People like to make meaningless and/or unrealistic resolutions at the beginning of the year. Well, even though January has come and gone. Let’s make some meaningful business and personal resolutions that can actually improve our lives!
(1) Business: Pay Yourself
Most new businesses fail within the first 2 years. Why? Owners reinvest every dime back into their businesses and never pay themselves. Business owners are left feeling unfulfilled and unsatisfied. They are not personally seeing the benefits of owning their own businesses.
Let’s face it, most business owners start businesses to make money. If they aren’t seeing the money in their own pockets, they burn out and start asking themselves, “What’s the point?”
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of speaking to any of our bookkeeping clients, they will often say that our Profit Advising services are among their very favorite. They enjoy being among the business owners who are personally profiting from their businesses and knowing that their businesses are operating within sustainable limits. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please reach out to us through our contact form here.
(2) Personal: Over this year, make an extra payment on your mortgage.
How many times a year do you get paid per year? If you get paid biweekly (26 paychecks a year), the option to make an extra mortgage payment a year is extremely easy. You will receive 2 extra paychecks per year. Take each of those extra checks and apply those funds to make half of your mortgage payment.
Don’t get paid biweekly? With proper financial planning and budgeting, it’s still possible to make an additional mortgage payment this year.
Paying an additional mortgage payment a year helps to pay down your mortgage quicker and reduces the amount of interest you will pay over the life of your loan.
(3) Business: Get your finances in order.
Let 2023 be the year that you get your business finances in order once and for all. Most of our clients are creatives and are very good at what they do, but are not so great at organizing their finances. Part of being a business owner is knowing when it is time to outsource the pieces of your business that are not your favorite or are not parts that you excel at.
Looking for assistance in organizing your business finances? Let us help you. Fill out our new client intake form here.
(4) Personal: Actively work on increasing your credit score.
Some people will tell you that your credit score doesn’t matter. You should pay for everything in cash. While those are all great things to strive for, the point is that your credit score is still important even if you only use cash.
So many items like car insurance rates are based on your credit score. To read more about our philosophy on credit, check out our recent blog post Credit Cards Are Not Your Enemy over on Mobile Money Maven, our sister organization.
(5) Business: Set goals.
Set goals. Set goals. Set goals.
If you don’t have set goals, what are you working towards? We love to use the acronym SMART goals.
S – Your goals should be Specific.
M – Your goals should be Measurable.
A – Your goals should be Achievable.
R – Your goals should be Relevant.
T – Your goals should be Time-Bound.
We believe that it is important to start with a 3-5 year timeline. What would you like to accomplish in the next 3-5 years? To make that happen, what should you accomplish this year? Now break that annual goal down into quarters, what needs to occur during Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 to make that happen? Now break each quarter down into months.
Goal setting is a large part of the Business Coaching we provide on Mobile Money Maven.
(6) Personal: Create a budget and stick to it.
Budget: A dirty little 6-letter word!
Budgeting really doesn’t have to be a dirty little word. Budgeting is simply all about planning where your money is going to be used and sticking to it.
Looking for our choice of budgeting software, try You Need A Budget!
Need help? Try our Budgeting Review Workshop from our sister organization, Mobile Money Maven.
(7) Business: Invest in your business.
Invest in the business items that assist you in making money in your business. Business tools and software can sometimes assist you in earning more income. One of our favorite business tools is Liz Wilcox’s Email Marketing Membership <https://mobilemoneymaven.com/lizwilcox>
Investing in yourself can also assist you. Goal setting, mindset coaching, and business memberships are available through our sister organization, Mobile Money Maven.
(8) Personal: Add $1,000 to your Emergency Fund.
Did you know that most American families do not have a minimum of $1,000 in liquid savings? In recent years the number has been estimated that 40% or less have access to $1,000 in case of an emergency. That number is staggering!
If you aren’t familiar with the idea of an emergency fund, here is a good place to start.
Having at least $1,000 in a savings account to pull from in case of an emergency is essential. For the 60+% of American’s out there without an emergency fund, they are left with placing an unnecessary burden on credit cards, left borrowing from predatory lenders (payday advances, car title loans, etc), or left to borrow from family members.
(9) Business: Be flexible
Be flexible. Business calls for flexibility in all aspects. Even the best-made ideas don’t always go as planned.
Advertising fails to bring in the clients you had hoped for. You get sick in the middle of a big push. Towards the end of planning one big event, you come up with an idea that throws you in a totally different direction. Things can happen at any time. It is super important to keep ALL things flexible in business.
(10) Personal: Give a recurring monthly donation to one charity.
Part of human nature makes us desire to be generous people. To help others in their times of need. Pick one charity that you truly believe in and become a monthly contributor. The amount at this point is not important. It could be as little as $5 a month. Again, it’s about making it a habit and doing good.
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