Tips for Financial Literacy as a Women Owned Business

Women wear many hats, and if you’re an entrepreneur, you probably wear about a thousand more. As we bounce around from role to role, and as life hands us unique obstacles, it is extremely important for us to set long term financial goals.  In honor of National Financial Literacy Month, let’s focus on the importance of financial literacy, especially for entrepreneurs and business owners. 

Financial literacy, put simply, is knowing the various aspects of managing your finances. Financial literacy covers everything from how to save your money, to investing, how to secure a good loan, and how to build your credit. Managing your personal finances can help you accomplish your professional goals, like starting a business. But once you start your business,  you will also need to manage your business along with your personal finances.  Achieving success requires you to manage your cash flow to insure the sustainability of your business. 

A study done by the TIAA Institute and the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center found that women – especially women of color – are far less financially literate than men. This is especially true in terms of understanding risk and uncertainty. Therefore, it’s important to understand how to manage your business finances to prepare for the unexpected, maximize your margins, stay reputable with banks and creditors, and keep your business running for the long-haul.

There are plenty of resources out there to help you stay on track with your finances. Be sure to take advantage of financial podcasts, talking to professionals, following financial experts online, and subscribing to financial publications. Keep expanding your knowledge with special workshops. WEOP posted a great workshop on financial literacy on our YouTube channel. Remember, being an entrepreneur requires you to keep learning, expanding your knowledge, and staying connected to resources and new information.

If you want long-term, sustainable success, taking control of your finances is a must. Keeping thorough records and monitoring your cash flow diligently will help you make wise decisions that keep you and your business progressing toward your future goals. Cloud-based software like QuickBooks can help make this process easier, and there are plenty of great online resources and templates to help you get started on crafting your goals and creating your budgets. 

Be sure to make monitoring your finances a habit. Once you have a good idea of how much money is coming in and out of your business, not only will you make wiser decisions for your business, but you will also feel empowered in pursuing your goals. You can overcome the revenue gap that women business owners face by becoming a powerhouse of financial literacy.

In acknowledgement of Financial Literacy Month, The Women’s Entrepreneurial Opportunity Project, Inc. has created a guide: “15 Strategies to Keep You On Track.” You can also click here to view WEOP’s “Power Financial Workshop to Keep Your Business On Track.” WEOP keeps a running calendar of roundtables, webinars, workshops, and networking events, so be sure to subscribe to the newsletter to stay up to date! Our goal is to do everything we can to help you and your business succeed.

I wish you luck on your journey to financial literacy!