Small Business Tip: Projecting Income

One of the greatest challenges small business owners face is projecting income.

When providing financial coaching to small business owners, I ask, “How much are you paid by your business?”

The answer is usually some variation of: “Whatever I can take. It’s always up and down.”

This makes it extraordinarily difficult to manage household financial affairs and can literally drive the bill payer completely crazy.

Here’s solution to this problem.

  1. Stop “investing” (spending) all the extra money. When you have a great month of revenue, don’t view it as a ticket to spend money. Instead, view it as a ticket to stabilize your income! Save the extra money in an operating reserve account.
  2. Establish a monthly (or weekly, bi-weekly, or bi-monthly) salary. In your household budget, determine the amount of money your business needs to pay you each month in order to thrive. Ensure your household budget includes saving for Known Upcoming Non-Monthly Expenses (KUEs) such as Christmas, Special Days (birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, showers, etc), HOA, Insurance Premiums, etc.
  3. Pay yourself the set amount of money each payday – and leave the rest alone at the business! Even when the business is thriving, it is important to continue to draw only your salary. This is because the “down times” will be coming soon through the natural business cycle of your business. It’s not fun to leave the money in the business during times of plenty, but it sure is nice to have those reserves when the business is struggling!

It’s how I operate my businesses, and I’m confident it will work for you too!

My book, Oxen, is a great resource to help you establish a new business or acquire an existing one.

1 Comment

  1. Kelly Boros on May 30, 2014 at 5:53 pm

    A good way to make extra cash for KUEs is to get a cash back corporate credit card. After making purchases for your business over the course of a year, you have the potential to wrack up a lot of cash back on the card. This cash can be used to augment your budget for special occasions like holiday bonuses and/or gifts.



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