Are You Aligned? How to Align Your Resources as Pole Dance Business Owner

If you’re working in the pole industry, you probably talk about your physical alignment a lot. We are always looking for that perfect stack to make our Ayesha feel strong, or lining ourselves up with the pole before executing particular moves, but have you thought about aligning the rest of the resources in your life?

Is your time allocated the way you want? Are your finances aligned with meeting your goals? If your response to either of these questions is “no” or “I don’t know what you mean by that”, we have some book recommendations for you!

Who You Were Meant to Be & The Artist’s Way

Lindsay C. Gibson, best known for her book Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, also wrote a book titled Who You Were Meant to Be. Who You Were Meant to Be explores how you align your energetic resources. The target audience is adults who had emotionally immature parents who molded their lives in their parents’ image and have realized that’s not what they want for themselves. It’s a great book to read just before reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Campbell to explore your inner world and figure out what profession you actually want to pursue.

Gibson’s book will help you identify if your time is currently allocated how you want and if your chosen career aligns with your goals. Campbell’s book will provide you tools and exercises for feeding your inner artist and discovering the career that aligns with your goals.

The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur & Profit First

If you have already started your business and it doesn’t feel like it’s working for you financially, we recommend the books of Mike Michalowicz. Michalowicz has a unique approach to finances that will get you profitable fast. He also has systems set up to help you get out of debt if you’ve already started your business and it’s not working out.

Mike’s profit-first accounting method hinges on a business creating five accounts:

• Revenue:

• • • This account collects all your funds before being dispersed between the other 4 accounts. As soon as money comes in, it is separated into the other 4 accounts.

• Profit (or “bonus savings”):

• • • Where you start building your company’s nest egg. Mike recommends a different percentage for different situations, all of which are outlined in Profit First, but is between 1-5% depending on your current financial situation.

• Owner’s Pay:

• • • What you, the owner of the company, pay yourself. You should pay yourself the same amount you would pay someone replacing you. (Read our post on this topic here!) Your time and work has value, don’t devalue it just because you own the company. Mike recommends making your pay 50% of profit.

• Taxes:

• • • Savings for paying your taxes This is not optional. For small businesses (less than 250k/year in revenue) Mike recommends 15% savings. If you have extra in your tax account at the end of the year once your bill is settled with your government, this bonus tax savings become profit!

• Operating Expenses:

• • Mike recommends operating your business on as little as possible. Operate with what you need rather than what you want. Minimizing operating expenses is the best way to boost profit. However, make sure you don’t swing too far to the utilitarian side and make your business an awful place to work. For small businesses, Mike recommends operating expenses be 30% or less.

Mike also constantly recommends working with a bookkeeper familiar with Profit First Accounting, since it is a unique perspective compared to how most companies run on traditional accounting practices (which run mainly on accounts payable and accounts receivable and a lot of float time). The resources provided with Profit First and the first two chapters of all of Mike’s books are available at his website.

Final Thoughts

In the end, aligning your time and finances is a very personal journey. Books, podcasts, and trusted colleagues can help lead you to your ultimate realization of how you want to be aligned, but you must do the work. The books we mentioned have been excellent guides for many working in the pole industry, and we hope they work for you too!