“Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship.” – Benjamin Franklin

If you are an entrepreneur and you haven’t gotten your finances right, you need to stop what you are doing and get to work!

How often do you take a look at your records at the end of the month and wonder what the bad financial decisions you took throughout the month were?

Are you making profits and are you seeing the evidence at the end of the month?

If you answered no to all the aforementioned questions, here are 10 crucial finance tips you must know as an entrepreneur:

1. Separate your business account from your personal account: avoid mixing your personal expenses with your business expenses.
2. Create a financial plan: where do you see your finances in the nearest future? Do you have a financial goal? Create a financial goal for your business and work towards it.
3. Have a Fixed Price for your Products/Services: don’t place a price on a product today then change your mind afterward. You need to set a fixed pricing rate for your product and services. This will also help your accounting and bookkeeping.
4. Track your daily expenses: do you know how much you spend on your business on a daily basis? Are you tracking all your expenses? Do you know that thing taking more of your money on a daily basis?
5. Financial Literacy: Get educated. Read good books, ask questions, attend useful seminars on financial literacy.
6. Know your Fixed Costs: What are those things you have to pay for on a monthly basis regardless of how your business fares. These are things like salary, rent, utilities, etc. Know these things and their costs. Also, try to limit them as early as you can.
7. Manage your Cashflow: You need to also ensure you manage your cash flow on a day-to-day basis.
8. Don’t forget to pay yourself: Dear entrepreneur, pay yourself. You are working so hard on your business, don’t forget to pay yourself as well,
9. Record Keeping is Important: Record every transaction and start your record keeping process now, don’t wait till the year is almost running out.
10. Know when to get help: It is important to also know when it is time to get help with managing your finances or accounting. Do you need to hire a professional or to outsource it? Think about it.