38 |8 AUGUST^2019 http://www.drum.co.za

Y

OU’VE just decided to

go into business. You

have an idea of what

your business plan will

look like, and you know

how much money you

hope to make at the

end of each month.

But how do you get there?

This is what author Precious Mvulane

outlines in her book, The Essential

Finance Handbook for Entrepreneurs.

In this extract she gives practical steps

to follow on your way to being the best

businessperson you can be.

DECIDE ON YOUR GOALS

Setting financial goals is the first step

in building your wealth and financial

freedom.

Like anything in life, you don’t get what

you don’t plan for. Setting financial goals

is like deciding on taking a trip – you

need to know the destination first.

Your financial goals are your destina-

tions. They can be short, medium or long

term.

Financial goals in business could be

about buying machinery or land, incre-

asing sales or paying off a debt or loan.

Like planning a trip, once you know

where you want to go you need to figure

out your current location. What is the

situation or state of your finances?

You will further need to analyse which

mode of transport (structure) you are

going to use. Are you going to walk, run,

drive, cycle or fly? Deciding on the mode

depends on your current abilities and

thetimeyouhave.

Howlongdoyouwanttotaketoget

tothedestination?

Youwillthenneedtohaveplanswith

deadlinesandsetasidetheappropriate

resources.

IDENTIFYYOURPERSONALNEEDS

Knowhowmuchyouneedtomaintain

yourcurrentstandardoflivingbyasking

thefollowingquestions:

Whatlevelofincomedoesmyfamily

needtobecomfortable?

Canthebusinessdeliverthatincome?

WhatoptionsdoI havetoprovidefor

myfamilyif thebusinesscannotachieve

theresultsI want?

Who can help me, and for how long?

To work out how much money you re-

quire to maintain your standard of

living each month, create a budget that

takes into account the following:

Eyes on

the prize

In this extract from The Essential Finance

Handbook for Entrepreneurs, we look at

setting f inancial goals as the first step

towards building wealth

ESSENTIAL

FINANCE

HANDBOOK

PA RT 1