Running a business is difficult as is, and then you introduce money into the equation! Whether it’s ensuring that you have a steady stream of sales or services being rendered (income), having a good balance of when you’re getting paid vs when you are paying your expenses, vendors or employees (cash flow) or even controlling your expenses to make sure your income > expenses, there’s a lot to keep up with. If you do find yourself in financial trouble in your small business, it’s important to start addressing the problem early and start looking for solutions!

Look At Your Debts

The first thing that you are going to need to do is look at your debts. Although as a business owner you may strive to operate without debt, the fact of the matter is that often times starting a business will require some debts. Perhaps you needed to purchase equipment, get a loan for a space, or borrow money to pay yourself as you got started. However, it’s not ideal in the long run to have too much debt, especially if it gets in the way of running your business smoothly. You’ll need to work out how much debt you are in, whom you owe money to, why you owe so much money, and how you can formulate a plan to get out of it. An example of this would be learning how to measure tech debt so that you can have a solid idea about what it is and how much you owe in this particular area. We know that looking at your debts might be hard, but it’s something that you have got to do as the issue needs to get sorted sooner rather than later. Coming up with a plan will help!

Talk To An Investor

It might be time to talk to an investor or financial advisor to see if they can help. The problem with this is that investors that have already invested in your business are going to want to know why you are in debt, how much by and a whole load of other information you may not want to give. Investors that haven’t already invested in your business are likely not going to want to invest their money somewhere that is already in debt. However, if you can make your case and show an investor that your business can work by coming up with a plan that looks solid and like it isn’t going to fail, you might be able to get them on board.

Remember that investors usually end up owning a piece of your company though, so you want to be careful how much money you take from them and how many investors you have.

Hire An Accountant

The last thing that we are going to recommend is that you hire an accountant. An accountant will be able to go through your money problems and help you come up with a plan as to how you can get back on track. We’re not saying it’s going to be easy, and you might be thinking that this is just more money that you are spending, but it is going to be the best investment that you ever made. If it’s not an accountant, at least consider investing in strong accounting software! Staying on top of your money is super critical!

Running a business can be difficult but approaching the problem with a fresh set of eyes, a goal to resolve it, knowing when to get professional help and some creativity can go a long way!

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