As an entrepreneur, you’re fighting the odds when it comes to your business making it past that all-important first year. Part of those failures stems from having flawed concepts, successful competition, or market forces out of your control. A bigger source of these issues, though, is not knowing how to handle your money properly.This can happen in any field, from tech consulting to immigration labor advertising. Here are some money lessons you can implement to get your business efforts started on the right foot.
Start by making sure that you aren’t letting dreams and promises of future income force financial decisions you are making for the present. There’s nothing wrong with having a vision, but you want to be grounded when it comes to money, especially because things can be hard to predict.
Rather than saying, “I can make this much money a year from now, so I should buy X,” take a look at what is consistent. Let that move your hand on financial decisions before anything else. A good practice here is making sure you have a spreadsheet that covers the expenses you have. Putting together a spreadsheet that outlines the needed expenses for every investment you make is important. If you find that you can cover the cost along with your normal costs and still have a little cushion, you are in a position to move forward.
Another thing that you want to make sure that you do is to leverage your network in every way possible. There may not be a lot to go with at first, but use what you can. Every little business connection you make can pay dividends later. You also want to start growing said network by participating in industry groups on social media and even in person. Sit and wait and see what type of wisdom is being passed around, and take notes and introduce yourself.
The final thing to consider is accountants and tax experts. Most people who begin business don’t go for this step right away. The reasoning is that the operation is too small, and that you’ll get it down the line when things are bigger and you can justify the investment. This may be flawed thinking. Part of taking care of your money means keeping track of where every dollar in your business comes from and where it goes to. How can you make a proper change without that knowledge? An accountant is a person who helps lay this out for you. Ideally, your network will guide you to someone who’s skilled and trustworthy.
