About This Episode
In this episode, host Don sits down with Danielle Hayden, CEO of Kickstart Accounting, to address a costly problem in aesthetic practices: buying equipment based on enthusiasm or a sales promise instead of financial readiness.
Danielle breaks down the three numbers that should guide any capital purchase, rolling 12-month revenue, average net profit, and monthly cash outflow, and explains how to model a device at 25%, 50%, and 75% utilization. She also shares practical spending benchmarks for marketing, facility costs, and payroll.
Her framework is clear: build a money team, review numbers monthly, and ask what happened, why it happened, and what you will do next. Keep the 10-year North Star fixed, reforecast the budget as conditions change, and never let a profitable P&L hide a cash-flow problem.
Read the full conversation
Why Equipment Purchases Need Financial Review
Don opens with the risk of buying expensive equipment without first running the numbers.
He introduces Danielle Hayden of Kickstart Accounting and frames the conversation around capital spending, cash flow, and CEO-level financial decision-making.
The episode is sponsored by Ekwa Marketing.
[View Transcript]
Here is a number that should make every practice owner uncomfortable. The most expensive piece of equipment in your practice might not be the one you bought. It's the one you bought without running the math.
Welcome back to the Business of Aesthetics podcast. I'm your host for this session, Don. And to help us turn capital spending from a gut feeling into CFO-level math, we're joined by Danielle Hayden. Danielle is the CEO of Kickstart Accounting and the author of the Profit Planner book series.
She spent more than 10 years in corporate boardrooms as a CFO before dedicating her career to giving business owners the same financial clarity that boards and investors demand. She has helped over a thousand owners transform the way they read the numbers.
Today, we're discussing the three financial numbers that decide whether your practice can truly afford its next device. We're talking about how to spot the spending that quietly bleeds the practice and how to run your finances like a CEO instead of guessing from a bank balance. This episode is brought to you by Ekwa Marketing, the growth partner behind this podcast and a trusted resource in the aesthetic community. That being said, Danielle, welcome to the podcast.
Thank you so much for having me here. Looking forward to this conversation.
Absolutely. Now, Danielle, you spent over a decade in corporate boardrooms before working with business owners. So when a practice owner tells you, “I just bought a $150,000 laser because my rep said it pays for itself,” what is the very first number you pull up to test whether that decision was actually a good idea?
Build a Money Team Before Buying a Device
Danielle recommends consulting a “money team” before committing to a major capital purchase.
She explains that clean bookkeeping, a budget, and a long-term business plan should guide equipment decisions.
Profit alone is not enough; the practice must have sufficient cash flow for owner draws, taxes, inventory, and debt payments.
[View Transcript]