There has never been a better time in history to start your own business. Having an idea, product or service that can change the world, has never been easier. But to launch your business is one thing and to stay in it is totally another. You don’t need to bear the upfront costs of renting an office, paying for employees or even the advertising to seduce customers to buy what you got to offer. The internet helps you through Skype, social media to cast your net and catch the far-reaching customers. The expenses are very minimal comparing to the pre-internet era. Still, one underlying foundation needs to be addressed and kept under control and that is: Always, always, always don’t run out of money to stay in business. In other words, keep a hawkish eye on your cash flow. That’s the No. 1 one rule to stay in business. The No. 2 rule is: keep reminding yourself of the first rule. But unfortunately what is common sense is not common practice.
Related: Why Being an Entrepreneur is the Gateway to Freedom
What prevents common practice from emerging is our past conditioning. That long-time conditioning has held walls of limiting beliefs that hinder progress. One of these limiting beliefs is that it takes money to make money. We were indoctrinated by our parents, teachers, and academics that starting a business and staying in it is expensive, risky, and liable to fail especially in these chaotic times. The underlying problem of those advisers is basically their relationship with money. They have been brought into the devilish consequences of acquiring money. The belief that “money is the root of all evil” and “money can’t buy happiness.” Such deeply-ingrained beliefs ran deep into our forefathers psyche as well as ours.
Related: How to Shift Your Mindset towards Today’s Real Currency
Refusing to be attached to those beliefs is liberating. We need to root outs those limiting beliefs and work on our mindset first. Otherwise, we will unconsciously get rid of the money we make the moment we acquire it. We need to uncover this taboo of money and be honest in understanding it. We tend to ignore the importance of the cash flow and concentrate on how much we earn. It is as if we are driving our car, watching the speedometer every now and then but forgetting to look at the gas that keeps the car going. Money is no different from the fuel in the car. Our journey throughout life will suffer unless we keep an eye on that fuel. That fuel is the energy which keeps our business, life alive and running.
The lives of celebrities the world knows are no exceptions of being the victims of our limiting beliefs about money. The story of The king of Pop illustrates the leniency in dealing with money. After Michael Jackson made millions of dollars throughout his early years in singing, he drove his way down in his late years. He was reportedly $400 million in debt when he died unexpectedly in 2009.
Jackson’s limitless spending forced him to take out loans, many which he never paid back till he died. When he got involved in numerous expensive lawsuits, he resolved to sell his estate to pay for his debts. The story of Jackson reiterates the recurrent theme of the celebrities’ complicated relationship with money.
To run your business as well as your life in these times needs understanding money. Our limiting beliefs about money are the cause of not keeping it. Once we let go of these beliefs we need to keep a close watch on our cash flows and be aware of not running out of money. Or else.
