My daughter’s school follows a method of teaching that helps children to develop mathematical skills  by focusing on their practical applications in life. Instead of memorizing times tables and formulas  – which is the way that I learned math – the children are taught how to use math to solve real life problems. There are plenty of arguments both for and against this type of teaching. While I do see some of its shortcomings, one of the things I am very happy about is that since kindergarten my daughter has worked with money in the classroom, becoming increasingly comfortable with some financial basics that I know will serve her well.

I remember the first time  she was learning the differences between pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. We would play a game where she would be offered a “trade” and would have to decide if she wanted to make the deal. For example, I might have two dimes and offer to trade them for one of her quarters. It was fascinating to watch how in the beginning she would eagerly make that trade. I could also easily get her to hand over those two dimes for just five pennies. Of course, given her basic understanding of numbers – two was better than one – and five was certainly better than two! Read more »

I was watching my 2-year-old son playing this afternoon.  For almost 10 minutes he just ran around in a circle. It wasn’t even a particularly big circle – but round and round he went – showing absolutely no evidence of boredom. In fact, he really seemed to be enjoying himself.

It got me thinking about how often as adults – especially as solo entrepreneurs – that we feel like we’re just running round and round in circles. The problem for us is that it certainly isn’t fun. When we feel like our businesses have stopped growing and like all our hard work is no longer moving us forward, it’s easy to get exhausted and discouraged. Read more »

I live next door to two of the tiniest dogs I have ever seen. I’d be afraid to have a dog that size. I’d worry that one misstep and I could end up accidentally squashing the poor thing. But the funny thing about my next door dogs is they don’t ACT small. They do everything big – from saying hello, to protecting their little girl owner, to standing up for themselves if a bigger dog tries to get bossy.

Well, just like a small dog who thinks he is a Great Dane, a small business doesn’t always have to act small.  Small dogs know their strengths and use them to their advantage.  They know they can be more agile, move quicker and get away with things because they are cute.  A small business has more flexibility, quicker response times and more personal customer service than the bigger guys.  Knowing your strengths is the key to success.  Small business owners who know what to focus on can take their business to the top. Read more »

In our last blog post, Walk From Where You’re Standing, we talked about creating a strong financial foundation – doing the things necessary to know (and continue to be aware of) your current financial situation.

The next critical step to creating success as a small business owner, is figuring out exactly where you would like to end up.  Where you are going is almost as important as your starting point.  It gives you a destination, a target, a place on which to set your sights. Read more »

As entrepreneurs, it is easy to sometimes feel like our finances are outside of our control.  Especially in the early years of your business you may not have the regular earnings that came with a job. Our spending often varies as well, since building a successful business costs money.

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. Read more »