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_outlineBrian chats with Liz Szporn, an accomplished executive and entrepreneur and current Profit First Professionals Homebase Guide. Through her work with Profit First Professionals, Liz helps to eradicate entrepreneurial poverty by coaching members to build more profitable businesses for themselves and their clients.
On the episode, Liz opens up about her successes and struggles with founding a professional development organization for educators. She also digs deep into some of the strategies and tactics she shares with her clients for building a successful, profitable business, including the magic of value pricing.
Episode Highlights
Mission-driven businesses make the world better.
Mission-driven businesses make their slice of the world better in everything they do, according to Liz. At Profit First Professionals, that mission is to eradicate entrepreneurial poverty.
“Our decisions are based on this mission,” Liz said. “Our interactions are based on this mission. Our partnerships, opportunities, technology … is to make sure we’re hitting that mission.”
The mission of Profit First Professionals hits home for Liz, who knows entrepreneurial poverty firsthand. She and a few friends started a business but all the money they made went right back into operations. Then, the business went under during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the experience was difficult, it has made Liz a more empathetic coach.
“I read the book and immediately was like ‘I get this,’” Liz said. “‘I get this because I lived it.’”
Mission-driven businesses require clarity.
In the Profit First model, every dollar has a specific job, and a mission or vision provides clarity on how to assign those dollars. One of the tools Liz uses to get clarity is a profit assessment, which involves reviewing a profit and loss statement to clarify how much a business made last year and analyze how to best divvy up those dollars going forward.
“This is where having a Brian Thompson to work with is so important because you provide clarity very early on,” Liz said. “Whether you’re helping them get clarity of what they actually want out of their business, or what is actually happening in their business currently.”
Earn what you’re worth with value pricing.
Liz has yet to meet a client who charges what they’re worth from the start. Value pricing is an alternative to hourly billing that helps entrepreneurs choose their fees. It takes into account what income they want to make, what they want to do, and which clients they want to serve.
“You start to see based on your total revenue and clients how much your average client is paying you,” Liz said. “Then we start playing with numbers.”
Ultimately, value pricing allows business owners to set different levels of pricing so that they can focus on what they enjoy and what they’re good at. It also provides validation that the entrepreneur is providing a valuable service.
“As soon as you stop saying I have to do this for $12 an hour, it’s so fun,” Liz said.”
Resources + Links
- Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine by Mike Michalowicz
- Episode 6: Eradicating Entrepreneurial Poverty with Ron Saharyan
- Episode 7: Being Profit First with Mike Michalowicz
- Liz Szporn: Supporting the Entrepreneur's Journey
- Liz’s Social Media: Twitter, LinkedIn
- Brian’s Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook
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.