Episodios

  • Re-Releasing Episode 52: An Expert's Guide To Understanding The 1120-S Tax Form

    Re-Releasing Episode 52: An Expert's Guide To Understanding The 1120-S Tax Form
    Mar 11 2025
    It’s tax season crunch time, so we are resharing a timely episode debunking the 1120-S tax return. In this episode, Brian will walk you through the S-Corporation income tax return to help you better understand what you’re filing and hopefully catch mistakes before it’s too late. He provides a section-by-section analysis of Form 1120-S and highlights key areas that business owners and tax professionals make mistakes. Episode Highlights Part 1: Heading, Income, Deductions, Tax and Payments Most of this information is drawn from your business’s Profit and Loss Statement. Here’s a breakdown of what’s on the first page: Calendar year: The very top of the form asks for the calendar year. If the corporation has a calendar year-end, leave this blank. If a fiscal year or short year put in the appropriate dates. Address: Underneath the calendar year, the form asks for a name and address. Use the name set forth in the charter or other legal documents, such as your Employer Identification Number (EIN) letter. Item A: Located to the left of the address, Item A asks for your S election effective date. You should have a letter from the IRS (CP 261) with your S-Corp starting date. This date should stay the same every year. Item B: Your business activity code. This code shows the IRS exactly what you do. Item C: Item C only applies if you have assets of $10 million or more. Most of the time, Item C will not be checked. Item D: Put your EIN in Item D. Make sure to verify it’s correct before you file your form. Item E: Your date of incorporation should match the articles of incorporation. This date may or may not be the same date as your S-election. Like the S-election date, the date of incorporation won’t change. Item F: Total assets at the end of the year. Item G: If the corporation is electing to be an S-Corp beginning with the current filing tax year, check the appropriate box. If the S-Corp did not already file the S-Election, attach Form 2553 with the return. Item H: These boxes should be self-explanatory. Check the boxes that apply. Item I: Enter the number of shareholders in the firm (e.g. yourself and your partners). Item J: Most of the time, Item J will not be checked. If you believe that one of the Item J items applies, follow up with your tax accountant. Income: Report gross revenue your business has earned for the year and any additional income or interest income that you may have incurred. Only report trade or business income. Do not list rental income, portfolio income, or tax exempt income (those go on your Schedule K). Expenses: Report all deductions on your Profit and Loss statement. Pay special attention to the following lines: Line 7: Compensation of officers should have something on it. S-Corporations must pay shareholder/employee reasonable compensation for services rendered, and failing to put reasonable compensation could lead to an IRS audit. Also included on this line are fringe benefits, including employer contributions to health plans and group term life insurance, for shareholders/employees owning more than 2% of the corporation stock. If your S-Corp has total receipts of $500,000 or more, you’ll need to attach Form 1125-E to explain what was paid to each officer. Line 8: Salary and wages paid to employees (other than officers) of the corporation. Line 17: An S-Corporation can deduct contributions made for its employees under a qualified pension, profit sharing, annuity, SEP plan, Simple plan, or any other retirement deferred compensation plan. This includes shareholders/employees owning more than 2% of the corporation stock. Line 18: Employee fringe benefits provided to officers and employees owning less than 2% go on this line, such as health insurance, disability insurance, and educational assistance. Line 19: Line 19 includes any other deductions. There should be an attached statement, and it should match your profit and loss. The numbers should be close to your Profit and Loss statement. Taxes and payments: In general, an S-Corporation does not pay taxes at the corporate level, so this section will be blank. Signature: It’s important to sign the return only after verifying all of the information, including the following sections. Part 2: Schedule B This section is mostly self-explanatory questions. Make sure to read and understand each question. Below are two lines to pay special attention to: Box 1: This easy-to-miss box can change your entire return if you’re not careful, since it’s where you select whether you’re a cash or accrual basis taxpayer. Once you choose an accounting method, you generally cannot change without approval from the IRS. Box 2: Here is where you explain what you do. Part B is an either/or question, so state whether you sell products or services. Also, if you hire contractors, say yes to question 14 -- and hopefully you got out your 1099 forms by January 31. Part 3: Schedules K and K-1 Schedule K reports the pro ...
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    32 m
  • The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 90: Your 6-Step Checklist To Close The Books On 2024

    The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 90: Your 6-Step Checklist To Close The Books On 2024
    Dec 24 2024
    Ready to end the year with a gift to your future self? In this special episode, Brian guides you through a six-step process to close out 2024 and set yourself up for success in 2025. You’ll tidy your finances, get a jump start on thinking about taxes, evaluate your business performance, and set strategic goals. Your Year-End Business Review Checklist Step 1: Close Out Your Financials Closing out your financials may sound dry, but it’s imperative to get right. Review your books -- Review your profit and loss for the year for any discrepancies, outstanding invoices, or payments that need to be paid. Make sure you have the correct categories for your transactions to save you a headache when you prepare next year’s tax return.Reconcile your accounts -- Every month, but especially at the end of the year, you should reconcile your financial accounts, including bank accounts, credit cards, and loans, to reveal unaccounted expenses or hidden fees.Analyze your cash flow -- Review your cash flow to see what you owe and who owes you. You can also get a clear picture of whether you can defer income to next year or incur more expenses this year to save on taxes.Review your payroll -- Ensure wags, taxes, and benefits are accurate and that Bonuses are accounted for with proper tax withholding. Step 2: Evaluate Your Tax Position Once your financials are in place, it’s time to shift to taxes. Consider year-end tax deductions -- Incur expenses for purchases like office supplies, software, professional services, and equipment you will have in the coming year.Review your retirement contributions -- Don’t miss your opportunity to make employee contributions to your Solo 401(k) before the December 31 deadline.Plan for next year’s taxes -- Project what your tax liability might look like next year, plan for potential quarterly tax payments, and evaluate whether you might qualify for tax credits or deductions. Also, start gathering important information for tax forms, such as 1099 NECs and W2s. Step 3: Reflect On Business Performance Once the numbers are in order, it’s time to review the past year of business performance and make meaningful adjustments. Review key metrics -- Identify the key metrics for your business, determine whether or not you hit them, and analyze why or why not.Analyze client data -- Come up with your ideal client profile but remember that high paying isn’t the same as high value.Employee performance reviews -- If you have a team, conduct an annual performance review to acknowledge achievements, identify areas for improvement, and set clear expectations for next year. Step 4: Refine Your Vision, Mission, and Values Let’s dig deeper into your mission, vision, and values, which are at the heart of mission-driven businesses. Reassess your mission and vision -- Ask whether your mission or vision has evolved or shifted and update your mission and vision statements if necessary.Clarify your core values -- Just like with your mission and vision, reflect on your core values and update them if necessary. Step 5: Set Strategic Goals For 2025 After reflecting on the past, let’s look forward by setting achievable, flexible goals. Set SMART goals -- Aim to set goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.Break down goals into actionable steps -- Know the next, right step to make your goals less overwhelming and chart a clear path forward.Build in flexibility - The market, economy, and client needs are always evolving. Build checkpoints into your plan and make course corrections as needed. Step 6: Tidy Organizational Processes Don’t overlook the operational side of your business to save yourself headaches and hours in 2025. Audit your systems and tools -- Review the software, apps, and systems you are using, take note of the tools you aren’t using, and automate repetitive tasks.Organize digital files -- Organize digital files in clearly labeled folders to easily find essential documents.Review contracts and legal documents - Check that your contracts and legal documents with vendors, clients, and employees are up-to-date and compliant. Resources + Links Brian Thompson Financial: Website, Newsletter, PodcastFollow Brian Thompson Online: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Forbes About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and Certified Financial Planner® who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit. On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.
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    11 m
  • The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 89: Building Systems For Change with Davey Shlasko

    The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 89: Building Systems For Change with Davey Shlasko
    Dec 10 2024
    Brian Thompson chats with Davey Shlasko, founder and CEO of Think Again Training and Consulting, a company that helps align business actions and values. With more than 20 years of experience in adult learning and organizational development, Davey specializes in driving systematic change with a focus on equity and inclusion. Davey shares practical tools for aligning internal practices with external values, discusses strategies for fostering accountability and transparency, and offers hope for navigating uncertainty in today’s climate. Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses put purpose before profit. Rather than benefiting the owners or leaders of a company, Davey says a mission-driven business benefits the broader world or a specific community. That means an organization’s mission must guide decision-making, even when it involves trade-offs. “Mission has to sometimes come before profit,” Davey said. “Usually having a positive purpose can align very well with making a profit, but sometimes there are trade offs.” Align your company’s internal and external values. Davey emphasized that a mission-driven business’s values should be reflected externally and internally. Through Think Again Training and Consulting, Davey works with mission-driven organizations to ensure their internal culture, operations, and systems align with the values they promote externally. “It’s not always as obvious how those same values might apply to your own operations or internal culture, even if it’s clear how they should apply to the programs or services you provide,” Davey said. Be accountable to your stakeholders, including your employees. It’s essential to identify who your organization is accountable to and ensure those stakeholders have a voice. If leaders of a mission-driven business don't hold the organization accountable to its values and core stakeholders, you can have mission drift. “Part of my responsibility is to hold us accountable to our values that we’ve agreed on,” Davey said. “No matter what we hope our positive impact on the world will be, it’s likely that the greater impact we’ll have is on the people we’re working most closely with: each other.” Transparency is non-negotiable. Part of the work of Think Again Training and Consulting is providing companies transparency, which Davey defines as opportunities for informed input. Being transparent balances mindfulness of individuals' privacy with honesty about feedback the organization needs to hear. “In smaller organizations, anonymity might not be possible, so we have a conservation about what piece of information we could share that would not make you vulnerable,” Davey said. Inclusiveness shouldn’t be overwhelming. While it’s great when leaders of a company want to make sure all voices are heard, sometimes they can take their intentions too far by trying to get a consensus for every decision. Asking employees to give too much input in the decision-making process can be overwhelming and ineffective “You need to design a decision-making process where employees can give input without overburdening,” Davey said. “I want our decision making to be inclusive, but I also want it to work.” Resources + Links Davey Shlasko: LinkedIn Think Again Training & Consulting: Website, Facebook, Instagram Brian Thompson Financial: Website, Newsletter, Podcast Follow Brian Thompson Online: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Forbes About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and Certified Financial Planner® who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit. On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.
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    39 m
  • The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 88: Reclaiming Your Time with Conrad Ruiz

    The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 88: Reclaiming Your Time with Conrad Ruiz
    Nov 26 2024

    Brian Thompson chats with Conrad Ruiz, the founder and CEO of Well Aware, a company dedicated to helping business owners reclaim their time. With a background in biomedical engineering and consulting, Conrad blends technical insight with an entrepreneurial spirit to help business owners simplify complex operations and master time management. He shares his personal journey into entrepreneurship, which started with a medical crisis, and offers practical advice on creating efficient systems and finding balance in business.

    Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses start with why.

    For Conrad, a mission-driven business emphasizes the "why" behind the work. Once a business has a clear sense of its “why,” it can use its resources — time, money, and systems — toward fulfilling that mission.

    “Being a mission-driven business is recognizing wholeheartedly why you’re doing what you’re doing and what that impact is for,” Conrad said.

    Your why is your compass.

    Conrad explained that having a clear “why” is like having a compass to direct a business’s decisions and actions. By staying focused on the mission, entrepreneurs can avoid distractions and stay aligned on their goals.

    “The why is the compass north,” Conrad said. “If you find yourself going in a million different directions, you’re ultimately going nowhere.”

    Buy back your time.

    Conrad’s business, Well Aware, helps very busy people buy back their time. He encouraged business owners to invest in affordable solutions, such as virtual assistants or scalable systems, to free up time.

    “We decide with them how they want to approach this mercantile equation of money versus time,” Conrad said. “Let’s go ahead and make the equations easy.”

    Audit your time in 3 key areas.

    One of Conrad’s key recommendations is to perform a time audit to identify where your time is truly spent. He suggests looking at three key initiatives: time spent marketing, time spent selling, and time spent delivering services. Once you see those three, then you can look at how finance (money) and administration (time) unpin them.

    “I love auditing on the basis of time,” Conrad said. “There’s a three-legged stool of marketing, sales, and service delivery, and from there, the underpinnings are finance and administration.”

    Resources + Links

    • Conrad Ruiz: LinkedIn

    • Well Aware: Website, LinkedIn

    • Brian Thompson Financial: Website, Newsletter, Podcast

    • Follow Brian Thompson Online: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Forbes

    About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast

    Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and Certified Financial Planner® who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit.

    On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.
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    40 m
  • The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 87: Creating Purposeful Marketing with Lauren Tilden

    The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 87: Creating Purposeful Marketing with Lauren Tilden
    Nov 12 2024

    Brian Thompson chats with Lauren Tilden, host of the Making Good podcast and a marketing coach dedicated to helping creative small business owners who want to get out of their own way and start making an impact. After 8 years in corporate marketing, Lauren left her corporate career and began her winding journey to owning and supporting small businesses. She offers insights into defining one’s ideal customer, creating goal-oriented marketing plans, and staying consistent with your message.

    Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses are motivated by more than money.

    Growing up, Lauren felt she had to choose between making a living and doing meaningful work. But once she entered the small business world, she realized she could achieve both purpose and profit by being intentional and putting her values first.

    “I always sort of felt like I had to choose between making money ... and doing something I cared about," Lauren said. “It wasn’t really until I got into the small business space that I realized you can do both at the same time.”

    Get clear on your marketing goals.

    Impactful marketing starts with a well-defined goal. Lauren advised small business owners to pinpoint what they need from their marketing efforts, such as increasing brand awareness, generating sales, or expanding a specific client base. Knowing your goal can help you create a campaign that helps you achieve it.

    “The first place that most people overlook is to get really, really clear on what your goal is,” Lauren said. “Marketing can do so many different things for us. If I didn't know my goal, I could end up spending my time all wrong.”

    Don’t let a niche box you in.

    Instead of solely focusing on servicing a niche, Lauren encouraged entrepreneurs to understand their ideal customer’s motivations, challenges, and values. By getting clear on these psychological details, business owners can create messaging that resonates with target customers on a deeper level.

    “What unites the people that buy from me and that are part of my community are their psychographics and what they care about,” Lauren said. “I know my ideal customer super well.”

    Design a marketing plan that meets your time requirements.

    Small business owners are busy, which is why it’s especially important to realistically assess the time you have available to dedicate to marketing. Lauren advised entrepreneurs to create achievable marketing plans they can follow consistently, even if it means starting slow and with just one or two platforms.

    “When you set yourself up for a plan you can’t actually stick to given your bandwidth, that is a recipe … for feeling bad about yourself and your ability to follow through,” Lauren said. “There is no upside to biting off more than you can chew, so create a marketing plan based on the time you have available each week.”

    Resources + Links

    • Making Good Podcast with Lauren Tilden

    • Lauren Tilden: Website, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn

    • Brian Thompson Financial: Website, Newsletter, Podcast

    • Follow Brian Thompson Online: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Forbes

    About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast

    Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and Certified Financial Planner® who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit.

    On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.
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    42 m
  • The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 86: Building Your Ideal Business with Adam Oh

    The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 86: Building Your Ideal Business with Adam Oh
    Oct 22 2024
    Brian Thompson chats with Adam Oh, founder of Adam Aligned, a business focused on helping people heal from emotional hardship, find direction, and realize their full potential. On the episode, Adam shares his journey from music artist and social media influencer to self-help entrepreneur. He emphasizes the importance of research and trial and error. He also discusses the significance of overcoming limiting beliefs and provides some actional tools to identify and address them. Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses operate with core values. Adam defined a mission-driven business as one that operates from the founder’s core values and strives to make a positive change in the world. For many founders, including Adam, the business is deeply personal and an extension of their purpose. “In many cases, like for myself, the reason for starting the business is deeply personal,” Adam said. “For many people, the business itself is synonymous with their purpose.” You can be self-taught. Adam’s path toward financial independence started when he went viral as a music artist on Vine in high school and again on TikTok in college. After college graduation, he had to choose between moving to Los Angeles and pursuing a music career or moving to Utah to explore entrepreneurship and life closer to his partner. He chose Utah and spent years deep in self-help research. “If I want to get into this industry and make my voice heard and make an impact on people, I have to be about what I talk about,” Adam said. There’s just a plethora of knowledge out there and, from a young age, the music success taught me that you absolutely can be self-taught.” Don’t be limited by limiting beliefs. Limiting beliefs can often prevent entrepreneurs from achieving their full potential. Adam’s “laundry list” of limiting beliefs he had to address when he started his business included fear of failure, fear of success, and money fears. “I learned that there is a very, very strong link between your thoughts and your beliefs, especially your beliefs about yourself and what you are capable of,” Adam said. “One of the things I found from researching people who have succeeded in making their impact is that there is a very very strong link between your set of beliefs and your ability to go out in the world and accomplish that thing you want to achieve.” Build, measure, learn, repeat. Adam admitted that his new business hasn’t had the level of success he had hoped for when he first launched. While he’s still aiming to grow his social media audience as a way to earn income, like he did for his music career, he’s also set up a donation page, sold digital guides and workbooks, and explored the idea of coaching. “I launched my first product, and no, it didn’t hit my revenue goals,” Adam said. “It’s recognizing that the first thing not being a huge success doesn’t mean that it was a huge failure. It just means that you did the thing and now you have the opportunity to learn from it and try again and probably get better results next time. I’m willing to fail 100 times to make one work.” Resources + Links Adam’s Ideal Self Guide Adam Aligned: Website, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, X, Facebook, LinkedIn Adam Aligned Podcast: Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music Brian Thompson Financial: Website, Newsletter, Podcast Follow Brian Thompson Online: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Forbes About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and Certified Financial Planner® who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit. On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.
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    46 m
  • The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 85: Nursing Your Instagram Profile To Wealth with Jumer Adalin

    The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 85: Nursing Your Instagram Profile To Wealth with Jumer Adalin
    Oct 8 2024

    Brian Thompson chats with nurse-turned-entrepreneur, Jumer Adalin. As a social media expert, Jumer helps fellow nurse entrepreneurs grow their businesses through social media to create both impact and income. On the episode, Jumer shares his journey from ICU nurse to social media superstar. He also offers valuable tips for Instagram marketing and creating content to grow and nurture your own online audience.

    Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses focus on solving problems.

    As a nurse-by-trade, Jumer likens a mission-driven business to a healthcare team whose common goal is to bring about positive patient outcomes. Similarly, a mission-driven business focuses on solving problems for a specific group of people. In Jumer’s case, that group of people is nurses using social media to grow a business.

    “My mission in my business is to grow their online business without sacrificing their sanity, without burning out because I have been there,” Jumer said on the episode.

    Don’t hide behind the current trend.

    With the rise of content created by artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, it’s more important than ever to show up as your authentic self online. Jumer encouraged entrepreneurs to share their values, opinions, and personal stories to build genuine connections with the audience.

    “The value of a personal brand has never been higher,” Jumer said. “Authentic content creation comes down to showing your values and telling your audience what you stand for, what you stand against, and that you have an opinion in the online space.”

    Build your audience with a free but valuable resource.

    Offering a free, high-quality resource can provide immediate value to potential clients or customers, while also building your credibility with your audience, according to Jumer. He designed his free resource, the Instagram audit guide, to be an easily implementable checklist with quick wins to showcase his expertise and teaching style.

    “Creating a really valuable education resource has been pivotal in growing my email list and really showcasing my experience,” he said.

    Consistently communicate with your audience.

    Jumer emphasized the importance of consistently communicating with your audience on your platform of choice. While social media is a free, powerful tool to communicate with your audience, Jumer advised entrepreneurs to consider building their own email lists to reach their followers. Unlike social media, an email list is a direct line to your audience.

    “You don’t own Instagram, but you do own your email list,” Jumer said. “Think about the power of directly getting into a person's inbox. That builds the connection right away, and you don’t have any other competition.”

    Resources + Links

    • 28 Instant Content Remedies

    • Jumer Adalin: Website, Instagram

    • Brian Thompson Financial: Website, Newsletter, Podcast

    • Follow Brian Thompson Online: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Forbes

    About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast

    Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit.

    On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.
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    43 m
  • The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 84: Improving Financial Security for the LGBTQ+ Community with Debt Free Guys David and John Auten-Schneider

    The Mission Driven Business Podcast Episode 84: Improving Financial Security for the LGBTQ+ Community with Debt Free Guys David and John Auten-Schneider
    Sep 24 2024
    Brian Thompson chats with Queer Money podcast hosts and Debt Free Guys founders David and John Auten-Schneider. David and John have more than a decade of experience helping the queer community thrive financially through their podcast, website, and emails. On the episode, they discuss the importance of being intentional with how you choose to grow and engage with your audience. They also open up about some setbacks they’ve experienced as entrepreneurs and tips they’ve learned in their decade-long entrepreneurial journey. Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses have a purpose beyond profit. David and John both define a mission-driven business as one that is focused on a greater purpose than just making a profit. Whether it’s using the income from the business to contribute to a cause or running the business itself to create an impact, mission-driven entrepreneurs know they are putting in the work for a reason higher than just financial success. “What is the motivation behind getting up and putting in the 16-hour days or 60-hour weeks?” David asked. “Everyone should have the right to be able to achieve financial success and be able to have fulfillment with that, but when you have another mission that is contributing to the reason that you get up and do what you do, that is what makes your business a mission-driven business.” For David and John, the mission of Queer Money is to try and improve the financial security of the LGBTQ+ community. “The stronger we are as individuals, including our financial strength, the stronger we are as a community, and the more time, money, and resources we have to be able to protect and fight for our rights,” John said. Build your audience before your product. Before David and John started their Debt Free Guys brand, they wanted to write a book but were told by agents that they first needed to build an audience. They launched the Debt Free Guys blog as a way to share smart debt management advice while also growing an audience. In doing so, they realized the need for LGBTQ+ voices in the personal finance community, which in turn led to the Queer Money podcast. “‘Build it, and they will come’ only works in the movies,” David said. “You will not survive if you create a product and you don’t have a built-in audience who has a desire and need for it.” Don’t forget to create an email list. In the fast-paced world of modern entrepreneurship, it’s easy to get distracted by new opportunities or social media trends as a way to grow a business. Unfortunately, success on most platforms is determined by the current algorithm and chasing success on every platform is a losing game. “There are so many shiny disco balls to go at,” David said. “Find out what you can do to stay in the center of your world, or your business is going to look like a scribbly mess because you keep chasing after everybody else’s center of the world instead of your own.” David and John recommend focusing on one or two platforms that connect with your mission and your audience. They also tout building a good, old-fashioned email list as a consistent and reliable way to reach your audience. “What has consistently been a great money driver for most folks over the greatest duration has been growing your email list,” John added. “I would suggest that anybody who’s going to go down the virtual business path focus as much energy and attention on growing your email list. That’s your list. You can take that list anywhere.” Resources + Links Queer Money Podcast Episode 11: 4 Keys to Winning the Midlife Career Change Queer Money Podcast Episode 31: 3 Surprises, 3 Ah-has, and an Awesome Money Quote Queer Money Podcast: Website, Instagram, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Debt Free Guys: Website, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Pinterest Brian Thompson Financial: Website, Newsletter, Podcast Follow Brian Thompson Online: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Forbes About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit. On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.
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    45 m