“Don’t mix business and personal finances,” is one of the most common pieces of advice given to business owners. And for good reason. Many business expenses can be deducted from your taxes but most personal ones cannot be. So when personal expenses get recorded in your business’s financial records, you’re setting yourself up for trouble later on.
In my business I meet a lot of people in person and even more online. I am often amazed and sometimes amused by the email addresses some people use to when attempting to portray themselves as professionals. It is hard to find someone trying convince me that they are a credible business professional with an email address: FinancialGuru@aol.com. Really?
@AOL.com equals Amateur OnLine
An AOL address might be just as serviceable as any other address when it comes to sending and receiving mail. However to most people who are in business it says “Hi. I’m from 1996. What is this internet you speak of?”
NO! It’s a simple word but can be incredibly powerful for business owners.
When working with my clients to help them figure out why they spend all their time working with their clients but are failing to be profitable. I often learn that the owner is spending time and resources on clients whose demands are outside of the businesses capabilities. Even more discouraging they are failing to grow their business. In the owners desire to get the sale they do not recognize that their business is actually losing money by trying to meet a client demands. These very clients are usually “Time Vampires” and need to be fired.
So you don’t have any idea where to start, right? Guess what—neither did I. In fact when I started I had no idea I would be writing a weekly blog that would produce income. The good news: it’s easier than you think. I started my blog in July 2014 and added a website in October 2014. Since my focus was and remains on creating valuable content I hired someone to help me launch my site for $400. It was the best money I ever spent.