In this episode, Danielle Hayden, CPA and founder of Kickstart Accounting, Inc., sits down with Interior Designer and Eye for Pretty Owner Nicole Salceda for a candid conversation about small business growth and finance. Together, they deep dive into the journey of rightsizing a business, shifting from a "grow at all costs" mentality to building a business that aligns with your values, lifestyle, and personal priorities.
Nicole shares how she transitioned from saying "yes" to every opportunity to becoming intentional about the projects she takes on, the team she builds, and the way she manages her time. Her journey and insights are proof you don’t have to hustle more, do more, or “catch up” to someone to have a fulfilling and sustainable business.
Key Takeaways:
- Growth Doesn’t Always Have to Be the Goal: Scaling a business can be exciting, but true success comes from building a business that aligns with your lifestyle and values.
- Making Smart Financial Decisions: Know Your Numbers! It’s easy to focus on revenue, but understanding expenses, profit margins, and cash flow is what truly leads to financial confidence.
- Business Seasonality - Managing the Highs & Lows: Every business has ups and downs. Learning how to anticipate slow seasons and plan accordingly can ease financial stress.
- Letting Go of Emotional & Ego-Driven Decisionmaking: Making choices based on what truly serves you and concrete data, rather than what looks impressive to others or how you feel without the numbers to back it up, leads to greater fulfillment and success.
Topics Discussed:
Scaling vs. Rightsizing Your Business (00:00:43 – 00:05:18)
Shifting from Reactive to Intentional Financial Decisions (00:05:18 – 00:11:28)
Navigating Seasonality and Cash Flow Challenges (00:11:28 – 00:14:44)
The Mindset Shift from Hustle Culture to Purpose-Driven & Value-Aligned Entrepreneurship (00:15:02 – 00:22:01)
References:
Eye for Pretty | https://www.eyeforpretty.com/
Book a Call with Kickstart Accounting, Inc.:
https://kickstartaccountinginc.com/book
Connect with Kickstart Accounting, Inc.:
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YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@businessbythebooks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/kickstartaccountinginc
Episode Transcript
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:14:07
Danielle Hayden
Hello and welcome back to Business by the Books. The podcast that teaches you how to use your financials to better manage your business. All right, Nicole, welcome back to Business by the Books. Thank you for being here.
00:00:14:10 - 00:00:15:21
Nicole Salceda
Thanks for having me, Danielle.
00:00:15:24 - 00:00:43:04
Danielle Hayden
So you are a returning guest, and I really appreciate you being willing to share your experience and be so vulnerable. I think that there is a hustle culture, a grow, grow, grow, only celebrating the growth mentality, and what we've seen in our experience for Kickstart over the last ten years is there's some clients who want that. They want that scalability, they want to grow their business.
00:00:43:06 - 00:00:56:16
Danielle Hayden
And we have other business owners who decide that they want a business that fits their life and their journey today. So let's take this back a moment. Tell the audience who you are, what you do, and then we can dive into your journey.
00:00:56:16 - 00:01:22:12
Nicole Salceda
My name is Nicole Salceda. I am in the Bay area. I have a boutique interior design firm. And then three years ago, we opened up our first brick and mortar, which is Eye for Pretty at Home, which has been really exciting to be able to bring kind of our interior design esthetic to our town, I would say with accessories and gift ideas and just a little bit of our style that could be purchased, which has been great.
00:01:22:12 - 00:01:44:24
Nicole Salceda
I have been doing this now for about ten years. I would say I started an Instagram account ten years ago for my design business, and since then, I've just seen it grown exponentially. I've gone through a ton of changes and it's been really helpful working with you guys at Kickstart, not only for the numbers side of things, but also for the mentorship.
00:01:44:24 - 00:01:46:03
Nicole Salceda
So thank you for that.
00:01:46:05 - 00:02:05:13
Danielle Hayden
Of course. Yeah, our team has really been leaning into that, especially, I think, over the last year of embracing the fact that, yes, numbers are important, but just what are the emotions around the numbers after enough time to celebrate them? Are we excited about them? Does the energy match what's actually happening and what--
00:02:05:15 - 00:02:26:29
Nicole Salceda
It's really like a holistic approach I feel like that you guys do, and I feel like that is so needed, you know, especially for many interior designers who a lot of us didn't go into it for the business side of things, right? We did it because we were creative and we wanted to, you know, make beautiful homes and make functional spaces.
00:02:26:29 - 00:02:32:18
Nicole Salceda
But really, we didn't have that business foundation. So I feel like that's where Kickstart has really supported me.
00:02:32:24 - 00:02:45:05
Danielle Hayden
Well, let's dig in a little bit to, let's take this back. Maybe not a full ten years, but yeah, let's say over the last five, when you were building the business, what did you see as the goal of your business?
00:02:45:07 - 00:03:07:25
Nicole Salceda
Well, I think that's a great place to start because I never had a business plan. I never had a firm concrete vision of what I wanted this to be. I kind of jumped in with both feet going, okay, I love this, and let's see where it's going to go. And I was by myself for a long time in the beginning.
00:03:07:27 - 00:03:30:03
Nicole Salceda
It wasn't until I started working with a therapist, who I love, I've worked with her, you know, throughout my whole life, but I started talking to her about, you know, the business I was going into and how overwhelmed I was and all the hats I was wearing. And she's like, you really need to start hiring. You need to find people that could play to your strengths and your weaknesses, you know, and hire out.
00:03:30:03 - 00:03:48:14
Nicole Salceda
So that's when I first started hiring. Yeah. And and honestly, I didn't know who my first hire was. We probably talked about this last podcast. I didn't think it was another designer, because I was still very much in the weeds of learning that you know, I was the main creator of Eye for Pretty, and I wasn't ready to hire for that yet.
00:03:48:14 - 00:04:05:19
Nicole Salceda
It was just somebody to come in and figure out what I needed help with. And that turned out to be operations and the business side of things. So that was my first hire. And then I think you and I have touched on this before is I wanted to get bigger. I wanted to grow, I wanted my name to be out there.
00:04:05:19 - 00:04:30:05
Nicole Salceda
I was just saying yes to everything and kind of burning the candle at both ends. I was-I kept hiring and eventually I did hire more designers and take on more projects. And there's so much wonderful opportunities that come your way when you're growing and you're scaling your business. And it was very exciting. But, you know, it's also very taxing.
00:04:30:07 - 00:04:38:13
Danielle Hayden
What do you think were the drivers of you being excited to to do that type of growth? Like what was what was driving that?
00:04:38:15 - 00:05:01:04
Nicole Salceda
Yeah, I think the inquiries were coming in really fast and heavy, and they were amazing opportunities that I didn't want to say no to. So that's when I started, you know, really trying to think of, okay, who could I bring in to help me? And it was other, you know, designers, technical designers, and girls that kind of had the same vision as me.
00:05:01:04 - 00:05:18:00
Nicole Salceda
And they knew, you know, that this is like, you know, where I was going. I was definitely growing and wanting to take on more projects. So there was always something or someone or call it social pressure on me, you know, to keep going and getting bigger and better.
00:05:18:04 - 00:05:34:13
Danielle Hayden
I want to intertwine some of the numbers as you were going through this journey. So at the time, what numbers were you looking at that helped you see if you were on the right track and ultimately led to your decision to rightsize the business?
00:05:34:16 - 00:05:55:13
Nicole Salceda
You know, I guess in the beginning I didn't really know. I think, like a lot of small business owners, not just interior design businesses, but just small business owners, I was just looking at the number I was charging on the invoice. So, you know, it was the money was coming in, but I didn't really know where the money was going out either.
00:05:55:13 - 00:06:30:23
Nicole Salceda
So I didn't have a good grasp on the numbers. It was only until I hired out for that part of the business that, you know, I started educating myself on what those numbers actually meant, the profit and loss and looking at the jobs that were the inquiries that were coming in to really see if those jobs were going to be profitable or not, because in the beginning I would take everything, you know? Anyone that was going to willing to sign a contract with me and said yes to my hourly rate, I was taking on those projects, and now we’re very, very particular about the projects that we take on.
00:06:30:23 - 00:06:51:04
Nicole Salceda
And, you know, yes, it comes down to the numbers, but it also comes down to my time and my priorities. And my priorities in life have definitely shifted over the last ten years. And I like the term, you know, rightsizing instead of downsizing, because that does speak to my, you know, just where I am in my life, I guess.
00:06:51:06 - 00:07:20:12
Danielle Hayden
I remember one of our calls where we were actually reviewing the time by project, and you realizing how much time was actually being coded to internal Eye for Pretty time, how much time and team meetings, culture building the beginning of a project before that was actually billed to a client and afterwards. All those little pieces of building a team and culture that we actually don't think about as real, tangible expenses.
00:07:20:15 - 00:07:37:01
Nicole Salceda
Right, and not to say those aren't very important, right? Because they are. When you're building a business, you want the right people to work for you. You want the culture to feel good and for people to be excited to come to work. But you're right, all of that does come with a price.
00:07:37:03 - 00:07:43:14
Danielle Hayden
Tell us a little bit about you as you were building a team, how did that feel for you as a designer versus leader?
00:07:43:15 - 00:08:05:24
Nicole Salceda
Yeah, I mean, there's definitely-you have to give up some control, right? And if you are a very type A and you're used to always being in charge of everything and having the final say, it's a little bit tricky. I think what I learned was, you know, I always stayed the creative visionary, I would say, of the company.
00:08:05:24 - 00:08:29:19
Nicole Salceda
So every project that came our way, I would, you know, talk about it with the designer and we would go over how the overall aesthetic of the design. But ultimately the girls that I hired, I trusted to bring the Eye for Pretty vision to life without me, and yes, I was a little bit involved in the projects where I would oversee things and they would send me drafts and things to approve.
00:08:29:22 - 00:09:00:04
Nicole Salceda
I wasn't in the weeds in all of the projects, so for a little bit I, I liked it, you know. It was nice to be able to actually be able to take care of, you know, the business initiatives and like the business side of things instead of actually being the designer on every project. But you also start to lose yourself a little bit in that process and you forget why you started in the first place, when you really are just so in the weeds of being in the business.
00:09:00:09 - 00:09:05:05
Danielle Hayden
Ultimately, what drove you to make the decision to rightsize the business?
00:09:05:09 - 00:09:28:09
Nicole Salceda
I think there was there was definitely a few factors, like you, Danielle, my kids are getting older and I know everyone said that like it's so hard when they're little. And yes, it is hard and you're tired and it's, it's hard in different ways. But now that my kids are teenagers, it's like I, I want to be there for them emotionally, you know, that's what takes up most of my time.
00:09:28:09 - 00:09:59:23
Nicole Salceda
My priority is my kids and my husband. And you realize that you only have like a limited amount of time left with them. You know, I have five years left with my kids in my house. And yeah, I think that was, that was my main priority of rightsizing is making more time for my family. And how I was going to do that was going to be by not taking on as many projects. I had to find projects that were the most profitable, and that really filled my cup in order to say yes.
00:09:59:25 - 00:10:06:18
Nicole Salceda
So that wasn't, I guess, the number of projects. It was just the quality of the projects. There's a lot of.
00:10:06:18 - 00:10:11:15
Danielle Hayden
Letting go of ego with that, right? Like I'm not going to be the best. Yes.
00:10:11:17 - 00:10:41:24
Nicole Salceda
So true. And it took me-it took time to get to this place. You know, I, for a few years, had a great PR team that I loved, and they really helped push our name out there. And so many amazing opportunities came my way with with the PR firm; publications, speaking opportunities, awards, like all of the things that do feed your ego, you know, and I said, okay, it's a really big monthly expense and I love them,
00:10:41:24 - 00:11:10:00
Nicole Salceda
but what is the end goal of working with the PR firm? You know, I feel not that I've done it all because I definitely have things that I still want to accomplish with the business. But like, what is my main goal in in owning a business at this point in my life? And in terms of having employees, it was, you know, a lot of my employees were kind of ready to go off on their own, and I knew that, and I didn't want to hold them back.
00:11:10:00 - 00:11:28:16
Nicole Salceda
That's, you know, I kind of always knew that Eye for Pretty was probably not the last, you know, stop. And, you know, I dream big for myself and that's what I want for everyone that comes into my life and my employees as well. So I was ready to let some of them go, and they were ready to go off on their own.
00:11:28:23 - 00:11:37:05
Danielle Hayden
Talk about the shop, because in this growth journey, you also open up a brick and mortar. What made you make that decision?
00:11:37:08 - 00:12:00:03
Nicole Salceda
Well, I started off slow. I think with that one, I started having a pop up shop in my actual office that I was working in, and I would buy a small amount of inventory in and be open certain times of the month. And I think because that was really successful and people were asking for more, it gave me the confidence to open up the brick and mortar.
00:12:00:03 - 00:12:11:07
Nicole Salceda
And yeah, I mean, obviously retail is a whole other beast and it's something-it's a very-I'm on a very high learning curve even three years into it.
00:12:11:09 - 00:12:14:00
Danielle Hayden
How did it feel to be a beginner again?
00:12:14:02 - 00:12:33:18
Nicole Salceda
Yeah. It's hard. It's, it's so exciting. It's so exciting. In the beginning it's like having a baby. It's the same thing, right? You're so excited to birth this baby and get it off in the world. And after the excitement you have a little bit of like, oh my gosh, what do I do? I have to keep this alive.
00:12:33:18 - 00:12:42:25
Nicole Salceda
And that's the growing pains I'm in in year three here is you have to-retail is very seasonal and you have to be able to ride the highs and the lows.
00:12:42:28 - 00:12:51:25
Danielle Hayden
Let's hang on that. So how are you riding the highs and the lows in that? And during that time, how has that helped you embrace your mindset around debt?
00:12:52:02 - 00:13:12:03
Nicole Salceda
Yeah, that's a tough one. I mean I definitely do better at times with the flow in the shop and I guess, you know, three and a half, almost four years in now, it's a lot of reminders of, okay, this happened last year. We're going to be okay. You know, I'll call, I'll call you, Danielle, and I'll be like, Danielle,
00:13:12:04 - 00:13:34:07
Nicole Salceda
and you're like, remember, you know, this is January. This is after, you know, holidays. But it's not easy. I would say it takes a certain type of a person to have a retail shop. There's a ton of inventory that I carry at all times. And so that's kind of where the debt piece comes in, is how do you get that inventory out the door?
00:13:34:09 - 00:13:39:29
Nicole Salceda
How are you moving it? Yeah, it's definitely a different mindset of-Yeah, it's tricky.
00:13:40:05 - 00:14:00:06
Danielle Hayden
I think seasonality is something that every business experiences. So I appreciate you sharing that because whatever it might be, I know yours is January and February and then again in the summer. Is there anything else that you feel like you're doing when you approach the numbers and cash management or even mindset of approaching each of those seasons?
00:14:00:09 - 00:14:21:13
Nicole Salceda
Yeah, it definitely takes planning, right? I mean, like for us, we purchase our holiday in the summertime and summer is our slowest time in the shop because everyone's on vacation in the summer. And so it definitely takes planning, not just, you know, a month out, but six months a year out of planning and knowing where that cash is going to come from.
00:14:21:13 - 00:14:44:24
Nicole Salceda
We've had to get creative in ways of like, we do a lot of installs through our shop, so clients will hire us to style their home, and I plan for what months those are going to happen, knowing that that's going to bring cash in the door hopefully in our slower months having those installs. It definitely takes planning. You can't just kind of throw your hands up and say, like, I'm just going to let whatever happens happen.
00:14:44:24 - 00:15:02:12
Danielle Hayden
I think the budget process has also been really helpful of, you know, you're a few years into creating that budget and familiar with looking at the numbers and understanding that the seasonality is coming. I just want to acknowledge how much of a journey you've been on because at the beginning of our relationship-
00:15:02:15 - 00:15:03:13
Nicole Salceda
Yeah.
00:15:03:15 - 00:15:30:17
Danielle Hayden
You were like, I don't know where the you know, the cash is going. I don't understand that. Or where is the profit? How do I pay myself more? There's very common things that there's-there wasn't like a light bulb moment where, oh, and month three of looking at your numbers, it all was clear. I think it's been a steady journey of each year that we've gone through it together of learning what we could do differently, learning how to plan for it.
00:15:30:18 - 00:15:46:04
Danielle Hayden
Even paying taxes is a huge event every year. So how do we make sure that we're planning from a cash perspective and from a holistic, from your entire family? How are we making sure that we're looking at that holistically? So I just want to acknowledge what a journey you've been on. And-Yeah,
00:15:46:04 - 00:16:09:17
Nicole Salceda
and I think a lot of us kind of bury our head in the sand when it comes to money and numbers and especially when you're a creative, you know, or creator or you're very, you know, that's not something that you're necessarily strong at. So working with somebody like you guys, I think is, is really life changing because you're not making decisions based on emotion.
00:16:09:17 - 00:16:32:27
Nicole Salceda
And we talk about this a lot, right? Is I used to make a lot of business decisions on how I felt about things and that while yes, maybe people love my big heart, it's not always going to serve me best, right? Because it's not a good decision for the business. And that actually goes along with hiring, too, and letting people go is I lead with my heart.
00:16:32:27 - 00:17:02:00
Nicole Salceda
And what I realized is managing people is not my strength. I am a better friend. I feel like, and I'm very, you know, empathetic. And it's hard for me to manage people and be the person that says no to people. And that was also a big part in my rightsizing journey is, you know, not managing so many people or hiring managers to manage other people.
00:17:02:01 - 00:17:11:00
Nicole Salceda
right? Like, I have this amazing shop manager who she manages the shop team, so I don't have to. So I think just making those decisions have been helpful.
00:17:11:03 - 00:17:34:21
Danielle Hayden
I think you did a beautiful job in your rightsizing of understanding the data. We had lots of conversations with our team so that you understood the data. You're making the decision from a place of, of strength and confidence, but also keeping your team in mind and giving them what they deserved and the grace that they deserved. And I think you did a really beautiful job of combining both data with empathy.
00:17:34:23 - 00:18:04:28
Nicole Salceda
Thank you. I think especially in the world we live in, with social media and all of the things, people are going to want to talk or people will talk, right? People will say, oh my gosh, she-her designer left. She went off on her own. She joined another firm. But again, that's like the ego talking, right? If I take offense to that, because I know it's not true or I know the good terms we ended on, you know, it's like, let people talk and let people think what they want.
00:18:05:00 - 00:18:07:23
Nicole Salceda
I'm doing what's right for me and my family and my business.
00:18:07:23 - 00:18:12:01
Danielle Hayden
I heard somebody say, what other people say about me is none of my business.
00:18:12:03 - 00:18:38:01
Nicole Salceda
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. You know, and I think as we get older, we realize that even more. I don't know if you like Mel Robbins, but her book, Let Them is such a good book of, you know, they're going to talk like, let them. Like, there's-it’s not about you. It's really about them. So yeah. So I think the other thing I did, Danielle, too, when I kind of did this rightsizing is we looked at, you know, where were the monthly expenses.
00:18:38:01 - 00:18:59:27
Nicole Salceda
And one of my biggest expenses was rent. I had two spaces, right? I had a design studio and I had the shop. The design studio was, we used it maybe once or twice a week. It sat there empty. You know, most of my designers work from home, and so that was another kind of gut check of why am I holding on to this space?
00:19:00:00 - 00:19:15:13
Nicole Salceda
Is it feeding my ego? Because I could say, I have-oh, I have a design studio, right? And I have a shop. So I think just asking yourself those hard questions, I think is really helpful when it comes to making business decisions.
00:19:15:18 - 00:19:25:00
Danielle Hayden
As you embark on the next chapter, how are you, you know, keeping your mindset strong, staying true to these core values, just thinking about that next chapter?
00:19:25:08 - 00:19:51:15
Nicole Salceda
Yeah, I definitely I think about that a lot. And again, it kind of goes back to obviously what is the most profitable and is it too taxing on my time and what is going to serve me and my family and, and make me happy? And for me, it's been a lot of, you know, I do these custom builds with my builder and I am the lead on that.
00:19:51:15 - 00:20:11:25
Nicole Salceda
It's just me. It's just my time and him. So those are, have been very successful and profitable. The shop is a little bit of a-I don't know what's going to happen with the shop. I would love to sit here and say, I'm going to have the shop forever, but that's just not reality. And retail, you know, the shop is doing well.
00:20:11:25 - 00:20:30:29
Nicole Salceda
It's holding its own. My main thing with the shop is that it brings us so much joy and happiness, and even if it's hard, I want to stick with it as long as I can. So I don't know what's going to happen with the shop. Honestly, I'm going to hold on to it for right now. But no promises of, of keeping the shop.
00:20:30:29 - 00:20:38:04
Nicole Salceda
And yeah, just taking on projects with people that I really trust and respect, I think is important to me, too.
00:20:38:09 - 00:21:02:25
Danielle Hayden
I appreciate you sharing that, and I appreciate you giving everyone who's listening permission to run their businesses that align with their core values. We don't have to hustle more. We don't have to work more. You don't need to do more. There's nobody that you need to catch up to. Maybe if we can lead from a place of our values and not our ego, where we want to see our lives.
00:21:02:27 - 00:21:07:05
Danielle Hayden
Do you share this with your kids? Do they know that you're taking this step back
00:21:07:08 - 00:21:27:06
Nicole Salceda
for them? A little bit. I don't think we talk about it as much. It's just like, I am just-I show up, you know. I'm here like, there's-and my husband is actually very, you know, present, too; he works from home a lot-and I think it's going to be one of those things where they look back on it and they say, like, my mom was around.
00:21:27:09 - 00:21:27:26
Nicole Salceda
Yeah.
00:21:27:29 - 00:21:30:04
Danielle Hayden
Awesome. Any closing thoughts?
00:21:30:06 - 00:21:52:15
Nicole Salceda
I don't think so. We touched on it. I think, I love, again, what you said about rightsizing. I think when you're just starting the business, I think, of course you're going to hustle and you're going to grow and you're going to want all the things. And then I think you come to a place where either it's too much or you're, you know, you're, you're wearing all the hats, you're tired, you're burnt out.
00:21:52:15 - 00:22:01:12
Nicole Salceda
And then I think that's where you start to really kind of dive deep into your core values and why you started and what and what you really want. So yeah, I think that's it.
00:22:01:12 - 00:22:04:23
Danielle Hayden
Well, thank you so much for being here and thank you for sharing so openly and honestly.
00:22:04:26 - 00:22:07:07
Nicole Salceda
Thanks for having me again.
00:22:07:09 - 00:22:30:18
Danielle Hayden
If you are a business owner who needs a money team, I invite you to go to KickstartAccountingInc.com or click the link in the show notes and come and book a discovery call. The Kickstart Accounting, Inc. team and I are here to be a resource for you on your entrepreneurial journey. We want to take the bookkeeping off of your plate and help arm you with the information you need to grow and thrive in your business.
00:22:30:18 - 00:23:08:01
Danielle Hayden
Don't wait! Click the link below and let's get started!