Mackenzie, 26, from Melbourne, FL, works “four or five” jobs and side hustles. She considers herself an entrepreneur, but she’s drained her retirement savings and emergency fund — wracking up thousands of dollars in debt — in the process.
She told Caleb Hammer on a recent episode of Financial Audit (1) that she used to work as a project manager at Walmart, making around US$50,000 (C$70,000) a year before she quit. She took money out of her 401(k) — the American equivalent of an RRSP — to buy a car, drained US$14,000 in savings and racked up debt to start a nail salon business, all of which she blames on “girl math.”
“Girl math” is a term that emerged from TikTok as a way to describe the “seemingly intricate and often ridiculous ways women justify an extravagant or unnecessary expense,” according to a social media glossary from Later (2).
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Hammer was opposed to her using the phrase, saying, “You’re going to make everyone hate women … Why bring to your entire gender this negative connotation that you’re unable to manage money?”
Mackenzie makes about US$500 a month as a nail technician, a business she just started, splitting US$742 a month in rent with another technician. That works out to US$6.25 an hour for 20 hours every week. She also spent a few thousand dollars on startup costs because the “old salon stuff” had “bad energy.”
“Well, I girl-mathed the hell out of it and it made sense to me at the moment,” she told Hammer.
Mackenzie also has a part-time job at a burrito restaurant, working an average of about 20 hours a week at US$15 an hour plus tips.
“So to be clear, you make three times what you make [doing] nails … and you work just as many hours doing that,” said Hammer.
Here’s why her “girl math” doesn’t add up.
4 mistakes to avoid in entrepreneurship
There are approximately 1.22 million small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in Canada as of 2023 (3). SMEs are defined as companies having less than 500 employees, with over half of them identified as micro-enterprises, meaning they have fewer than five employees. As of June of last year, an estimated 1.33 million businesses in Canada were without employees (3).
Many Canadian entrepreneurs say they were driven to launch a business from the passion of doing something they enjoy, or out of the desire to be their own boss. However, they also report serious financial barriers: In a recent Ownr survey (4), an estimated 46% of entrepreneurs cited cash-flow issues as their top challenge. Beyond that, over 50% of aspiring business owners claimed access to funding was another significant hurdle.
Here are some common mistakes when starting a business — and what to learn from Mackenzie’s peculiar situation.
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Mistake #1: Launching a company without a solid business plan
“Winging it” is not a business plan. “I’m flying by the seat of my pants. I don’t have an actual plan,” Mackenzie told Hammer.
Use “girl math” as an excuse all you want, but it’s not a great idea to start a new business without understanding how a business actually works. That might mean taking a few courses, such as accounting and marketing, so you can make the math work. Or it might mean working for someone else for a few years to gain the skillset you need to succeed.
In Canada, the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) recommends designing a solid business plan, including a clear description of your company, an analysis of your industry and target market, plus details about your business and management structure (5). Your plan should also outline your financial projections and explain your strategy for marketing and growth.
Mistake #2: Thinking business write-offs are “free”
If you assume you can write off all your expenses — and you’re making purchases with that mentality — you will be in for a rude awakening come tax time.
There are items and services that you can claim as a business deduction, which will reduce your overall taxable income and therefore your overall tax bill. But deductions are complex: In some cases, you have to break it down by the portion used for business versus personal use. There are also limits on tax deductions.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has a list of business credits and deductions, and how to claim those on your tax return.
Mistake #3: Assuming if you build it, they will come
Starting a business comes with numerous expenses, such as rent, utilities, supplies, inventory and startup costs. So if you make that investment and just expect customers to start showing up, you could be setting yourself up for failure.
This is where a solid business plan with market research can help. Are you offering a product or service that people need or want? In this case, how many nail salons are in Mackenzie’s neighborhood? Is the market already saturated? Is she offering something unique?
Before leaving a job, you may want to build up a solid client base and reputation of of your own before going out independently and draining your savings. You’ll also need a marketing plan to help drive new customers: Advertising isn’t the same as marketing.
Mistake #4: Assuming multiple side hustles are better than one job
While being an entrepreneur can be rewarding, it takes an incredible amount of hard work to be successful. It’s also worth considering your future stability, such as the employee plans and retirement matching that can come with a stable, full-time job.
Finding success may also come down to timing. If you don’t have a business plan, funding or a customer base, you may want to postpone launching your endeavour until those are in place.
As Hammer tells Mackenzie: “I’m not saying you can’t be a nail tech. I said you need to put in the work with other people and build up clients, not immediately go into your own business and spend $7,500 to make $500 a month.”
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Article sources
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YouTube: Girl Math Final Boss | Financial Audit (1); Fraser Institute (2); Statistics Canada (3); Businesswire (4); Business Development Bank of Canada (5)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.