When you run a small business, one of your most important responsibilities is ensuring that it remains financially viable. If you run out of money, you will never achieve all the goals you set for yourself. There are various aspects involved in getting your small business finances in order, but the following blog post outlines some of them. The better control you have of your finances, the more likely it is that you are going to continue running a successful company for years to come.
Manage Your Day-to-Day Finances
While you may have some big picture aspects of your small business finances that need your consideration, there is also a lot going on in the day-to-day picture. It is the small things that can all add up if you are not careful. In the first instance, this means managing your accounts properly. You can either do this by purchasing financial software for you to do yourself, or hiring a good financial professional is another route to go down. Keeping track of your incomings and outgoings is absolutely essential. Many solo entrepreneurs are employing a common option to use a business app, which can be a highly convenient way of tracking expenses.
Drive Down Costs Where Possible
People who run a small business are often not working with a huge budget. Therefore, it is particularly important that you drive down all your costs wherever this is possible. When you are buying a new product or service, it is always worth getting several quotes and comparing them to get the best deal. When you are working with a supplier, it is worth renegotiating from time to time. As your business starts to grow, keeping these sound financial principles will always be worthwhile.
Reassess Your Financial Projections
No matter what size of business you run, you should always have a clear set of financial projections that you are working towards. While it is always nice to have goals that you work towards, you may need to reassess these projections from time to time based on your ever-changing circumstances. The whole point of having a business plan is that it gives you a template on how to respond to a wide range of circumstances that could impact your business.
Keep Up with Your Invoices
You are bound to find that some clients are worse at paying on time than others. However, when you run a small enterprise, you don’t have a huge amount of wiggle room to wait for days or weeks on end. This is why it is important to keep up with invoicing and ensure that deadlines are met. On sending out goods or the completion of services, you should release your invoice at the earliest possible opportunity. Make sure that your payment terms are clearly listed, and don’t give a deadline that is too long. Also, ensure that your details can be found without too much trouble. If invoices are not paid, you need to be proactive in following up. Many companies hire someone whose job it is to take care of this aspect of the company. Utilize accountancy software and use reference numbers to ensure that no invoices get lost in the system.
Separate Your Business Account
Many entrepreneurs begin by using their personal bank account for business purposes. However, this is not the best course of action, as you are not going to be able to make a distinction between your business expenses and your personal expenses. This can lead to unexplained losses and potential tax problems when the year draws to a close. When you start making money, don’t forget to pay yourself. This will be a good test of profitability for the company and will ensure that you are not tempted to dip into the business account.
Practice Frugality
Remaining frugal is worthwhile from a business and personal perspective. The problem with this word is that many people associate it with cheapness. However, it is more about remaining sensible with money. Start off by setting your salary low enough that you aren’t sucking up too much company money. Rather than traveling, rely on telecommuting and teleconferencing software. This is a more viable option than ever in the modern world, with so many of us staying indoors anyway. There is no point in shelling out on hotel and travel costs unless it is absolutely necessary. Get into the habit of periodically reviewing your internet and utility costs as providers have a habit of increasing these under the radar. You can often get a better deal by simply calling up and threatening to cancel the service. If there is big equipment that you need to purchase, it may be worth renting beforehand before committing to make the purchase. If you can avoid making late payments and paying interest charges, this will also help you out significantly.
Make Sure You Have Sufficient Capital
A lot of people wait until their business is in trouble before they seek out a small business line of credit from the likes of Become. However, this is the stage when you are least likely to receive the financial support that you are looking for. Loan providers like to find viable businesses rather than ones that look like they are on their last legs. Keep an eye on your business credit score as well. You may be able to improve it, which will stand you in better stead should you need to acquire a restaurant small business loan (or loan pertaining to your particular business or industry) in the future. If so, this is worth doing sooner rather than later.
Spend When You Can
There will come a time when you are ready to reinvest money into the business. They say that you have to spend money to make money, and this is true to an extent. However, you still need to do so with care. Otherwise, you could end up putting the business that you have worked so hard to build at risk.
Getting your small business finances in order will help to secure your company’s future, so now is the time to do so.
