Sam Uwins founded the accounting firm StarBox, which works with over 450 content creators. Zohaib Alam
Sam Uwins, an accountant and business consultant, manages the finances of influencers and creatives.
He has worked with top creators in the UK and helped the ‘Sidemen’ YouTubers set up several businesses.
Uwins shared three money management strategies for creators, such as setting up a bank account for taxes.
This is a machine translation of an article from our US colleagues at Business Insider. It was automatically translated and checked by a real editor.
Sam Uwins describes himself as “the least creative man on the planet.” As an accountant and management consultant for Creator, his day-to-day life consists of numbers, spreadsheets and “boring,” “compliance-driven” tasks.
Working with someone who enjoys these tasks can be crucial for people building creative businesses on social media who may not have the knowledge or interest to deal with the financial side of their work, Uwins told Business Insider (BI).
“People who are naturally creative may have trouble with some of the details surrounding finances,” he said. “A person’s accountant can be one of their most valuable team members.”
Uwins began collecting taxes for creators and influencers in the early 2010s, when making money online was still relatively new. In 2016, he founded a company that specializes in accounting for influencers and now has over 450 customers – including the football YouTuber F2 Freestylers and the beauty author Patricia Bright.
As his company grew, Uwins became more of a consultant. In 2021, he co-founded Arcade Media, a talent management company that works exclusively with the YouTube group The Sidemen. He has developed products with the YouTubers, such as the fried chicken chain Sides, the vodka brand XIX and their latest project, a breakfast products company called Best Breakfasts manufactures.
Having worked in this space for over a decade, Uwins understands some of the accounting and money management pitfalls that creators often fall into.
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The YouTube group Sidemen owns a popular fried chicken restaurant chain in the United Kingdom. Sides
Here are Uwins’ top three strategies for managing money effectively as a creator:
1. Build a business structure once you start making money
Creators should have a registered business, regardless of how much money they make, Uwins said.
By definition, these companies limit their owner’s liability in the event something goes wrong with the company – such as a lawsuit or bankruptcy. In this way, the assets of the individual owner are protected from legal claims. A company also offers more flexibility with taxes than an individual.
2. Keep an eye on your cash flow
The success of starting a business is by definition fickle, so it’s important to prioritize saving and investing while the money is coming in, Uwins said. This can help in the long run and ensure that creators can make ends meet financially even if they stop publishing content or their business falls into trouble.
This goes hand in hand with a conservative approach to spending – even if an artist earns millions.
“People sometimes live these years as if it would last forever,” says Uwins. “When they start earning more money, they change their lifestyle very quickly: they rent bigger houses, drive more expensive cars, buy watches, jewelry, go to expensive restaurants, gamble. But it’s hard for them to break away from that lifestyle when the income stops.”
Another factor that some creators don’t always consider is the fact that, unlike salaried employees, influencers’ work is essentially freelance. It is paid gross – which means that the creators have to pay their own income tax later; it is not automatically deducted from your paycheck. Uwin said creators should set aside a percentage of their earnings for taxes and deposit it immediately into a separate bank account.
“It really helps people when that money is out of sight,” Uwins said. “When you go to your online banking and see your account balance, your brain is trained to think: I can afford this. And then at the end of the year, when the accountant gives them the tax bill, they say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know it would be that much.'”
For those considering quitting their job to focus on content creation, Uwins advises having at least six months of savings as a safety net to minimize risk.
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3. Get a team that understands the things you don’t
When a creator starts to grow and build a lucrative business around themselves, it can become difficult to take care of all aspects. Some creators are just creative, while others function better as CEOs.
“I often think it’s good to focus on your strengths and outsource the areas of business that you don’t feel comfortable with or that you don’t enjoy,” says Uwins.
That might mean hiring an accountant, but also someone to run operations, a manager, an agent, or even a video editor – depending on what aspects of the business are fulfilling for the creator.
Read the original article Business Insider.
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