The Ultimate Financial Guide to Help You Have a Successful Home-Based Business
This post was sponsored by SunTrust. All opinions are my own.
More people are realizing that starting a home-based business is far less expensive than starting a brick and mortar business.
It may be a lot cheaper but you still need to make some investments. For instance, you have to register your business, have a website designed to house your product or service and marketing materials to promote your business.
You also have to plan for the future. Let’s say your business starts to grow. Are you financially ready to take on an employee?
When you have a small budget to play with, you have to be smart with your money, which is the one thing I wasn’t.
The biggest mistake I made when I transitioned from blogger to entrepreneur – or Mompreneur – a couple of years ago was not taking the time to plan financially.
I was too focused on putting my website together, what kind of services I was going to offer and how I was going to promote it.
When I launched my business things started great – at first. I was managing this blog and my business but then I realized I needed help.
That’s when my ‘duh’ moment hit me. I didn’t have the means to pay for a contractor so hiring someone was out of the question.
You see, I had no guidance to show me what to do with whatever revenue I had coming in. And I didn’t know where to turn to for financial support.
I had no choice but to put the brakes on my virtual services business until I could get my finances together.
Fast forward to today…
It was a long road to get back on track but if I had planned better, I wouldn’t have had to go through this in the first place.
If you’re reminding yourself right about now that you’ll make smarter decisions for your business than I did, I’m glad you are!
Because if there is anything I want you to take away from my story it’s that with the right guidance and smart financial planning, you can have a successful home-based business. And you won’t have to backpedal to get back on the right track like I had to.
The Ultimate Financial Guide to Help You Have a Successful Home-Based Business
November is National Entrepreneurship Month.
And so to show their support, SunTrust Bank has created a Small Business Best Practices Guide to help entrepreneurs make it as a business owner.
The guide covers six areas of financial management. Each area comes with a checklist of best practices to make sure you’ve got everything covered.
For example, if you’re just starting your home-Based business, there is a checklist to make sure you plan for expenses you’ll most likely have.
The guide also shows you how manage your cash flow, how to set up different payment options for your customers and how to manage payroll.
Ugh, if only I knew then what I know now but I digress…
There is also a checklist to help you make sure you stay on track with your business goals.
The Small Business Best Practices Guide also has a checklist to help you grow your business and there are tools and resources available so that you make the best decisions for your biz.
What I like most about this guide are the checklists for protecting assets and how to prepare for a business transition.
The checklist for protecting your business assets includes steps like maintaining a separate account for business and personal finances. It also includes selecting the right insurance coverage if we need it and working with a CPA to minimize taxes. And most importantly, it goes over fraud protection.
We don’t know what the future holds. One day you may decide to retire or sell your business. Or what if you become seriously ill and can no longer run your business? And what happens to your business in the event of your untimely death?
I know, I shudder at the thought myself but we have to be realistic. And even though it may not happen for many years to come, we still need to be prepared.
The Small Business Best Practices Guide checklist will help make sure you’ve got a plan for the future. It includes an action guide for succession, retirement and business continuity plans.
Wrapping Up About Sun Trust’s Financial Guide
So that’s what’s covered in the Small Business Best Practices Guide. If you’re going to become an entrepreneur, you have to have a financial plan in place. Don’t make the mistake I made. Check out SunTrust’s financial guide. And while you’re there, take a look at their small business resource center and helpful links.
Happy National Entrepreneurship Month!
