Keep What You Earn

Keep What You Earn is the podcast for aesthetics and wellness practice owners who want to scale profitably and build a business that is actually worth something. Hosted by Shannon Weinstein, CPA and Fractional CFO, this show is designed for med spa owners generating $1–5M in revenue who are ready to move beyond reactive decision-making and into disciplined, strategic growth. If you're trying to break past the $2M ceiling, improve cash flow predictability, increase margins, open additional locations, or prepare your practice for a future sale, this podcast gives you the financial clarity to do it confidently. Each episode focuses on the financial building blocks that determine whether your practice scales smoothly or stalls under pressure, including pricing discipline, operating margin control, cash flow forecasting, customer lifetime value, and enterprise value planning. This isn't about more spreadsheets. It's about financial leadership. Whether you're preparing for expansion

Keep What You Earn is a business podcast hosted by Shannon Weinstein, with 862 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Shannon Weinstein hosts Keep What You Earn, a business show with 862 episodes published.

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  Episode #868

  Med Spa Financial Strategy: Profit Margins, Cash Flow, and Enterprise Value

  Aug 18, 202644 minS1

  This week, I'm turning the mic over to Audrey Neff, host of True to Form, and replaying the conversation she originally shared with her audience. Audrey put me in the hot seat with the financial questions medical spa owners need to be asking as they grow. A full schedule can still produce weak cash flow, a second location can magnify problems that already exist, and a practice that depends on its owner for every decision will be difficult to scale or sell. Audrey and I connect these issues by following the money from individual treatments through to the long-term value of the business. The Metrics Behind a Financially Healthy Med Spa Free cash flow gives an owner choices . It can fund cash reserves, support a new location, reduce debt, or create an exit opportunity. Producing more of it requires a clear understanding of which treatments fill your schedule and which ones contribute meaningful margin. In this episode, we discuss: Why reviewing a P&L without interpreting it leaves owners with more numbers but very little direction How revenue per hour, margin per treatment, patient retention, and customer lifetime value influence cash flow Why injectables can bring patients through the door while leaving little room for profit when pricing, commissions, and discounts are poorly managed How "Bed Bath and Botox" discounting cuts into an already thin injectable margin The missed retail sales opportunities hiding inside treatment plans and patient conversations Why a med spa should have four to six months of cash reserves before opening a second location How to identify and reduce owner dependency by asking, "What breaks first when I leave?" What buyers examine when calculating enterprise value, including cash flow, owner dependency, customer concentration, and operational risk The Five-Part Financial Playbook Here are the exact steps we use to evaluate a practice's financial health: Core profit: Are your treatments priced to produce healthy margins? Operating profit: Can your budget support the team and infrastructure required to run the practice? Cash flow: What remains after your equipment, debt, taxes, and other obligations are paid? Customer value: Are you retaining patients and increasing the value of those relationships? Enterprise value: Can the practice continue producing reliable cash flow without depending on you? Following the steps in order helps you identify the financial constraint that deserves your attention now instead of trying to fix everything at once. Get your free Playbook here . Add "True t o Form" to Your Playlist This conversation originally aired on Audrey Neff's True to Form podcast. Audrey brings candid conversations about leadership, operations, patient experience, growth, and enterprise value to the medical aesthetics industry. If you own or lead an aesthetics practice, subscribe to both shows: Subscribe to Keep What You Earn Subscribe to True to Form Get the free Financial Scaling Playbook for Aesthetics Connect with Audrey and Aviva Aesthetics: Audrey Neff brings more than a decade of experience in the medical aesthetics and wellness industries and currently serves as Chief Marketing Officer at Aviva Aesthetics. A respected marketing strategist and global speaker, she has served as a key opinion leader for several leading aesthetic brands and has taught for more than 30 medical aesthetic associations worldwide. Her thought leadership has been featured in publications such as PRIME Journal , The Aesthetic Guide , and PAN Journal . Audrey is also the host of True to Form , a globally ranked podcast exploring the people and ideas shaping the future of the aesthetics industry. Website: https://avivaaesthetics.com/ True To Form podcast: https://www.instagram.com/truetoformpodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/audreyneff_/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audreyneff/ Follow Shannon & Keep What You Earn: Shannon Weinstein is the founder of a fractional CFO firm specializing in helping 7-figure aesthetics and wellness practices scale with clarity, cash flow, and confidence. She is committed to helping med spa owners understand, fix, and maximize their business's enterprise value, offering actionable advice and resources, including a popular free video series specifically for aesthetics practice owners. Fractional CFO Services and Executive Financial Review: https://www.keepwhatyouearn.com/ Connect with Shannon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonweinstein Watch full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@KeepWhatYouEarn Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1580071347 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonkweinstein/ The information shared is for educational purposes only and is not individualized financial advice. Aesthetics practice owners should consult a qualified professional before implementing financial strategies discussed here.

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  Episode #866

  Posting More Won't Fix Your Med Spa Marketing Strategy

  Aug 11, 202646 minS1

  Marketing gets exhausting when every platform, conference, and industry trend comes with the message that your practice should be doing more. More posts, more videos, more channels, more events. But a high volume of marketing activity does not automatically lead to better clients or more profitable growth. In this episode, I sit down with Robin Dimond, founder and CEO of Fifth & Cor, to talk about building a marketing strategy around the business you actually have . We cover how to choose channels based on your budget, bandwidth, and target demographic; when a personal brand helps or hurts the practice; and why reputation, local partnerships, and consistent patient education can outperform whatever happens to be trending online. Fix the Patient Journey Before You Generate More Leads Marketing brings more attention to whatever is already happening inside the practice. If calls go unanswered, the booking process is frustrating, or the team is not prepared to follow up with leads, spending more money will only expose those problems faster. Look at the full patient experience before adding another campaign. Can someone easily book a consultation? Does the team know how to respond to inquiries? Are you attracting people who are a good fit for the practice ? Strong marketing cannot make up for operational gaps that prevent interested patients from becoming long-term clients. Choose Marketing Channels With a Clear Reason Behind Them You do not need to be active on every platform simply because another practice is doing it. The right marketing mix depends on who you want to reach, how they make decisions, and what your team can consistently manage. Budget planning also needs to account for time and energy—not just the money spent on ads or content creation. Define what the marketing initiative needs to accomplish before choosing a channel Identify where your target demographic spends time and what mindset they are in on each platform Set a realistic budget for both financial investment and team capacity Test one or two strategies on a small scale before expanding into omnichannel marketing Batch and repurpose content across Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts, or Pinterest when those platforms fit the audience Consider direct mail, local partnerships, conference attendance, and public relations alongside digital marketing Track qualified leads, booked consultations, client acquisition costs, and patient retention instead of relying on views or engagement alone Give the team a clear role in content creation and follow-up so the strategy does not depend entirely on the owner Consistency matters, but it needs to be sustainable. A focused strategy that your team can maintain will usually produce better information and stronger results than constantly switching tactics or chasing the newest trend. (00:03:42) Navigating an overwhelming number of marketing options (00:05:29) Fixing operational gaps before generating more leads (00:12:31) Understanding client mindsets across different platforms (00:17:27) Standing out with handwritten cards and direct mail (00:26:50) Building a sustainable social media strategy (00:30:16) Balancing personal branding with long-term business goals (00:43:37) Measuring marketing by results instead of effort Your Practice Reputation Has to Extend Beyond the Owner A personal brand can help patients connect with the practice, but it becomes a risk when every relationship, referral, and piece of recognition is tied to the owner. Bring providers and team members into the outward-facing side of the business so patients see the depth of expertise across the practice and trust the experience no matter who they see. Sharing continuing education, patient education, community involvement, and team accomplishments builds a stronger reputation than relying on one personality alone. That matters when you want to add providers, reduce your clinical hours, or eventually sell, because a brand that can stand without the founder is much easier to scale. The Best Marketing Makes Growth Easier to Manage When the strategy is focused, the financial reports become easier to interpret. You can see which channels produce qualified consultations, which local partnerships bring in the right patients, and whether your client acquisition costs make sense relative to the value of those relationships. Marketing stops feeling like an open-ended expense because every initiative has a purpose and a way to measure its performance. As the practice grows, consistency matters more than constant visibility. A team-supported brand, a clear message, and a small group of channels that reliably attract the right clients are easier to manage and repeat across providers or locations. You should not have to spend every spare moment creating content just to keep the business moving. The strategy should support the practice without taking over your life. Follow Shannon & Keep What You Earn: Shannon Weinstein is the founder of a fractional CFO firm specializing in helping 7-figure aesthetics and wellness practices scale with clarity, cash flow, and confidence . Shannon is committed to helping med spa owners understand, fix, and maximize their business's enterprise value, offering actionable advice and resources, including a popular free video series specifically for aesthetics practice owners. Connect with Shannon: Fractional CFO Services and Executive Financial Review: https://www.keepwhatyouearn.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonweinstein Watch full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@KeepWhatYouEarn Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1580071347 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonkweinstein/ The information shared is for educational purposes only and is not individualized financial advice. Aesthetics practice owners should consult a qualified professional before implementing financial strategies discussed here. About Robin Dimond: Robin Dimond is the founder of Fifth & Cor. With more than 20 years of experience in branding, marketing, and innovation, she has helped businesses move from scattered ideas to clearer strategies across both corporate and entrepreneurial settings. Her work is rooted in the belief that strong marketing requires more than data—it also requires purpose, courage, and a clear understanding of why people connect with a brand. Through Fifth & Cor, Robin brings people together, removes barriers to collaboration, and helps businesses grow through thoughtful strategy, authentic connection, and consistent execution. Connect with Robin and Fifth & Cor: Website: https://www.fifthandcor.com Email: hello@fifthandcor.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fifthandcor LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fifth-and-cor/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FifthandCor

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  Episode #866

  Busy, Booked, and Broke: Why Injectables Alone Won't Grow Your Med Spa

  Aug 4, 202620 minS1

  Being booked feels like proof that the business is working. But if most of that schedule is filled with injectables, the revenue can look much stronger than the profit underneath it. Product costs, provider compensation, commissions, memberships, and discounting can leave very little behind—even when the calendar is full. In this solo episode, I break down why injectables need to be evaluated as part of your full service mix instead of carrying the entire growth strategy. I also explain how to organize your P&L by treatment category, calculate what patients actually contribute in gross profit, and use comprehensive treatment plans to improve both patient retention and practice profitability. A Full Injectable Schedule Can Still Produce Weak Profit Injectables are often one of the largest revenue categories in a medical aesthetics practice. They bring patients through the door, create recurring appointments, and can help establish long-term relationships. But with supply costs, injector compensation, commissions, and discounts factored in, gross margins may only land around 30% to 40%. That does not leave much room to cover the rest of the business. Rent, administrative payroll, marketing, software, and other operating expenses still have to come out of what remains. When injectables dominate the schedule without enough higher-margin services around them, a busy practice can still struggle to generate healthy cash flow. Your P&L Should Show Which Services Actually Make Money A single revenue line labeled "services" does not give you enough information to manage the practice. You need to see how much revenue each treatment category produces and what it costs to deliver those services. Keep the categories simple enough to review consistently, but specific enough to reveal where your profit is coming from. Group revenue into four or five core categories, such as injectables, aesthetic services, beauty services, laser treatments, and surgical services Match each category with its direct supply costs, provider labor, and commission expenses Calculate gross margin by treatment category instead of relying only on the practice-wide average Separate package revenue collected from the revenue earned as treatments are delivered Compare patient lifetime revenue with the gross profit that patient generates Review how memberships and discounts affect margins over time Track which services lead to repeat visits and broader treatment plans You do not need dozens of categories or an overly complicated financial report. You need enough visibility to understand the composition of your revenue. Just as body composition tells you more than weight alone, your service mix tells you far more than total sales. (00:00:00) Why injectables are difficult to price (00:05:41) Balancing the P&L with service margins (00:08:27) Mapping revenue and profit by treatment (00:10:27) Calculating patient lifetime value (00:14:01) Challenging assumptions about patient budgets (00:17:42) Improving retention through treatment plans Treatment Plans Create More Value Than One-Off Appointments Patients may come in asking for Botox or another familiar service, but that does not mean they understand every option available to them. A strong consultation starts with the result they want, then maps out the treatments that can realistically help them get there. Present the full recommendation before making assumptions about what they can afford. Let the patient decide what to pursue, what to postpone, and how quickly to move through the plan. That is consultative selling: educating the patient, setting expectations, and helping them make an informed decision without down selling for them. A written treatment plan also gives the relationship room to grow. One injectable appointment can become the start of a longer patient journey that includes laser treatments, skincare, and other services that genuinely support their goals. A Stronger Service Mix Makes Growth More Sustainable When one treatment category carries too much of the practice, changes in product costs, provider capacity, or local pricing can quickly put pressure on the entire business. A more balanced service mix combines the retention benefits of injectables with treatments that produce stronger margins and make better use of the team, equipment, and space you already have. This gives you a healthier patient lifetime value, more recurring revenue, and a clearer picture of what the practice can support as it grows. It also helps you make better decisions about pricing, inventory, staffing, equipment purchases, and future expansion. A full schedule should create more than activity. It should generate enough gross profit to fund the next stage of the practice. Follow Shannon & Keep What You Earn: Shannon Weinstein is the founder of a fractional CFO firm specializing in helping 7-figure aesthetics and wellness practices scale with clarity, cash flow, and confidence . Shannon is committed to helping med spa owners understand, fix, and maximize their business's enterprise value, offering actionable advice and resources, including a popular free video series specifically for aesthetics practice owners. Connect with Shannon: Fractional CFO Services and Executive Financial Review: https://www.keepwhatyouearn.com/ Connect with Shannon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonweinstein Watch full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@KeepWhatYouEarn Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1580071347 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonkweinstein/ The information shared is for educational purposes only and is not individualized financial advice. Aesthetics practice owners should consult a qualified professional before implementing financial strategies discussed here.

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  Episode #865

  Reclaiming Your Role as a Medical Provider in a Retail-Minded Med Spa World

  Jul 28, 202620 minS1

  Medical aesthetics is one of the few areas of healthcare where practice owners have real control over pricing. Because most services are cash pay, med spas are not waiting on insurance reimbursements or negotiating with carriers. Yet many practices give away that advantage by running constant promotions and training patients to shop for the lowest Botox price. In this solo episode, I explain how deep discounts create margin erosion, weaken patient loyalty, and push the industry toward commoditization. I also share how stronger consultations, treatment plans, and value-based pricing can improve retention, patient experience, and clinic profitability without turning every appointment into a sales pitch. Discounts Train Patients to Wait for the Next Offer Discounts can fill the schedule for a weekend, but they also change how patients see the practice. When every holiday comes with a coupon, patients learn that the listed price is temporary and the service is interchangeable. That is how Botox pricing and injectables start to feel like retail products instead of medical treatments. Patients who choose a practice based only on price are also difficult to retain . They may come in for the promotion and leave as soon as another clinic advertises a better deal. You pay to acquire them, give up margin on the treatment, and still have no lasting customer relationship to show for it. Run the Numbers Before You Run the Promotion A discount should never be approved simply because the calendar is slow or a competitor launched one. Before lowering the price, look at what the offer does to gross profit, cash flow, future capacity, and patient behavior. Promotional revenue can look impressive while the economics underneath it tell a very different story. Calculate treatment margin after product cost, provider compensation, payment fees, and promotional spending Measure how many discounted patients return and rebook at full price Compare customer acquisition cost with patient lifetime value Account for prepaid packages as future treatment obligations rather than immediate profit Review inventory levels before promoting injectables or retail products Determine whether the offer supports a broader treatment plan or only creates a one-time visit Give the team clear language to explain value, outcomes, and next steps without relying on aggressive sales techniques If the numbers only work when patients purchase more later, be honest about how often that actually happens. Upselling cannot carry the strategy when your intake, follow-up, and rebooking systems are not built to support it. (00:05:43) Building lasting patient relationships (00:09:01) Setting confident pricing for services (00:10:40) Understanding value versus effort (00:15:21) Shifting from retail to patient focus (00:16:31) Improving client intake and planning (00:19:37) Identifying growth barriers for practices Lead the Consultation With Medical Authority A patient consultation should feel like clinical guidance, not a review of services and prices. Patients come to you because they want a result and need help understanding which treatments will get them there. When providers lead with patient education, set realistic expectations, and recommend a clear treatment plan, price becomes one part of the decision rather than the entire conversation. This also creates a better patient experience. People are more likely to follow through, rebook, and trust future recommendations when they understand why the plan was created. Value-based pricing works when the practice can clearly connect its expertise , care, and treatment strategy to the outcome the patient wants. Patient Loyalty Creates More Predictable Growth Practices that depend on promotions often see the same pattern: a rush of cash, a crowded schedule, and then another dip. That volatility makes financial management harder because staffing, inventory management, and marketing decisions are being made around short-term spikes instead of reliable demand. A medicine-first approach creates cleaner practice growth. Strong treatment plans, consistent rebooking, and better customer retention increase patient lifetime value and make cash flow easier to forecast. Over time, that stability gives you room to improve margins, invest in your team, and expand without constantly discounting the work that built your reputation. A med spa with medical authority and loyal patients has far more control over its pricing, profitability, and future. Follow Shannon & Keep What You Earn: Shannon Weinstein is the founder of a fractional CFO firm specializing in helping 7-figure aesthetics and wellness practices scale with clarity, cash flow, and confidence . Shannon is committed to helping med spa owners understand, fix, and maximize their business's enterprise value, offering actionable advice and resources, including a popular free video series specifically for aesthetics practice owners. Connect with Shannon: Fractional CFO Services and Executive Financial Review: https://www.keepwhatyouearn.com/ Connect with Shannon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonweinstein Watch full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@KeepWhatYouEarn Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1580071347 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonkweinstein/ The information shared is for educational purposes only and is not individualized financial advice. Aesthetics practice owners should consult a qualified professional before implementing financial strategies discussed here.

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  Episode #864

  Creating Autonomy: How to Make Your Med Spa Operate Without You

  Jul 21, 202647 minS1

  A profitable med spa can still be hard to scale, and even harder to sell. When the owner is responsible for every major decision, key patient relationships, team oversight, and day-to-day problem solving, the business carries more risk than the financials may initially show. In this episode, I sit down with Annie Robertson Hockey, president of Skytale Group, to talk about what makes a medical aesthetics or wellness practice more valuable over time. We cover owner dependence, scalable systems, clean financial reporting, revenue concentration, team incentives, and the operational work that gives practice owners more options as they grow. A Valuable Practice Can't Depend on One Person Many practice owners become the center of the business without realizing how difficult that makes the next stage of growth. They approve the decisions, solve the team problems, manage important relationships, and step in whenever something breaks. That may work for a period of time , but eventually the owner becomes the bottleneck. Start paying attention to where the practice still relies heavily on you. Which decisions come back to your desk? Which patients only want to see you? What happens when you take a week off? Those questions matter whether you are thinking about a future exit, adding locations, or simply trying to create more space in your own role. From a buyer's perspective, owner dependence is risk . From an operator's perspective, it also limits how much the practice can handle without adding more stress at the top. Build Systems Before Growth Exposes the Gaps A process that works for one location or a small team may fall apart at twice the volume. Practice owners need to look ahead and ask whether the current operation could support two, five, or even 10 times the activity without creating chaos. That means taking a closer look at the parts of the business that affect consistency, risk, and repeatability: Reduce dependence on a single provider, location, treatment, or revenue stream Document the operational systems that drive consistent patient experiences Track where new patients come from instead of relying on assumptions about marketing performance Build HR and sales processes that can function without constant owner involvement Review key performance indicators over time instead of reacting to isolated monthly results Automate repetitive processes when technology can improve consistency and reduce administrative burden Assign clear ownership to major functions across the team Pick an area that is creating friction, give it focused attention, and improve the process before moving on to the next one. A quarter spent strengthening one important function can be far more productive than trying to fix 10 things at the same time. (00:07:54) Framework for expansion and exit (00:10:25) Building enterprise value (00:16:48) Thinking in scalable systems (00:20:37) Managing revenue concentration risk (00:24:44) Defining clean financial data and metrics (00:37:20) Tying incentives to controllable actions (00:42:51) Managing HR and sales processes Your Financial Reports Should Help You Explain the Business Clean financials are not just about accurate bookkeeping. You should be able to look at your reports, identify the major trends, and explain what is driving the numbers. A buyer will want to understand whether growth came from a stronger marketing cohort, a new provider, one unusually productive location, a change in treatment mix, or something else entirely. You should want that same clarity as the owner. Without it, you are making decisions based on a snapshot instead of understanding how the business is actually changing . This is where trend analysis and a focused set of key performance indicators become useful. Track the metrics that help you make decisions, review them consistently, and stop collecting data simply because you can. More reporting does not automatically create better management. The Team Has to Be Able to Carry More of the Business Scaling exposes team issues that are easier to work around when the practice is smaller. Hiring, training, performance management, HR processes, and incentive plans all need more structure once the owner can no longer oversee every interaction. Pay particular attention to incentives. Employees should be rewarded for outcomes they can actually influence , with clear expectations and measurable responsibilities behind the plan. As the practice matures, capable leaders, documented processes, reliable financials, and a team that can operate without constant owner involvement make the business easier to expand, easier for a buyer to evaluate, and less dependent on you. Follow Shannon & Keep What You Earn: Shannon Weinstein is the founder of a fractional CFO firm specializing in helping 7-figure aesthetics and wellness practices scale with clarity, cash flow, and confidence . Shannon is committed to helping med spa owners understand, fix, and maximize their business's enterprise value, offering actionable advice and resources, including a popular free video series specifically for aesthetics practice owners. Connect with Shannon: Fractional CFO Services and Executive Financial Review: https://www.keepwhatyouearn.com/ Connect with Shannon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonweinstein Watch full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@KeepWhatYouEarn Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1580071347 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonkweinstein/ The information shared is for educational purposes only and is not individualized financial advice. Aesthetics practice owners should consult a qualified professional before implementing financial strategies discussed here. About Annie Robertson Hockey: Annie Robertson Hockey is the President of Skytale Group, a boutique investment banking, management consulting, and private capital firm. Prior to Skytale , Annie co-founded and served as co-CEO of Column, a nationally chartered infrastructure bank, where she currently serves as an Advisor and Board Member. She previously worked at Bain & Company, Goldman Sachs, and was an early employee at several Silicon Valley startups. Annie graduated with honors from both Stanford University and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she was an Arjay Miller Scholar. She also serves on the board of a nonprofit focused on remediating youth economic inequality and advises the Stanford Technology Ventures Program and Stanford Women in Tech Entrepreneurship, supporting the development of female leaders. Connect with Annie and Skytale Group: Website: www.skytalegroup.com Email: info@skytalegroup.com Phone: (945) 235-7850

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