Starting a business might be easier today than it used to be, but that doesn’t mean that becoming an entrepreneur is simple. One of the biggest challenges you’ll need to face involves figuring out how to get the cash you need to run your company and keep it running smoothly.

From finding the right source for your business loan, to ensuring that you have a consistent cash flow, it’s important to make sure that you have the right strategy for your finances as a business owner. If you don’t budget and save properly, you could end up in a serious problem whenever your business has a difficult month.

Here are a few tips to help you get started.

1.   Be Careful Not to Underpay Yourself

When you first start your business, it’s tempting to avoid paying yourself too much and save everything you can towards the future of your company instead. Although that’s a good idea to some extent, as it will give you some cash to fall back on if cashflow begins to suffer, you still need to pay yourself so that you can afford to live while running your business.

Don’t feel guilty about finding money for you when you’re growing your business to begin with. While you don’t need to pay yourself a huge wage, you should be taking enough cash out of your profits each month to handle all your personal expenses and give yourself some money for savings too.

2.   Overestimate your Expenses

Even when you’re just getting started in your business, and you’re figuring out how much money you need to borrow, it’s a good idea to overestimate your expenses. Ultimately, it’s difficult to know for certain how much any project is going to cost you. Even if you have some historical information to base your decisions on, there’s always a chance that supplies or other issues could increase your costs suddenly.

Make sure that you’re prepared for the unexpected by telling yourself that you’re going to need even more money than you think you need. That way, you’ll be able to hedge against the risk of failure and reduce your chances of letting customers down.

3.    Watch Your Sales Cycle

It’s not unusual for businesses from all industries to go through slow periods throughout the course of the year. Your company could have an “off-season” when you’re less likely to gather profits than you would be throughout the rest of the year. If that’s the case, then you’ll need to account for your expenses in that time by placing extra savings away throughout the rest of the year.

Paying attention to your sales cycle will allow you to prepare yourself for the difficult periods when you might struggle to find enough work. Additionally, in your slower periods, you could consider offering sales and extra offers to customers to boost your chances of new revenue too. If you’re unsure how to cope with your slow periods, speak to an accountant, they can often provide some useful insights on how to balance your year out more effectively.

4.    Value your Time Too

One common mistake that small companies make, is forgetting to consider the value of their time in their budget. Underestimating how much time you need to put into your business can be a dangerous mistake. Just like with money, it’s often a good idea to overestimate the amount of time you need to put aside for each project.

For instance, if a customer asks you when a project will be finished and you think that you’re likely to be done by Friday, promise delivery on Monday instead. If you finish early, then you can deliver the work early and earn respect from your customers. If you’re late, you’ll still have time to deliver according to your deadline.

5.    Regularly Revisit your Budget

Finally, just like a personal budget, you may find that your business budget changes over time. As your company evolves, your consumer base grows, and your expenses transform, you’ll need to go back and look at your budget plan again. Make sure to ask yourself frequently whether there are any changes you’ll need to make to keep your cash flow as healthy as possible.

Revise your monthly and annual budgets every few months, or when a significant change happens in your business, and remember to get stakeholders and team members with financial expertise involved when you can.