Doug White - Finsol Business Finance & Mortgage Adviser

15/06/2026

Today

Rocked in at half ten to catch up with Ash from BFF Boutique — someone I’d been meaning to see for ages. Half an hour, I thought.

Two hours later, still yarning.

Business, life, kids, family, a bit of talking s**t — lost track of time completely. And that’s when you know it was a good one.

Everyone reckons my job’s all about the numbers. Nah. The real stuff is the conversations. Sitting down, actually listening, no agenda, no clock-watching.

Good chats over scrolling, every time.

Get amongst it.

— Doug

14/06/2026

Business finance shouldn't need a translator.

Too much of it comes wrapped in jargon and fine print, built to make you feel like you need permission to understand your own money.

Strip it back. Sharp, straight, to the point. Here's what it costs, here's what it does, here's whether it's right for you.

If your broker can't put it in plain English, that's on them — not you.

— Doug

13/06/2026

Financials.

I'm not even sure there's a tidy definition I should put down here — because if you're in business and you don't really know what these are, I'll be a bit blunt and say… should you even be in business?

Okay, that's a bit naive of me. I know a few people who've done very well over the years without ever really understanding them. Fair enough.

But I'll say this — your financials are one of the most important bits of information you'll ever need. They tell you whether you're profitable, whether your GP margins are changing, where your expenses are trending, and where your money's going on the balance sheet. (And that's just the beginning… accountants absolutely love this stuff.)

So if you're self-employed, own a business, and you're looking to buy an investment property, a commercial property, upgrade the family home — or buy a business or some equipment — NOW is the time to get on the phone to your accountant and get this sorted.

Everyone's flat out at the moment, and they're not going to love that last-minute "the bank needs my financials" email or call.

Be prepared, and your adviser or banker will appreciate it — might even hug you for it. (Okay, maybe not literally.)

Being prepared makes everyone else's life easier — and yours a whole lot less stressful.

— Doug

13/06/2026

Some weeks the list never really ends. But when the laptop’s shut and the day’s done, it tends to come back to the same few things — the people you love are okay, you gave it your best crack, and there’s a fair bit to be thankful for.

The targets and the to-do lists will keep till morning. Tonight’s worth a quieter moment.

Have a good weekend, and take a minute to enjoy what’s already going right.

— Doug

12/06/2026

04/06/2026

Treatment ending doesn't mean you're better.

It means you're done. There's a difference. And nobody really warns you about it. When my last round of treatment finished, I thought the hard part was over.

What I didn't expect was that the after-effects would still be with me two years later.

Neuropathy — nerve damage from chemotherapy — is something I manage every single day. Some days it's manageable. Some days it's a reminder that what your body goes through in treatment doesn't just disappear when the treatment stops.

Getting back to work full time was slow. It wasn't a switch I flipped — it was a gradual climb, day by day, with a lot of support around me. Family. My workplace. My doctors. The right medication.

I didn't do this alone. And I think that's important to say out loud, because there's a tendency — especially for self-employed people — to project strength and push through alone. I couldn't have done that. I didn't try to.

The financial reality of the recovery phase is something nobody budgets for. Your income might start returning before your capacity does. You're rebuilding your pipeline, your energy, your confidence — all at the same time. It's a slow burn.

Two years on, I'm still getting there. And that's okay. Post 5 coming soon.

03/06/2026

Cancer doesn't pause your mortgage. Your bills don't care that you're in treatment. The power company doesn't care. The insurance premiums don't care.

The world just keeps moving, and the financial obligations keep landing.

Here's the thing though — I was lucky. I had income protection insurance and crisis cover in place.

So when everything stopped, something kept coming in. But lucky doesn't mean sorted.

When I left Kiwibank, I didn't review my cover. I assumed what I had was enough. I didn't sit down with someone and ask — is this still right for my situation? Is there a gap?

There was a gap. And I only found out exactly how big that gap was when I needed the cover most. That's the worst time to find out.

There's a difference between having insurance and having the right insurance.

I tell clients this every single day. If you're self-employed, if you've changed jobs, if your life has shifted since you last looked at your cover — please don't wait for a crisis to review it.

I'm living proof that the detail matters. The bills will keep coming. Make sure you're actually covered when they do.

Post 4 coming soon.

01/06/2026

Nobody prepares you for chemo brain. You sit down to review a loan file — something you've done a thousand times — and you can't hold the thread.

The words are there. The numbers are there. But your brain just won't connect them.

That was my reality going through 8 cycles of chemotherapy and 5 weeks of radiation, 5 days a week.

But as hard as the physical side was, the mental fight was something else entirely. Do I tell my clients what's happening — or do I stay quiet and protect my reputation?

If they know I'm sick, will they trust me with their biggest financial decisions? Will they leave?

I chose to stay quiet for as long as I could. And carrying that silence on top of treatment was its own kind of exhausting.

There were good days and bad days. On the good days I showed up and did the work. On the bad days I had to find a way to get through anyway — because the business didn't stop just because I was sick.

Nobody talks about the cost of that. Not just financially — but mentally, professionally, personally. The hidden toll of being self-employed and seriously unwell isn't just lost income.

It's the weight of trying to protect something you've built, while your body is fighting for something far more important.

Post 3 coming soon.

Ps. Photo is of the radiation machine