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The Gold Mine PodcastThe Gold Mine Podcast is an audio show hosted by Auburn Business Ventures (California) where the guests are local entrepreneurs and business owners. Author: Auburn Business Ventures
The Gold Mine Podcast is an audio show hosted by Auburn Business Ventures (California) where the guests are local entrepreneurs and business owners. The episodes serve to publicize the stories of their local businesses and the lessons they learned along the way in building them. Language: en Genres: Business, Entrepreneurship, Marketing Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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E37 Budgets, Margins & Marketing | Francesca Thornley | Thornley & Knight
Episode 37
Friday, 19 September, 2025
Stop running your business from your bank balance. In this Gold Mine Podcast episode, we sit down with our own bookkeeper, Francesca Thornley—founder of Thornley & Knight—for a practical, no-jargon playbook on money management that actually supports growth, sanity, and smart marketing.Francesca shares how she built an all-remote team (many homeschooling moms) over 11 years, why clean books beat “bank-balance accounting,” and how simple systems—owner pay, profit buckets, and autopay—turn chaos into clarity.What you’ll learn:• Profit First (in plain English): paying yourself first, setting percentages, and using multiple accounts so decisions get easier at a glance• Owner pay that sticks: how to pick a reliable number now and step it up over time—without missing payroll or taxes• Clean separation: why mixing personal and business spends can pierce the corporate veil (and how to avoid it)• Autopay + AR: why automatic billing is a non-negotiable, and how ACH/credit cards impact cash flow more than the fees scare you think• Margins and pricing: how to spot products/services that quietly lose money—and fix them• Marketing budgets that work: setting a sustainable % (vs. vibes), building a 90-day runway, and respecting the “flywheel”• Reports that matter: P&L vs. balance sheet, simple rhythms, and the “reverse budgeting” mindset• Red flags to dodge: late-tax fantasies (hello, IRS), “throwing good money after bad,” and running ads without a sales/process backboneGuestFrancesca Thornley is the founder of Thornley & Knight, a boutique bookkeeping firm built for real life. Her team helps owners get accurate numbers, readable reports, and systems they can trust—so decisions get faster and stress gets lighter. Resources mentioned (no affiliates) • Profit First (framework)• P&L and Balance Sheet basics• Autopay/recurring billing (ACH + cards)• Margin analysis for pricing If this was helpful, subscribe, drop a comment with your biggest takeaway, and share it with a business owner who’s ready to get out of money fog and into momentum.
