Congratulations on securing financing for your business! You must be happy or excited or both. Financing means more opportunities to take your business to another level, right? Of course it does. But before you start spending, you need to have a well thought-out plan for what to do with the funds. Here are some tips for you to better manage your business financing.
Set up automatic financing payments
This may not be the last time you need business financing. Who knows what the future holds? Perhaps you will need to get more business funding a few years from now, which is why you don’t want to hurt your credit score and make it needlessly difficult for you to borrow money in the future. It’s crucial that you never make a late payment, or worse, have missed payments.
One helpful tip is setting up automatic debits. Some lenders have an online system that allows automatic repayments. As long as you have the amount of money required to make the payments, the online system will automatically transfer your repayments to your investor’s bank account.
If possible, save or pay more than what is required
There are times when your business will make a lot of income, but other times, it just goes flat. Don’t worry, the situation is normal! Business is often seasonal. But business financing means an obligation on your part, so continue to save money, trim your budget, and plan for your business’ future. While the approved business financing will make it easier for you to make purchases, spending should go to expenses that will help your business grow or increase company productivity.
If there is an early repayment option, take advantage of it as it will reduce the amount of financing you have to repay in the long run. Your credit score will thank you.
Put the funds in separate accounts
Hopefully, before financing application, you had already prepared a solid budget plan and had already decided what are the essential purchases to allocate the money to. Prevent yourself from spending misdemeanours by putting the funds in a separate account. That way, you won’t be tempted to spend the money on daily operational expenses and less urgent purchases. Place the funds somewhere other than your primary business checking account. Even better: separate the funds into accounts in different banks so you’ll think twice before transferring the money since there are additional costs to consider.
Don’t spend just because you can
Perhaps you have small expenses that can easily be covered by your newly acquired financing money. Maybe you think spending a bit of the money here and there won’t affect your financial strategy much. Don’t – it’s a slippery slope. Even small costs add up and can eventually get you short on cash. Have good operational control of your funds. Make sure you give someone trustworthy the authority to release the funds. If possible, give yourself access to monitor the cash flow.
Getting your financing application approved is hard. Managing your approved funds to achieve your dreams of company growth is even harder. Be disciplined, be vigilant, and be careful with the money. Good luck!