Catriona Holt Business

Someone said to me last week, “I’m just useless with money, always have been.”

She runs a salon that’s booked out three weeks ahead.

You don’t build that being useless. What she actually meant was nobody ever sat her down and explained VAT, or what a client really costs her, or the number she needs to hit before a cent of it is hers.

That’s not a personality flaw. That’s a gap. And gaps can be filled.

If you’ve ever said the same thing about yourself, book a 1:1 where I can show you on one hour your breakeven number. That’s the foundation of a successful business.

🟠 “Do I really count MY wage? It’s only me.” Especially because it’s only you.

Here’s the trap if you leave your wage out and the sums look good, break even at 23 jobs, easy week.

But 23 is the number where the bills get paid and YOU work for free, and a business that only survives on your free labour isn’t breaking even, it’s borrowing from you every single week.

Put a real wage in, what you’d have to pay someone else to do your job, and the true number appears. It’ll be bigger. It’ll also be the first honest number your business has ever given you. The wage goes in. Always.

If your struggling with this click the link in bio and book a call 📞

Catriona 🧡

🟠 Terrified of a €5 price rise, wondering if it’s even worth the hassle?

Watch what the fiver actually does. In my example week, jobs leave €35 each and the week breaks even at 40 jobs. Add €5, about €4.60 stays after VAT takes its slice, and jobs now leave €39.60. New break-even is 35 jobs. Five fewer jobs, every week, forever. That’s most of a working day handed back to you, by a fiver that no client will leave over.

The hassle is one awkward sentence said once. The reward is a day of your life back every week. Worth it. (Example figures, run your own.)

Catriona 🧡

🟠 “It FELT busy anyway.” I love this question because we’ve all done it, grading our week on vibes.

The tired week feels successful. The chatty week feels great. And the truth arrives months later at the accountant’s, when it’s history.

Your break-even ends the guessing what a week costs you, divided by what one job leaves, gives you a number, and every week either passes it or doesn’t. Pass it, good week, no matter how quiet it felt. Miss it, and you know by exactly how many jobs, which turns next week into a plan instead of a hope. Feelings are lovely. Numbers are honest.

Catriona 🧡