What it takes to run a business

Podcast

This week, Paul Downs tells Lena McGuire that, because his business has not picked up, he has had to lay off two employees. Paul explains how he chose which employees to let go, including to what extent he considered who has just had a kid and who just put a down payment on a house. We also talk about whether Paul should start experimenting with different ways to attract business or whether he should continue to do what’s worked in the past and try to ride it out. And then there’s this: Paul has managed to do what so many owners strive to do, which is to take himself out of the day-to-day operation of his business. But what does that mean when there’s very little business coming in? How should he be spending his time now? Plus: Lena and Paul respond to a small business subreddit post from a business owner who quit a comfortable job to pursue the idea he just couldn’t get out of his head. Now, he vacillates between thinking his business is going to be huge and thinking he’s made the dumbest mistake of his life, and he wants to know if anyone else has experienced that kind of doubt. I think we know the answer to that one.

This week, Shawn Busse, Jay Goltz, and Liz Picarazzi talk about the uncertainty coming out of Washington and the stress it's putting on their businesses. Liz, for example, has had to rethink her supply chain and her pricing on an almost daily basis as the tariff situation continues to evolve. Both she and Shawn believe they’ve lost potential clients who’ve been spooked by the uncertainty. The three owners are figuring out ways to cope, but what they find most galling is that none of this had to happen. “It’s like a manufactured recession,” says Jay. Plus: We also talk about Paul Downs’ recent comments that when he had to decide which employees to lay off, he took into consideration personal circumstances such as who just had a kid and who put a down payment on a house. That’s a natural reaction, but is it a good idea? Or is it trying to play God?

This week, Jay Goltz, Lena McGuire, and William Vanderbloemen talk about their best days as business owners and their worst days. Not surprisingly, it’s the worst days that often remain the most vivid—both for the pain they inflict and the lessons they bestow. For Lena, it was the day she felt so exhausted and overwhelmed that she knew she had reached her breaking point and had to do something different. For William, it was when the pandemic hit and he had to lay off almost half of his staff in one day, over Zoom. And for Jay, it was realizing that several young employees he’d tried to lift up were just not going to make it. Of course, the most inspiring part of these stories is what the owners did to learn from them and to rise above them. And then there’s the day Lena returned from spending most of this past January unplugged to find that a whole bunch of things had fallen into place during her absence: “My business,” she tells us, “was running without me for the first time in my life. It felt so good.”

This week, we brought in a tax expert, Juliann Rowe of CRI Simple Numbers, to explain everything Liz Picarazzi, Jaci Russo, and Sarah Segal ever wanted to know about tax (but weren’t sure whom to ask). For example, should owners run their own compensation through payroll? Well, maybe, maybe not. We quickly learned that the answer for Sarah is different from the answer for Liz, which is why a lot of owners get this one wrong. Among the other issues we cover: Isn’t it easier for owners to pay themselves through payroll so they don’t have to worry about paying quarterly estimates? Can the owner take a draw to cover her income tax payment? If the owner isn’t running her own compensation through payroll, how much can she contribute to her 401(k)? Is it even a good idea for owners to tie up their money in a retirement account? What’s the best way for an internal bookkeeper and an external CPA to work together? And also, why did Liz, Jaci, and Sarah ask me to bring in a tax expert who is a woman? I kind of knew the answer to that one, but I decided to ask anyway.

This week, Paul Downs tells Shawn Busse and Jay Goltz why he isn’t sleeping and why he has stopped paying himself. After having his best year ever in 2024, Paul has seen his inquiries fall precipitously. His backlog of work is dwindling, and he’s concluded he needs to take some painful steps. “I'm coming to the realization,” he tells us, “that I need to do something that involves reducing staff.” Paul’s not sure why his business is off, but he suspects it may have something to do with the chaos in Washington. He also tells us that the big marketing initiative he undertook a couple of years ago, when he decided to try to reach a slightly different target market, has yet to pay off the way he’d hoped. But he hasn’t given up on it. Plus: We also address an increasingly common issue for business owners: What do you do when employees come to work high?