Sometimes when we are having trouble making the ends meet, we start focussing on the dollars, and lose sight of the bigger picture. Dollars are the end result of a bunch of actions, and we need to focus on the actions first in order to get the money result you want.
Maybe:
- you’ve been spending too much on supplies
- you’ve been purchasing non-essential things
- you’re not charging enough to recover your time and costs
Cutting costs is only one way, and not always the right way, to make ends meet. Especially when it gets busy we bill out of habit, rather than spot-checking that component bits of time and things that went into the bill.
Maybe:
- people aren’t paying you on time
- you are paying your suppliers too quickly
Each of these creates a mismatch of funds and spending needs.
Maybe:
- you can’t see enough work coming through
- you aren’t selling enough
Often we get busy, stop selling, orders slow down, the book looks empty, so we start to slow down the work that we do, to make it last.
If you are certain that you have figured out the difference between needs and wants, then maybe it’s time to focus on one of the other factors.