Have you ever thought, ‘I wouldn’t want to make that much money because I would start to rely on it’? It seems like a reasonable conclusion but really it’s an excuse. The income instability excuse is a get-out clause as to why it’s okay for us not to be making money and sales.
This thought, this justification, generally disguises a few money stories so let’s unravel them and see how we could approach this differently. So we no longer need the income instability excuse.
Instability
Firstly the thinking that your business isn’t stable or reliable. There’s an underlying assumption that you didn’t make this amount of income from a solid foundation. That you might crash and burn at any moment. You made $10k this month but have no control or influence over what might happen next month, there’s a lack of cause and effect.
This is the lived experience of a lot of small business owners, you put up a post and it gets great engagement, you put up another seemingly similar post and crickets, nada. There are pretty much no guarantees. This is not employment where you get paid a set amount for hours. And if you come from that environment it can be hard to adapt to this potential rollercoaster.
So what can we do to change this instability?
Practically consider how you could create a stable foundation of income. Is there an aspect you can add to your business so there is a consistent amount of income? This might be a long term solution but it creates predictability and reliability. If you set up a payment plan with a client you know that those dollars will come in. Scale that and it becomes reliable. Or maybe you need a part-time gig to give you that foundation until you build your business more. I do. A membership or subscription model. A passive income piece. There are lots of ways to achieve this so you aren’t worried about instability.
Saving
Are you planning to just spend every dollar that comes in? It’s the instant gratification versus delayed gratification of business income. An all or nothing approach to managing (well spending) your money. If you spend everything today that comes in today you need to make more tomorrow. If you can squirrel some of today’s income aside then you need to make less tomorrow.
Initially, this can be how you run your business finances, if you need $5k each month to pay all your bills, eat and have a few dollars for the things you enjoy (oh and taxes) and you’re making $5k a month then there isn’t going to be much to spare.
How can we use money to make more money?
But as your business grows the extra can be used to create stability and reliability. Step one start a contingency for when income isn’t flowing. A quick cash buffer. Step two start putting extra money into investments that will make their own money. Now the payoff from this is long term, putting $10k into investments isn’t suddenly going to generate $5k per month in income. But over time it will get you there. It’s intentionally putting money towards creating income stability in your future.
But really?
The ‘I’d come to rely on it’ income instability excuse suggests you wouldn’t want to earn a chunk of money if that money wasn’t guaranteed to keep coming in forever.
If I offered you $10k cash today would you refuse because you might not get $10k again next month? I certainly wouldn’t.
The key is using the highs to offset the lows and to create stability so you no longer need the excuse!
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