The Business Bible

Welcome, friends, to your Business Bible, in which I share everything I’ve learnt about setting up and running a successful business. Consider it your invitation to the world of business ownership – a world where flexibility, independence and financial rewards await!

It’s my goal with this book to help you design your dream lifestyle as an entrepreneur and find satisfaction and success in the world of business ownership, all while staying true to your personal values and goals. I truly believe it’s possible for anyone to start a business that serves their passion and purpose so they can build a future for themselves, and the world, that they’re proud of.

For those who don’t know me yet, I’m a born-and-bred Tassie girl who grew up in Melbourne, which is where I’ve started and built two multi-million-dollar businesses of my own from scratch. My biggest business success story is my finance education platform, She’s on the Money (SOTM, amongst friends) – you may know me from one of my podcasts (hello, listeners!). SOTM is built on my core belief that it’s possible for anyone, no matter where they’re starting from, to build an ideal future life for themselves once they’ve gained a money education. And my first business baby, Zella Money, is a financial advice business that I founded back in 2015, before SOTM came to life – I’m still Zella’s managing director, and these days our focus is on home loans and asset finance.

They’re two very different businesses, but across both, my teams and I are tirelessly driven by our mission of empowering others to make smarter money decisions every day. We want to instil in our clients and listeners the confidence they need to be able to change their financial situation for the better, however that may look for them.

One incredible way to revolutionise your financial future is by starting, growing and sustaining a business of your own, if it’s something that appeals to you – and you’re up for the challenge! Entrepreneurship opens doors that simply aren’t accessible when you’re working in a salaried position for somebody else’s company. There’s a lot to get excited about – and we’re going to think blue-sky in this book but also step through the fine detail, to get you totally clear and prepared for what lies ahead on your path.

What kind of business is this book about, you ask? Well, I know from my daily interactions with the SOTM community that many of you have tried-and-tested side hustles that you’re keen to take full time, while the go-getters among us are dreaming of our small biz goals becoming Canva-style unicorns. And I’m all for that, friend! If this handy guide sees some of us shooting high and landing among the highest of stars, yay for us all! But to give us clear focus and match up with most people’s aspirations and realities in the here and now, we’re going to zoom our attention in on businesses with less than 20 staff, operating in one of the most beautiful places on the planet – this being the government’s definition of ‘small business in Australia’1 (well, maybe I added the ‘most beautiful’ part but you know I’m not wrong).

That’s not to say this book won’t be inspiring for anyone who wants to run any kind of enterprise the world over. I also know, since we get regular feedback from listeners across the globe, that for the most part the ideas and info we share are translatable no matter where you live or how wealthy you may (or may not) feel. So take heart that a good chunk, if not most, of this book will be practical, useful and inspiring to you, too! Plus, the gold in these pages is as much about self-empowerment and general financial wizardry as practical guidance.

Your financial success and future business success are about self-belief, and knowledge, and more than a little hard graft. And that applies to everyone, no matter where you’re from, or what type or size of business you want to run. You’ll see it echoed in the interviews I’ve gathered with my entrepreneurial pals from across different industries. Whether you’re looking at micro, small or large business, Australian or international, bricks-and-mortar or digital, manufacturing or service, the words in this book are designed to guide us all. Everyone is welcome and we’re all taking this journey together.

That means, at times in these pages we’ll go deep on ideas and concerns that may feel a little irrelevant, depending on what kind of biz you’re in. If that’s the case, take what’s on the page as a general guide and use our good friend Google to unearth any details more specific to you. Or skip ahead to the next bit that’s useful. This book doesn’t have to be read in chronological order (although, of course, it can be). But I’ve designed it so you can dip in and out, referring to the info at different times and different stages, depending on what you need. End of financial year? Come back and revise your bookkeeping. Sales a little flat? Flick through the marketing sections. Bringing on a new partner? Perhaps it’s time to revise your structure.

Like life, business is not set-and-forget but an ongoing, ever-evolving concern. How big or small it becomes is up to you. The only rule I have is: make it yours and make it sing. Okay? I’ll be cheering for you!

My business journey – so far

Before we start writing your business story together, let me briefly take you back to the beginning and retrace my path so you know where I’m coming from. When I look back, I feel I’ve achieved a lot and I’m really proud of it, but also I worked really hard to get here – and sometimes I don’t honestly know how I did it.

I kicked off my career in organisational psychology, having studied that at uni, and started working as a cultural engagement consultant. I was curious to discover that I was always having the same conversations with employees when we discussed workplace culture: everything kept coming back to money. A lot of the time, this wasn’t actually a workplace issue. There was a missing link – something or someone that could help people meet their financial potential. That’s when I felt the spark of my new passion: I wanted to transform other people’s relationships with money and make a real impact on their lives.

So, I took the big leap into the financial advice world, with all the study that requires. I began working in a wealth practice, doing an accelerated MBA alongside, and before long I decided I wanted to start my own finan­cial advice business. It was hard to find the hours in the day – I’d be getting up at 4.30 am to go to the gym, smashing my bullet coffee (who was I?!) and at my desk by 6.30 or 7 am so I could get a uni assignment done or work on my fledgling business idea for a couple of hours before starting my full-time job. Then I’d have uni three or four evenings a week from 6 pm till 9 or 10 pm. Some of my units I was able to take as four-day intensives – those were wildly exhausting! – which meant I was able to complete my MBA in just under two years. Helpful too, because I was so fired up with all I was learning, I became eager to start putting it all into practice.

While I finished up my MBA I enrolled in my finance diploma – thankfully, that was all online and self-paced. But still, my weekends were taken up with more assignments and working on my business. Because I felt so passionate, I was willing to sacrifice time with family and friends – there were many gatherings, brunches and holidays with girlfriends I had to say no to in the name of building my business. And I wasn’t born into a family with intergenerational wealth who could kickstart my business – it all came down to yours truly. But to me it was worth it. I was a woman on a mission!

The day finally came when I was ready to launch full time into my wealth business, which I’d named Zella, after my beautiful grandmother who was a big influence on me growing up. As a strong woman she was the perfect inspiration for a company designed to empower and uplift women.

One of my first challenges was building out my client base – after all, I couldn’t just steal the clients from my previous company. So I kicked off a series of lunch-and-learn sessions at various law firms and other corporates in Melbourne’s CBD, figuring those would be a great way to reach and connect with people on the corporate career ladder who wanted some financial guidance. The sessions covered the basics of financial literacy and I had so many women come along that I decided to call it She’s on the Money. Over the next year or two it started to gather pace, so in 2017 I decided to create a Facebook group where everyone who attended my workshops could connect, and I could share the materials from the sessions along with extra activities for people to complete. I remember the day in 2019 when we hit 1700 people in the group – I was like, This is wild!

Based on feedback from that group I decided to start a podcast, and pretty quickly it blew up. I realised I was really on to something: there was a need and a demand that I was helping people with. And because of the podcast and the community in my Facebook group, my wealth business started to grow – it all helped new clients to find me. So Zella Money and SOTM kind of grew together, to the point where I was able to start hiring staff and create two teams of people who supported me so I could reduce my hours and take the pressure off a little.

It was such a thrilling (and challenging) time of growth, and then, in September 2022, I decided I wanted a family in the not-too-distant future and it was time to get some balance back. So I kept building SOTM but sold off the wealth-business side of Zella and shifted its focus purely to mortgage broking, which had been just a small component of our work previously. As I write this, I’ve stepped back somewhat from the day-to-day of running Zella (the fabulous team there have it covered) and I’m still loving what I do at SOTM, but I also have the very important job of being mum to my gorgeous Harvey. Family time is incredibly important, so I’m thinking more than ever about the sustainability of both businesses into the future as new chapters unfold.

Of course, that’s not the end of my story – it’s really just the begin­ning. And I know I was very fortunate in having a great trajectory, so much opportunity and an element of ‘right place, right time’ for sure. But I’ll also say there was a whole lot of legwork, more than I (and many other people) anticipated before I was in the thick of it!

The real point I’d like to make here is that was my journey – yours will look different and be beautifully unique to you. Along the way, my choices and priorities reflected me and my values, and while I made plenty of mistakes and would do many things differently if given a second chance, I’m also proud that I approached it all as only I could: as me. I urge you to do the same.

There’s a contribution to the world that only you can make. What’s lighting you up? What really matters to you? What’s the mark you’d like to leave? In this book we’ll answer those questions and more, to clarify your vision and create your one-of-a-kind roadmap for business success.

Let’s get into it!