But you re working hard and not making enough money

Only buy the brand name if there is an appreciable difference. Do not make eye contact with a man gulping Bud Lite first thing in the morning , I told myself. How we make money.

Reason #2: Your Product Isn’t Viable

If you are constantly workinh to make ends meet, you may be facing a combination of problems. You may think that you make decent money, but you are still struggling each month. You may be overspending or you may not make enough money. You may be overspending while not making enough to cover your basic needs. This can lead to real trouble. If you do not make enough to cover your billsyou will need to take steps now to increase your income.

1. You’re Lazy

Written by Amy Rigby. Want a heads up when a new story drops? Subscribe here. Entrepreneurs are driven by ideas they believe in so strongly that they often give up steady jobs, hours of sleep, and any sense of security. And yet, most of us are striving for some financial reward or at least stability , inspired by billionaire heroes like Richard Branson, Mark Cuban, or Oprah Winfrey. What happens when every day is a struggle to make sales and the thought of looking at your financial reports make you want to cringe? It could be many different things.

3. Your Socializing Is Expensive

Written by Amy Rigby. Want a heads up when a new story drops? Subscribe. Entrepreneurs are driven by ideas they believe in so strongly that they often give up steady jobs, hours of sleep, and any sense of security. And yet, most of us are striving for some financial reward or at least stabilityinspired by billionaire heroes like Richard Branson, Mark Cuban, or Oprah Winfrey.

What happens when every day is a struggle to make sales and the thought of looking at your financial reports make you want to cringe? It could be many different things. How did you come up with the prices you charge for your product or service? This is a flawed approach, because your pricing needs to take into consideration what it takes to make your business profitable.

To do this, you need to know what your business expenses are, what your tax liability is, any debt your business owes, and how much you as a founder want to take home as your salary. You can use this very basic formula to get an idea of what your annual revenue goal should be:. Business expenses are things like software subscriptions, contractor payments, employee payroll, loan interest payments. Desired salary is how much you want to take out of the business to pay.

Tax liability percentage expressed as decimal refers to the percentage of your business revenue that will go to paying taxes. You need to express this as a decimal for the formula to work. Then subtract it from 1. Need an example of this formula in action? Now that she knows that number, she can work backward and structure her prices and services in a way that helps her meet her income goal.

Some of the most famous and successful companies today pivoted from their original business ideas: YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram to name a. Want a real-life example? Gretta Rose van Riel, a founder of a suite of multimillion-dollar companies, did exactly this when she launched Drop Bottle.

Van Riel had built up an engaged Instagram following with thousands of people interested in detox waters and then started brainstorming ways she could bring a valuable product to. The result? Drop Bottle, a glass water bottle in which you can infuse fresh fruits so you can create your own detox water.

Should I close my business or should I pivot? Some questions to ask yourself:. Are you getting a lot of difficult clients or dissatisfied customers? You, my friend, may not be attracting the right people to your business. You need to revisit your customer avatar. Never created one? A customer avatar is also known as your buyer persona or ideal customer.

One way to find them is to look at who praises your business on social media. Do a quick search on Twitter of people who mentioned your business handle.

Who sent you emails thanking you for what you do? Search your inbox. These are your ideal customers. Learn more about. Conduct customer interviews. All of your marketing communications should flow from your customer avatar. Once you define who your ideal customer is, here are some quick actions you can take to attract them:. Note that cash flow and profit are not the same things : Cash flow shows the cash coming into and flowing out of your business each month, while profit includes revenue earned but not necessarily received that month.

Ignoring the problems will not make them go away. You need to face them head on to track your progress. Every Monday, set aside time to update your business cash flow statement and income statement.

Often, once you have a lot of money, a whole new set of problems develops, as one study by Boston College revealed. And get this—most reported that they did not consider themselves to be financially secure.

So how do we as business owners lose the fear of losing money? The key is to approach this issue from a logical perspective by considering these five common problems that keep businesses operating in the red:. And remember, as entrepreneurs, we are risk-takers. And for me? Have you encountered any of these financial roadblocks in your business? In the comments below, tell us how you handled it!

About Amy Rigby. Amy Rigby is a freelance writer who specializes in content marketing and copywriting for startups. She’s written for ABCNews. Connect with Amy on LinkedIn. I thought the others could follow in my footsteps, but that was a misconception on my. Also my location is not a good one. Excellent article Amy! Your article is detailed, thanks to it I solved the problem I am entangled. I will regularly follow but you re working hard and not making enough money writers and visit this site daily.

Um Amy — you forgot one — No. Thanks for adding to the conversation. Yes, sometimes it comes down to buckling down and putting in those long hours! How commercial kingpin Richard Branson got to afford his own island. Get your free print issue. Please log in. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page. Skip to primary navigation Skip to content Search Blog. Some questions to ask yourself: Do I have a loyal base of customers?

Do I have the cash to continue? But you re working hard and not making enough money help figuring out why your business is not making enough money? It may be time to work with a mentor. Who are the customers who rave about my product without prompting? How old are they? What are their job title and income level? What do they worry about? What were the latest purchases they made? Which brands do they love? How does my product or service solve a specific problem they have?

Not sure how to do that? Go where your ideal customer hangs. This includes both virtual and physical places. You want to go where your ideal customer will see you. Revise your Facebook ads target audience. Now that you know what kind of customer would need and love your product, you can go to Facebook Ads Manager and target them better. The key is to approach this issue from a logical perspective by considering these five common problems that keep businesses operating in the red: Your pricing strategy is wrong.

Defining your ideal customer will drive all your marketing going forward. Ultimately, it will lead to increased customer satisfaction, retention, and sales. To get a grip on your finances, you need to be tracking.

Your relationship with money is flawed. Gaining understanding and practicing new techniques will help. Close dialog. Session expired Please log in. Send this to a friend Your email Recipient email Send Cancel.

Reason #1: Your Pricing Strategy is Wrong

Americans love to believe that anyone can get enouugh, that they can build a better life than their parents had, simply by working hard. If you don’t change, your field changes around you. Past Issues. You Buy As Needed The sooner you have money, the less money you need. If something is not your area of expertise or it can be better done by someone else, then outsource it. You only have 24 hours a day and your limited time should be spent buh in places where you can add the most value. Beth, now 57, took a hygienist’s position in a dentist’s office, where she still works today. George Carlin Quotes. Social BQ on Facebook. But any additional income may be overstated: In families with children, having both parents work will typically entail higher costs for child care, mounting stress, and lost leisure time. The second uncomfortable truth is that the reason household incomes are rising from generation to generation is not because children are finding better-paying jobs than their parents held. Middle-skill jobs went offshore, and low-wage work exploded. You have a spot on your kitchen counter where you toss the mail when you come bt from work and the forgotten cable bill is at the bottom of the pile. Do a regular review of what you have done in the past week and the corresponding results. There are a few reasons people always buy a name brand or certain brand of. I know not everyone has public transit or even sidewalks.