In a moment of LA woo-ness, I attended a friend’s guided journaling and soundbath. (This retrograde double eclipse energy is no joke.) Many guests were entrepreneurs or senior executives. In sharing about elevating ourselves, we talked about what’s holding us back. As one senior executive said, it’s hard to elevate yourself in a competitive environment where you’re under the microscope. There’s no room for error.

But that’s not how change works. All change is disruptive, even change that elevates us. Elevating means breaking things. Those breaks might impact our relationships, team, paradigms, systems, and money. 

So while I laid on the floor, buzzing with ideas, I also realized that I had to break some things. We think of growth as a process of gain, a chart that goes up and to the right. But a growth journey also comes with losses that deserve to be recognized, and perhaps even grieved.

Maybe you love everyone on your team as a person, but their skills just aren’t right for your next phase. When we care about people and value their contributions, it’s hard to ask them to move on. But, you might need different professional partners and advisors who’ve been through the next phase of your journey. 

On the money front, change always takes a little longer and costs more than we had originally planned. It’s easy to get down on yourself when you’re over budget or missing your schedule. In the process of discovery, we’re going to learn things and need to adjust. You may know the Kubler-Ross Change Curve,^Ⓡ  which shows a negative outcome happens before a positive one. It’s the J-curve. Gains are preceded by losses.

Change is inefficient. What we don’t want is to make obvious, known mistakes or step on proverbial land mines. I joined last weekend’s event to benefit from expert guidance in navigating personal growth and to be introduced to new tools and ideas that might work for me. 

It was challenging to sit in a room of strangers and be vulnerable. And I paid to put myself there. 

If you’re considering a big change, there’s a benefit to having the support of someone who’s been through it before. Besides making the J-curve more shallow, it’s just nice to know you’re not alone in your entrepreneurial experience. If you’d like to talk about it with me, book a 20-minute Strategy Session.

Ah, words, how easily you twist. What I see as elevation could be your nightmare of destruction. Your “Liberation Day” might be my going out of business sale. 

You could take everything I wrote above, plug in the word “tariffs,” and watch it spew forth from the White House this week as just a little blip on the J-curve toward awesomeness.

The 10% blanket import tariffs enacted for April 5 will affect all of us. As individuals, they may cost American households as much as $5,200 in the coming year through price inflation. The US Chamber of Commerce, a conservative business group often stuck in 1988, even says tariffs are bad for small business owners, both in cost of goods and the inevitable wage inflation that comes with higher prices.

Is this destruction for a greater good? Are COVID-level measures of uncertainty the precursor to a little J-curve dip before everything gets amazing? Somebody evidently thinks so, although 99% of economists say otherwise and nearly all individuals and business owners will be negatively impacted in the immediate term. To be clear, this is the stepping on the land mine part. This is all stick, no carrot. Unlike COVID, this is not a black swan economic event that can’t be reasonably predicted. These policies are harmful and economically destructive and will have an impact on you over at least the next six months.

If you’ve been a reader for a while, you know what I’m going to say. Step up your marketing efforts. Build a bigger pipeline of leads. Shore up your budget and get a backup line of credit. Be open to opportunities. And contact your Congressional representatives. It will take an assertive shove from constituents, but they can still put the executive’s tariff power into check.

If you’re in the US, you’ve got April 15 burned into your brain as Tax Day. When you’re a business owner, it’s a little bit more complicated. Things to keep an eye on this month:

Due on April 15:

• 2024 federal and state tax filings for individuals, sole proprietors, and solo owner LLCs OR extensions

• Any remaining amount due for 2024

• Q1 2025 estimated taxes

• Personal IRA contributions (traditional & Roth, $7,000 max) 

Extensions

• You may choose to delay your tax filing by up to six months by requesting an extension.

• Extensions don’t apply to the money you owe. If you’ve underpaid for 2024, after April 15, you will incur a penalty and owe interest. 

• Two options to avoid an underpayment penalty:

  • Pay in 90% or more of total owed for 2024 

  • Pay 100% of what you owed in 2023 

• Your extension deadline depends on your original deadline. 

  • Business extensions for March 15 are due by September 15. 

  • Personal / business extensions for April 15 are due by October 15. 

• Business retirement savings deadlines move along with your extension. SEP / 401k / cash balance plan contributions must be made before your extension filing is completed, no later than the extension deadline.

Annual Reports and State Compliance

• You may be required to file an annual or bi-annual statement of information or annual report with your state(s) of operation. Here’s a summary from our partners at CorpNet. 

• Make sure your local business license is up-to-date in all municipalities where it’s required.

Exits: Two women-owned businesses had big exits in March. Prebiotic soda brand poppi was sold to PepsiCo for $1.95 billion.  And popular newsletter TheSkimm was sold to publisher Ziff Davis’s Everyday Health Group. The value of TheSkimm sale was undisclosed, but it was reported that TheSkimm generates $20 million in annual revenue. #newslettergoals

Legacy: I am beyond excited for my past client, Rachel Donnelly, who has published a book we can all use. Check out, "Late To Your Own Funeral: How to Leave a Legacy and Not a Logjam," now available for preorder. Rachel’s company, Afterlight, helps you manage your legacy assets, or do it for a loved one who has passed. While her stories gave me lots of laughs, I learned even the most mild-mannered have things we’d just as soon our family or friends not discover when they’re closing our estates. Whether you’re looking to preserve your baby pictures or your dignity beyond the grave, this book is a must-read. Congrats, Rachel!

Money: Can money buy happiness? It can if you’re a Dodgers fan. Otherwise, it has diminishing returns above reasonable income thresholds, unless you’re giving it to others. Which might be why some grubby billionaires are so cranky.