But where you might feel like you keep coming up short is on time to do all that you need to get done and the money to actually fund the projects.

While I can’t add any more hours to your day, I can share with you some things you can do to get, create and save money to start and expand your business in the coming months. I know firsthand that one of the biggest challenges we as business owners face is a perceived lack of money. This belief keeps us from playing full out and that keeps us coming up short in business and life.

So, how do you stop running the “money madness marathon,” and start climbing cliff that leads to cash flow? Here are a few ideas to get you started.

You’ve to ASK to GET

When looking for money to start or expand your business going to family members and friends can be awkward and taping into your 401k plan may no longer be an option. Instead, you should consider the Express Loan program from the Small Business Administration (visit www.sba.gov for more information)

Before your eyes roll to the back of your head because of the visions of long complicated applications and extended waiting periods, think again. The approval process for this program was specifically designed  to be only 21 days from the time you complete the pre-application to the time you actually receive your funding.

And the lending criteria make it super easy for an average of nine out of ten business to qualify for a loan. You can receive from as low as $5,000 to as much as $50,000 for a start up business, and up to $250,000 for an existing business looking to expand.

The four primary qualification factors you need to consider are:

1. Credit – The SBA prefers a FICO score of 525 and above, but the minimum cutoff is 500
2. Current- Are you current on the last ninety days of your personal bills such as rent/mortgage, utilities, etc.
3. Collections – Do you owe the government any money, such as back taxes, child support, or an old student loan?
4. Corrections – You can’t apply for this loan program if you have a felony conviction on your record

That’s the basic lending criteria you need to meet in order to qualify for the loan program which means that in just over three weeks you could have the cash you need to succeed.

Another great option to get cash flowing is through peer-to-peer lending sites such as Prosper.com and LendingClub.com.

They offer a new way to lend and borrow money online, because instead of going to a bank, you’re borrowing from people who are willing to invest in your business. There is an application process and you will have to share detailed information about your business, concept or reason for the loan.

However more and more individuals and entrepreneurs are engaging in Social Lending, supporting people just like you and financially backing business concepts that they believe in, while making healthy returns on their investments.

Create More Money and Time by Duplicating Yourself

A few years ago, the Army adopted the slogan, “Army of One.”  However, it was a short-lived because the slogan is actually contrary to the idea of teamwork. Later it was replaced with “Army Strong” which was more fitting the feel that they wanted to convey to current and future soldiers.

So what does that have to do with your business? Everything.

If you are attempting to operate as a “one man band,” then you can’t possibly grow bigger than what you have the ability to personally handle. Even the most efficient and organized business owner has the same 24 hours in a day that everyone does and it’s just not enough time to do it all.

If you want to create more money in and for your business, you need a team. Or at the very least someone other than you who can help with the administrative and day-to-day tasks necessary to help you stay organized and sane.

If hiring a Virtual Assistant seems way too far out for you. Then consider bringing on an Intern to help out a couple of hours a day. Put a post on Craigslist.com or contact the business department at a local college (ideally during their practicum time) for the ideal candidate.

If you want to “Be All You Can Be” get a team to support you.

Smart Ways to Save Money

Saving money is always a smart thing to do, especially if it will save you time as well. In your business a couple of ways you can do that are:

• Discount cards – Be sure to take advantage of the small business savings from retailers like Staples for office supplies, Best Buy for electronics and UPS for shipping.
• Becoming a member of a discount clubs – Shopping at retail stores like Sams, Costco or BJs Warehouse can save you hundreds of dollars each year on everyday office items like printer paper, memory cards, file folders and packing tape.
• Buy nearly new or refurbished equipment – You can purchase used office equipment and furniture at discounts of up to 75 percent from eBay and other online sites. Also, keep an eye out for retail liquidation sales as many of them are selling useable office equipment like desks, chairs and shelving which you could use in your home office.
• Barter your business – You can stretch your business budget by bartering with other business owners who you can genuinely serve and support. By swapping one product or service for you can keep your cash but get the benefit of having access to what you need to grow you business.

When money is an obstacle it can block your creativity and flow as an entrepreneur. Part of being a successful business owner is your ability to be flexible in your actions and thinking.

There may be times when you need to shake the money tree to get cash flowing. Be open to making changes the way you work ; for example you may need to offer hourly fees versus monthly retainers to attract more clients.

Or you might need to create different versions of your products in order to meet the demands of your customers. Perhaps you can make a “lite” version of a larger information product that gives your target audience a “taste” of what you have to offer rather than overwhelming with more information than they can handle or apply.

Become part of a mastermind group or develop your own network of entrepreneurs that you connect with regularly and bounce ideas off. Feeling like you’re alone will not only zap your energy but keep you stuck. You are not the only one who has faced challenges and being connected to other like-minded people will allow you to face your frustrations and share your successes.

You can push past the barriers that are holding you back and commit to letting nothing stop you from reaching your goals and making the money that you and your family deserve.

© Sanyika Calloway Boyce, Financial Fitness Coach

It can cause stress, resentment and even financial hardship. All of this can be avoided but it requires you putting your head before your heart so that you won’t be held hostage by holiday debt.

Like you, I really enjoy the holidays and want to share them with family and friends. But I’ve made one distinction that has changed the approach I take to the season that used to send me into a financial tail-spin.

What I know now is that if you spend what I call “emotional currency” you are often setting yourself up to be financially bankrupt after the holidays. To keep things in balance you have to be willing to look at your current financial situation (minus the rose colored glasses) and get clear about just how much you can actually afford to spend.

Once you know how much you can realistically allocate towards purchases, decorations and dinners with family and friends then you have to be prepared to do a few things if you want to stay on a steady financial track all year long.

Prioritize your expenses into two basic categories

Category #1: Necessary – These are the things you can’t do without like:

• Food, medication
• Rent or mortgage
• Gas, electric, water, phone
• Transportation

Category #2: Nice to have – These are things that make your life easier but you can go without:

• Cable or satellite
• Cell phone
• High speed internet
• Monthly memberships and subscriptions
• Eating out

Sometimes the fear of not knowing how bad things are can keep you from looking at your situation fully so that you can be in a better position to address the mess. But the long term damage of operating with blinders on can be much worse than the temporary pain of getting a handle on your finances sooner rather than later.

You will feel better about facing the holiday (and everyday) when you know rather than ignore the situation. Making choices based on facts versus what you feel will give you the power to put your priorities in place.

Generate more income

There comes a time when cutting costs is not enough, you may have to generate some extra cash to take care of bills and focus the extra funds on paying down debt. Think about what you could do to earn more money, including:

• Working overtime
• Get a part-time job or do freelance work
• Look for a network marketing opportunity that would fit your personality and lifestyle
• Sell some of your stuff at yard sales, pawn shops, flee markets or online auctions (i.e. eBay or Craigslist)
• Start a home based business tapping into your talents
• Take on a border, rent space in your home on a temporary or long-term basis

You sure up your financial foundation by not only reducing expenses but also by increasing income. You may have to go beyond your comfort zone, but it’s worth it to relieve any financial pressure you’re feeling.

Ask yourself how you can make more money. Be smart and realistic, but also get creative with what you can and are willing to do to make additional money.

Contact your creditors directly

A common reaction to debt is to ignore or avoid it. The second most common response is to look to someone else to handle it for you.

While you could choose to work with a credit counseling agency to get the debt monkey off your back, just know that you can also do it yourself. Contacting your creditors is going to be the best way for you to maintain your relationship with them now and in the future.

Calculate in advance what amount of money you can afford to make as a payment and how often you will be able to make it. Be sure to make notes of every conversation, every agreement and everyone you spoke to and when.

Work on a plan that will let you eliminate your debt by starting with the highest interest rate not just the lowest balance. If you have a $500 balance on a card that is charging you 17 percent interest and a $5,000 balance on a card that is charging you 24 percent interest you’d be best served to tackle the 24 percent first.

Even though it will take you longer to pay off  you need to be as aggressive as possible to lower the amount you owe on the $5,000 to keep you from paying even more money in the future.

Don’t cancel Christmas

It may seem like there is nothing left to spend after you get a snap shot of your current financial situation. If that’s the case, it’s even more incentive to use some of the ideas offered to generate additional income, plus you can also:

• Choose a family gift that everyone can enjoy
• Shop after Christmas to get presents at big discounts
• Put a spending limit on gifts for friends and extended family members
• Draw names from a hat to determine who you will buy gifts for
• Commit to shopping with cash only so you can visualize how much you are spending
• Make a shopping list and stick to it
• Create coupons that can be “cashed in” for things that mean a lot but money can’t buy (i.e. cleaning out the garage)

Instead of stressing out about spending more than you can afford, figure out a low or no cost tradition can you start with your family and friends. Perhaps it’s playing a competitive board game for bragging rights or maybe writing and starring in your own family play that highlights the year past.

You can even throw a re-gifting party and invite other families over with the condition that they bring an item that was given to them but they no longer want. Make it fun by giving out awards for the worst gift or the gift most likely to resurface next year.

The key to enjoying the holiday’s is to make memories that will outlast any gift that you could have bought on credit only to regret it. Imagine how great you will feel when you get a better handle on your finances so that you can shop with confidence knowing you will no longer be held hostage by holiday debt.

© Sanyika Calloway Boyce, Financial Fitness Coach

Balancing the responsibilities of family and careers coupled with finding time to manage emotions as well as money is a lot to handle. Regardless of good intentions, the reality is that many couples realize their glaring differences of opinions on handling everything from raising children to saving money can put a strain on the relationship.

The bad news is more than half of marriages end in divorce because of money differences. The good news is your marriage won’t have to feel the financial strain when you steer clear of the five most common money myths that can cause big problems in your marriage.

1. I Don’t Need To Manage The Money, My Spouse Takes Care Of It- You might want to rethink that. Being blissfully ignorant about your family’s financial situation is not only harmful to your budget, but could leave you devastated in more ways than one in the event of serious illness, divorce or death. It is vital to the financial health of the relationship that each partner takes at least some level of responsibility and know what’s going at all times. Plus it keeps one person from being overwhelmed by spreading the workload. If one of you is better with being organized that person can be in charge of opening and filing the bills while the other person pays in them by the due dates.

2. We’re Married Now, All of Our Accounts Should Be Joint- Hold on a minute, before you go co-mingling cash it’s important to step back and determine if that is really the best way for your family finances to be handled. Often anything beyond a common household expenses joint account should be carefully considered and the different spending habits of each spouse should be looked at. Having a credit card solely in your name could allow you to continue building a solid credit score and ensure that in the case of an emergency or divorce you have other financial options.

3. It’s No Big Deal To Keep Minor Purchases Secret - 98 percent of the truth is a lie. Pretending that you’ve had that “old” dress forever or pulling the “it was on sale” line could not only negatively affect your budget but it could erode trust in your marriage over time.  I get that no one wants to feel like they have to ask for permission every time they want to spend a little money. So each partner should agree on an amount they can spend for extras and treats without having to answer to the other. This will prevent resentment, hiding purchases and surprise charges on your credit card bills that will surely cause an argument.

4. Faking It to Fit In is Fine - Trying to keep up with the Jonses or the perceived “It” couple is not only silly, but you’re often competing against a false reality. Most people live dangerously above their means and are hoping no one will find out about it. So instead of one-upping your friends on the latest gadget, car or clothes instead focus your energy and money into things that will allow you to secure your financial future rather than spending irresponsibly on some fad.

5. Shame + Blame = Change - That equation is totally wrong. If your spouse has financial habits that drive you crazy, the situation will only worsen if you attempt to attack them or guilt them into changing. This approach comes across as a “scolding parent” and will not lead to positive or lasting change. You will both have to discuss the issue and concerns openly and work together on a solution and plan to modify the behavior.

Having a healthy relationship with your mate and money both take work and dedication. If you commit to keeping the lines of communication open and avoid letting these common myths cause problems in your marriage you can have a better relationship with your honey and your money.

© Sanyika Calloway Boyce, Financial Fitness Coach

Often the emphasis in our families was that money didn’t matter as much as love for one another. It’s true, nothing can (or should) top the care and consideration you have for your family, and as women we are wired wonderfully to handle the job.

In fact, being a nurturer almost ensures that everyone we love is taken care of. Unfortunately that care and concern seems to stop short when it comes to ourselves. And the breaks are put on completely when it comes to handling money.

Giving to yourself in the same measure as you give of yourself may somehow seem selfish or not as much of a priority for you. But the reality is that you cannot give your best if money is an issue. Everything from providing adequate daycare for your children  to helping to support aging parents requires the financial means to do so.

Although you may be taken out of your comfort zone when it comes to dealing with money, understand that gaining  control of your financial life doesn’t have to be painful, you’ll just need to start by doing at least a few of these seven things.

1. Save for your future today. The first thing all women should know is that historically we live longer than men, so it’s important to save for the long term. This means that if you don’t have a savings account, you need to create one immediately. At first don’t be worried about how much (or how little) you have to fund it. Just open the account and then make a goal of what you want to save each month, quarter and year. The most important thing is that you get started and don’t let every cent you earn now head back out the door.

2. Pay yourself with automatic savings deposits. When you decide to make savings a priority a great way to pay yourself first is to set up automatic paycheck withdrawal or auto deposit IRA’s to save money before you even see it. Essentially you are paying yourself first, before the utility bills, the college loans, or the credit card statements. Start small, even it it’s only $50 every pay period it’s a place build from. Young women especially have to be focused on saving for retirement, mainly before leaving the workforce to have kids.

3. Run your home like a business. If you’re a stay-at-home mom you can still be a valuable asset to the family finances, start by treating your home responsibilities like a business. Focus on the bottom line by researching the best prices on regularly used items, look for bulk savings and loyalty program discounts. It is very important for a single-income family to keep an emergency fund, so when budgeting expenses be aware that you should have at least three to six months of living expenses in a safe, liquid account, just like a business would.

4. Don’t wait for marriage to buy a home. In the past 20 years the percentage of single female home buyers has nearly doubled. This makes unmarried single women the second largest group of home buyers behind married couples. One of the benefits of buying real estate is that you can buy an expensive asset with a relatively small amount of your own cash. This is called leverage. As your home increases in value over time, called appreciation, you earn appreciation on the entire property, not just on your down payment amount. For example, if a $100,000 property were to increase seven percent in one year, the property value would rise seven percent to $107,000. However, the equity would increase 70 percent—from $10,000 to $17,000. This is the beauty of leverage. The sooner you make the investment, the quicker it can begin building your financial cushion.

5. Maintain a separate savings account – even when you’re married. Every woman who is married or is in a long-term relationship needs to always have her own savings. This does not mean it has to be hidden or secret, but set it up so that it cannot be touched by your spouse. With the divorce rate at 50 percent, a woman always needs some extra savings squirreled away in case of a marital meltdown.

6. Don’t let fear stop you. You may be concerned about making a mistake because you have not managed money well in the past. Or worse, you may be fearful of losing money that you have don’t even have access to yet. If fear of failure, or fear of the unknown has stopped you from saving and investing in the past it’s time you get over it. Set a goal to educate yourself about money management and investing, begin small by reading articles, blogs and books on personal finance. Set a goal to learn about one aspect of money that you want to know more about. Then choose one thing that you will take action on after you have gotten more information. If you follow this simple plan every month, in one year you will have taken 12 action steps towards a more secure financial future.

7. Spend less than you make. It sounds simple to not spend no more than you have available but I know firsthand that it is not always easy to do. I don’t like to use the word “budget,” until I redefine it as telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went. One way to get your spending under control is to be conscious of what you are buying. Often the convenience of using credit cards and debit cards comes at a cost because it is easy to lose track of how much money is actually being spent. When possible use cash instead because it helps you connect with just how much money you’re actually spending.
   

Valuing yourself is a key element to your financial security. You’re not being selfish when you begin to focus on what you need to take better care of your finances. Actually you are being smart because knowing what you need to do to take care of yourself allows you to take care of others.

© Sanyika Calloway Boyce, Financial Fitness Coach