If you are a creative-artistic entrepreneur – your need for a Business Money Plan (or commonly referred to as a Budget) is a necessity for your best business creative good. This isn’t just for reasons of some business advisor or accountant telling you that you need it – you should want to need and rely on it as part of your “creative stream.”
While I know it sounds like a cliché to “have a budget for your business” but all too often it is not clearly understood why a money plan for your creative business money needs to be in place.
Consider some of the more profound reasons of why a business money plan should be central to your entrepreneurial path and your creative well-being… please especially note that it goes beyond just the actual figures…
Allow yourself to experience the fulfilling aspects of your business money plan to allow yourself to:
Connect with having enhanced confidence about handling your creative business money
It is challenging to have confidence about something you know little about – right? Planning, whether personal or business is so misunderstood but it truly is one of the most important.
In order to have real, true confidence, you need to should have the business skills that will make your creative business run smoothly – your money plan is one of those facilities that you should have a basic understanding of.
Bring about command of your business destiny through understanding proper money handling practices
While many creative and artistic entrepreneur’s cringe at the idea of “bookkeeping, accounting and anything number related” it is through these systems that you keep your business on a good course. Proper money handling practices is part of this. How do you intend on dealing with a payment system in terms of accepting payments, matching them to billings and reconciling the bank every month? It sounds easy enough, but to put a system in place that is manageable, practical and that can be kept up on a regular basis, takes an awareness that needs to be learned.
What you have set-up for money systems in your business are primary to enable you to get the information out of your business that you require. This will greatly help your ability to make operational decisions, allow for the proper filing of various tax returns while placing you in a strong position to best make future (strategic) plans for your business.
Achieve better money and financial results
It is important to be able to measure how your creative business is performing financially. It is impossible to keep it in your head! In order to see if you can improve, you need to know exactly what progress the business has made over time for both the benefit of short and long term decision-making.
Become faster at making decisions in your business
You can make more expedient decisions if you know the optimal earning point for your business along with the types of spending and investments that are being made along the way. In order to assess different vendors, suppliers and other players (stakeholders) in your business, you need to know your numbers and be able to place your hands on this information at any time. Also in order to take advantage of opportunities – you need to have quick and accurate access to the financial performance of your business.
Cultivate the feeling of being in control of your money
You can’t feel in control until you are actually in control. You can’t just make believe “control “, it has to be the result of actually having a money handling plan that is tailored to your business. It must take into account your aspirations, risk tolerance and other aspects of your being in business. The money skills that you learn are instrumental in moving you along to really knowing your money and connecting with the number aspects of your business. Once you have determined that, then you are truly in control of your money and can start to gain momentum and the true feeling of control.
Have the time to create and promote your entrepreneurial offerings
As a creative-artistic entrepreneur, you have many hats to wear (oh goodness!) and to that end you need to balance your time between the management and strategic side of your business, together with working on your creative offerings and marketing and promoting what you have to offer. While this sounds exhausting, it doesn’t have to be once you have enough in place to feel at peaceful about your business and its money dealings.
Encourage your creativity through not worrying about your business finances
If you have a money plan in place for your business, then you have a course to follow. You can find peace in knowing that you have a strategy in place and this can help you creatively. How? You can relax and encourage your creativity and not be so pre-occupied with what is occurring with your business finances. If you can’t do this – then something needs to be fixed.
These are just some of the more important aspects. I don’t want to insult your intelligence by listing the obvious, however they are worth mentioning and repeating:
- Keeping your expenses down to improve your bottom line
- Earning to your business potential
- Pricing strategies
- Identifying opportunities
This is just to name a few, but these are all gleaned with your business money plan. I want you to think beyond the traditional number reasons and consider the intrinsic and in my view, ultimately more persuasive reasons for having a business money plan.
Remember, as I have said: This is not just one of those “need to haves” ideas that entrepreneurs are told by every money and business guru, it truly is one of the few important items that should be created as early as possible in your creative business.