How to Make Smarter Business Decisions with Dawn Kennedy
Mission Driven Business
Most entrepreneurs make major business decisions without a reliable framework to guide them. In this episode, Brian Thompson sits down with Dawn Kennedy, attorney, entrepreneur, and author of Before You Decide, to explore the pre-decision tools she developed after losing her first business overnight and spending years translating enterprise-level decision frameworks for small and mid-sized business owners. Dawn's story is both practical and deeply personal. After her husband suffered a catastrophic accident in 2013 that ended their consulting business instantly, she realized how much she did...
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Five Questions To Ask About the Future of Your Business
Mission Driven Business
Ten years into building a business, the questions you ask yourself need to change. In this episode, Brian Thompson wraps up the BTF tenth anniversary series by looking forward, sharing five questions every entrepreneur should ask about the future of their business, and the power of writing a letter to your future self. This is not a strategic planning session. There are no revenue projections or growth targets. It is an honest and personal reflection on what intentional entrepreneurship looks like when survival is no longer the primary question. In this episode you will learn: ...
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What I Believed About Business in 2016 and What I Know Now
Mission Driven Business
Ten years of entrepreneurship changes the way you think about almost everything. In this episode, Brian Thompson shares ten belief shifts that shaped his journey from 2016 to 2026, and what they might mean for wherever you are in building your own business. Brian introduces two versions of himself: 2016 Brian, the guy who just walked away from a comfortable legal career with a vision and a lot of assumptions, and 2026 Brian, someone who has spent a decade building a business, serving clients, making mistakes, and learning along the way. The result is an honest and personal reflection on what...
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A Decade in Business: Lessons, Gratitude, and What Comes Next
Mission Driven Business
Ten years ago, Brian Thompson walked out of his law firm for the last time with a vision, a lot of fear, and no guaranteed paycheck. In this episode, he reflects on a decade of entrepreneurship, the lessons that shaped him, the people who made it possible, and what the next ten years of mission-driven financial planning looks like. This is not a strategy episode. It is a personal and heartfelt thank you to everyone who has been part of the BTF journey, and a reminder that meaningful businesses are not built overnight. They are built one conversation, one client, one courageous decision, and...
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How to Review Your Business Finances Mid-Year
Mission Driven Business
The halfway point of the year is one of the best moments to review your business finances, and most entrepreneurs let it pass without taking action. In this episode, Brian Thompson shares the CASH framework, a simple mid-year review you can complete in under an hour, that helps you understand where your business stands and make better decisions for the second half of the year. Brian gets honest about his own relationship with numbers and why most entrepreneurs avoid their finances, not because the news is bad, but because looking feels uncomfortable. This episode is a practical and...
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How to Make Better Business Decisions Using a Simple Framework
Mission Driven Business
Most entrepreneurs treat business problems as money problems. In this episode, Brian Thompson makes the case that they are almost always alignment problems, and that better decision-making starts not with tactics, but with mission, vision, and values. Brian shares the alignment framework he uses with entrepreneurs across industries to help them make decisions with more clarity, confidence, and purpose. If you have ever felt like your business decisions are harder than they should be, this episode will help you understand why, and what to do about it. In this episode you will learn: Why...
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Why Better Systems Won't Fix Entrepreneurial Burnout
Mission Driven Business
Refining workflows and checklists cannot solve every foundational business hurdle. In this episode, Brian Thompson explores why a focus on optimization often leads to the avoidance of deeper personal and operational challenges, and what actually builds true resilience over the long term. Brian opens up about navigating a profound capacity problem during a period of intense personal transition and business growth. If you have ever felt exhausted despite having a perfectly organized schedule, this episode explains why the solution often requires subtraction. In this episode you will...
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Choosing the Right Business Structure for a Mission-Driven Business
Mission Driven Business
Choosing the right business structure is one of the most important decisions a mission-driven business owner will make, and taxes are only part of the story. In this episode, Brian Thompson walks through every major business structure available to entrepreneurs, viewed through the lens of ownership, profit sharing, decision making, and mission protection. Whether you are just starting out, growing your team, or thinking about the best way to share profits, this episode will help you ask better questions and make a more informed decision about the structure that fits the business you are...
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People Before Profit: The Co-op Business Model
Mission Driven Business
Most entrepreneurs have never seriously considered the cooperative business model, even though some of the most recognizable brands in the world are co-ops. In this episode, Brian Thompson sits down with D.G. Safeer Hopton, entrepreneur, healer, and author of Creating a Co-op Village, to explore cooperative economics and what it could mean for mission-driven business owners. Safeer has spent decades building co-ops, studying cooperative economics, and helping communities create prosperity through shared ownership. This conversation is a practical and eye-opening introduction to a business...
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Why Revenue Growth Isn't Making You Feel Safer
Mission Driven Business
More revenue does not automatically create financial security. In this episode, Brian Thompson explores why so many entrepreneurs still feel anxious even when business is going well, and what actually builds business stability over the long term. Brian gets honest about the gap between revenue growth and emotional security, drawing from his own experience and years of working with entrepreneurs at every stage of business. If you have ever hit a goal and still felt like everything could fall apart, this episode will help you understand why, and what to do about it. In this episode you...
info_outlineIn this very special episode, host Brian Thompson opens up like never before. He shares why he started his own mission-driven business, and some of his highs and lows he encountered in the process. You’ll also learn the difference between strategy and tactics, and why entrepreneurship isn’t necessarily more risky than being a W-2 employee. If you’ve wanted to know more about Brian and his own story, this episode, hosted by Latarsha Stewart, is for you.
Episode Highlights
Mission-driven businesses serve.
For Brian, mission-driven businesses have both a purpose motive and a profit motive. Brian wants clients and listeners to know that you don’t have to run a non-profit in order to run a business that does good and makes an impact.
“The underlying current of all this is that mission-driven businesses serve. And you can make money and make a good living by serving,” he said. “That's been my focus and why I try to meld these two together. Because you don't have to do one or the other. You can do both.”
Things happen at the right time.
Brian had been working at a tax law firm when everything in his personal and professional life shifted. The partners of the law firm split up; his long-term relationship ended; and marriage equality was making huge strides. Brian ended up using the uncertainty to forge the future he wanted.
“So you have this moment in time to say — What do you actually want to do? What do you want to do with your life?” he said. “Having the support of my friends and my ex-husband and all that just came together at the right time.”
Find your niche.
During this time of uncertainty, Brian decided to start a financial planning firm focusing on LGBTQ couples. But he soon learned that his core audience was a target market and not a niche.
When looking at his client base, Brian realized his roster included a lot of business owners who were coming to him because of his background in tax law — and he enjoyed the complexity of meeting their needs. So he redefined his business focus as helping LGBT business owners who run mission-driven businesses.
At the same time, Brian is passionate about closing the racial wealth gap, which is 3:1 for people of color who are entrepreneurs versus 11:1 for non-business owners. He sees his niche and business as an opportunity to fulfill that motivation as well.
“You have to serve a specific amount of people, so you should make sure that those people are the people that you want to serve and the people that you want to hang out with and the people that you want to talk to,” Brian said. “It's a very significant mind shift that really freed me up and allowed me to really enjoy the process.”
Let go of perfectionism.
One of the hardest lessons Brian had to learn on his entrepreneurial journey was to let go of his perfectionism and live in the moment.
"I had to do it out of necessity because nothing was perfect. And nothing was exactly the way that I wanted,” Brian said. “I learned how to adjust and pivot and navigate. I had to be okay and get okay with things not being perfect, and things needing to just go.”
Now, Brian is used to constantly trying things out and learning from them. He resonates with the metaphor that running a business is like building an airplane while trying to fly it.
“You just don't either have enough time or energy or space to try to do everything perfectly,” he said. “Which is actually a huge relief for me to realize it actually doesn't need to be perfect, and things still happen, and things still go.”
Resources + Links
- Mission Driven Business episodes with Mike Michalowicz and Ron Saharyan of Profit First Professionals
- Brian’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrianFinancial
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.