These factors make it even more critical that we develop financial consistency.  Keeping a handle on the ways of managing our money that are within our control, will go a long way towards building financial stability and avoiding the financial roller coaster that plagues many small business owners.

Following are 5 simple steps to becoming financially consistent:

1.  Pay Yourself First

This is the corner stone of any long term financial stability, let alone wealth. Every month, you should put a set percentage of your earnings into a high interest savings account, and then don’t touch it until you are ready to invest with that money.  This is not the “rainy day” account that you dip into when things get hard, nor is this the “splurge” account to get something special for yourself as a celebration. Money is only withdrawn from this account to buy assets with – an asset being defined in this case as something that either makes you money, or appreciates (increases) in value (so a new car would not be an asset under this definition!). Do this consistently and, over time, you will build up a very nice amount of cash to be investing with.

2.  Schedule Regular Money Days

“Money Days” are key to your success as a small business owner. This is simply a day that you set aside to work on your finances.  The jobs might include filing, entering receipts into a computer program, balancing bank statements, etc.  Now, it does not have to be a whole day, of course – unless your situation merits it… usually because you haven’t done one for a long time! Personally, I set aside a couple of hours every other week, and then a meeting with my accountant over the phone every couple of months. Doing this accomplishes several things: Your accounts will remain orderly, allowing you to continually track your financial progress and identify potential problems early on.  Money Days also allow you to focus on your finances for short, isolated periods, which frees up your time to think about and do other things… like growing your business.

3.  Forecast your spending

Forecasting is the process of allocating where your money will be spent. Visit http://www.AbundanceBoundSystem.com for tools specifically designed to help small business owners, network marketers and solo entrepreneurs determine exactly how they are currently spending. You’ll then decide which categories cannot change (rent, for example) and which ones can (groceries, entertainment etc).  You can then make strong, educated decisions about what amount you will CHOOSE to spend monthly in each category.  This tends to be far more empowering (and effective) than just blindly trying eliminate entire categories, That is the big difference between this process and traditional budgeting.  Budgeting encourages cutting out “frivolous” categories entirely and forgets the fact that we’re human!  You won’t stick to something long term that makes you feel deprived.  But as opposed to going to Starbucks every day, can you go every other day? Or order a Tall instead of a Venti?  Making these kinds of choices in several areas can make a huge difference to your overall spending.

4.  Keep business finances separate from personal

You must have separate bank accounts for your personal life and your small business.  Identify one credit card you will use for personal expenses and a different one to be used for business.  You would never see the CEO of Kinkos write a check for company expenses out of his personal account, and yet many small business owners do this all the time.  Separating your finances will allow you to clearly see what your business is spending and earning.  It will also legitimize all the tax deductions you are taking.

5.  Regular financial learning

Keep doing what you are doing right now! We take time to take business classes on marketing, using the internet, and creating products… but we expect our finances to somehow take care of themselves. Not only is this not realistic, it is dangerous, as we can make numerous serious mistakes blundering around while we try to find our financial way. The reason that most small businesses fail is because they are unable to financially sustain. Knowing this, doesn’t it make sense to put some time into financial education now, so that you have the skills to develop the financial stability that will keep your business around for the long term? Carve out some time for financial seminars. Learn how to manage your money as an entrepreneur and how to invest it so it can grow faster.  Learn the strategies to handle your business expenses, reduce your taxes, and create multiple sources of passive income.  It will be well worth it in the long run.

So there you have it.  Consistently doing these five things will significantly improve your financial picture over the coming months and years. Visit http://www.AbundanceBoundSystem.com to learn to incorporate each step into your daily and weekly life. It requires only a tiny time commitment of time, but the dividends from doing so will last forever.