Over the last year, I have received a plethora of messages asking me about how I handle my finances as small business owner. To be honest, I was shocked to see others asking me about how I manage my money because almost five years ago I was not that great it, to say the least. I am proud to say my financial understanding and goals have done a complete 180, which I am very proud of. However, in those messages, I read your comments on how you switched to making Monday your money management day, started zero budget method, and switching over to Aldi.
The other day, I was reading a thread in a closed Facebook group and the discussing focused on the poster asking about which bank they should use for their business needs. As you can expect there were over 50 comments of people sharing why they love their bank and referral links. Let me first say, I have banked with a plethora of different banks such as; First National Bank, Bank of America, Chase, Citi Bank, Navy Federal, Wells Fargo, and a couple more to just name a few. As we all know everyone is not everyone’s cup of tea and that goes the same for banks.
Earlier this month, I wrote about how The First Half of 2017 Tested Me, But Grew Me In The Perfect Way, and I received so much positive feedback through emails, texts, direct messages and more. One of the main things people asked me about was how I was able to pay all my bills when income was coming slowly or not at all. A couple of years back, I would’ve had to ask my dad for money or take a part time job. To be honest, there were several times when it was getting close to paying bills time that I thought I was going to have to sit down with my dad and say I need help. Let me be honest; this is not something I wanted to do at all. I am beyond thankful that I have a parent who has the financial means to help me, but I told myself three years ago when I decided to get my finances in order I was not going to rely on my father to provide for me. My goal is to be self-reliant and be able to provide for myself and my mother. This gets us to earn more, save more and spend less motto that I instilled in myself when my business was earning $10,000 a month in digital revenue.
How To Go From $300 Secured Credit Card To $14,000 Limit In Less Than 18 Months
In the last couple years, I have documented my financial struggles and triumphs when it comes to personal and business. I have talked about Nice Girls Don’t Get Rich, Running A Business and Paying Off Student Loans, Zero Budget Method, Shopping At Aldi, Rebuild Credit and many more topics. I personally believe, I cannot tell my story if I don’t share the ugly parts of my life. That will never inspire you or others to improve your life. Today, I want to share something with you that happen last month. I legit screamed and text Liz immediately when this happen. As mentioned before also, establishing a relationship with a banker is so important. Liz is essential to my story of changing my credit.
IRS has pushed tax refunds back until February which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on you. Today, I wanted to break down how to invest your tax refund wisely so you are reaping the benefits not just for a couple weeks but throughout this entire year. Too many people receive refunds of a thousand or more and it goes to things like a trip, car or a tv. Things that truly do not hold their value or help you in the long run.
Running a small business is pricey compared to what social media teaches you. Even as a service based company, I still have serious overhead to run my company on a yearly. A plethora of the information I am sharing below are tax write offs you can utilize when filling your taxes. If you, have not called your accountant to file your taxes please make sure to add that to your schedule. I tend to call my accountant the first week of the year and schedule my appointment for around March. In addition to that, we meet at the start of the year to talk fisical goals, taxes and more. Just as it’s important to have a relationship with your business banker, you need one with a CPA or accountant in your city.
I can honestly say this year was the year of learning on how to live on less, but still, pay off debt. Too many times, I hear people say they do not have the income to get out of debt or save. I am calling all times of bullshit on that excuse. Its all about your priorities and what you want in life. One of my goals is to be debt free, so I can do more. Not just for myself but those around me. This year, I increased my credit score drastically without hiring some credit expert, I have saved money, and I have paid more on my student loans than ever before. Oh did I mention my income has gone drastically down from not only previous years but from what I was making at the start of the year to now?
Seven Ways To Make An Extra $1,000 To Start The New Year Off Right
Early one November day, it hit me what would it be like if I had an extra “$1,000” for my business in the new year. The thought of the extra cash flow made me think of the things I would love to invest in to help my business grow. In addition to that, starting the year with $1,000 could transform my business situation. Getting me months ahead verse covering month to month. Next, thought was how could I make this happen. Last month, I wrote an article talking about no limits and bold actions regarding moving yourself forward. All these thoughts, helped me outline how I can increase my bank account by $1,000 for 2017 business year.
As someone who is self employed one of the biggest things that matters is keeping all my coins. Yes, my company mission matters and all that fine stuff, but truth be told if I am not retaining money, I am losing money. You’re probably thinking what does this have to do with Aldi the grocery store. Well, earlier this year when I introduced myself to the zero budget method I had to rearrange how I was spending money and allocate it better.
Today, I want to introduce you to a new series for Imperfect Concepts. My vision and mission for the company is to help a million women through entrepreneurship by providing the right tools, resources and insight they need. This series focuses on the tools I use to grow my business. Every month, the number I tools I invested in will be different or resources will be something out of the ordinary. Its great to write a blog post sharing the latest tools and resources on the market. Its even better to outline why I chose these tools to help me propel my companies. Without further a due here are the tools that really helped my business this month.
My financial journey is well documented on this blog from learning how to pay off student loan debt, learning being in debt is not cute and sharing how zero budget method changed my financial outlook. As I grow my business and grow as a person my thought process about being financially independent has drastically changed. As more women and men embark on the journey of launching their business here are three monthly financial investments every business owner needs to make.