Efficient financial management lies at the core of every successful business owner. Sure, knowing to find new projects and generate revenues make a difference, but it’s equally important to harness your expenditure.
A large portion of SMB-owners doesn’t make it through the first year of their entrepreneurship. They either bite more than they can chew, or they don’t know how to handle their business finances.
That’s why new business owners need to learn the ropes of financial management before they even register their venture.
That’s the purpose of the following five paragraphs.
#1 Hiring without full commitments
Once you launch your business, it will be almost impossible to manage all its aspects on your own. Since you’ll need to deal with negotiations with clients, project management, and the core tasks, you’ll need one or more extra hands to help you get things done.
In that light, you should work with other people, but without making full commitments. In other words, avoid concluding full-time employment contracts, but rather opt for temporary and part-time contracts.
What’s more, SMB-owners should use the benefits of outsourcing as much as possible. In all these cases, you don’t put the burden of paying your collaborators’ social and health contributions or taxes. While you need to have some sort of legal agreement, it’s up to those outsourcers to sort out their legal and financial obligations to the relevant public bodies.
#2 Reducing overhead expenses
If it’s not necessary for the operability of your business operations, don’t rent an office space in the beginning. You can work from home, go to a coworking space, or work from cafes, restaurants, etc. The latter option is especially practical if you live in a warm climate.
Speaking of which, new SMB-owners can significantly reduce their expenses if they move to one of the outsourcing-friendly countries, i.t. the countries that have adapted their regulations to attract digital nomads. Given that your business tasks are not physically tied to a certain place, this move will let you do your job in an acceptable and affordable way.
Plus, moving to a warmer or at least a milder climate will strip you of some overhead expenses, such as heating.
#3 Opening a savings account
There’s no business progress or further investments without savings.
In line with that, one of the first things you should do as you launch your business is to open a business savings account. Make deal with your bank so that you can’t withdraw the money from that account without a special business purpose.
From every payment made to your regular account by your clients, at least 10% should be transferred to this special-purpose account. You can arrange with your bank that this percentage of every payment is transferred to that account.
By doing so, you won’t have to be thinking about this thing, but assets will keep coming to your savings account. What’s more, you’ll ensure more effective money management for your business and form an emergency fund.
With that money, you can make buy stocks, hire an additional workforce, offer permanent contracts to your core outsourcers or invest in your business equipment.
#4 Relying on affordable marketing
Every business needs to be visible not only to potential clients but to the competition, as well.
In the age of the Internet, it’s not difficult to ensure proper promotion and recognizability for your business.
For starters, launch business pages on the social networks that are relevant for business, i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. If you’re aiming at the youth population, TikTok should also be on your list.
After that, you should register for Google My Business. That way, everybody who finds you on Google will immediately see what you do, where you are, and they will be able to contact you.
Of course, launching a website is a must for every new business these days. As the designers from a digital agency in Houston put it, today it’s not hard to make a practical business website, and it’s affordable, as well.
#5 Accepting handpicked projects
If you want to ensure financial stability at the beginning of your SMB-quest, mind your projects.
In other words, be careful about what kinds of projects you land. Driven by ambition and desire for progress, new SMB-owners often accept too demanding or too complex work tasks.
So, before you accept a project, do your own estimate in terms of the work hours you’ll need to complete it. After that, scan the complexity of the job in question. If you don’t possess the proper skills to do it, find the outsourcers or assistants that will make it possible for you to finish it.
Only when you’ve ensured all the necessary logistics should you accept a project. In other cases, simply turn down the offers that you won’t be able to properly deal with.
This will help you keep focused on things that you can do, which will result in a steady income, plus, you won’t have to pay any penalties for missing deadlines.
If you run your business in a rational and financially efficient manner, you’ll reduce the risk of financial issues to a minimum. And if you save some money along the way, you’ll have a cushion to fall on in case of reduced work volume. Finally, SMB-owners should choose their projects with care and attention, after making proper calculations and estimates regarding the performances. All these methods will help you establish an independent and financially stable business.