Starting a Small Business?

I’m going to answer this from experience. I have started four businesses. Three are successful. One failed.

The first business I ever tried to start was a real estate photography business. And it failed. Not because I wasn’t capable. Not because I didn’t work hard. But because I did not understand what actually sustains something long term.

Since then, I have built The Budget Mom, Pine Manor Naturals, and Pine Manor Homestead. And here is something important. None of them started with a desire to turn them into a business. Period. They did not start with revenue goals. They did not start with scaling strategies. They started with something personal. And that is where my first must have begins.

A Purpose Bigger Than Profit

When I started real estate photography, I thought, “I take good photos.” That is a skill. It is not a reason. There was no deeper pull. No emotional anchor. No bigger meaning attached to it. I did it simply because I wanted more money in my budget.So when it got hard, there was nothing keeping me rooted.

The Budget Mom started because I felt alone. I was a single mom in debt trying to figure out how to change my life. I wanted to connect with people who thought about money the way I did. I started sharing my journey online because I needed community. It became a business later. But in the beginning, it was just me sharing what was helping me survive. The budget worksheets. The mistakes. The progress. The hard days. People saw themselves in that story, and that is what built it.

Pine Manor Naturals started from grief. After losing my mom, I needed something that made me feel close to her. Soapmaking was a skill she was so proud of me for. Creating soap was not about launching a product line. It was about honoring her. It was about turning pain into something tangible. The fact that it became profitable came after the meaning.

Pine Manor Homestead started as something I needed to prove to myself. That I could take the land we had and make it produce. That I had the skills to create value from it, even if I have never attempted anything like it before. It was about capability. About self trust. About watching something grow because I put in the work.

None of these started with “How can I monetize this?” They started with “This matters to me.” And when something matters deeply, you will fight for it differently. If money is the only reason you are starting something, it will be very hard to stay when money is inconsistent. Purpose is what keeps you steady in the quiet seasons.

Financial Discipline From the Beginning

Purpose without structure will collapse. This is where many small businesses struggle. You need to understand what it costs to operate, what it costs to produce your product or service, what your pricing actually supports, and whether you are generating profit or just revenue.

Revenue is not profit. Busy does not equal sustainable. I have underpriced before because I was afraid people would not pay more. That fear can quietly destroy a business. You cannot price based on insecurity. You have to price based on math.

Separate your business and personal finances immediately. Track every expense. Know your margins. When I started earning money with The Budget Mom, I tracked everything. Website costs. Software. Shipping supplies. Payment processing fees. Contractors. Clarity creates stability. You need awareness. You need to know EVERYTHING about your business’s finances (even when you are not earning anything o if you are in the negative).

Emotional Endurance

This is the one most people underestimate. Building something will stretch you. There will be slow months. There will be doubt. There will be comparison. There will be seasons where you question whether it is working.

My first business failed in part because I did not yet have the emotional endurance to push through rejection and slow growth. I interpreted it as proof I was not cut out for entrepreneurship.

What I know now is this: every successful business I have today required me to stay longer than my doubt. There were launches that underperformed. There were dips in engagement. There were seasons of grief and exhaustion. And I still had to show up.

Heck, I spent time working on The Budget Mom for two years before it even earned any money.

Resilience is not loud. It is consistent. It is continuing to refine instead of retreat. It is separating your identity from short-term results. It is staying when growth feels slow. You can improve your skills. You can learn marketing. You can adjust your strategy. But if you quit every time it feels uncomfortable, you will never experience momentum compounding.

Final Thoughts

If I could go back and talk to the version of me starting that real estate photography business, I would say this: do not start with “How do I make money?” Start with “Why does this matter to me?”

Then build the discipline to support it and the endurance to sustain it.

But I would also tell her this: you have to believe in yourself, even if no one else does. There will be seasons where people do not understand what you are building. They will not see the vision. They may not take it seriously. And sometimes, you will question whether what you have to offer even has value. It does. What feels ordinary to you can be life changing to someone else.

What you think is small can be exactly what someone has been looking for. You have to be willing to believe in your work before the results validate it. That combination is what turns something personal into something profitable. And more importantly, something meaningful.

I get asked all the time what finance books I recommend, so I thought I’d share a few that genuinely shaped how I think about money. And yes, of course I have to mention mine — not because I’m trying to promote it, but because it truly is the framework that changed my own life first. My Money, My Way is the system I used to pay off debt, rebuild my confidence, and create structure when everything felt chaotic. It’s personal because it was lived before it was written.

Atomic Habits by James Clear is not technically a money book, but I believe habit building is one of the most important financial skills you can develop. Budgeting, saving, investing, paying off debt, building wealth — none of it works without consistent behavior. This book explains behavior change in a way that is practical and actionable.

Get Good with Money by Tiffany Aliche is one I really respect because she brings in other experts to cover topics like estate planning, insurance, and investing. It’s structured, comprehensive, and grounded. I appreciate how collaborative it is and how it walks through the full financial picture.

The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel is powerful because it shifts your focus from formulas to behavior. It reinforces something I talk about often — money decisions are emotional before they are mathematical.

Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez challenges you to think differently about earning, spending, and aligning your money with your values. It’s less about tactics and more about awareness, which is where lasting change begins.

The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins is one of the clearest breakdowns of long term investing I’ve read. It simplifies investing in a way that removes intimidation and makes building wealth feel accessible.

And finally, The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko is a classic for a reason. It’s based on research and shows that real wealth is often quiet, disciplined, and unassuming. It reinforces that net worth is built through consistent behavior over time, not lifestyle inflation.

The common thread in all of these is this: none of them are just about numbers. They’re about behavior, alignment, discipline, and long-term thinking. And that’s where real financial transformation happens.

It’s funny. I graduated with a finance degree, yet knew nothing about personal finance. Although there's no "one-size-fits-all" answer on how to manage your finances, there are things you likely aren't taught about that play a big role in your finances that you can implement today.

I am back on YouTube! After taking last week off entirely from YouTube to focus on my other business Pine Manor Naturals, I’m back and sharing an update on my spending, meal plan, and other goals. I also give a look at March!

The Building Blocks of Budgeting is the complete budgeting system I created after years of trial, error, and real-life experience. This course walks you through seven core building blocks, with step-by-step lessons, worksheets, and videos, so you can create a realistic plan, pay off debt, grow your savings, and build lasting confidence with your money. It’s self-paced, includes lifetime access, and is designed to help you build a budget that honors your life, goals, and values.

A few gems from the past to check out:

Use this money checklist to ensure you remain intentional with your money in March!

Until next time,