5 Money Management Tips for New Entrepreneurs

If you have ever attempted to run a small business or you run one now, you should know that it requires a lot more than a good idea and your personal energy to get things moving in the right direction. Running a small business requires skills, plenty of skills. Aside from other equally very important skills, entrepreneurs must also have good money management skills to make a success out of their business ventures. These 5 tips come in very handy when it comes to managing financial resources in a small business.

01. Always work with a budget. A budget usually provides the road map for you to navigate through in your financial dealings. Without one, spending money is akin to driving a car in an unfamiliar road without a road map or mile stones. No intelligent person ever gets in a car to embark on a journey to nowhere. Without a financial budget, if you spend money in your business, you are doing something like what such a car driver is doing. The most successful entrepreneurs always work with simple and clear budgets which they hold themselves accountable to.

02. Consider your relationship with money. How do you handle money? What does money mean to you? What are your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to managing money? Are you a short-term thinker or a long-term thinker? If you have answers to these questions, you will be able to know whether you are spending on frivolities or you are spending wisely to build your business. You must understand how to maximize your strengths and manage your weaknesses first to make your financial goals.

03. Consider your spouse/partner's relationship with money. This is a rather very sensitive issue to discuss publicly but whether you like to admit it, your personal relationship with your spouse or partner influences the way you spend money. If your partner in love does not share your vision as it relates to money, you must have to watch out otherwise his/her activities will sooner than later lead you into a financial mess. There is no doubt you are aware that money is one of the biggest causes of conflicts in marriages and similar relationships. That is the singular reason you must understand your spouse/partner's relationship with money if you want to be able to manage money successfully.

04. Save a percentage of your income. Finance experts when giving this advice insist that you should always pay yourself first. What that means is that your savings should always be the very first charge on your earnings. When you agree on the percentage to put aside, taking the sum out and saving it away in an interest-yielding account builds it up significantly on the long run by way of compounded interest. If you work hard, it is smart to reward yourself by saving some money for the rainy day? Saving money however requires a lot of discipline which you can manage if you have a healthy relationship with money. If you cultivate the discipline, you will be able to prioritize your activities, delay self-gratification and most importantly be able to distinguish clearly between your wants and your needs before you spend money.

05. Do not spend money on impulse. You must resolve to buy only what you need and not what you want. There is a pervading human tendency to spend money simply because you have it. That is the singular reason many wage earners stay poor. When there is a sudden increase in their earnings, they tend to spend it all and bit more besides. That way, they stay perpetually broke even with regular increases in their earnings. Their problem revolves around impulsive spending. That is, spending money simply because you have it. You must learn to spend money only because you have to not because you want to.

By far, money stands apart as one of the most important resources responsible for the success or failure of any business. There is always an unlimited demand for its use among the very many areas of any entrepreneur's activities contending for financial attention. You can not be too careful in handling and managing such an important resource. With these 5 tips now at your disposal, it becomes fairly easy for you to handle your own financial affairs with due diligence. That is what many smart entrepreneurs do which helps them to stay successful in their chosen businesses.


Sule Yesufu, a Certified Speaking Professional, has been a Strategic Partner in S D Y Management Consult, a firm of Investment, Small Business and Entrepreneurial Consultants since 1999. He is a Published Author and a Newspaper Columnist. An expert in Small Business and Personal Development, he focuses on communicating his ideas and thoughts mostly through his Training Seminars and popular free blog. He offers useful tips on Self-Improvement, Personal Finance, Entrepreneurship, Current News, Politics and Business in Nigeria, the most populous and vibrant country in Africa. To learn more about Sule and to contact him for consultations and private inquiries, visit his website at http://www.sdymanagers.com

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