Stacey Cooper  a business consultant and a contributor on  bizzmarkblog.com.
 kindly offered to write this interesting and useful blog for me.
Thanks Stacey.
A goal without a plan is just a wish

People often think that launching their own business is the major step in achieving their financial independence. However, this is a misconception. The truth is that the moment of founding a startup is only the beginning of a lifelong struggle. Indeed, being a financially independent enterprise is rather considered a process than a state. It requires a continuous effort and a certain set of business skills to reach and keep business sovereignty. The following guidelines will support the owners of established small businesses in ensuring a stable business climate in their own microcosm.

 

Classify your priorities

First and foremost, your business success is never related solely to your business deals and investments. On the contrary, your personal habits will dictate your business decisions, as well. This is why it’s essential that every SMB-owner first classifies their priorities. A piece published by US News claims (and proves) that our personal and business priorities change as we grow older. In line with this premise, you should stop for a while and think about the most important motives and goals that inspire you at your current age. Start with the most important things in your life. As the list is growing, the importance of the points should be waning. Once the list is finished, you need to literally draw a line under one of the goals on the list (the fifth one should be the borderline one). All the points that end up under the line should be given no attention in your near future. It’s recommended to assess this list of priorities every year. That way you will limit your personal expenditure and the amount of time you waste on trivial things, which will result in more committed work and higher revenues.

 

Ban on redundant purchases

Even if you’ve set your goals and eliminated all the unimportant habits from your life, it still doesn’t mean that your work will ensure financial independence. For instance, excessive or impulse buying can ruin the entire procedure described in the previous paragraph. Here’s where every small business owners needs to establish an open and rational relationship with their family. You have to make plans together with your family members when it comes to your family budgets. Anything that stays outside that plan can’t be purchased until that plan is revised. However, you should encourage your spouse and children to wait and add those omitted items to the next edition of your budget plan. That way you’ll keep your family purchases under control and, more importantly, teach your descendants to develop a sense of financial planning and their own financial independence.

Moreover, the same tactic should be applied to your office purchases. Let your employees get used to planning business purchases, so as to ensure that your business is always liquid, which is one of the key features of a financially stable and sovereign enterprise.

 

Self-built discipline

Everybody who runs a business knows that words are way much easier than practice. No matter how many pieces on smart business planning you read, nothing will happen unless you start building new habits step by step. Here are a few points that can take the sting out of that strenuous effort.

 

  • Restrained procrastination – eliminate self-indulgent excuses why you’re postponing doing your tasks. For instance, make a promise to yourself that you’ll work for an hour and then you’ll make a cup of coffee or watch an episode of your favorite series. You can’t exterminate procrastination immediately if you’ve been nurturing it for years, but you can start with small doses of effective cure.
  • Satisfaction postponement – once our brain gets used to being rewarded whenever it seeks satisfaction, it’ll become too spoilt to work. Nevertheless, if you train it to get satisfaction after it’s done something useful, it’ll enjoy even more. So, reward yourself every time you finish a project or a task. However, don’t use your business assets for that, but open a special account for such situations. Learn about some thrifty self-rewarding strategies in a post on Forbes.com.
  • Imagine the future – where do you see yourself in 30 years’ time? Are you a happy and self-supporting person? If not, your mind will sober up and start thinking in a more responsible way. Repeat visualizing yourself as an old person every day.

 

The role of counselors

Too many cooks spoil the broth. This saying refers to every small enterprise, not only the ones in cooking or baking business. Therefore, a financially mature business owner won’t fall for sweet talk and suspicious business deals. More often than not, risky investments can leave you penniless, without advancing your budget planning or ensuring financial stability.

What you need, on the other hand, is exchanging information with experienced professionals, like the Pherrus experts in financial services, to expand your knowledge of different tax policies, as well as your options in that area. What’s more, it’s smart to keep reliable counselors by your side from the very beginning of your business adventure. They will warn you what paths not to tread on and what shortcuts to take on your road to business freedom.

 

Rome wasn’t built in a day and your business can’t rise in short time. It takes years of excruciating work, self-improvement and business-advancing collaborations to transform an established small business into a distinguished business entity. Applying the guidelines from this piece will help SMB-owners steer their business into a safe future and reach financial peace of mind.

 

 

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