If I only had more money… Now, that is a sentence so often said by business owners, out loud, when they are alone, or screaming during meetings, or even with tears at meetings with their creditors. No matter how much money you have, it never seems to be enough. With bigger funds ambitions grow bigger as well, so managing cash flow is by no means an easy task.
Although like we said, money seems to be the biggest problem for business owners, research shows the issue lies elsewhere. There are many steps that you can take that can improve your situations without increasing the amount of money at your disposal. In this article, you will read about 5 different tips that you can implement in order to have a better grasp of the situation.
Although this useful piece of advice can help you, the key is in behavioural change and creating an impact that lasts. Once the whole business depends on you and your abilities, stakes are way higher, and your performance should rise to the occasion.
Keep a Detailed Track – Every Transaction Matters
The best way to regulate how you spend your money is to keep track of it. The accuracy of your income, the volume, and the source. Keeping such a detailed track may seem tiresome, but it actually helps the pain to go away by finding the root of the problem.
The same goes for your expenses – if you know exactly where your money goes, it is easy to reduce some expenses or to find affordable substitutes. If you do start keeping track, don’t just do it out of need and habit. Start analying it, dedicate some serious time to it and the results will come faster than you expected.
Go Back to Basics – Reduce Expenses!
If you want to have more money, spend less. Seems easy enough, doesn’t it? Well, not everything is so black and white and spend less doesn’t really seem like reasonable advice. But, is there something you can do to make your situation better? There sure is!
Start by following our first tip and take a good, hard look at your expenses. Mark them by priority and take a good look at ones that can be modified. Sometimes you have to pay more in order to save money in the future. For example, perhaps you are spending a lot during the month on new equipment. The one you have has been breaking down a lot. In that case, you should invest in better equipment and spend more money now and save yourself from future expenses.
If you take a closer look, you’ll surely notice that there are items you are overpaying. Find the same level of quality by carefully browsing through the market and what it has to offer.
Save Where You Must Spend – Tax Breaks
There are some expenses that can’t be ignored, overlooked and delayed. Your business needs to follow the rule of the law, and taxes are one big part of it. If you want to keep your business afloat, you can’t miss out on your payments. As the old saying goes - in life, only death and taxes are certain.
How can you use this situation to your own benefit? Well, you could start by educating yourself and learning about different tax deductions for your small business. But, all of that might not be enough since taxes are a very complex subject. Your best bet is to hire a tax expert, one person that knows all there is to know and will serve you as a connection to that complicated world. Since you know you can’t avoid the issue,you should tackle it the best you can.
Make it Faster and Easy to Use – Less Headache, More Money
Another issue for business owners is how complicated money transactions are, and how easy it is to lose track. And if your business is international you might be in a world of trouble! Since time is your most precious resource don’t waste it standing in line, converting different currencies and in general trying to wrap your brain around all of the issues. Do better and make everything as easy as you possibly can.
A half an hour research about the best app to keep track of your business finances will save you hours. Investing in a good software, as well as banking system, that enables you to perform all of your transactions easily and with no security lost, will be one of the best decisions for your business and for yourself.
It takes time and energy in the beginning, but once you set the system up not only will it help you, but it will also enable you to spend less by providing you with incentives, discounts and overall better deals.