The 15-Minute Money Check-In for Creative Businesses
Your business is real.
Orders are coming in, clients are booking, your days are full.
But when you think about your money, it still feels like a guessing game.
You are not totally sure how much you can pay yourself
You are hoping cash will stretch through the month
You are “checking in” on your numbers in random bursts when things feel off
You are not alone in that.
Most creative businesses do not need a huge, complicated finance system.
They need one simple rhythm.
That is what the 15-Min Money Check-In is for.
Why you need a money ritual, not a giant spreadsheet
A lot of creatives try to solve money stress by promising themselves they will “get organized” one day.
That usually looks like:
Opening a blank spreadsheet
Feeling overwhelmed by what to track
Copying a template that does not fit their business
Closing the laptop and avoiding it for another month
The real issue is not that you do not have enough data.
It is that you do not have a simple, repeatable way to look at your money and make decisions.
A money ritual does three things:
Gives you a consistent moment to look at what is true right now
Helps you decide where your money is going on purpose
Lets you spot problems early instead of getting surprised later
You can do all of that in fifteen minutes.
The 3-part 15-Min Money Check-In
This is the structure behind the free guide.
Step 1: Look
The goal here is simple: see what is true right now without judgment.
In this step, you quickly check:
How much cash is in your main business account
What money is on the way in (payouts, invoices, launches)
What money is on the way out in the next couple of weeks (rent, inventory, contractors, ads, software)
Then you pause and ask yourself:
Does this feel tight, steady, or spacious?
You are not solving everything in this step.
You are just being honest about where things stand.
Step 2: Decide
Once you know what is happening, you give your money a job.
A simple place to start is a percentage split. For example:
40% to owner pay
30% to operating costs
20% to taxes
10% to savings or future plans
The exact percentages can shift over time.
The power is in the act of deciding, instead of letting every expense and transfer be random.
Two good questions to ask here:
How much can I comfortably pay myself from this period?
What small adjustment would make things feel safer or more spacious?
(Cut a cost, delay a project, raise one price, change a minimum order, etc.)
Step 3: Scan for red flags
This is where you catch small issues before they become emergencies.
You look for patterns like:
You have less than one month of operating expenses in your main account
You have skipped paying yourself for two months in a row
You keep using personal money to float the business
Your revenue is growing but you still feel like there is “never enough”
These are not failures.
They are signals that your business may need a clearer cash-flow plan, a pricing reset, or both.
The key is to choose one next step before you end your check-in. Write it down.
You do not have to fix everything in fifteen minutes.
You do have to decide what you are going to look at or change next.
Turn this into a real ritual, not just a nice idea
Reading about a check-in is helpful.
Having it in front of you when you sit down with your coffee, bank app, and laptop is different.
I created a free 15-Min Money Check-In guide for creative businesses that want to actually use this, not just think about it.
Inside the PDF you will get:
A simple breakdown of the three steps
A visual of the percentage split so you can give every dollar a job
Space to note your cash, money in, money out
A short list of red flags and reflection questions to check in with yourself
You can print it, keep it on your desk, or screenshot it and save it to your phone.
Who this is especially for
This guide is designed for creative businesses that are:
Doing around or above 10K months, or trending there
Past the “cute side hustle” stage
Tired of running the business on vibes and panic-refreshing Stripe or Shopify
If you look at your calendar and your numbers and feel like:
“This is too real to keep guessing…”
this ritual is your starting point.
Get the free 15-Min Money Check-In
Get the free 15-Min Money Check-In guide and turn “I hope this works out” into “I know what my money is doing this month.”
When you are ready to go deeper
If you are consistently around or above 10K months and this check-in keeps surfacing the same issues – like cash always feeling tight, skipped owner pay, or pricing that does not actually support your life – you are likely past the point where a DIY approach can carry all the weight.
That is where a finance partner comes in.
Accountants and bookkeepers keep you compliant and organized.
A finance partner helps you:
Decide how to price your offers
Pay yourself with intention
Plan inventory, launches, and hires
Protect your runway and growth
The 15-Min Money Check-In is your first small ritual.
If you want support turning that clarity into a real plan, that is the work I do with clients inside services like Cash Flow Clarity, Pricing Strategy Review, and my Monthly Finance Partner offer.
For now, start with the ritual.
Let it show you what is really happening.
Then you can decide how you want your money to feel from here.
