Are you aware of your business finances? Do you know exactly how much it costs to run your business? Do you know how much your business has earned this month? This quarter? This year so far?
So many people just operate their businesses with absolutely no idea of the financials; no idea of how much is coming in or going out and whether or not they are even in the black or red. And for so many different reasons; fear of the unknown, suspicions that you aren’t doing very well and you don’t want to face that, shame and embarrassment around earning money or asking people for money — the list could go on and on. In fact, there could be as many reasons as there are individuals in business.
That’s why you need to be brutally honest with yourself when looking at finances. In this reality, there is so much judgment around money. It’s a judgeable offence to not have any, to be broke, in debt, or heaven forbid, go bankrupt. It’s just as much a judgeable offence to be making good money, especially if it comes easy to you; you’re stealing from people, you must be a con artist, and so on. It’s no wonder a lot of us freeze like a deer in headlights; you are made wrong at every turn.
But it does no good to hide your head in the sand or lie to yourself about how things are doing; or waste your time wishing that things were different; or getting angry that things should be different as per the utopian ideal in your head.
First: Acknowledge what is. You have to get really clear. As I said earlier, be brutally honest with yourself. There is no point lying to yourself about what’s really going on for you not wanting to look at your finances. Nor about what the figures actually are; whether good or bad. Track all of your expenses and income. Research apps that might assist you to do that with ease and use whatever works for you, based on your business and your lifestyle. For example, do you travel a lot? If so, your systems need to be as mobile as you; they can’t wait till you get back home.
Second: Know what you and your business truly desire. You started your business for a reason. Perhaps you wanted people to benefit from the fantastic product or service your business specializes in? It doesn’t really matter what the reason is, just get back in touch with it, because when you know what you truly desire you can make the demand for it to actualize, no matter what anyone else says, does or thinks. That knowing, and that demand that it shows up, opens doors that you never even imagined were possible. And, maybe your desire has changed. You also need to get really clear with that, or else you’ll be setting up energetic conflicts with your desire, and getting nowhere.
Third: Clear your energetic slate. Earlier, I said there were as many reasons for not wanting to look at your business finances as there are people. These reasons, whatever they are, are actually destroying your business and blocking its financial success! The good news is, you don’t have to know the reason why, you just have to clear the energy around it, so you can open the doors to the infinite possibilities for you and your business once again. When you are doing step number one, being brutally honest with yourself, and an energy comes up, like maybe you sense fear, or panic, or “Oh my god, I can never achieve that!”, Gary Douglas, founder of Access Consciousness says to simply state, “Everything that is, and everything creating that, I destroy and uncreate it all.”
Fourth: No judgement. No matter what happens throughout this financial process, you are not doing it to judge yourself, or anyone else. You are doing it for awareness so that you can change everything that is not working. Yet we are so used to judging everything in this reality, so when you catch yourself, stop! Because judgment never creates anything; it can only destroy.
Fifth: Ask questions. Questions are another great way to open the doors to the infinite possibilities available to you. You now know exactly where you are financially, with no judgment of what that is, or what that means about you or your business, you have cleared any energies around looking at your finances and what they are, you know what you truly desire for you and your business, now ask questions like “What next?”, “What can I create today that will bring in more money right away?” or “Who or what can I add to my business to create more money, or more revenue streams?”
Follow these five steps and not only will you have greater ease around all your business finances, you will be opening yourself up to the possibilities to grow your business and your finances.
Laleh A. Hancock is a management consultant, Joy of Business facilitator and the CEO of Belapemo and Global Wellness For All. With nearly 30 years of experience in operational excellence, change management, and organizational wellness, Laleh has inspired and empowered hundreds of thousands of individuals, including Fortune 500 executives, to seek greater success.
Originally published at medium.com