I get it. You don’t like to do your business finances. It’s not something that is easy for you. It’s just not enjoyable.
But what if it led to something enjoyable in your business?
You have a business because you want to make money.
You have a business because you love what you do.
The money stuff is going to happen one way or another. (And if it doesn’t, then you most likely won’t even have a business soon.)
You can either learn to like your business finances now, or you can always hate them.
But if you continue to hate and ignore them, or only look at certain numbers, then you’ll end up paying more money than you want to in the long run to fix mistakes.
How can you learn to love your business finances?
See Your Business Finances as a Way to Continue to Grow Your Business
The ultimate goal of your business is to continue to grow it, at least that’s what I hope your goal is. You want it to support you and your family. You may even want it to replace your corporate job that you may not even like anymore.
So you should definitely want to grow your business.
When you are looking at and loving your business, you know what is happening in your business. You will be able to see the patterns that occur in your business. These patterns can then be used to help you grow your business.
Does your business regularly sell more during certain months?
Does your business succeed with a certain product or service, and not another one?
Does your business consistently make the same amount of money each month?
These are questions you need to know and can answer when you look at the numbers of your business.
Don’t just look at your bank balance or how much money you brought in from a certain launch. See the whole picture. The money you spent, all of the money that came in that month.
You Can Always Learn from Your Numbers
All of the things that are happening in your business produce a very clear picture with your business finances.
Do you invest in the right programs?
Do you sell one product or service better than another?
Do you clients not like that product you launched last month at all?
Do you have products in your asset inventory that you don’t really sell at all anymore, but were good sellers before?
How does what you made this month compare to the same month last year?
How does what you made this month compare to last month?
How does this year to date compare to last year to date?
How much money did you really spend to launch that course?
I love being able to do this analysis of your numbers. It really is just a few clicks of the mouse in your bookkeeping program and you can easily generate these reports to make the comparisons.
When you look at your social media to see what’s working, you analyze that as well. But those aren’t the only numbers you need to analyze to see the health of your business.
Your business finances can tell you so much more than your social media analytics can.
It’s Really Not Math
There is really very little math involved when it comes to your business finances. Your bookkeeping software does most of it for you already.
The 2 biggest excuses I hear about doing your business finances and actually loving them is that it’s math related and spreadsheets.
First of all, spreadsheets make it so much easier and do the math for you, so you don’t even have to do the calculations.
Second, it’s not really math. It’s more knowing how to classify the transactions.
You do more math when you just calculate how much money you made this month on that launch than you do with your bookkeeping.
So I hate to break it to you, but it’s not really math related at all to love your business finances. That should actually be a better reason to love your business finances.
Make it a Date
Dating is fun right?! You have dates with your significant other and enjoy those.
So make a date with your business finances. Put it on your calendar. Schedule it for every week.
Spend just 15-30 minutes on this date. Yep, make it a quickie. And it really can be if you make and stick to this date every single week.
Get your bookkeeping caught up. Review the numbers from the past week. Check on your bank account. Pay yourself your salary. Pay any other bills that are outstanding. Send any outstanding invoices. Transfer your tax savings to your savings account. And look for those patterns that happen in your business.
Is your business healthy with it’s money?
Can you pay any outstanding bills?
Can you pay yourself a salary?
Where do you need to focus to bring in more money?
Do you have enough money saved for emergencies and for taxes?
Do you have a profit in your business? Or are you spending more money than you make?
The more you love your money and your business finances and keep a regular date with it, the easier it will all be. The easier money will also flow into your bank account as well.
Hire an Accountant and Bookkeeper that You Enjoy Working With
If doing your bookkeeping and handling the tax stuff really isn’t your wheelhouse, then hire an accountant and a bookkeeper. (Yes they should be 2 separate people.)
When you are hiring, interview different people. Make sure that the person you do hire understands your business.
As an online business owner, it is very important that your accountant and bookkeeper understand how you make money, that you make money from all over the world and not just in your local area.
They also need to understand that you buy most of your purchases and business investments in the online fashion. You also most likely invest in a lot of education from other online entrepreneurs.
Your accountant and bookkeeper need to know this. And they need to know how to handle it.
How does loving your business finances help your business?
You Really can Make More Money
When you love your business finances, you pay attention to them, you make regular dates with your business finances, you really can make more money.
I know you want to make more money in your business.
So start paying attention to your business finances and your money stuff a little bit more than you do your social media analytics.
Your social media analytics will tell you what is happening with your posts. But your business finances will actually tell you what is happening IN your business.
When you know the right things to focus on to help you grow your business, the money can come much easier.
You Always Know What’s Happening in Your Business and With Your Money
Can you honestly tell me right now that you know everything that is going on with your business finances?
You know where your money is coming from?
You know how much you spent last month?
You know how much you’ve already spent this month?
Are you buying things you really don’t need in your business?
All of your ads are performing well? Or are you wasting money?
Do you keep your business and personal expenses separate?
Do you save money for taxes?
Do you regularly make a profit in your business? Or is it always a loss?
The money stuff is very important to a successful business and you need to know this stuff regularly, whether you like it or not.
But if you learn to love it and treat it as a very important part of your business, it won’t be hard at all and it will end up taking you minimal amounts of time to learn what you need to know in your business.
You Know When You Have a Profit or Loss
Your business either has a profit or a loss. The ultimate goal is to create a profit in your business and actually spend less money than you make.
When you know your business finances and pay attention to them, then you will always know if you have a profit or a loss.
Your profit or loss will also help you calculate how much money you may owe in taxes ahead of time, so you know that you have enough money saved to pay them before you even have to file your tax return.
Being prepared ahead of time and always having enough money, are the best signs that I can find of a dedicated business owner.
Are you ready to love your business finances yet?
Your business finances really are the lifeblood of your business.
The services and courses you provide help you create more money in your business. But if you don’t know what’s happening with your business finances and you really don’t pay attention to it that often, then you won’t have much lifeblood flowing through your business.
The more you love your business finances and pay attention to them, the more successful your business will be.
So tell me, how much do you really love your business finances today?
