When it comes to managing our small business finances, we might have a sense that things aren’t going particularly well in our business from a financial point of view. However, if we don’t make the time to look into the specifics, it can be a long while until we realise quite how bad things are.

Taking stock of our small business finances can feel overwhelming. However, being fully aware of them is essential if we want to make sure we’re running a sustainable business. Even when we try to ignore our finances, sooner or later we have to face the reality of our situation.

When we do and we realise what’s going on, the shame can be crippling. We start believing that because we’ve allowed things to get this bad, it must mean we’re terrible business owners. And we often try to hide the extent of the problem from others to save face. We pretend things aren’t in such a state and attempt to convince ourselves we can deal with everything on our own.

If you’re one of the many freelancers and small business owners experiencing shame around your business finances, this blog post is for you. I’m suggesting some steps you can take to break the shame cycle and improve your money management.

Money management for freelancers - What to do to break the shame cycle

1) Recognise that you’re not bad with money

I’ve written an entire blog post on why you aren’t bad with money, no matter how much you think you are. Nobody is inherently bad with money; it’s just hard to be good with money if you’ve never been shown how to manage it.

I find it interesting that it’s very common for freelancers and small business owners to recognise that they need help learning how to market their businesses, for example. On the other hand, it’s much rarer to hear them say that they want to learn how to manage their business finances. For some reason, we seem to think that we should simply know how to do these things.

This couldn’t be further from the truth. You wouldn’t wake up one day and expect yourself to be able to play the piano just because there’s one in front of you. In the same way, skills like managing your business finances take time to develop and need to be learnt.

If you think you’re bad with money, you probably just haven’t been taught how to manage it yet. It’s never too late to learn a new skill, and you can become an expert at managing your small business finances. All you need is someone to show you how and the willingness to dedicate your time to looking at your finances and getting on top of them.

2) Discover what you can practically do to stay on top of your numbers

When my mentees first come to me, they often think they’re struggling to manage their finances because of a money mindset issue. While this is true for some, more often than not, the problem isn’t related to their money mindset; they simply don’t know what they should be doing.

Managing your business finances is all about discovering what you can practically do to stay on top of your numbers. What works for you won’t necessarily work for someone else, and vice versa.

You need to find out what you’re able to manage consistently as an individual. The best way to do this is through trial and error. I have a free checklist you can download containing the tasks I recommend carrying out on a weekly and monthly basis to stay on top of your business finances.

If you think you might find it useful, you can try some of the tasks suggested and see what helps you feel in control of your numbers. You can then create a realistic plan to regularly check in with your business finances going forward.

3) Realise that your sense of worth will affect how much you earn

In my experience of working with freelancers and small business owners, I’ve discovered that your own sense of worthiness is likely to have a direct impact on how much you earn. If you feel as though you deserve it, you’re likely to charge your worth. If you don’t, you’ll probably find yourself undercharging due to a lack of confidence.

Of course, it’s impossible for me to tell you to simply ‘feel more worthy’. However, being aware of how your own self-worth can impact your finances is the first step to being able to do something about it.

It’s important to break out of the shame spiral so that you feel worthy of earning more. If you’re unable to do this and you keep undercharging for your services, your business finances are unlikely to improve to the extent that you need them to.

4) Find someone who you can share your situation with

If you want to improve your own sense of worth, it can help to share your situation with someone else.

Shame is one struggle that can actually be made worse by trying to deal with it alone. If we don't reveal that shame to others, the temptation is to bury it as deep as possible so that no-one sees it and it can't harm our reputation. We can then end up feeling like a fraud, which can further damage our feelings of worthiness.

It’s therefore important to accept that managing your business finances is an area you need support in and to take action to break the cycle.

Ask yourself what the specific issue is. Is it knowing where to start, understanding how to manage your business expenses, or figuring out exactly how much you should be charging?

Once you’ve identified the main problem, you can then understand who might be able to help you solve it. I’d always recommend confiding in someone who will hold you accountable moving forwards, whether that’s a coach or mentor, an accountability buddy, or a friend or family member.

When you share your struggle, you’re more likely to feel better about your situation and able to take action so you can make concrete improvements.

If you’re experiencing shame around your business finances and would like to offload to someone who will both listen and advise you, you can book in for one of my money mentoring sessions. Over the course of a 30- or 60-minute call, we’ll discuss your specific financial issue. We’ll talk through your situation before creating a plan of action for you to implement or a strategy for you to follow moving forwards.

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