Financial

4 “Type A” Tips to Successful Money Management

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business owner tips for successful money management

When entrepreneurs dream of being business owners, their vision of a successful enterprise rarely ever includes the image of meticulously managing the books. It can be difficult to take the time to sit down and review the financial statements which can make it easy to fall behind on money management. Here are four “Type A” money management tips o help you successfully keep track of where your finances are going.

  1. Send your invoices ASAP: The timeliness of getting paid depends on when you send out an invoice. Any delay in sending out your invoice decreases the chances you will get paid on time. Finding ways to automate sending your invoices out assures your mind that the task is completed.
  2. Walk, don’t run with your growth: While your business’s journey from start-up to small business had its own set of leaps and jumps, remember to pace your growth. A business growing too fast can get out of control making it difficult sustain; so plan to invest in your growth.
  3. Get creative with color: Taking the time to create colorful and organized spreadsheets for your own personal use can incent you to keep track of your accounts payable, receivable, expenses, cash flow, and so on. Creatively personalizing and interacting with your own financial spreadsheets helps motivate you to try to look at your figures at least once a month; and if you’re on top of it, once a week.
  4. Save, Save, Save: Every business has its good days and bad days. The best way to prepare for these income fluctuations is to add a weekly sum to a petty cash fund (or whichever way you like to save) and put some away when you have it.

Making a good habit of checking your finances is the best way to stay on top of the bookkeeping. A weekly or daily check takes less time than the daunting task of spending hours going over finances every quarter. These four money management tips will help you know exactly where your money is going and how to plan for your business’s success.

Remember, running a business successfully does not need to be complicated.  Keep it simple!

For more interesting topics on successfully managing the challenges of growing your business profitably, please search our blog at our website www.portalcfo.com.

How to Pitch to Investors: 6 Steps to Take to Successfully Raise Money

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how to pitch to investors

Are you wondering about how to pitch to investors? If your plans for your start-up are such that you need help from investors in order to get things going, then there is a lot of preparation that you will need to take in order to secure the money you need. Regardless of how good our idea might be, the whole thing can fall apart without the right pitch to the right people, so you will need to be as thorough as possible.

And we’ll look at how you can achieve that in this post. Keep reading to learn all about how to pitch to investors, because the information you find here could make all the difference when it comes to getting your company off the ground.

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Financial Terms for Small Business: Important Terms You Need to Know

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What do you know about financial terms for small business?  No matter what industry you are in, being at the forefront of your own business means knowing a little about everything that makes your company tick.  That knowledge is especially important when it comes to your finances.

Regardless of whether your company is just getting started up or has been running for years, knowing and having control of every aspect of business finance is key to your growth. So just what are some of the important terms that you need to know about and how do they affect your company’s development?  Keep reading this post to find out.

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How to Read Financial Statements: What You Need to Know

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read financial statements

Do you know how to read financial statements?  If not, it’s something that you absolutely should learn how to do as a business owner.  By knowing how to read a financial statement, you can make sure that the path you’re guiding your company down is the right one. This is especially important in the formative years of a company, when operating budgets are tight and reputations haven’t been fully established yet.

Among the many documents that you’ll maintain as a business owner, I would argue that your financial statements are the most important for a number of reasons that I’ll outline in this post. So if you want to learn how to read financial statements, now’s your chance to learn more.

Financial Statement Analysis 101

Before we get started on learning all about how to read financial statements, let’s go with a basic explanation of just what one is.

In the simplest terms, a financial statement is a written report that shows the overall financial health of your company.

This report is actually made up of four different reports, so you can think of your financial statement as something of a compilation.

That said, the four reports that make up your company’s financial statement include:

    • The Income Statement – Sometimes you may hear it referred to by this name. Other times you may hear it referred to as the Profit & Loss Statement (P&L).

Either way, this is a report that tells how much money (profit) your company makes over a given period of time. As the business owner, you want to know when how your business is performing (profitable or losing money) and this aspect of the financial statement makes it happen.

Going over the P&L is to your advantage because it gives you a glimpse into what your company’s strengths and weaknesses are as you carry out business operations.

    • The Balance Sheet – This is also known as the “statement of financial position” and is a record of your company’s financial condition at a given point in time.

It consists of information that tracks assets, things that you own, and your liabilities, things that you owe.

For the former category, think about things like cash, inventory, and patents. For the latter; consider bills, payroll, and money owed to investors and you’ll have a rough idea of the information tracked on your balance sheet.

Going over this part of your report is important to knowing how to read financial statements because being exactly what you have on hand is crucial to running a business that functions effectively.

    • The Cash Flow Statement – Staying up to date on matters related to areas like operations, investments, and financing is extremely important in the business world because these things all affect how much cash you’ll eventually see on the balance sheet that you just learned about.

When talking about the cash flow statement as far as how to read financial statements is concerned, you’ll be able to keep track of crucial metrics and areas like depreciation, accounts receivable, and other important areas of core operation. Also, you will be able to determine if your business is throwing off more cash than it needs or if it requires additional capital investment.

How your company generates its cash is important, so the cash flow statement carries a lot of weight in your overall financial statement.

  • The Statement of Changes in Equity – As the business owner, you have equity in the company, so knowing how to read financial statements naturally involves this report, which shows how that equity shifts over a given period of time.

Due to a variety of factors, your financial interest in the company can go up or down and the statement of changes in equity gives an overview of that trend.

With the right kind of guidance, your business is going to grow and change with time, and you want to be able to grow with it. Having this as part of your financial statement will show where you stand in the grand scheme of things.

Making Sense of It All

Of the many things that I talk about, the importance of how to read financial statements is something that can’t be stressed enough.  Not knowing how to make sense of the reports that are included in one is a huge mistake that no entrepreneur should make, so I want you to comb over your financial reports as carefully as possible.

Doing so will not only give you an idea of how things are going, but it will show you where resources can go and give you important information about what you can do to ensure that your organization continues to be a success.

Remember, running a business successfully does not need to be complicated.  Keep it simple!

For more interesting topics on successfully managing the challenges of growing your business profitably, please search our blog at our website www.portalcfo.com.

Increase Your Profit Margin: How to Bring in More Money

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increase profit margin

The question of how to increase profit margin is one that an owner of any kind of business, big or small, asks his or herself throughout the life cycle of the company. While you likely have a vision and a plan by which you want to approach that vision and make it into a reality, it can all be for nothing if you don’t have the profit margins to justify the effort.

So it makes sense that, in that context, you would want to do everything possible in order to make sure that vision is achieved. But just what can you do to make things happen? That’s the topic we’ll explore in this post, as asking the question of how to increase profit margins is one surefire way to secure your company’s future.

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Raising Business Capital: How You Can Infuse Money into Your Venture

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Raising business capital is one of the most important things that you will have to do in your capacity as the owner of your business, so it makes sense that you want to do everything possible to raise as much as you can.

But what, exactly, can you do?

Like so many other areas of business development, there’s no “one size fits all” solution to infusing money into your business. A lot of factors have to be considered and many variables have to be taken into account in order for a business owner like you to determine the best way to approaching the problem.

With that in mind, let’s take some of the things that you can do when raising business capital and you may find a solution that best fits your needs and those of your growing company.

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Staying in the Black: What You Can Do to Make Sure Your Business Stays Profitable

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staying in the black

As a business owner, you have a lot of responsibilities to a lot of different people, but all of that responsibility ultimately ties into staying in the black.  In business, the term “in the black” means that a business is profitable and it’s where every business wants to be, regardless of its size or industry.  The opposite of “staying in the black” is called “being in the red” and you want no parts of that.

But just what are some of the things that a company needs to do in order to reach that highly sought after status?  Obviously, there’s no straightforward answer to that problem. However, that doesn’t mean that you’re out of luck when it comes to ensuring that your company stays ahead of the curve by continuing to turn a profit regardless of the economic conditions.

In this post I’ll be offering some advice on staying in the black, so keep reading! You may be surprised at some of the different practices that you can put into place to ensure longevity for your small business.

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How to Find Angel Investors: What You Can do to Secure Funding For Your Business

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you may be thinking about how to find angel investors who can provide you with the kind of capital that will allow you to secure funding and build your company

Funding your business so that it can become more than just a dream is no easy task. With that in mind, you may be thinking about how to find angel investors who can provide you with the kind of capital that will allow you to secure funding and grow your company.

There are a number of methods by which you can find an angel investor; a person who provides you with capital in exchange for partial ownership of the company.

Because funding your business is such an involved and important process, you want to make sure you do it right and find an investor who will be a perfect fit for your business.

So let’s take a look at some of the things that you should consider when trying to answer the question of to how find angel investors. You will be able to use the information to guide you in your own search for that perfect financial backer.

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Reducing Operating Costs: How You Can Keep Your Profit Margins Wide

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reducing operating costs

As a business owner, reducing operating costs is one of your many obligations. It’s also one of your most important considerations. While this is something that applies to every stage in business, it’s especially important during the formative years when operating budgets are tight and every cent counts.

It may seem like it goes without saying, but it can’t be stressed enough that your earnings need to outpace your expenditures if you want to keep your doors open. So, you want to look at every area of your company and make sure that money is being used as wisely as possible.  By doing that, you can make sure that you’re able to stay on task and can continue to guide your company towards growth and prosperity.

So let’s look at some of the ways you can go about reducing your operating costs so that your short-term business goals are more easily obtained.

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Business Financial Metrics Every Entrepreneur Should Know

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business financial metrics that every entrepreneur should know

Business financial metrics are essential to learning how your company truly operates, so it makes sense that you would want to know absolutely everything that there is about them.

As an entrepreneur, you have to wear many hats and be knowledgeable in many different disciplines.

From knowing your product or service inside out, to being able to talk to your customers and clients, to showing the leadership skill that your employees need in order to bring out the best that they have, your role as the owner of the company is one that will demand everything you’ve got.

But it can all be for nothing if you don’t know about the different aspects of finance that serve to keep you in business.

This post will look at some of those areas, provide explanations about what each one is, and show you what you can do in order to make sure that your business thrives in these areas so that it’s able to thrive as a company.

So, if you’re ready to learn more about business financial metrics and what they mean for you, then keep reading this page.

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