Finance, but also accounting is a crucial part of every business. As many small business owners know, running a business is tough.
You need to be an expert in your field, you need to keep up with all the industry trends, competition, you need to offer good deals, keep clients, users or customers and get the new ones… but you also need to be your own PR, secretary, accountant and much more.
This is why small and medium-size business owners often get overloaded and eventually some aspects of running a business do suffer.
However, you can’t let finance and accounting out of your sight – because both are crucial to a healthy business.
Here are some tips that can help you and your business thrive, without forgetting “small” things like regular bookkeeping and so on.
1. Don’t slack on invoicing
Try and send out invoices as soon as possible after you have provided services or goods. Make sure payments are not forgotten or lost in the process, and always follow up on sent invoices.
You can make this easier by creating a routine and having email or SMS templates for following up with your clients, customers, users or partners.
In order to organize better, cross-reference invoice numbers with payments.
2. Don’t mix business and pleasure – keep business and private accounts separated
Keep a separate bank account for your business. If you’re mixing your personal finances with the business money, you’ll eventually have headaches due to tax complications, unexplained losses, bookkeeping challenges, liquidity and profitability issues and so on.
Make sure you pay yourself first but don’t suck up all the profit the moment you make it. A good rule of the thumb is to take only 10% of the earnings.
As many business owners know, usually you can end up putting in your money than taking it out, especially in the beginnings, but that’s how entrepreneurship works.
3. Understand that your cash flow is seasonal
There is a seasonal aspect to most of the industries, if not all.
If you have a medical practice, you might have major seasonal spikes around flu seasons. If you run an accounting business, your seasonal spikes will likely occur during tax season, and so on.
This is not always easy to learn and know, but with time, business owners often know intuitively when there’s a higher or lower demand for their services or goods.
However, you should plan for these spikes and drops, and be informed in advance – so you can set money on the side, get more supplies etc.
4. Use all the help and all the tools you can get
Don’t be shy about asking friends or fellow entrepreneurs and business owners for help or advice – many times, small businesses can work together for mutual benefit.
Don’t hesitate to get expert help when needed – many times it is more expensive to fix errors than pay an expert and avoid any error at all.
And don’t forget different tools either – we live in times when great technology is available to everyone at low cost or free.
Conclusion
So, remember that tools like CollaboraZon can really boost your business and make you more productive.
If you’d like to try CollaboraZon out, you can get a free trial – and see how all the features it offers work for you, from sharing files, giving and receiving feedback, to creating events across devices.