Running a successful business takes more than a good idea. Entrepreneurs must also have good money management skills in order to make their business a true success.
To help, Tope Ganiyah Fajingbesi, author of "What Color is Your Money? Your Personalized Roadmap to Business Success" (House of Ganiyah LLC, 2013) offers five tips for business owners on how entrepreneurs can manage their money to build a successful business:
Understand your relationship with money
I advise you to analyze your behavior and unique characteristics to understand what your strengths and weaknesses are when it comes to managing money. I once read that many rich people remain rich by behaving like the poor, while many poor people remain poor by behaving like the rich, and I think there is a lot of truth in that statement. You have to realize that a business venture is like another human being, and before you can help that other person succeed, you have to understand how to maximize your own strengths and manage your weaknesses first.
Understand your spouse/partner’s relationship with money
Whether or not you like to admit this, your personal relationship with your spouse or significant other(s) has a big impact on your personal finance success or failure. It is therefore not surprising that money is one of the biggest causes of conflicts in marriages and similar relationships.
Have a clear destination
You probably wouldn’t get in your car on a journey to nowhere, and you would most likely not leave your house without a map or GPS when driving to an unfamiliar destination. So why navigate this rather unfamiliar life without a good map? Every day you set out with no clear goals to work toward is a day you are getting in your car or a plane for a ride to nowhere. The most successful people establish simple, clear and measurable goals, and hold themselves accountable to those goals.