You've probably heard that small businesses have notoriously high rates of closure as high as 80% within the first 5 years. Although the reasons for business closures are varied, money usually shows up as one of the most, if not the most critical factor. In my work with entrepreneurs and small businesses, I find that there is often rampant misunderstanding of, disregard for and/or disrespect for money. Though the focus here is on small business, these errors also show up in our private lives and in our relationships &endash; actually every situation where money shows up. We know money conflict is one of the primary factors leading to divorce. Whether you are a small business owner or not, let's look at each of these fatal errors in turn.

Misunderstanding money in the business realm results from an excited entrepreneur going into business without experience or training in how to run a business. Entrepreneurs, small business owners (including those with professional practices) are notorious for loving their work but not loving all the other aspects of running their businesses. A recent business owner I worked with really didn't understand the distinctions between income, revenue, cash flow, profit and equity. While all of these are roles that money played in his business, confusion about these roles was driving the business into the ground. We started with clarifying the distinctions between revenue with profit. Profit - in the simplest view - is the money left over when all the costs of running your business have been paid. Cash flow was confusing the issue &endash; and the business owner &endash; since at times the business was flush with lots of cash flowing through and at other times cash was scarce. The problem is that lots of cash on hand didn't mean he was profitable. While this may sound like Business 101 for many folks, clarifying these roles for an entrepreneur who never took Business 101 resulted in almost doubling revenue in one year while carefully tracking profitability. Learning by the school of hard knocks is too costly!

Disregard for money is another trap that business owners might stumble into. It may seem counterintuitive that you could run a business and disregard money, but it's very common. Disregard might show up as not balancing bank accounts, not staying on top of costs, not putting money aside for taxes, not paying suppliers on time, or even not collecting receivables in a timely manner. One recent client's disregard was rooted in *poverty consciousness* which required an attitude, while another just lacked knowledge easily acquired through training and education. Whatever the cause of the disregard, it must be handled and handled soon before the problems cause irreversible damage.

Disrespect for money is the all too common tendency of many business owners to treat money as you would an unwanted guest. I can hear the gasps and the denials already. But think about how you act when you treat someone as a respectful guest. You prepare carefully for interactions with the guest. You spend time with the guest. You listen carefully; you watch observantly; you think ahead to what the guest's needs might be. The danger of course, is that guests that are treated this well may overstay their welcome. However with money, isn't that exactly what we want it to do? Money is attracted to environments that are respectful. Create a respectful attitude and environment for money and you are halfway to owning a successful business.

Most businesses have anywhere from a couple to scores of holes through which profit is flowing out of their ventures. Identifying your Profit Holes is a first step in the process of plugging them. If you think you may be leaking profit, identify where the problems are and then create an action plan for plugging the leaks. If you don't know where to start looking, send for my new Profit Holes assessment that will help you to identify the key profit holes asking for attention in your business.

You have a dream that you haven't been able to achieve. You work hard, accomplish a lot yet remain dissatisfied with aspects of your life. Maybe it's a business idea you have that never gets off the ground. Maybe it's a relationship that needs transforming but you're out of fresh ideas. Maybe it's about prioritizing your wants and needs rather than every one else's;

You are willing to work hard, try new things and support a small group of other women in achieving their dreams. You are willing to meet weekly by phone conference to report on your activities and to cheer your team mates on in their activities. You want to invest $150 per month to insure the achievement of your dreams and enjoy the benefits - including financial - that come from that.

If this sounds like you - email or call me for registration information.

FREE Assessment: Profit Holes~ profit@naturalcoach.com

or visit her website ~ www.naturalcoach.com for a free download.

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