Financial expert launches Hoot & Profit, a gamified app designed to help business owners build better financial habits one small action at a time.
ATLANTA, Oct. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Tell Ruth King something can't be done and there's a good chance she'll find a way to do it. That is exactly how Hoot & Profit, a new gamified financial habits app for business owners, got its start.
King, a longtime financial educator, entrepreneur, and founder of Financially Fit Business, was talking with her daughter about a problem she had seen for decades: too many business owners avoid their financial statements because they find them confusing, intimidating, or simply unpleasant. Her daughter issued a simple challenge:
"You can't make financial statements fun."
King took that personally. "I thought, 'Okay, challenge accepted,'" King said. "Business owners work incredibly hard to build their companies, but many of them are uncomfortable with the numbers that tell them how the business is really doing. I wanted to find a way to change that."
About a year later, the result is Hoot & Profit, an app designed to help business owners build what King calls "financial muscle" through small, manageable actions that make paying attention to business finances part of an everyday routine.
Small Actions. Stronger Financial Habits.
Hoot & Profit turns financial education and awareness into a game. Users complete simple activities such as checking their business bank accounts, tracking revenue-producing units and answering financial questions. Along the way, they earn pellets to feed and grow a virtual owlet, build streaks and unlock rewards.
The idea is intentionally simple: instead of expecting business owners to suddenly become financial experts, get them comfortable interacting with their numbers a little bit every day. "The goal is to help business owners realize that their financial statements aren't scary," King said. "You don't have to learn everything at once. You start by paying attention. You answer a question. You check something in your business. You begin understanding what the numbers mean. And then you do it again tomorrow."
King says that approach addresses a behavior she has observed repeatedly during decades of working with business owners. Many receive their monthly profit-and-loss statement, check the bottom line and put it away. The balance sheet, which King considers essential to understanding a company's financial health, may receive even less attention. "You can't make good decisions with information you're afraid to look at," King said. "Hoot & Profit is about taking away some of that fear."
Why Checking the Numbers Matters
Some of the habits Hoot & Profit encourages take only minutes but can have a significant impact. King points to one business owner who had assigned someone on his team to review the company's bank account each day. During one review, two tiny deposits appeared — amounts so small they could easily have been ignored. The following day, the bank called about hundreds of attempted unauthorized withdrawals.
Those small deposits had been used to determine whether the account was active. "That is a great example of why I tell business owners to look at their bank accounts every day," King said. "It may only take a couple of minutes, but paying attention gives you an opportunity to spot something that doesn't look right before it becomes a much bigger problem." Hoot & Profit builds those practical financial behaviors into an experience designed to feel less like homework and more like progress.
948 Questions and One Very Productive Trip to Hawaii
Making financial education engaging required more than creating an animated owl and a rewards system. Early versions of Hoot & Profit included several hundred financial questions. When initial users wanted more questions and more opportunities to engage with the app, King went back to work.
A teaching trip to Hawaii became an unexpected writing marathon. King ultimately created 948 financial questions, along with answers and explanations intended to make financial concepts easier for business owners to understand. "That was probably the hardest part," King said. "I know the material. The challenge was taking it and putting it into language that a business owner can immediately understand."
That plain-language approach is one of the principles behind the app. "It explains financial concepts in English," King said. "Business owners shouldn't need a finance degree to understand their own business."
Created With Service Business Owners in Mind
Hoot & Profit can be used by business owners across industries, but King initially designed the experience with contractors and service businesses in mind, including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, pool and spa, lawn care, pest control and other home-service companies. King knows this market well. She has been helping business owners understand financial statements, improve profitability and strengthen cash flow since 1987.
King holds an MBA in finance from Georgia State University and has written multiple books focused on business profitability, cash flow and financial management. Her experience also led to the creation of Financially Fit Business, an AI-driven financial analysis platform designed to help businesses understand their profit-and-loss statements, balance sheets, cash flow and financial trends. Hoot & Profit starts even earlier in that journey. Its job is to help an owner become comfortable enough with financial information to begin looking, learning, and asking better questions.
Turning Financial Awareness Into a Habit
As users complete activities within Hoot & Profit, they earn pellets and build streaks. Users can use pellets to grow their owlet and unlock financial education and other rewards. At 250 pellets, users can unlock educational content, templates and financial resources. At 500 pellets, users can receive a $50 credit toward a Financially Fit Business subscription.
But King says the real reward is changing behavior. Thirty, 60, or 90 days after someone starts using Hoot & Profit, she wants them to feel differently when they encounter their financial statements. "I want them to look at the numbers and think, 'I can do this. I understand this,'" King said. "That's when the light bulb comes on." King has set an initial goal of having at least 1,000 business owners using Hoot & Profit during its first year. "The numbers in your business are telling you a story every day," she said. "You just have to get into the habit of listening."
Developed With WeGotCode
Hoot & Profit was developed in collaboration with WeGotCode, a Canton, Georgia-based software development company that also developed the technology behind Financially Fit Business. King worked with the WeGotCode team to translate her financial education concepts, daily activities, question library, and gamification ideas into the Hoot & Profit mobile experience.
Hoot & Profit is available now for Apple and Android devices.
To learn more about Hoot & Profit and download the app, visit HootandProfit.com.
About Hoot & Profit
Hoot & Profit is a gamified financial habits app created by financial expert and entrepreneur Ruth King to help business owners become more comfortable and consistent with their business finances. Through quick activities, financial questions, streaks, pellets, virtual owlets and rewards, Hoot & Profit helps turn financial awareness into an everyday habit.
About Ruth King
Ruth King is a financial expert, entrepreneur, author and founder of Financially Fit Business and Business Ventures Corporation. Since 1987, she has helped business owners understand their financial statements, improve profitability, strengthen cash flow and build financially healthier companies.
King holds an MBA in finance from Georgia State University and is the author of several books on financial management and business profitability, including 101 Dumb Financial Mistakes Business Owners Make and How to Avoid Them, Profit or Wealth?, The Courage to Be Profitable and The Ugly Truth About Cash. She was inducted into the Contracting Business HVAC Hall of Fame in 2025 for her contributions to the contracting industry.
Media Contact
Ruth King, Financially Fit Business, 1 678-296-4123, [email protected], www.financiallyfit.business
SOURCE Financially Fit Business
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