Why Using Your Personal Credit Card is Dangerous for Your Business

Many of us (include yours truly) have used personal credit cards to finance the start up or growth of our business.  It's easy, fast, and available.  The interest rates may be lower than business credit cards.  And, you may have exhausted your business loans or lines of credit.  But there are a few dangers in using your personal credit cards to finance your business, instead of using business credit cards or loans.  More on Danger of Credit Card Financing

"Learn the Simple System to Take Control of Your Cash Flow in Just 15 Minutes per Week … So You Never Are Surprised About Your Checking Account Balance Ever Again!"

Fellow small business owners -

Like most of you, I've struggled with fluctuating cash flow over the years.  Everything from the boom-bust cycle of client projects, to using personal credit cards to finance the business, to creating useless reports in QuickBooks, to setting prices too low, to never being able to predict income.  You would think that as a financial expert and attorney I would know how to do this stuff, but they don't teach you how to manage small business cash flow in school.  After investigating all the un-helpful software and books available, the only solution was to develop my own program to take control of my cash flow, and my life!

This Money Meetings system is what I'm sharing with you in the new Cash Flow Coaching Program.  In the Cash Flow Coaching Program, I lead you through the steps of my Money Meetings System AND help you implement the system for your own business, so your business cash flow turns from a struggle to automatic.

Through this program, you will learn:  More on Take Control of Cash Flow - only 10 spots available

Learn how to use Cash Flow Projections. 

A Cash Flow Projection is a chart containing educated guesses of your income and expenses, broken by month to month.  The expenses are projected in the months they actually occur — some of your expenses are the same each month (i.e., you internet fee and your loan payment) and some are occasional big expenses you must set aside money for, like your insurance premium or tax bill.  You create your income projections by taking an educated guess, based upon your marketing plans, your business history, and businesses similar to yours.  Yes, it's just a guess — but it's a place to start so you can measure your actual results against some projected numbers.    More on Want to Learn How to Predict the Future?

What is the legal entity of your business? 

If you respond "I don't have one" that means you are either a sole proprietor or a partnership (if there are two or more of you).  You may need to form a new legal entity this year — but that is a topic for another blog post.

If you have business that is a separate legal entity from yourself — a corporation, Limited Liability Company (LLC), or another such entity — you need to be honoring that "separate-ness."  Small business owners, especially one-person shops, commonly are being too casual about business practices, ignoring the "red-tape" of administering a corporation or LLC.

Why does it matter, especially if you are a one-person shop?  More on Are You Honoring Your Entity?

Everything you do should be tied to your passion — what you uniquely have to offer the world.  Not filing, not answering the phone, not email tag, not keeping the books. 

Many business owners first try to replicate themselves, with the idea that they only want to hire people who can create more money, bring in more clients, or sell more products.  But that's the wrong place to start.  More on Leverage by Delegation: How to Get More Done in Less Time

As your business starts to produce an income, how should that money be spent?  Invested back into the business, for growth?  On personal expenses?  When do you start paying yourself a salary?  When should you start your retirement plan?  More on Prioritizing Your Profits

The best retirement plan for most solo-entrepreneurs is the Solo 401(k). 

No, not a SEP-IRA or Simple or Keogh … but a 401(k) just like the old 401(k) you had at your last corporation job … with a few GREAT differences.  More on The Best Retirement Plan for Solo-Entrepreneurs

If you've been an entrepreneur or small business owner, you've learned the dirty little secret.  Running a business is not about selling, or clients, or profits, or fancy business cards … it's all about cash flow. 

You may have the most brilliant idea or the best method of helping your clients, but if you run out of money tomorrow, you are doomed. 

How to you consistently and easily keep yourself above water? 

By using Money Meetings. 

More on Learn the Easy Way to Control Cash Flow

Question:  Do I really need to get business liability insurance for my home business? 

Answer:   Yes …    More on Do I need business liability insurance for my home business?

Do you want to fight less with your spouse about money?

Do you want to grow your business quickly, without having to look at the books more than the minimum necessary to get the job done? 

Whether you are the CFO of your family, your home business, or a Fortune-500, you must schedule a quarterly meeting with your board to analyze your finances and plan for the future.  More on Cash Flow Part 4: Your Quarterly Review