Managing Your Personal Finances as an Entrepreneur: 14 Tips From Leading Experts

As an entrepreneur, it's important to have your personal finances in order, because you never know what may happen with your business ventures.

There's no doubt about it that being a successful entrepreneur requires a lot of expertise in a lot of different areas. Arguably one of the most important aspects to becoming a successful business owner is having your finances in order; after all, with no money, you've got no business. So, to help aspiring entrepreneurs take their next step towards building their empire, we've asked 16 expert entrepreneurs for their best piece of advice for managing your personal finances. Here's what they had to say:

1. Diversify!

"Diversify. Diversify. Diversify. I know that's canned advice you would hear from almost every other "financial expert," but it rings especially true for entrepreneurs. Here's something you might not want to admit to yourself: your entrepreneurial venture has a greater chance of failing than succeeding (gasp!). By diversifying and placing funds into another side business, alternate investments, or just setting aside cash, you will give yourself breathing room in the event that you have to call it quits or need to pivot to another business. In my own experience, I have been able to diversify into other ventures that operate independently of each other and that has led to constant growth and more exciting opportunities."--Jeff Rose, GoodFinancialCents.com

2. Plan For Inevitable Rainy Days (Or Months)

"Since many entrepreneurs have to deal with irregular income, it's important to budget your personal finances around that to make sure that you have savings that you can draw from in the leaner months. You need to know that you can cover the essentials like housing, utilities, insurance, and food. So add up those critical expenses and put aside enough to cover at least a couple months."--Tom Drake, Canadian Finance Blog

3. Plan For Your Future

"Don't forget, you should still be saving for your retirement. Even on a fluctuating income you should aim for a small bit of savings each month. A good starting point would be to open up a Roth IRA and contribute the max each year. If you want to do more, consider a SEP IRA or Solo 401K account, which will help you shelter a lot of your business income from taxes."--Philip Taylor "PT", Founder, FinCon, PT Money: Personal Finance

4. Separate Business Funds From Personal Funds

"When you're an entrepreneur starting your own business, it can be a good idea to keep your personal finances and business finances separate. Not only will it give your business more credibility and a sense of legitimacy, but in some cases it may also help reduce your personal liability were something negative to happen down the road. It will also help you to be organized when it comes to paying your taxes, managing your bills and other payments."--Peter Anderson, Bible Money Matters

"It's simple but vital: Keep business and personal accounts separate and document profit distributions to yourself. As a one-person business, I didn't set up separate accounts soon enough. The CEO of a 10 or 100 employee business wouldn't use corporate accounts as his own; why would somebody running a company of one or five?

Not only do separate accounts make tax-time easier, they're essential if you want to sell your business or you face litigation or bankruptcy. In the worst case, intermingling personal and business accounts may negate the protections offered by your business structure."--David Weliver, Publisher, MoneyUnder30.com

5. Keep Your Expenses Below Your Income

"Never forget that expenses rise to meet income. This is the gist of Parkinson's law. This is the reason that a couple months after most people get a raise, it feels just as tight financially as it did before the raise.

Without an intentional effort, houses, desks, kitchen sinks naturally get messy and cluttered. We have to take action ON PURPOSE to keep things clean and organized. The same ON PURPOSE effort needs to be made to keep our expenses BELOW our income."--Bob Lotich, ChristianPF.com

"Since you probably have a budget for your small business, make sure one is in place for your personal finances as well. It can be easy to let managing your own money fall through the cracks while trying to grow and expand your endeavor. Use a website like Mint (it's free) and enter in accurate amounts for your monthly bills. You'll probably need to estimate your income unless it is consistent. Then, work on reducing all monthly bills. Your ultimate goal is to get your spending under your estimated income. Once you have a surplus, use it to pay down your credit card debts, start or improve your emergency fund, or set it aside for your retirement."--Andrew Schrage, moneycrashers.com

6. Automate Your Bill Payments

"When you're spending every waking minute on building a business or releasing a product it's easy to overlook personal bill payments. Automated payment services that let you setup specific rules for each bill and alerts for exceptions allow you to put your bills on auto-pilot and focus on your business. If you use a credit card you can help avoid leaking money via fees and interest by setting up spending limit, payment due, and late payment alerts."--Ben Edwards, Money Smart Life

7. You Get What You Pay For

"Hire the best people, not the cheapest. If someone is willing to work for free, say no. You want someone devoted to the project, not someone who regards it as a passing hobby that they can tackle in-between episodes of Dancing with the Stars."-- Paula Pant, Founder, AffordAnything.com

8. Protect Your Most Valuable Asset

"Many entrepreneurs overlook their need for disability insurance even though their ability to earn an income is their most valuable asset. Stop thinking "it won't happen to me" and know that it could. (The Council for Disability Awareness has some great stats here). Ask yourself how your family would live without your income or what you would do for income if something happened to you. What are your options? Are you protected? (Note: Life insurance is also very important if there are other's dependent on your income)."--Mary Beth, www.workablewealth.com

9. Maximize Retirement Savings Options

"Those that are self-employed have significantly more options when it comes to retirement savings. Beyond traditional 401k and IRA plans, the self-employed should consider SEP IRAs, individual 401k plans, and even defined benefit plans. These alternatives enable entrepreneurs to save significantly more for retirement in tax-sheltered accounts. For example, a SEP IRA enables a self-employed individual to sock away up to $52,000 this year for retirement. With a defined benefit plan, some are able to save more than $100,000 a year in a tax-deferred account.

Some of these options can become quite complex. As a result, it's best for entrepreneurs to contact a tax or retirement specialist to understand which alternative is best for them."--Robert Berger, doughroller.net

10. Take Your Business On A Money Date

"Check in with your business budget often by establishing a money date ritual. Each week I take myself and my business out to lunch where I review my accounts, create reports, and update my financial goals. It makes doing mundane financial tasks like paying quarterly taxes, or putting together monthly reports, a lot more fun and less of a drag. I actually look forward to getting out of the office (and indulging in a sweet treat afterwards), where I list out positive business accomplishments that have occurred over the past week or so. A money date is the perfect opportunity to reflect on what you've accomplished, where your business is now, and where you're headed."--Carrie Smith, carefulcents.com

11. Seek Out Professional Tax Advice

"Spend some time and money on getting professional tax advice from someone who works with small businesses and entrepreneurs. There are many tax savings to be had if you know what to look for. On the flip side, you can get yourself into trouble very quickly if you don't know what you're doing. Critical areas to look out for include reporting income and expenses, home office deductions, hiring employees vs. contractors, and more. It's money well spent (and will often pay for itself!)."--Ryan Guina, Cash Money Life

12. Strive To Smooth Out Cash Flow

"Consider your personal finances like you would a business. A business has access to credit in order to smooth cash flow for various operations. As an entrepreneur, your income might be variable, so having some sort of mechanism in place to smooth cash flow in your personal finances makes sense. I have a low-interest personal line of credit connected to my checking account. If a client pays late, or if there are other problems, all of my automatic payments are made smoothly. Usually, when the money does come, I can then pay off the line of credit immediately--without ever paying interest. Smoothing out cash flow in your personal finances is just as important as smoothing it out in your business."--Miranda Marquit, www.MirandaMarquit.com

13. Keep Your Business Expenses In Line

"Don't go overboard with your expenses! There's this myth that expensing something magically moves the expense to a tax-free wonderland but the truth is you are still paying for the expense. With income coming in and a company credit card it's easy to let your profits slip away with small expenses. Run your venture lean and only spend on what you need for the business."--Glen Craig, Free From Broke

14. Negotiate Everything

"When it comes to business, make sure you negotiate everything. Contact your credit card processors, your suppliers...contact everyone and renegotiate your terms on a regular basis. Everyday, our business is constantly bombarded with new vendors offering their services at competitive rates. Make sure you strike a conversation and pit your existing vendors against the new ones and you can save tens of thousands of dollars a year."--Steve Chou, mywifequitherjob.com

There you have it--personal finance tips from the pros that will help you build the businessof your dreams. Remember, as most of these experts explained, success is all about striking a balance with your finances. If you are cheap, you're not going to get quality results, but if you're too extravagant, you're likely to end up in the red and ultimately fail. Be smart, be frugal, and put money into things that will grow and you will be well on your way to success.

Source: https://www.inc.com/murray-newlands/managing-your-personal-finances-as-an-entrepreneur-14-tips-from-leading-experts.html

Ideas That Could Help You Reduce Life’s Expenses

Ideas That Could Help You Reduce Life’s Expenses

Life can be expensive at times. Whether you’re a frugal person or not, you most likely spend a lot of money every year on rent (or mortgage payments), utilities, food, gas, clothes, taxes, insurance, and a wide range of other essentials that are either necessary for your wellbeing or imposed by the government. These are necessary costs, but you can reduce the amount you spend on many of those necessities. The answer isn’t to simply stop treating yourself to luxury things; you can save money in that regard too. You just need to organise your finances. Here are some ideas that could help you to reduce the many expenses that life hurls at you.

Spend less on necessities.

One of the best ways to save money in life is to take a look at the necessities in your life and see where you can alter your budget. You obviously need to set aside enough money for the weekly food shop, but you might not need to spend as much as you currently do. You could search online for deals and discount codes that can be used at certain supermarkets. As for your energy bill, you could reduce that by unplugging any electronic device that’s not being used and even getting thicker glazing for your windows. You don’t have to sacrifice some necessities in order to save money; you just need to think of smarter ways to get the things you need.

Do some research before you make those big purchases.

Of course, everybody faces big costs in life. A new house, a new car, a college education, and other costly things are all essential aspects of life in the modern world. These are unavoidable things for the majority of people. Whatever your lifestyle, you’ll probably be faced with at least one such “big purchase” at some point in your life. It’s important that you, at the very least, do your research so as to save as much money as possible on those massive costs.

For example, you should always haggle when you’re house-hunting; never accept the asking price because most sellers will gladly accept something lower. The initial price is just a starting point. As for buying a new car, you should do some research on used car finance to see if you could get cashback or other deals on your purchase. Referring back to the first point, you can save money on necessities. A car might be essential for your travel, but there are cost-effective ways to go about buying one.

Put your money out of reach to cut back on non-essential expenses.

One of the best ways to reduce your expenses is to resist temptation. And if you put some of your money out of your reach then you’ll have less disposable cash to spend on things. You’ll still be able to treat yourself to meals out or nice clothes, but you won’t be able to splurge as excessively as you could if you kept all your money in your main account. That’s why you should regularly transfer money to another account. If you set up an automatic standing order that sends a portion of your income to your savings account every payday then you won’t have to worry about accidentally dipping into your excess cash. It’ll be out of reach. It’s a good way to teach yourself to be more fiscally responsible and reduce your luxury expenses.

Source: https://blog.themoneyshed.co.uk/ideas-that-could-help-you-reduce-lifes-expenses/

How To Budget And Save Money

Are you looking for ways to stop letting money control your life?

In this video, Stefan provides you with some money management tips for how to budget and save money.

The 4 Money Principles That Will Make You Rich

Everyone wants to be rich, to have enough money to live and create their dream life without the need to work for someone else to make that money.

But most people believe that it is only the very lucky who will get there, or have to rely on a lottery big win to ensure that happens in life.

Here’s the truth – ABSOLUTELY ANYONE can be rich enough to have the life of their dreams with commitment and dedication.  

All you have to do is know and trust a few simple money principles and keep your eye on your financial goal.

Here are the four principles tried and tested that will get you to your goal.

Step 1: Start investing in your future today and DON’T STOP!

The single most important principle, and the younger you apply it the better, is to pay your future self a portion of every pound you earn right now.

A good place to start is aiming for 10% of your Gross Salary each month to go straight to your future self in Pensions or Investments.

Reason being if you use a portion of your money each month to generate income when you choose to retire from working, you are creating security and income when the days come that you don’t want to or can’t work.

To aim for the Goal of financial freedom and retiring earlier than normal retirement age of 65 – you want to aim for as high a percentage of your Gross Salary as you can comfortably live, and usually at least 25% and above.

Understanding the power of Compound Interest on your money and investments, where the natural laws of time allow your money to grow and multiple faster, is key to this wonder of saving a portion of your money each month.

Normal savings accounts currently offer between 0.1% – 1% interest rates if you are lucky, so do all you can to feel comfortable and research investing in Stocks and Shares to get the maximum return on your money you are investing.  

A good place to start might even be to look at ISA accounts (Cash or Investment) where the government will not charge you Tax on your interest increases up to a limit of £20k a year per person.

If you feel confident enough to – Put your money into the stock market, giving someone else your money for short term to make more money with on their efforts and create passive incomes from your savings too.

Never pass up the opportunity for FREE ADDITIONAL Pension contributions from your employer towards your future.  

Most companies offer additional pension contributions as a way to effectively pay you a higher wage, without the tax costs to themselves.  

If you company offers your matched contributions, make sure you sign up to the maximum percentage you can afford as for every wage you put in they are also adding even more money to it for your future.

Want to become Financial Free? There is even some simple maths to find out the exact amount of money you need to have saved to generate income for life.

Simply take the total amount of money you need each year to live and survive, or have the life of your dreams with, and multiple that by 25 to give you your exact Financial Freedom Goal Number.

Next is to work on a plan to save and achieve it.

Step 2: Spend your money like it was your last penny.

Rich people who stay rich for life spend their money smarter than most people.

They take time to find the best deal, time to consider if they really need that purchase and make sure that it is an investment worth their while and won’t lose money.

Too often we end up mindlessly spending money on luxuries we don’t really need, so perhaps give yourself a 24 hour cooling off period each time you “Click to basket”.

Check if you truly want that item, have found it at the best price possible, before you hit the order button.

Take time to be more mindful with your spending and you will find that the pennies all start to add up quickly to a small fortune.

Step 3: Keep your living costs as low as you can

Minimise all your expenses and keep looking to exchange your hard earned money for what you truly love only.

When you start a journey to financial security or freedom, we need to take time review our spending habits each month and make sure what we spend money on is worth it.  

Regularly look for ways to reduce your subscription spending – think car, home insurance, phone contract costs, credit card charges and ask the company for a better deal.  

You can save potential hundreds of pounds back into your pocket with a 10 minute phone call and a little effort with comparison websites.

Test your spending every few months by taking non-essential bills (such as that magazine subscription or gym membership) and go “cold turkey” for a week or monthly only.  By setting yourself a temporary goal of going without for only a short time, the sacrifice won’t seem so tough and you never know what you might find out about your spending patterns in the past.

Use the 10% Overpayment Rule to get rid of as many debts as you can, if you can without any overpayment penalties.

By paying 10% more on your monthly repayments for any debts, such as your home, car, credit cards and store cards you will very easily and without noticing pay one extra monthly amount towards that debt each year.

That overpayment could take years off your payments, returning more money to your pocket sooner than the bank or company would have liked.

Step 4: Start your own side business.

We live in a world where a single source of income, one job all your life, is no longer guaranteed.

We also live in a world where we have information and resources are literally at the touch of our fingers via the Internet, and absolutely anyone can put in the time to start their own side business.

Look to start a side income to add even more money to build your fortunes with, and also something you are passionate about if possible.

When you are able to control and generate profit from your own business, rather than work for an Employer, there will be no limit to the confidence it will bring in our life and to your earning potential.

By diversifying your household income as much as you can with a few income streams is not only a smart thing to do, but a great way to protect your financial security in the future too with your own talents and merits.

Think about turning a hobby into a small weekend business, or perhaps using a talent from your main job as a freelancer for some income in the evenings.

Over to you now…

Source: https://blog.themoneyshed.co.uk/the-4-money-principles-that-will-make-you-rich/

3 Secrets the Wealthy Don’t Tell You

In order to run you have to first learn to walk. To make a million dollars, you’ll first have to make 100K. I didn’t build my wealth overnight, but I did get rich rather quickly. There is a big difference between being wealthy and being rich by the way—more on that later. Right now, let me ask you, do you know the basic building blocks of money? Without the basic building blocks, you will never have mastery. I’m a hecto-millionaire and believe me, nobody that inherited their money has ever become a hecto-millionaire without straight up mastering money. I want to give you three secrets today that the wealthy know that the rest of society doesn't. These things are basic building blocks of money. 

#1 Income is King—If you don’t have new income, you’re dead. You have to be getting new income. I know this sounds basic—because it is—but a lot of people have this confused. People are out there trying to save money, talking about how debt is bad and save, save, save. Look, if you don’t have income then there is no money to save, no money to retire, and no money to invest. There is no chance of wealth without income first. You might hear people say, “Income is not what you want—wealth is what you want.” But you can’t get to wealth without income. You need income. I’ve said that a JOB means just over broke, but a job=income. The reason people get a job is to get income. Now the question becomes, how much income can you protect? How much can you incrementally increase that income? Understand this—don’t let anybody ever tell you that income isn’t king. Saving is not king, spending is not king. Income is KING. And that is the number one most basic building block you need. Yes, it’s taxed at a high-rate—it’s not the best thing, it’s not the thing I ultimately want to be at—which is wealth—but, I have got to have income to get to wealth. 

#2 Income Increments—You aren’t going to go from 4K a month to millionaire. There is going to be incremental growth. Now I’d certainly like to explode and go 10X but understand that there are going to be increments. At 25 years old, I was making 4K a month and all I could focus on was increments. I thought about how I could take that 4K and control it by going up to $4400. Could I increase it by 10%? That would be $400 more per month. That’s $100 a week, $80 a day. Who do I need to see, who do I need to call to get that $80? At 35 years old it wasn’t going from $4,000 to $4400 but going from $15,000 to $20,000. That doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about how to explode with growth, but every day, every week I’m thinking about how to increase in increments. Think about it this way—do you want more or less? There is no same. Same always falls to less. You’ll get what you focus on. If you focus on anything else other than more, you’ll get less. You’ll end up with less money, less income, less ability to save and invest money. 

#3 Spend 95% of your time on income, 5% on expenses—Take out your household income statement. Everyone has one, money that comes in and money that goes out. The line for incomes is thin, the line for expenses is thick. Income is powerful. You need enough income to overwhelm the expenses. Most people have this in reverse—they spend most of their time on expenses and little time on income. How much time do you spend on the income side? If you are anything like the average American, you are spending all of your time on the expenses. 

Would you like to know the difference between being wealthy and being rich? People can get rich quick, but nobody gets wealthy quick. I figured out how to create wealth—I’ve become a millionaire over a hundred times over. Having wealth is having so much money it can never all be spent or destroyed. In order to get wealthy, you have to first get rich. Trust me, it’s easier to get rich once than stay poor forever. Income is king, so keep increasing your income by increments, and keep yourself focused on your income—not your expenses. If you have the dream of getting wealthy, and you WANT to improve your situation or condition, sign up here. GC

Source: https://grantcardone.com/blogs/grantcardone/3-secrets-the-wealthy-don-t-tell-you

How to Make Money and Become Richer Every Day

There are countless ways of making money. It all begins with your motivation to get creative and be determined to go for success. The world's richest entrepreneurs started with an idea that just came into their mind and they decided to chase their goals. You have heard from the several forums they have been invited on to give inspirational speeches. The bottom line is your determination to reach success. You can then start a business that will see you making more money every day. Here are some of the tips you should have in mind so as to make money.

Start with the Little You Have 

The little money you have should be used in generating more. All you need is a business idea and a clear business plan so as to get you started. Therefore you need to know that the money you have cannot grow to make you successful in life unless you invest it in some viable project. Banks interest rates are not that good to get you to success. However, if you did a good research today on a good business idea that you have always had, that way you will be ended to success.

Don't Let Any Coin Pass Your Way without Trying to Get It 

If you are an entrepreneur, you understand what that statement would mean. It means don't let an opportunity you are viable for pass your way. You should consider the money making opportunities, not the spending opportunities. Although you have to spend to gain some more, there needs to be more than an equilibrium in your favor. Therefore, if you have not been keen to identify opportunities, you should be keen from today. There are so many opportunities you just need to be keen so that these opportunities don't pass you.

Don't Just Look on One Direction, Opportunities Are Everywhere 

As much as it is good to concentrate on one item before looking for the other, you also need to be aware that this can lead to loss of opportunities. You need to aim at diversifying your money making ideas. The most successful entrepreneurs offer multiple services. Although they are in one business line, you will find that they have other side gigs to keep them going. Therefore you need to be vigilant to identify opportunities where you can diversify your business so that you can make more money by tapping into different opportunities.

Decrease Expenses and Save More to Make More Money 

Even the moment your business more profits than normal, you need to save more so as to get richer. Reduce your spending and increase your savings is a formula that will help you accumulate your wealth. You can save in the bank or by buying assets that you can sell in future.

Invest in High Returning Ventures 

Think of projects that will give you more value in the future. Don't invest in projects that keep you in the same position, you need to grow. Therefore some investments like real estate that are always increasing value can be good.

Entrepreneurs are always self-motivated. They have the intrinsic determination, and their goals are their inspirations.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/VanNess_Vaughn/2482056

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