One of the things you can do to have control in the finances of your business is to take a good look at your habits when it comes to your expenses.   When you make a purchase are you spending or investing?   Ask yourself the following questions:

• How will this benefit me or my business?
• Are the benefits long-lasting?
• If I wait a day, a week, or a month will I still feel the same way about the purchase?

Asking yourself these questions can keep you from making impulse purchases that are really just spending your hard-earned dollars and not really investing or benefiting you in the long run.

For instance, I recently had to purchase a new computer system.   As a part of this I really wanted double monitors.   I decided that for me, they are an investment.   Having more than one monitor increases my productivity.   I knew this was something I needed.

My next purchasing decision was the choice of envelopes for mailing out tax documents to clients.   Part of me wanted to go all out and purchase envelopes that are specialized, printed, and embossed.  After some consideration I decided against this.  While they may have given my “brand” a high-quality look, I felt that envelopes were not the best place to spend the extra money, especially considering that they may ultimately end up in the trash bin.

Your business is yours and perhaps your answers would have been different, but if you start to consider where your money is going, and how it impacts you in the long run, you can be more successful.