These 3 principles for a business owner are basic, have been around forever, but I believe are almost never adhered to. They are simple ideas which do make a difference to your business:
1. Pay yourself and do this first. So often the average small business owner pays their staffs’ wages, pays the bills, pays the tax and IF there is anything left, considers paying themselves. The first rule here is to pay yourself. Your time is worth money, so give yourself a wage and pay it along with the rest of the employees. Very bluntly (unless it’s the first 6 months of your business) if you can’t afford to pay yourself, then why are you in this business? Wouldn’t you be better working for someone else and actually getting paid? To make sure you get paid, do it first, along with the wages for the rest of your team.
2. Save 10% of what you earn. You should be putting money aside regularly as savings; not just for yourself, but for your business. Are you covering for a ‘rainy day’ or when something goes wrong, or even just to cover an unexpected tax bill? Make putting money to savings no different from paying the other bills. But that savings in line with the other bills and make that payment just like you do your rent or phone bill.
3. Think about your future. Yes, you need to live the moment and action what needs to happen now, but so often business owners don’t think enough about their futures. Are they constantly upgrading their skills so that they will be of value to the business? Do they send staff out on training to further their expertise? Do they know where they want to go (ie plan) and have set goals in place? Do they rent premises suitable for growth? Do they setup systems which will cope with growth? If you are a business owner, what are you thinking about, focusing on and preparing in respect of your future and the future of your business?
These tips or ‘stepping stones’ to business success are things every business owner should consider. It’s all very good to read this article and think “yeah, good point; need to do that” but rather what action are you taking to fulfil these steps to success? Knowing what to do is great, better is taking action from that knowledge. Get actioning today!
