[Nebuzz]

HOW TO SPEND YOUR BUSINESS MONEY

Accountants are thieves.

Lawyers are liars.

People who study economics are normally stingy.

These are things I heard about these professions while growing up. I still hear them till today. This is a notion certain persons have about these professions.

The irony here is that these professions have ethics and professional codes of conduct that frowns against these acts.

Heck, most persons I know, who studied English in school are masters of pidgin. They speak it with reckless abandon. Dem dey knack am pam pam pam.

It makes me wonder if they actually studied English in school.

If we can draw a straight line to trace what separate one individual from another, it will always be their PERSONAL HABITS.

I’m sure you must have heard countless times that you are separate from your business.

If you haven’t heard it before, you have heard it now.

When it comes to doing business, you must get this right because the destiny of your business depends on it.

Remember how I talked about how personal habits affect people’s practice of their professions?

Good.

It also applies to your business.

Your personal spending habits can affect your business finances. I’ll come down to this in a bit…

You see, business is all about activities.

There are activities you do to generate money.

There are also activities you do to spend money.

As a business owner, there are often so many needs you have to spend money on. From startup expenses to investing in your business and managing day-to-day operations, it is really important to properly manage your business money.

Your cash flow is as essential as your product or services.

Here are few tips on how to spend your business money:

#1. HAVE A BUSINESS MONEY
Yelzzz.. you can’t spend what you don’t have nau. C’mon.

You that have both your personal money and business money in one place, mixed together like white rice, beans and stew served inside white nylon.

Shey you dey whine me ni?

This is the most common mistake among entrepreneurs: MIXING UP THEIR PERSONAL FINANCE WITH BUSINESS FINANCE.

Get a dedicated account for your business transactions alone.

That way, you can actually see your business money live and direct.

#2. PAY YOURSELF A SALARY
This gives you some decent cash to run your daily life. It will help you not to dip your hands into the business funds to cover your personal expenses.

The business may not be able to pay you as much as the salary you would command from an employer.

Also, the business may not always have the cash to pay you. It is fine if the business owes you.

Be sure to look at the liquidity of the business and ensure not to take an amount that will hurt your business.

#3. CREATE A BUDGET AND TRACK EVERYTHING
A budget is a financial plan with a given timeframe. Plan your revenue. Plan your expenses also.
Buying things on impulse is a no-no for your business. Create weekly, monthly and yearly budgets. Then track everything especially your expenses. Record it properly.

Don’t summarize o. Na lazy man work be that.

Don’t have it all in your head please. This our head that forgets password and will be disturbing google everytime with FORGET PASSWORD….. Abeg ooo

WRITE IT DOWN.

Before you start spending, always ask if it is necessary. Even if you have 30 billion in your pocket.

Imagine that scenario when you see someone who doesn’t return the same energy whenever you greet them but you still went ahead to extend greetings. Only to get the cold response.
That moment, in your head, you’d be like:
“Ahhh… na me mess up.”

You see how loud that voice is. How the realization hits you.

That’s how it should be when you are spending your business money.

The reason must be loud and realistic. It must hit you that way.

#4. HAVE AN EMERGENCY FUND
You never know what’s going to pop up when you’re managing a business.

Bills upon bills.

One credit alert. Many debits.

Generator can go bad. Landlord can increase rent. Laptop head can touch. You have to be ready always like the proverbial five virgins that were called wise.

Emergency fund should be deliberately kept.

You know that time when you’re dead broke. Nothing gum you and then you are washing clothes and you see N500 inside one of your trousers..

You see that joy you get? How you come alive? How you feel hope once again?
How you say MIRACLE NO DEY TIRE JESUS?

That’s what you get when you deliberately save for unforeseen circumstances.

Keep as much cash as possible. Don’t spend all that you have.
It will save you from borrowing at every turn.

#5. RE-INVEST IN YOUR BUSINESS
You’re selling and seeing cool cash.
Don’t chop everything.
Decide on a monthly amount to reinvest back into the business. This should done out of your profits.
Note: PROFIT IS NOT CASH.
Record-keeping can help you know your profit and your business strength.

It will also help you on how to reinvest in the growth of your business.

These are few tips that will help you spend your business money wisely.

Invest in yourself and as well work on your personal finance habits so that it doesn’t affect your business finances.

Some of these things take time.
It takes discipline.
However, the rewards are earthshaking.

Take these tips into consideration as you are considering where it is wise to spend your business money.

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