Smart Money Moves to Boost Your Mental Health Practice
Q: I got into the mental health field to help people, not to be in business. As I’ve started trying to manage the finances for my practice, I am feeling overwhelmed at how much time it is taking away from the work. Can you help me?
I applaud your desire to focus on serving your clients well. However, I want to challenge your assumption that your finances are taking away from your work. As a practice owner, I would argue that it is a critical aspect of your work. You need to make sure that you are bringing in money to serve your clients, right?
Separate Yourself from Your Business
As an entrepreneur, you become one with what you do. Your passion is your work, and your work is your passion. The lines between your private and personal lives begin to blend together, which can be invigorating but can also get you into trouble. It’s essential that you not blur the lines between your personal and business expenses.
Here are some ways to avoid co-mingling of funds that are simple to manage and indispensable to the long-term growth and sustainability of your practice.
1. Create a Business Bank Account
This is the first and most important step you can take in avoiding the co-mingling of your funds. To make things easy, you can create a business account at the same institution where you have your personal account(s). But you need that separate account for your business expenses.
Get a debit card to make the process of spending towards your business as simple as possible. Use it to set up payments for recurring expenses like utility payments, professional memberships and publications. This is how you’ll pay for marketing costs and supplies for your office.
Having your spending all in one place has many benefits. It allows you to track in one place what you’re spending on your business and what you’re bringing in–in other words, your expenses versus your income.
Your goals is to have your income outweigh expenses, and the first step in meeting that goal is knowing where your money is going.
Another benefit of creating an account for your business is that you’re building its credit history, which is vital as you want to consider options like loans to help aid the growth of your business.
That’s right, my friend. You get to give yourself a paycheck. Who said finance can’t be fun?
Getting into good financial habits is at the heart of every business. It doesn’t have to be scary, overwhelming, or time intensive. By created clear systems and following best practices from the beginning, you can focus your talents on the critical work of serving your clients.
Photo by Sean Stratton on Unsplash