Know Where Your Money Goes: Create a Business Budget in 5 Simple Steps

Have you ever evaluated where every dollar of your budget goes?

It’s pretty enlightening. While working as a freelance blogger, I decided to finally make the time to take a close look at my expenses.

To my great horror, I discovered that most of the earnings left over after paying my basic personal and business expenses were being foolishly spent. In addition to that, my monthly income was never increasing, though the work on my plate certainly was.

After some research, I decided the answer was a business budget.

I found lots of online resources but as a freelancer, though nothing seemed to fit perfectly. So, I borrowed from different ideas and came up with a plan that turned my business around.

My new budget gave me to room to afford the things I needed to grow, while simultaneously earning more profit and working fewer hours each month.

A business budget will make room so you can afford the things you need to grow.

I know that many people experience the same challenges. In an effort to help others, I’m sharing my 5-step plan to creating a balanced business budget:

Step 1: Tally Your Income Sources

The first element of a good business budget is figuring out how much money you bring in on a monthly basis.

Start with your sales figures first (which you can easily get using the Profit & Loss report in FreshBooks), and then go further by adding other income sources you use to run your business.

Step 2: Determine Fixed Costs

Fixed costs are expenses that are charged the same price each month. As you can imagine, incorporating these is by far the easiest part of creating your business budget.

Review your past bank statements or FreshBooks reports. You’ll easily be able to spot your fixed bills and the total amount they cost you each month.

Step 3: Include Variable Expenses

Items that don’t have a fixed price tag each month are called variable costs.

Many of these purchases can actually be scaled up or down depending on the state of your business, using your monthly profit. Your profit each month will be determined by the earnings you’re left with after paying all your costs.

So, if your business does better than you forecasted, you can use the extra funds to increase variable spending enabling you to grow faster.

Step 4: Predict One-Time Spends

A great perk of creating a budget is now you will be able to factor in one-time purchases better than ever before. While some of these items may come up unexpectedly, like the purchase of a laptop to replace the one that crashed, others can be budgeted for months in advance, like that business retreat you’ve been eyeing, to protect your business from financial burden.

Step 5: Pull It All Together

The first four steps of this post detail the elements of a good business budget, so the last step is simply pulling it all together. Take action by using this handy checklist with specific examples so you can create your budget without any hassle:

INCOME SOURCES:

·         Hourly Earnings

·         Product Sales

·         Investment Income

·         Loans

·         Savings

·         Other

FIXED COSTS:

·         Rent/Mortgage

·         Utilities

·         Salaries

·         Internet

·         Government and bank fees

·         Cell phone

·         Website hosting

·         Accounting Services

·         Legal Services

·         Insurance

VARIABLE EXPENSES:

·         Raw Materials

·         Contractor Wages

·         Commissions

·         Advertising

·         Other Marketing Costs

·         Transportation

·         Travel & events

·         Printing Services

ONE-TIME SPENDS:

·         Computer

·         Furniture

·         Software

·         Office Supplies

·         Gifts

---

---

Creating a monthly business budget may seem like a hassle, but I bet it’s something you’ve been thinking about for a long time. Take the leap! It’s an essential infrastructure project that gives you the ability to make conscientious financial decisions so your business can stay on track and grow.

What else stands in your way of a balanced business budget? Are there any hurdles we’ve missed that currently have you paralyzed in the process? If so, comment below with your questions, challenges or concerns.

This is from the FreshBooks archive and was originally published in March 2016.

I’m going to share 11 leadership tips I’ve come upon the hard way by Tony Johnson

Author: Tony Johnson: I’m going to share 11 leadership tips I’ve come upon the hard way — because there’s only one way to leadership, and that’s the hard way. Whether you’re running a business or a department, being a parent, or leading an adventurous expedition, the following advice can help you be a better leader...

1) ✍ You need to see things other people aren’t willing to see yet. This is a tough one. We’ve all done it—seen things that aren’t what we want to see. Most people are great at ignoring and pretending they haven’t seen. Leaders need to really see things, acknowledge them, and then adapt and respond to them—and try to convince their teams that it’s important to see them, too. Hard, but not impossible. Often accompanied by periods when teams deny, belittle, and exhibit passive-aggressive behavior to justify denial. But a real leader needs to see the truth and not waver.

2) ✍ People are waiting for you to make the tough decisions. If you’re the leader, look around the room at your team. Yes, they are looking at you and waiting with bated breath to hear what your decision is. They might hem and haw, but in their deepest hearts they want you to make those tough decisions. We all learn by watching, and they are watching you to see how you do it.

3) ✍ You take responsibility and accountability for everything in your domain. Everything. Even if it’s not your fault. Even if you didn’t do it. Even if it’s embarrassing. You don’t “throw anyone under the bus.” You own it, deal with it and move on. We all make mistakes and it’s not the end of the world.
4) ✍ Your job is not to be loved, but to do the right thing. Too many times our desire to be liked and loved causes us to delay making tough decisions, even though we know they need to be made. It can be hard to separate those feelings of neediness from the need to get things done, but things must get done.

5) ✍ Your job is to do the right thing, with love. There is a place for love in the life of a leader. In fact, that place is everywhere and with everything and everybody. No matter what you do, it’s always better done with love. But still, remember #4, and don’t think that doing things with love means needing to feel loved in return. You still need to do the right thing, just in the right way.

6) ✍ If you don’t believe in what you are doing, no one else will either. People often think that leadership is about that corner office, the big paycheck, the nice car, perks, ego, and such. Nothing could be further from the truth. Real leadership is about creating a vision in your heart and mind and bringing the energy of manifestation to that vision so that others can see and believe in it too. That’s why...

7) ✍ You NEED to believe. Call it passion, call it vision, call it power—it’s really the power of believing in what you’re doing that enables you to accomplish your goals. I see it all the time. There are many people in positions of power who no longer believe in what they are doing, and as a result, the whole organization looses faith.

8) ✍ But you also need contingency plans. Surprises happen, usually daily. What’s your backup plan? Doing scenario planning in your mind is helpful. But don’t overdo it, because you might become distracted from your initial goal. Try to keep your vision clear and strong, but be prepared to adapt quickly.

9) ✍ Sacrifice and long hours don’t really matter, results matter. This is a tough one for many people to swallow because it’s so counter to our culture. The whole idea of “face time” and long hours and burnout are badges of honor in the traditional workplace. With digital tools, we have more flexibility than ever, but it’s still the same obsession. Hard work and sacrifice don’t automatically lead to success; more often, it’s creative ideas, strategic intelligence, and innovation that lead to real advancement. Trust me, those things don’t happen without having a good night’s sleep, being well fed, and for some strange reason...taking long showers.

10) ✍ Get out of your comfort zone, and do new things and encourage your teams to do so, too, because that’s where creative ideas, strategic intelligence, and innovation come from. Travel. Learn. Talk to people. Go food shopping. (I always call shopping “market research,” since while you’re there you see firsthand what people are doing and how they’re responding to things.) If you do the same things over and over again, you’re going to get either the same results or slightly worse results over time. The only way to get new ideas is to do new things. Explore your creative self!

11) ✍ Listen and observe. If you can quiet your own mind and focus your eyes, usually the answers are there to be seen and heard. Leadership isn’t about just talking and making speeches and communicating—it’s about watching, sitting with people, and truly hearing them—then taking it all in and going back to #1 to be willing to see things that other people aren’t yet willing to see.
Good luck. Building yourself and working towards your goals won't always be fun, but it will for sure be worth it.

Top 3 reasons to attend events in Network Marketing

My number 1 reason for attending network marketing events is the connections made. Every event I have ever gone to whether it was for work or Network Marketing I have made powerful connections with leaders and friendships that have lasted. You get the chance to meet not just your upline leaders and your team, but also many other people in the system that have incredible stories and ideas to share. It is a perfect opportunity to meet and socialize with like-minded networkers.

Success in Network Marketing is about sharing your story and collecting stories from others. When you attend an event, you have to opportunity to talk to people who are getting results from the products and the opportunity. The real value I have gotten from these events is being surrounded by like minded people. Success breeds success, and the inspiration you gain from sharing ideas together is priceless.

Attending network marketing events are truly priceless. They are necessary if you are really serious about creating success in this industry. The connections and relationships that are created and learning  absorbed is worth way more then I paid to attend. And the friendships will last a lifetime.

In the beginning of my online journey, I did not understand the value of attending these events. The cost did not add up to the value, in my mind. I would make up excuses and resist going to these events. Even when the successful leaders would say, "You have to attend this event!", I would just write it off as they wanted to sell me something. Once I decided to see what the big deal was, my online business was never the same.

It only takes one person or leader to share an idea, concept to help you create success in your business. Of course, this is the perfect place to get face-to-face training from multiple leaders who are there to educate you in person. Studies have shown that you will retain more from your training when it is right in front of you, you have to see it, hear it, and feel the energy and excitement in person.

I personally love the feeling I get when I am sitting in the audience and watching the leaders share their vast knowledge in person. And, of course, the after parties, breaks, excursions, and lunch meetings provide some of the best value. Attending these events are priceless and necessary if you are serious about creating wealth in your chosen business. In fact, the value gained from attending is worth thousands more than any money I paid to get there.

The belief and vision you walk away with will make you a Network Marketing Maverick. I have seen it time and time again, When someone in the business wanted it badly, but was just stuck in a rut, attended an event, their business exploded! When you see the vision behind the company and when you meet the leaders and the people, just like you, at the event who are having success, your belief will grow and become the driving force behind your business. You no longer hope that you can be successful in your business.

This is the time when you see the leaders and top income earners are just ordinary people, like you. This is the moment that you have the chance to go beyond belief and into the "I can do this!" Look at them, they can, therefore I can.

I would like to invite you to join me for the first event from a new company that will convince you that this is the right thing to do. Join me below and go "all in" become a maverick in a business that will be around for a long time. Click the picture below to find out more.

Bitcoin and ethereum

I have quietly been making money using two programs and have not shared it until now. Both of these programs have paid me five figures since January. I now, I am sorry I have kept it to myself, but I felt it was risky.  I started with $50 in both and my profit is over 100 percent.

If you have some spare money or want make it, I recommend you open a Coinbase account, deposit money there then invest in these two mining companies. They are legit and have paid, one daily and the other every 5 days.

COINBASE

Genesis Mining for Bitcoi, Ethereum, and several others

Pure Ethereum mining

Attention!!! Looking for top leaders!! Now Lifestyle is Launching Soon.

100% of the success depends on

1. The team behind the company
2. The company track record and the products themselves
3. The quality of the founding leadership who help launch the company.

Now Lifestyle will be launching soon so....

Right now we are looking for:

[+] Successful Network Marketers looking for a good home
[+] Positive energetic people with a great mindset
[+] People with great work ethic who want to work from home.
[+] People who understand their success is 100% dependent on their efforts and no one elses.

If you possess these qualities WELCOME!! You are definitely in the "right place at the right time. All you need to do is opt in at NowLife.Style

Once you opt in, please network, have fun, be positive and get ready for an amazing launch both on and offline