purpose The Holy Grail, Elena starts with the basics to help you create your roadmap to building your empire. In order to start any journey, you must know what your ultimate destination is, but because every journey comes with unique challenges and obstacles that you will need to overcome in order to achieve success you also need to know who you are, what your purpose is, as well as what you stand for. Chapter 1, Define Your Purpose: The Holy Grail, helps you understand the difference between your purpose and your “why”. Be sure to complete the exercise on page 47 before moving on to the next chapter, because it will help you visualize what your amazing life and business will look like and help keep you motivated as you move towards achieving your life goals.

The exercise in chapter 5, Get On The Same Page, is essential reading for both life and business success. Many of us are independent, we do not put a lot of weight on the need to be on the same page with the people in our lives to achieve success, and to some extent this is true. However, if you have a partner in business, or life partner, then being on the same page is critical for achieving success. Because if you and your partner are working against each other it will be a long and difficult uphill battle to achieve success or your journey will end in failure, as Abraham Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”.

I loved Elena’s expanded definition of a “Gold Digger” in chapter 14. Every woman should read this chapter in the book, even if this isn’t your reading genre, because it will help you understand why you need to personally develop and take control of your financial destiny so that you are an asset to your partner, even if he can provide financially for all your wants and needs.

In chapter 15, Your Empire Building Toolbox, she focuses on the intangible things we need to create the amazing life and business we desire. We’ve all heard that in order to be successful in business we must take massive action, which is true. But we also need to have our guiding star, which is our Personal Code of Conduct. A Personal Code of Conduct will help you say no to distractions and take corrective action to get you back on track when things astray.

Building An Empire, by Elena Cardone, is a good read. It gives you the essential steps you need to create a solid foundation for a successful business, and more importantly it gives you the tools needed to develop in your personal life so that you can create the amazing life you desire and deserve.

Tashaya J. Singleton is a Financial Wellness Advocate and Business Consultant at TJS Financial Solutions LLC, with over two decades of experience in the financial services industry. She specializes in working with small to medium size businesses and has trained employees of Fortune 500 companies as well as a Global 100 company.

Here are ways she can help:

2. Buy the book The Financial Wellness Reset Plan. It’ll help your take control of your personal economy and life

3. Subscribe to the Women, Books and Business newsletter

4. Email her with the subject line “Clarity” if you’d like help moving forward in the areas finance, business or leadership