Meet Nicole Barham: From Bankruptcy Court To Entrepreneur Helping Other Women Design Their Wealth

Nicole Barham, founder of Design Your Wealth, is an exemplary entrepreneur proving that the possibility of transforming a side hustle to a lucrative online business is so real.

With Design Your Wealth, Nicole Barham uses her experience to offer financial peace of mind for women entrepreneurs. The business acts as a platform for members to gain access to resources that help with planning, tracking, and forecasting finances for business and in life.

“I started the business after my own experience of not managing my finances properly landed me in bankruptcy court,” she told TIME. I have a background in accounting and spent years taking care of my employer’s finances, so it was particularly heartbreaking that I was in this position.”

In what she calls a rebuilding process, Barham felt empowered to not only regain control of her finances but to also encourage others to do the same.

“I decided to use my skills to turn my finances around and teach other women how to do the same so they can actually build wealth in their businesses,” she said.

Personal entrepreneurship is on the rise, especially the momentum of side hustles and online businesses. However, while it can be tough to excel at all business tasks, money management is the priority that is often overlooked due to a lack of awareness.

According to Barham, her experiences revealed to her that most people mismanage their finances and become overwhelmed by the “lack of simplicity in the tools and platforms we have available to us,” as well as the “absence of support and accountability.”

“I saw so many women entrepreneurs like myself who weren’t on top of their finances, didn’t know if they were making a profit or a loss, weren’t setting income goals and tracking against them, weren’t creating budgets, and were scrambling right at the tax deadline to get all their numbers together.”

“But even more, I saw myself in them. I had been in their shoes and knew that I had the expertise and tools to help them.”

According to TIME, Barham’s main offering is the membership program called 5 Minute Bookkeeper™, which is an easy-to-implement business finance tracking and planning system that can be used to manage money in just five minutes a day.

“This is our secret weapon to getting amazing results for our clients,” Barham says. “It’s the difference between just having a gym membership and having a personal trainer. I wanted to ensure my clients get the results they desire.”