Make Credit Work for Small Businesses

Guest post by Tisha (Kulak) Tolar

Small businesses and entrepreneurs starting a business have to devote a lot of time and effort to get their business on track and successful. Many start out so small that there is no financial room for a staff to keep things flowing and oftentimes it is up to the business owner to wear many hats. Obviously, income is a serious priority for start-up businesses and when there is not enough money to add a support team, entrepreneurs need to concentrate on ways to take off some of the pressures of running a business.

Reduced Overhead

One simple way to ease the burden of accounting and financials is by employing a credit card designed specifically for a small business.  For every business transaction by credit card, the business owner has at their fingertips a very detailed report of their spending. Credit card statements for small business credit cards are very detailed making is a lot more simplistic for owners to keep track of what they are spending. The detailed statements that are received monthly can be categorized easily in order for the business to have a clear understand of what is spent in marketing, office supplies, business fees, and more. Saving receipts can help reconcile statements and be attached to each month’s bill in order to keep orderly records, in the event there is a discrepancy or the need to return merchandise. Making notes on each receipt as they are received can help owners recall the expense easily at the end of each month. Read more

Exit Plan: ‘Cause I guarantee you won’t live forever …

Why Do You Need an Exit Plan?

A few of you may be running this business to sell or go public, and if so, you have already (hopefully) created your exit plan.  But the rest of you may not have created an exit plan because you don’t yet want to retire or your retirement seems too far away for a specific plan.  

As a business owner, you love what you do.  You quit your job to open this venture, and plan to run it indefinitely.  Perhaps you want to work a few less hours, but you don’t see a deadline for quitting.  Perhaps this is even your retirement business, where you retired to from your high-stress job to open your new venture in mid-life.

Regardless, you must have a plan for possible exits because I can guarantee you will not run this business forever.  You may change your mind.  You may want a sabbatical or to go on a book tour.  You may need to take a leave of absence to take care of a sick family member.  You may become physically unable to work.  And, I predict that you will not live until the end of time.  For all of these scenarios, you need a plan to give you the financial freedom to make the choices you need for your life.   Read more

Your Financial Plan: Why do you care, anyway?

So, what’s the point?   Why are you here, trying to learn about your money?  

The answer is your Financial Vision.  Your Vision is your objective, or ultimate reason, of why you want to master your finances. 

Imagine — you have a Financial Action Plan sitting in front of you on your desk, table, or lap.  This Plan spells out the exact steps you need to achieve your goals.  You now know exactly what you want to do, and feel confident that you will be able to complete these tasks.   Read more

Ep #59 Spiritual Pathways & Your Business

 

Elizabeth welcomes Spirit Coach Stephanie Bell, a Speaker and Author to talk about how your spiritual pathway may bring to your business, how to start thinking about your spirituality in a way that brings clarity and what God, Superman & Jiminy Cricket mean to her.

Elizabeth then answers a listener question about staying neutral and shares her Entrepreneur’s Success Tip of the Week: You’ve Crossed the River, So Stop Carrying the Boat.

Click here to download the show!

Stephanie has generously offered listeners of The Wealth Spa Radio Show a complimentary Spiritual Life Mastery Strategy Session.

If you have a positive prayer experience to add to Stephanie’s Answered Prayer Story, click here to learn more about the book and submit your story.

Transcript: Elizabeth Potts Weinstein welcomes small business owners, entrepreneurs and anyone who dreams of opening a business someday to this empowering hour of the Wealth Spa Radio Show where you’ll find answers to your most pressing financial and legal questions.  Now here is your host, Elizabeth. Read more

Jack Canfield: “The Most Valuable Question You May Ever Ask”

Guest post by Jack Canfield, America’s Success Coach

As you begin to take action toward the fulfillment of your goals and dreams, you must realize that not every action will be perfect.

Not every action will produce the desired result. Not every action will work.

Making mistakes, getting it almost right, and experimenting to see what happens are all part of the process of eventually getting it right.

Thomas Edison is reported to have tried over 2,000 different experiments that failed before he finally got the light bulb to work. He once told a reporter that, from his perspective, he had never failed at all. Inventing the light bulb was just a 2,000-step process. If you can adopt that attitude, then you can be free to take an action, notice what result you get, and then adjust your next actions based on the feedback you have received.

Ready, Fire, Aim! 

Don’t be afraid to just jump in and get started moving toward your goals. As long as you pay attention to the feedback you receive, you will make progress. Just getting into the game and firing allows you to correct and refine your aim.

The Most Valuable Question You May Ever Learn 

In the 1980s, a multimillionaire businessman taught me a question that radically changed the quality of my life. So what is this magical question that can improve the quality of every relationship you are in, every product you produce, every service you deliver, every meeting you conduct, every class you teach and every transaction you enter into?

Here it is:

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the quality of our relationship during the last week?”

Here are a number of variations on the same question that have served me well over the years…

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate…

• our service?                       • my teaching?

• our product?                      • this class/seminar/workshop?

• this meeting?                     • our date/vacation?

• our performance?              • this meal?

• my coaching/managing?    • this book/recording/show?

• my parenting/babysitting?  

Any answer less than a 10 always gets this follow-up question:

“What would it take to make it a 10?”

This is where the *really* valuable information comes from. Knowing that a person is dissatisfied is not enough. Knowing in detail what will satisfy them gives you the information you need to do whatever it takes to create a winning product, service or relationship.

There Are Two Kinds of Feedback 

There are two kinds of feedback you might encounter – negative and positive. We tend to prefer the positive – that is, results, money, praise, promotion, raise, awards, happiness, inner-peace, etc. It feels betters. It tells us we are on course and doing the right thing.

We tend not to like negative feedback – lack of results, little or no money, criticism, poor evaluations, complaints, unhappiness, inner conflict, pain, etc.

However, there is as much useful data in negative feedback as there is in positive feedback. It tells us that we are off course, headed in the wrong direction, doing the wrong thing. This is priceless information!

In fact, it’s so valuable that one of the most useful projects you could undertake is to change how you respond to negative feedback. I like to refer to negative feedback as information for “improvement opportunities.” Here is a place where I can get better.

Ask Yourself for Feedback 

In addition to asking others for feedback, you need to ask yourself for feedback, too. More than any other source of feedback, your body will tell you whether or not you are on course or not. When you are relaxed and happy, your body is telling you that you are on track. When you are constantly exhausted, tense, in pain, unhappy and angry, then you are off track.

Take time to listen to what your body is saying to you. Take time to listen to your physical sensations and your feelings. They are sending you important messages. Are you listening?

Remember, Feedback Is Simply Information 

You don’t have to take it personally. Just welcome it and use it.

For more on Using Feedback to Your Advantage, review Principle #19 in The Success Principles. It’s one of the most important principles you can apply.

© 2007 Jack Canfield

Jack Canfield, America’s Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you’re ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Financial Freedom: What does it mean to you?

When we are planning for our finances, we must decide how we will measure our success.  One measure is achieving Financial Freedom – but what does financial freedom really mean?

The term “financial freedom” is thrown around both by traditional financial planners and investment advisors, as well as every infomercial get-rich-quick scheme.  Typically, most of the schemes are using the term to mean being so rich you never have to work again.  But really financial freedom means being released from uncertainty and being able to confidentially know that you will be able to meet your life goals – that your finances (or lack thereof) are no longer holding you back from achievement.  Read more

Time Management Advice That Really Works

Guest post by Gavin Ingham

Have you ever thought about authoring a novel? Picking up a new hobby? Speaking another language? Do you know someone who wants to study for a new career? Spend more quality time with their children? Get fit and exercise more regularly?

Have you yearned to spend more time on the golf course? More time with your friends? More time pampering yourself?

What would you do more with your life if only you had more time?

Read more

Ep #58 Emotional Copywriting

Elizabeth speaks with Carla Young, Founder and President of Tangent Ideas, Inc. a copywriting agency specializing in marketing communications to the new media. Carla shares What emotional copywriting is, Where & When you should start to implement this type of writing into your business and Why. Elizabeth answers a listener question about Where to begin your Social Networking and Web 2.0 journey and shares her Entrepreneur’s Success Tip of the Week: It’s All About the Relationship.

Click Here to download the show!

Carla has offered listeners of The Wealth Spa Radio Show a special discount offer for her upcoming The Power of Persuasion Copywriting Mastery program beginning in November.

How to Delegate: Why Are You Doing Everything Yourself?

Guest post by Ali Brown

One problem I often see with solo professionals is that their businesses aren’t growing because they’re simply not making enough time to do it! 

It’s not that they don’t understand the value of those efforts, or they don’t WANT to make the time. It’s that they’re simply trying to do too much by themselves. They’re so busy running their business that they’re not working ON their business.

Are You Spending All Your Time on the Little Stuff?

Owning your own business requires wearing a lot of hats. But it seems that when many people leave their jobs to “go solo,” they think they must work completely solo as well. They insist on doing everything themselves — even tasks they know darn well they’re not good at. 

They try in vain to design their own Web sites and brochures, write their own sales copy, process their own orders, manage their own mailing list, personally respond to every customer call and e-mail, ship their own products, and more. Pretty soon they’re running around like that proverbial headless chicken. Read more

Estate Planning: What Every Business Owner Must Have (even if you’re single or broke)

Every business owner needs some basic estate planning documents, even if one who is single with nodependents, or whose business is not “worth anything” yet.  Think of your business, clients, and customers as dependents of a sort that need to be considered in case you were no longer around.  If you have a spouse, life partner, or children, you definitely need to consider estate planning documents to provide for what would happen if you were incapacitated (i.e., coma, vegetable — fun subject, huh?) or if you passed away.

Here are the documents you may need to obtain: Read more

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