Kristen David, a former trial lawyer and partner who went from working 85 hours a week and barely making ends meet, built it up to a million-dollar-plus business, then sold her shares and pivoted into a business coach guru. She is now an international speaker, and bestselling author, and operates a successful coaching firm, empowering business owners to build thriving, profitable businesses that are self-managed with systems. She helps busy business owners build those systems by implementing policies and procedures the Fast Track Way. Learn more at www.uplevelingyourbusiness.com.
Does it feel like your bank account is broken? Does it swing up and down on a regular basis, refusing to cooperate with you? Are you tired of checking your account only to find there’s barely any money in there?
You’re not alone – and I have good news. By investing 15 minutes up front and then 10 minutes a week for the next 4 weeks, you can fix that broken bank account.
The truth is that even in the best of times, it is important to be conscious of your spending. When times get tough, it is even more of a moment to step up and be more concise with your spending. It’s not as hard as it sounds!
Week 1: Build a Budget
To many business owners, building a budget sounds like a daunting task – like it will take hours (and will probably involve paying more than you should to a financial professional).
Your budget doesn’t have to be complicated, though. You can create a simple budget that will make it much easier to reach your goals. Here’s how:
- Step 1: Spend 15 minutes and start a fresh budget. Just start thinking about all the places you spend money and create a list of the expenses and the amount. (Guesstimates work!)
- Step 2: Create a “budget amount” next to each entry. This is your initial plan – what you would like to stick to.
- Step 3: Try it out for a week – you’ll find that you’re already more aware of where you’re spending money!
Week 2: Evaluate Your Dynamic and Static Expenses
You have two types of expenses in your business: static and dynamic. For this step, you’re going to spend at least 10 minutes evaluating both.
Static expenses are those that stay the same month after month, like rent and utilities. They don’t change; they’re necessary, but they don’t directly help you make more money. Dynamic expenses include costs for things like courses, coaching, training, or tools (like laptops or a tech suite) that will directly help you grow and expand.
Your goal this week is to try to find ways to trim static expenses. These might include negotiating with vendors or re-evaluating if what you’re paying for still serves you well. You’ll also want to take a look at your dynamic expenses. Are there any resources or tools that are redundant or not providing the results you’re looking for? Are you actually utilizing the courses and training you’ve purchased?
It’s important to recognize that cutting your dynamic expenses can reduce your opportunity to make money, but it’s also necessary to use what you’re paying for. This step can help you identify where you need to take action!
Week 3: Be Brutally Honest About Your Spending
This step is where we’re going to start putting your work into action. Spend 10 minutes evaluating what “extras” you purchased in the last two weeks that were above the budget.
Be brutally honest and answer these questions: Were they necessary? Could you have gone with a lower-cost solution? Could you have purchased less quantity?
Sometimes, an additional purchase is necessary – and that’s fine. What we’re working on weeding out with this step are the impulse purchases that can easily break your bank account and result in unnecessary distractions.
Week 4: Increase Your Income
While one way to increase your bank account is to reduce spending, another way is to increase your income. How would you like to increase your account by several hundred dollars a month? How would you like to increase your account by several thousand dollars a month?
Great! Go find some people to help!!
This may mean getting on the phone and contacting people to see what they need. It may mean developing some custom services or refining your offers. Take 10 minutes to brainstorm ways you can make this happen. If you want to make more money, find more ways to help other people. And as you bring more money in, be intentional with how you allocate and use it.
Now that you have the four steps, the real test is putting them into action. Grab an accountability partner and make this the year you increase your cash flow!
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