Sure you may never stop worrying about cash all together — that is the same whether you’re an entrepreneur or an employee. Cash is necessary to survival and if you’re living outside of your means — which many people do — you may have more money worries and woes than others.
A concern if you are always worrying about the cash flow in your business is that you will say yes to business opportunities that are not a good fit and you could also be underselling your goods and services simply because you’re frantic about making money and bringing in money. That is not a way to run a successful business.
Also, when cash is always front of mind, you can’t focus and fully lose yourself in your entrepreneurial endeavor and that will rob you of the joy of running your own business.
There are steps you can take to alleviate the worry and allow yourself to relax and free yourself to focus on taking care of clients and growing your business.
How To Stop Worrying About Cash
Here are my top three “rules” for helping alleviate cash flow concerns that I discuss with my coaching clients:
Know exactly what you need to make monthly in order to not only survive but to pay your bills and have a cushion for the future.
Know exactly what your total income is — both gross and net. You need to have a clear picture of your finances in order to know where you are and where you need to be. And honestly, maybe you do need to worry about money, but you won’t have a clear picture until you do the background homework.
How consistently are you marketing yourself and your business? You may be in feast mode today, but what if it’s famine next week or next month? If you haven’t been marketing yourself, you will be scrambling to find new clients to nurture.
Plan your marketing strategy at least quarterly. You need to know where you need to be, how to get there and how much money you need to make it happen and to keep your business running smoothly.
Hire a financial advisor or talk with Rex Richard in a client coaching call to gain an understanding of how to price properly and gauge your success.
Do you worry about money? Did you worry about money and now you have a handle on it? I would love to know your secrets to success!
Hire quick, fire quicker — or some such saying. It means, hire when you need someone to expand your staff. Fire as quick as you discover the person isn’t working out. There is nothing worse for a small business owner to have hired someone who is a bad fit. That person could damage your business and its reputation and no entrepreneur can afford that.
We have 3 ways to hire smarter because if you’re fortunate enough to have grown your business to the point that you can expand your staff to be more than just you, congratulations! Another perk in hiring is that you can focus on your core competency and the new hire can take away those items at which you either don’t excel or that aren’t making any money for the business.
Many entrepreneurs look forward to the time when they can hire, but it is a time fraught with stress and the worry of “hiring wrong.” Here are a few ways to help ensure a new hire has your business best interests at heart.
3 Ways To Hire Smarter
What role are you hiring for? Define it as narrowly a you can, but leave a little space to expand the role if the person you hired has complementary skills that could be helpful in the future. Whether you’re hiring a vendor, a freelancer or an independent contractor for either full time, part time or per project, you need to know what you need them to do and what skills they need to have to fulfill the role. Having clearly defined – and written job tasks – with outcome metrics helps the new hire know what’s expected and helps you know whether it’s working out.
What do you need and why AND are you going to be able to delegate and let that person do his or her job? If you have an immediate need for help because you have a quick influx of opportunity, do you need someone on the payroll following that or is it a one time need? Be up front with the prospects.
Formulate an onboarding strategy to assist them in their job and you in their success. If a new hire is floundering and don’t know where to begin or what is expected of them, they will be dissatisfied and overwhelmed and will leave.
I have been fortunate in my hiring that I have had a couple of team members — my copywriter, for example — who has been with me for close to a decade. I have other project based vendors on whom I have also relied for many years. I set expectations up front, train staff, give them the tools they need to succeed and it has been a win-win!
Entrepreneurs often burn the candle at both ends and that means burnout could be knocking at the door at any point. There are many reasons why entrepreneurs need to practice self-care and one of them is that if you get under the weather (covid, anyone?) who will keep your business running? Do you have someone on whom you can rely to take over or will your business wither on the vine if you get sick and can’t man the controls?
As a business coach and serial entrepreneur and a man who rarely sits down and takes a day off, I understand the importance of self-care and that can come in the form of:
Meditation
Walking
Long bubble baths
Spending time with friends or alone
Traveling
Cooking
Whatever relaxes and reinvigorates you Leading a balanced, orderly personal life will help you be a better leader. Find practical methods for eliminating stress, unhappiness and dissatisfaction.
Why Entrepreneurs Need To Practice Self-Care
You need to not only know what helps relax you, but you need to take time to do that as a way to keep yourself healthy and in charge at the helm.
Here are a few options to consider:
Lead a balanced orderly personal life because this will help you be a better, stronger leader
Look for methods and strategies that help eliminate stress, dissapate dissatisfaction and unhappiness as they sap your personal health
Reinvent who you are and what you do. When you try something new you are taking yourself out of your comfort zone and just that switch will help shake things up
You need to know what brings you peace. You need to know how to find serenity and your center. You also need to get away from electronics at least once a day — better yet, an entire day of the week you need to unplug.
Silence can be your friend. Turn off the television and radio, turn on a water fountain and listen to that sound.
When you’re with friends and family — be present. Don’t multitask your personal time.
Eat healthy meals.
Exercise
Sleep deeply
Laugh often
when is the last time you took time to take care of yourself?
When you’re in the middle of a problem, it’s hard to see a way out. I know. I’ve worked with so many clients both in the swimming pool industry and in other industries and when they are struggling, it’s hard to see light at the end of the tunnel. When in the middle of a problem, it’s overwhelming and you struggle to put a strategy in place.
I think if you work through these steps you will see it’s not quite as bad as you originally thought. Ready?
What IS the problem? Do you truly know what it is? Sometimes you’re so bombarded with things that you don’t know the root issue. Define the problem precisely as the first step.
Look at it from different angles. Don’t just stare at the face of the problem. Look at it from the top, bottom and both sides. Expand your view to solve the problem. Also ask yourself, “what ELSE could the problem be?”
What caused the problem? If you know where or how it originated, you may be closer to solving it.
Come up with any and all potential solutions — not matter how whacky they seem. You may find a kernel of help in even the most far out solution.
Now that you’ve examined it deeply and have written down potential solutions, you’re at the point of choosing the solution you think will work best.
Set a deadline for the implementation of the solution.
If the first solution doesn’t work, try , try again. That’s why you developed more than one potential solution.
Go back and see whether your solution remedied the problem.
Pat yourself on the back if it did!
Jump into plan B and ask for help to solve the solution. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes or perspective shines the light on something you’re too close to see.
Have you ever heard the saying, “if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life?” It may be true, especially if you have a passion that you can turn into a profit. What are you passionate about and how to turn that passion into a profit is something Rex Richard talks with his coaching clients about.
Are you passionate about?
How To Turn A Passion Into A Profit
Dogs? Start a grooming or dog walking or pet sitting service.
Swimming pools? Start a pool cleaning business. You’ll need know how and tools.
Baking? Start a catering service or sell your baked goods at vendor fairs. Check the rules in your location for what you need in order to do that safely.
Driving? Yes, you can drive for one of the ride services or even for a delivery service like Amazon.
Children? Start a child care service or even offer “date night” babysitting services for overworked parents.
Love helping people? Become a coach. Take courses and learn how to coach in a particular niche
Are you great at graphic design? Become a freelance designer.
There are many ways to take what you love and turn a profit. Remember, though just because you think of it as a hobby, if you’re earning money, and if you have expenses you will want to treat it like a business and talk with an accountant, an attorney and with a business coach to ensure you’re charging properly and that you are making the most of your unique talents. Contact Rex Richard for a consultation.
Remember that children’s song, “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”? That song has it wrong — words can wound. The wound from words could scar for a lifetime. It’s important to weigh your words whether you’re talking with a friend, family member or child and it’s important to think before you speak with a client.
You also want to think before you speak about one person to another person. It will ultimately be you that the harm comes back to, so just don’t do it.
Words carry weight. They can uplift or they can lead to upset. Think about the next time you say, “I had an awfully good day.” Sure, it sounds great, but why say “awfully?” Why didn’t you just have a good day? How about saying to a client, “I am anxious to get started working with you.” You may mean you’re really looking forward to starting BUT a client who doesn’t know you may think you’re desperate or nervous and they may not want to place their trust in you. Say, “I am looking forward to, or eager to, or excited to… work with you.”
Weigh Your Words
The words you speak to yourself can color your day and your interactions. Start your day with the mindset that, “this is going to be a great day!” Don’t think, “I have a few meetings today I hope they go well or I hope I won’t be too tired by the time the day is over.” In one instance you’re setting yourself up for a great day, in the other you are plodding toward your day like you’re walking into a firing squad.
What message do you want to tell yourself? Your clients?
How can you reframe your words? When you reframe your words, you reframe your thoughts and your day takes a turn toward the better!
I’ve been told that I uplift and encourage people. I love hearing that and I love doing that. What words do people say about you? What words do you want them to say?
