Money is the biggest cause of stress. Did you spend too much on Christmas gifts? Are you worried about all the debt you have to pay back this year? Are all your taxes in order? It makes you wonder, if there is a way you could eliminate your stress and find financial zen in 2021.
In short, yes.
People stress about money because they make financial decisions one at a time. They don’t budget their income. And sometimes, they might not even be aware of how much they actually have.
If you own a naturopathic practice, then you know what that feels like more than most people.
Not only are you stressed about your personal finances, you’re worried about the health of your business. Were your margins big enough over the past year? Could you have spent less on operating expenses?
The good news is it’s not too late to ask these questions. It’s the perfect time.
With tax time approaching, it’s important you identify your stressors now. Then you can finally organize your business finances and spend the rest of 2021 financially stress-free.
Here are a few money management tips to reduce stress and find your financial zen.
Identify Your Financial Stressors
Does looking at your profit and loss statement make you uneasy? It shouldn’t.
Start your journey to financial zen by listing all the reasons money is causing you stress.
Is your business not making enough profit? Are you swimming in medical school debt? Maybe you’re worried you have to cut back on staff.
Once you’ve written down all the different things causing you anxiety, it’s time to develop your plan of attack.
Make a Money Management Plan
When it comes to running the book-end of your naturopathic practice, it can feel like you always run out of time.
You have to constantly juggle between treating patients, leading a team and managing cash flow.
But making a money management plan is a lot easier than you think. The trick is whether or not you stick to it.
At Every Single Bean, we use Profit First.
Profit First is a simple and highly effective management system. It helps you be more intentional about saving money and spending it wisely.
Where most budgeting methods treat profit like an afterthought, Profit First takes a behavioral approach to how you run your business.
The best part is, it helps you track your spending so you’re always aware of how much money you have.
Destroy Your Debt
Most naturopathic doctors are no stranger to debt. In fact, the majority of naturopathic doctors were $200k deep in debt after graduating according to Naturopathic Doctor News & Review.
That’s a large chunk of money you won’t be able to pay off right away. Especially when you have living expenses, a mortgage and other bills to worry about. But a money management system makes it possible to destroy your debt once and for all.
How? Start with your business and then your personal finances.
In Profit First, we call this destroying your debt.
Here are three things you need to do to stop recurring payments from hurting your bottom line:
- Go through last year’s income statement, line by line, and identify all the recurring expenses.
- Highlight each expense that can be replaced with a more affordable alternative.
- Finally, eliminate expenses that are unnecessarily costing your business money.
Now that you’ve streamlined your operating expenses it’s time to pay off that debt.
Keep up with the minimum payments on all your loans but devote a little extra cash to your smallest debt first. Once the smallest debt is paid off, it’s time to tackle the next smallest one.
Take the amount you were paying toward the first debt and add it to your payment for the second.
As each debt gets paid off, keep the snowball going to destroy your debt once and for all.
This won’t be an immediate solution to your financial stress. But it is a proven long-term strategy.
Just knowing you’re on your way to destroying your debt will be a huge weight off your shoulders.
Plan Your Taxes Ahead of Time
If you use the Profit First system, then you already have an advantage. That’s because it makes sure you’re proactive about putting money aside for taxes as soon as you get it.
But tax planning is more than making sure you have enough cash to pay the government or filing your tax returns — it’s about maximizing your tax breaks.
As a naturopathic doctor and business owner, this is huge.
Especially in an election year when it’s still unclear what taxes will look like under the new administration.
But it all starts with being proactive and planning your taxes ahead of time.
So in the words of Dave Ramsey, “be prepared to tackle your taxes before they tackle you.”
Find Financial Zen
Your financial zen is when you take control of your money and experience the freedom that comes with it.
When you have financial zen, you stress less.
Let these money management tips be the foundation of your financial zen as you head into the new year.
But if you’re looking to streamline your business success with a certified professional then give Every Single Bean a call.
We’ll be happy to show you how to find your financial zen and maximize profits from your naturopathic practice in 2021.