65: Drop Your Fear Of Numbers And Use Them To Your Advantage Whether You Are Starting A Business
65: Drop Your Fear Of Numbers And Use Them To Your Advantage Whether You Are Starting A Business, You Are Self-Employed, A Solopreneur, Entrepreneur, Small Business Owner, Remote Virtual Online Bookkeeper, Virtual Assistant Or VA
Understanding your numbers and keeping up to date on your finances is key to the success of your business. When you actively keep a pulse on your business finances, you will certainly make better business decisions. If you are thinking that you are just not a numbers person, you’re not good when it comes to numbers or math, or you are afraid to make a mistake, I want to help you overcome these fears. I get it, and I know how numbers or finances are not everybody’s strength or zone of genius. I will admit however, that I love working with numbers and I’ve never been afraid of them, but I have other areas in my business that I don’t have those same strong strengths in, and I struggle in these areas much like I am sure you struggle with your finances, so I totally understand where you are coming from. In today’s podcast episode, I am going to help you overcome your fear of numbers and how you can let them help you succeed in your business. If you are using a computerized software system like QuickBooks, Xero, Wave or FreshBooks for your business finances, or if you are doing your bookkeeping manually with an Excel spreadsheet or even a Google Document, you can use your numbers to help you understand your business finances. I’ll have solutions for what you can do if you think numbers and finances are boring or time consuming as well. It’s okay to have these thoughts or fears, but you and I both know that when you own your own business, there are things you need to do for your business to make an impact not only on your bottom line or your income, but for your business to succeed in other areas as well. It’s time for you to break these fears or habits that may be holding you back and start this new year off in the right direction. Whether you are just getting started with your business, you are a self-employed individual, a solopreneur, entrepreneur, small business owner, a remote, virtual, online or in-house bookkeeper, or a virtual assistant or VA, you can overcome these obstacles so that you can enjoy, yes, I said enjoy, your business and your business finances. If you are looking back at the last year and are thinking about how far behind your bookkeeping or finances are, and just how much work you need to do to catch up on your bookkeeping to get ready for the upcoming tax deadline, listen in I promise I have some solutions for you…
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Show Notes:
Understanding your numbers and keeping up to date on your finances is key to the success of your business. When you actively keep a pulse on your business finances, you will certainly make better business decisions. If you are thinking that you are just not a numbers person, you’re not good when it comes to numbers or math, or you are afraid to make a mistake, I want to help you overcome these fears. I get it, and I know how numbers or finances are not everybody’s strength or zone of genius. I will admit however, that I love working with numbers and I’ve never been afraid of them, but I have other areas in my business that I don’t have those same strong strengths in, and I struggle in these areas much like I am sure you struggle with your finances, so I totally understand where you are coming from. In today’s podcast episode, I am going to help you overcome your fear of numbers and how you can let them help you succeed in your business. If you are using a computerized software system like QuickBooks, Xero, Wave or FreshBooks for your business finances, or if you are doing your bookkeeping manually with an Excel spreadsheet or even a Google Document, you can use your numbers to help you understand your business finances. I’ll have solutions for what you can do if you think numbers and finances are boring or time consuming as well. It’s okay to have these thoughts or fears, but you and I both know that when you own your own business, there are things you need to do for your business to make an impact not only on your bottom line or your income, but for your business to succeed in other areas as well. It’s time for you to break these fears or habits that may be holding you back and start this new year off in the right direction. Whether you are just getting started with your business, you are a self-employed individual, a solopreneur, entrepreneur, small business owner, a remote, virtual, online or in-house bookkeeper, or a virtual assistant or VA, you can overcome these obstacles so that you can enjoy, yes, I said enjoy, your business and your business finances. If you are looking back at the last year and are thinking about how far behind your bookkeeping or finances are, and just how much work you need to do to catch up on your bookkeeping to get ready for the upcoming tax deadline, listen in I promise I have some solutions for you…
Welcome Back…I hear things like, “I’m not a numbers person,” “I’m afraid to make a mistake,” “I’m just not good with numbers,” “Numbers are boring,” and “Numbers are time consuming.” Well, I am not here to tell you any different, but I do feel that what you tell yourself is what you will actually believe. What would happen if you started telling yourself that this is the year that you are going to gain control of your business finances and you are going make this the year that you understand more about what your financial statements tell you about your business? I’m not saying you need to tell yourself that you are going to gain all the knowledge you need in this one year, I’m just suggesting that you start making steps towards being in control and understanding a little more than you have in the past about your business finances. Sound like a plan? Awesome…let’s jump in.
First, to gain control of your finances, you will need to start off by making sure that your bookkeeping is up to date. I want you to be brutally honest with yourself right now. How is your bookkeeping looking for this last year? Do you only have a few things to finish up and your books are all ready to go, or did you not even get a chance to do any of your bookkeeping yet? Maybe you are somewhere in between, and you have some of it done, but you still need to catch up on a few months yet. When you look back at your last year’s bookkeeping, this is going to give you a pretty good insight as to how you should approach gaining control of your finances. Know your boundaries. If you haven’t started your bookkeeping for the last year, you may want to find a bookkeeper who can help you get everything caught up. Let’s face it, if you haven’t had a chance in the last year to do any bookkeeping, you need some help in this area. Hiring a bookkeeper will help you get your bookkeeping in order and if you want to take it over after everything is caught up, that is always a possibility as well. There are a lot of really good bookkeepers out there who would be happy to help you with your bookkeeping. They thrive on doing this type of work and love helping business owners ensure they have the appropriate information to make sound business decisions. I know this because I feel this way myself, and many other bookkeepers contact me with their availabilities for new clients and I can see they share that same passion for bookkeeping. I also help them set up processes and grow their bookkeeping businesses. If you are looking for a bookkeeper to help you with your business finances, please reach out to me and let me know.
On the other hand, if you have some of your bookkeeping done and you know you can get it caught up yourself and you are ready to put a plan in place so that you can gain control of your finances, now is the time to make sure you have that plan in place. There are so many different ways you can do your bookkeeping, but the one main thing you need is to make your bookkeeping a priority for you and your business. If you still have some apprehension about numbers or doing your bookkeeping, maybe this isn’t the year that you do your bookkeeping yourself. You could always have someone help you until you overcome these fears and feel like you can make bookkeeping a priority and be confident about it.
Whether you do your own bookkeeping or you have someone else helping you with your bookkeeping, your main goal as a business owner is to use those numbers to your advantage and help you succeed in your business. I want you to think about the fears you have with your numbers or your finances. Is it that you feel like you don’t have enough information to understand what your numbers mean, or do you feel like you never did well in math, so you think you won’t do well with your finances? Think about this for a bit and find out what your actual fear is when it comes to numbers and your business finances. Once you know what your fear is, you will be much more capable of overcoming those specific fears. It is understandable that if bookkeeping and finances isn’t what you are skilled in, it can be hard, but you can overcome these difficulties. With many of the computerized software systems out there, like QuickBooks Online, you don’t even need to be fluent in math. Many of these systems take care of the math part for you. You just need to have a system in place to account for all of your money coming in and going out of your business.
Gaining control of your finances will come naturally when you have your bookkeeping up to date. The understanding part will come with looking at your numbers on a consistent basis. Since we already talked about how you can gain control of your bookkeeping, and you made up your mind if you are going to hire a bookkeeper or do it yourself, next I want to help you come up with a plan to understand your finances. I want you to set up a time to face your fears and look over your financial statements each and every month. Whether you do your own bookkeeping or you have a bookkeeper helping you, you will be able to generate your financial statements. These will include your Balance Sheet and your Profit & Loss Report or your Income Statement. When you have these financial statements, you can start looking at how your business is doing and even make comparisons from month to month. If you get overwhelmed with all the details, you can start off by looking at the summaries of your numbers. You can always dig deeper into certain numbers to find out what they consist of when you feel more comfortable. You might want to pick just a few categories to look into and as you get comfortable with them, you can move on to another category. If, and when you have questions, I want you to talk to your bookkeeper, accountant, CPA or tax preparer. Don’t be embarrassed, this is why we are here for you. When you ask questions, it shows us that you are actually looking at your financials and want to learn more. I always tell my clients that there is no such thing as a stupid question. If they don’t understand something, we talk about it in a way they are able to understand. Once they understand, there are normally more questions to follow, but this is how you will gain the knowledge you need to understand your business finances. The more you understand, the less you will fear your numbers. This is the goal we are working towards, so ask the questions.
If you are doing your own bookkeeping and you have a tendency to think bookkeeping is boring or time consuming, I want you to schedule a few tasks to do each day, or at least weekly. I also want you to complete these tasks the first thing every day. I totally understand what it is like to have a task on your list that you just dread doing. It is easy to put off, and you think about it all day long. Instead of wasting your energy on all these negative thoughts, I want you to put that task as your first task of the day or week and just get it done. If bookkeeping is not your favorite thing to do, but you are bound and determined to get it done for your business, make sure you do something special to reward yourself for making it a priority and getting it done. This doesn’t need to be an expensive reward, maybe you stop at your favorite coffee shop and grab a beverage to reward yourself for a job well done. Remember that falling behind or trying to catch up with your bookkeeping is much harder to do than just doing it on a consistent basis.
As a business owner, you know you need to know how your finances are impacting your business. I am proud of you for taking the initiative to get to know your finances better this year. Your numbers don’t lie. They tell you what is actually happening within your business. Understanding these numbers and eliminating your fears will build confidence and ultimately will help you make the smart business decisions which will lead to your business success. If you are looking for a bookkeeper or have any other questions, you know you can always reach out to me by going to www.FinancialAdventure.com/Contact-Us. I personally respond to all my emails, and I love helping business owners figure out solutions for their bookkeeping and watching their knowledge about their business finances grow. If you are looking for a group of business owners who you can surround yourself with to help both your development as a business owner and the success and growth of your business, check out the new masterminds I am in the process of creating. Joining a mastermind is an excellent way to take your business to the next level and grow your business with the input, guidance and feedback from other successful entrepreneurs. Finances is only one part of your business success; our masterminds cover many of the significant topics you run into in your business that you wish you had someone to talk with. If you want one on one consulting and are ready to be laser focused on your goals and achievements, you can go to www.FinancialAdventure.com/Mastermind to apply. I have two masterminds for you to choose from. The Mastering Your Small Business Finances CEO Mastermind which is an elite mastermind group for entrepreneurs & business owners who want to level up their business and reach their business goals faster and more efficiently with an experienced, trusted and knowledgeable board of directors who you can call your own. The second is the Elevate Your Bookkeeping Business GROW Mastermind. This mastermind is for bookkeepers who want to grow and expand their bookkeeping business by leveraging the experience and knowledge from other like-minded bookkeepers and accountants. Both mastermind options give you the capability to have conversations with business owners just like you to work together to grow and succeed with your ideas and goals. I’ll post links for these and other valuable resources for business owners and bookkeepers where you are listening to this podcast and in the show notes.
And, you know I’m going to ask…what’s at least one thing you will take away from this episode that will help your business succeed and grow your bottom line? If you need some accountability, join our PRIVATE Facebook community and post your action item, we’d love to support you.
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