How to Not Be a Starving and Stressed Business Owner

Running a business is awesome, but it can present some problems in the area of personal finance if you’re not prepared. The great thing about owning your own business is that you get to set your own schedule, you can work from home, and you have the autonomy to make your own career decisions. However, if you don’t have your finances under control, running your business full-time can wreak havoc on your wallet.

Ultimately, freedom is great, but it shouldn’t come at the cost of your financial security and sanity. Not only is being a starving business owner detrimental to you, it’s also difficult to do your best work when you’re “just making ends meet” and constantly stressed.

Here’s how to bust out of the starving and stressed business owner cycle:

Stop Hustling Already

I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to get sick of the word hustling. Hustling is a short-term game, it’s not a long-term game. Some people enjoy the thrill of hustling morning, noon, and night, and they can keep up the pace forever.

If you’re trying to build a business that gives you a certain amount of freedom and a less stressful lifestyle, you need to be thinking long-term growth instead of focusing on just getting by from month to month. For example, yes, you may be making $3,000 per month working for 15 clients. Is that a full-time income? Yes. Is it sustainable? Maybe not.

It may be time to rethink the strategy instead of working 100 hours a week. You could charge more per client to reduce your workload and increase your income. You could also think of other passive ways to make money through products. This makes it so you have multiple streams of income coming in, and you’re not relying solely on your own manpower to make money.

Start Asking (Because Closed Mouths Don’t Get Fed)

I expect to increase income by close to 50% this year without adding new clients to my roster. It’s not because I’m a magician either. Instead, I grew relationships with current clients. Making good impressions and doing good work leads to increased responsibility and plenty of referrals.

Analyze what’s working and not working for your clients to find out if they have a need you can fulfill. Pitch an additional product or service. You can also simply tell your clients you’re looking for more work. They may have jobs for you, or their friends may have jobs for you.

Sign up for Westchester Networking for Professionals Small Business Exchange (6 weeks) Program to Accelerate Your Business with Others. Learn more here. 

Stand Up for Yourself

I’m someone who prefers not to ruffle feathers, and this hasn’t served me well in the past. I felt bad asking for people to pay me when I had done a service for them. This was terrible for my cash flow.

Remember — you’re running a business. You should be kind and courteous, but you also have every right to stand up for yourself. Send out invoices and follow up on payments regularly. Set prices for your services and stick to them. Say no to work that pays poorly so you can find work that pays well.

Come Up With a Money Plan

When the money is under control other pieces of your business can fall into place. Getting my business finances organized improved my personal finances. When the money stress was off of my shoulders, I felt positive about my business and it started to grow. It’s all connected.


Make sure you have a separate business account and pay yourself from this account. Set aside money for taxes, business expenses, and other business goals. I have an entire suite of accounts with Capital One that’s made managing my business money super simple.

Struggling and stressing can be challenging for your mindset. Commit to making small changes where you can. Look at your highest paying clients and try to get more of them so you can cut ties with lower paying ones. Stand up for your business interests and get ahold of your money situation to thrive instead of struggle.






Source: https://www.business2community.com/
Image Credit: rawpixel / Pixabay


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Westchester Networking for Professionals (WNFP) is a business organization focused on providing our members and guests with an extraordinary networking experience, bringing business professionals together for the sole purpose of generating new relationships and developing new business opportunities. Not a member, learn how you can become a member and join this awesome group of professionals to connect and grow your business.

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13 Ways Small Business Owners Can Reduce Busy Work and Be Truly Productive

Any small business owner can tell you that running a company requires a lot of time, effort and dedication. Some entrepreneurs make the mistake of piling too much “busy work” on their plates, which doesn’t leave them much time to focus on the tasks that only they can do. To find a solution, we asked the experts at Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:

“SMB owners have a lot of demands on their attention. What is one way for owners to stay productive, not just busy?”

How to Get Rid of Busy Work

Here’s what YEC community members had to say:

1. Focus on One Thing at a Time
“Multitasking results in staying busy. However, when you focus on one thing at a time and put everything into it, you get it done well and can move onto the next. This creates a higher level of productivity.” ~ Angela Ruth, Calendar

2. Write Out Your Weekly Action List
“Write out a weekly action list on Sunday evening so you can hit the ground running Monday morning. I always start my to-do lists with action words that provide additional motivation. For instance, ‘evaluate options to,’ ‘interview candidates for’ and even ‘go live with.’ ” ~ David Ciccarelli, Voices.com

3. Take a Distraction-Free ‘Time-Out’
“I have an hour or two of the day set aside for my most important tasks. I disable email, turn my phone to silent, and work somewhere no one will disturb me. I’ve never had anything happen during my time-outs that couldn’t wait an hour. Once I sit down in time-out, I grind out the task until it’s done or until my time’s up. I’m always surprised how much I accomplish with no distractions!” ~ Andrew Gipson, The Escape OKC

4. Tackle Your Biggest Challenge First
“It can be so easy to get distracted with to-dos while ignoring one or two big challenges. I try to start my day by tackling the biggest task on my plate — even if it means just doing a small fraction of it. This helps ensure that the most important things don’t fall through the cracks while I’m keeping up with more immediate demands on my time.” ~ Brittany Hodak, The Superfan Company

5. Focus on Objectives and Key Results
“I hate spinning my wheels and wasting time. I’ve found that by implementing a system like Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) not only helps me, but also the entire company understands what is the most important thing to be working on, ensures there is alignment across the business, and also sets clear and measurable milestones. Keeping focused on the right things is essential to success.” ~ Kasey Kaplan, Urban FT

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6. Slow Down and Refocus
“When you recognize that multitasking frenzy taking over your day, step away from your desk, focus on your breath and slow down for two to three minutes. We become more productive when we slow down and refocus.” ~ Stephen Beach, Craft Impact Marketing

7. Say No to Tasks That Aren’t Productive
“Get into the habit of quickly and effectively turning down or saying no to things that are not productive. The ability to identify and reject an ask that is counter to your productivity is just as important as working as hard as possible. Learn to say no to things that will take up a lot of your attention, but not yield positive outcomes.” ~ Shawn Schulze, HomeArea.com

8. Create a ‘Power List’
“I struggled with a massive to-do list that kept growing and ultimately unproductive. I heard a podcast where they advised coming up with a power list of five key things to get done that day. Each day you put it in writing and you write a ‘W’ if you won the day or an ‘L’ if you lost the day. This has helped me stay productive and feel like the goals were attainable because it’s not a huge list.” ~ Joel Mathew, Fortress Consulting Group

9. Use Visuals
“I couldn’t stay productive without my whiteboard and sticky note wall.  The whiteboard is for daily items, while my sticky note wall prioritizes weekly, monthly and quarterly initiatives. Not only does this method help organize the many items that keep me busy, but it also helps me delegate items that are not as important, so I’m only tackling the most impactful items for the business.” ~ Amber Lowry, Syssero

10. Be Accountable to Someone Else
“One way to make sure you’re staying productive is to let someone else evaluate your productivity. This could be your partner, mentor or coach. Ask them to call your bluff. Have them ask you about action and accomplishments, not just the busywork. By knowing you’re accountable to someone to explain your day, you’ll do a better job staying productive and won’t be satisfied by simply being busy.” ~ Robby Scott Berthume, Bull & Beard

11. Determine Which Tasks Are the Highest and Best Priority
“Ask yourself, ‘What is the highest and best use of my time today?’ It can be tempting to just do work and check it off the list, but that work is often not getting you closer to the goals and outcomes you’re seeking to create. Make a list of one to three things you must accomplish today and do those first.” ~ Darrah Brustein, darrah.co

12. Delegate
“To be an effective small business owner, you must absolutely learn to delegate effectively. Your time is best spent supporting others on smaller projects and tasks to leave you available for the big picture of accomplishing your company’s objective and vision.” ~ Rachel Beider, Massage Greenpoint, Massage Williamsburg, Massage Outpost

13. Cut Meeting Times in Half Whenever Possible
“Meetings get in the way of real work, but are necessary when you lead any organization. When a request for a meeting comes, let your first instinct be to cut the time requested in half. Meetings do not need to take 60 minutes or even 30 minutes to have the same impact and outcomes. By compressing the time, the attendees come prepared and focused, and you benefit with more time for real work.” ~ Eric Mathews, Start Co.




Source: https://smallbiztrends.com
Image Credit: Shutterstock



ABOUT WNFP
Westchester Networking for Professionals (WNFP) is a business organization focused on providing our members and guests with an extraordinary networking experience, bringing business professionals together for the sole purpose of generating new relationships and developing new business opportunities. Not a member, learn how you can become a member and join this awesome group of professionals to connect and grow your business.

Stay Connected with WNFP!

These Three Types of Relationships are Your Secret Weapon to Success in Business

Relationship building is essential in any business, but this concept extends beyond customer and vendor relations. While those relationships are vital, it's the direct connections that, in many cases, can make or break your success in the business world.

These relationships are your secret weapon. The people you surround yourself with can help you do the impossible, change your perspective for the better, or inspire you to keep fighting against the odds. Without them, you'd have a long, uphill battle ahead.


So, what are these relationships? I believe it boils down into these three categories:

Personal

The overall benefits of having strong, positive personal relationships in your life are invaluable. According to a study conducted by Gallup, "Individuals who say they have family and friends they can count on to help them in times of trouble are consistently more likely to be satisfied with their personal health." From this same study, Lisa Berkman, Ph.D., of Harvard University also noted that "People who are socially isolated tend to have more physiological stress, poorer immune function, and a host of biological risk factors."

How are you supposed to a run a company or get that startup off the ground if you're feeling stressed and sick? This is why it is so important to build strong personal relationships as they can directly impact your working life (and vice versa, but that's another topic for a different day). It could be the connections you form with your spouse, significant other, friends, children, classmates, or other close family members. Who they are doesn't matter--what matters is the quality of the relationship.


For me, I was fortunate enough to grow up in a very entrepreneurial and supportive family. My grandfather (on my mother's side) started his own business, which my father eventually ended up taking over. My uncle also started his own tech company back in the 80s, which was acquired by McGraw Hill. At family get-togethers, my grandfather would take me aside and explain how to invest in stocks or say things like, "Why would you ever work for someone else when you can create your company?"

This is not the case for everyone--and that's fine--but take a look at the personal relationships in your life. Are the people you're closest with challenging you? Inspiring you? Offering sincere encouragement? Because when we're happy in our personal relationships, we can focus our energy and passion into our businesses. But when these relationships are not going well, then it's all too easy to let that frustration and anxiety affect our work.  

Professional

The professional relationships you make throughout your career can directly impact your likelihood of success.

My co-founder, for example, continuously helps me to divide and conquer the Herculean feats we are sometimes tasked with. During the infancy stages of Centric Digital, we had about a week to source, recruit, and train talent for a $4 million contract. We split the to-do list and sourced an incredible team in a very short period of time that allowed us to fulfill the contract and scale our company. This anecdote speaks volumes about the importance of a trusting partnership based on confidence in each other's skills and expertise. Centric Digital would not have grown so quickly if I did not have these types of professional relationships.


This concept should be applied across your entire organization--do you have the same types of professional relationships with everyone on your team? Can you trust your key players to do what needs to be done to the best of their skills and ability? If not, it might be time to start building new relationships and changing out people on your team.

Advisory

Advisors, mentors, coaches--having someone (or a team of someones) to guide your progress is essential, especially for those in leadership roles.

When you're on the top of an organization, you must surround yourself with people who are more experienced and knowledgeable to offer advice on your ideas, plans, and strategies. It helps if these people are outside of your organization and are excellent, high-quality superstars--otherwise you'll never grow, you'll never learn, and you'll always make mistakes. It also helps to build relationships with advisors who are outside of your industry as they can offer a unique perspective to your current challenges.

Wrapping up

There's a famous quote by motivational speaker and entrepreneur Jim Rohn that states, "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." If this is the case, and I strongly believe it is, then take a moment to look at the personal, professional, and advisory relationships in your life. Are these relationships encouraging you to grow and be your best self? Do they make you feel empowered? Are you connecting with the type of people you have a deep mutual respect for? If the answer isn't a resounding, "Yes!" then it's a no. Which brings us to the real secret behind this secret weapon: networking.

If you want to surround yourself with amazing, talented, and progressive people you have to force yourself to get out there and network like crazy--and you need to do it with an open mind. Because you never know where or when you might make a crucial connection that will push you to advance your progress on the path to success.


Image Credit:Getty Images
Source:www.inc.com



ABOUT WNFP
Westchester Networking for Professionals (WNFP) is a business organization focused on providing our members and guests with an extraordinary networking experience, bringing business professionals together for the sole purpose of generating new relationships and developing new business opportunities. Not a member, learn how you can become a member and join this awesome group of professionals to connect and grow your business.

Stay Connected with WNFP!