Here’s a news flash – I’m getting old(er).  If you’ve followed along with me for a while, you’ve undoubtedly heard the ramblings of my trials and tribulations in decoding my health issues over the past few years.  I’m on the right path, but man – aging, inflammation (everywhere!), and (sorry boys, I’m going to say it…) menopause – they are slippery beasts and hard to manage. 

Over the past few weeks, after several months of feeling better and better, I feel like things have slid back a bit and I’m facing the reality that I need to do another food reset to figure out what I’m doing that “isn’t” working for my body.  I have my suspects…I’m getting a little lax on eating “hidden” gluten foods like condiments.  I bought “lactose-free” sour cream and while I realized that it didn’t make me feel great when I ate it, I continued to finish the container on my oh-so-yummy chips and dip (I have a serious chip problem!).  And my-oh-my this is the summer of sugar.  I’m in need of a serious sugar detox.

I started out REALLY diligent and over the past month or so (hello summer!) I just got lazy.  I went from attentive and focused, to indulgent and flippant.  Now it’s time to get back to feeling better.

So why the health update?  Well, cause it made me think about how flippant and haphazard we can be with the cash from our business.  We need to pay bills, we take what we need.  Need groceries or gas, meh, just charge it to the business card.

When we treat our business accounts as our personal piggy banks, it becomes INCREDIBLY difficult to understand if our business is doing well, or in trouble.  Is your business actually making money, but you keep spending it on personal things? Or is your business steadily declining, but you’re assuming your bank account is bare because of your last grocery run?

Let’s face it, financial statements are great for accountants and tax agencies, but the reality is, when it comes to the day-to-day gut check of our businesses, our bank accounts tell us the real score.  $10K? $100? Overdrawn (gulp)?  These balances give us instant relief (or panic) about where we’re at.

But for many of us, our business IS our source of (personal) income.  I’ve talked a lot in the past about the importance of and how to manage our money for our business, but as an integral part of your business, figuring out what YOU need to take out of this is just as important.

Deciding what you need to get paid will not only eliminate the personal-piggie-bank-bleed that may be happening, but it will also get you on a path to getting what you should be paid when your business is able to support it.

Your Survival Score

Your Survival Score is just that – it’s the number you need to be at in order to survive on your personal side of the money scale.  Notice this is to SURVIVE – not THRIVE.  We’re not talking about what you WANT to make in your business, or what you feel you SHOULD make from your business.  We’re talking about the bare-bones, what you need to pay your bills, feed yourselves, and maybe do something more than just work all day and night (ahem.).

And I get it…what’s the point of working your butt off non-stop if you’re not going to get paid the big bucks?  Welcome to entrepreneurship ;).  As the owner you “get” to make all the sacrifices so that everyone else gets paid before you.  Yeah, it sucks…but hopefully it’s short-lived.

Calculating your Survival Score

There are three steps to figuring out your survival score.

STEP 1 – Your Costs

In this first step we’re going to figure out your household costs:

• Home: Rent/Mtg, Utilities, Phone, internet, taxes property, insurance

• Car/Transportation: lease/payments, registration, insurance, gas, repairs, bus/cab

• Food: Groceries, restaurants

• Kids – activities, school

• Fun – spending

• Income Taxes (if you need to pay these at the end of the year)

Go through a few months of bank and credit card statements and see what you spend on average each month.

STEP 2 – Your Income

In this next step, you’re going to pull together your income over the same few months to figure out the average money coming into your family accounts.  Look for things like:

• Your spouse’s income

• Government subsidies – like GST rebates or child benefits

• Your other employment

Just like with your costs, add this up to see what you’re bringing in.

STEP 3 – What you’re short

This is pretty simple…take your income, and subtract your expenses.  That number is hopefully positive, but if it’s negative, that’s your survival score.  It’s the amount you need to make sure you’re able to cover all your bills.

That shortfall…that’s your survival score.  You need to pull 2K out of your business each month to help cover your home expenses.

Now you have a goal to work towards!  You need to make enough in your business each month to pay your business bills and pay you your 2K.  Once that becomes easy to do month over month, then look to up your pay.  The point is to get out of “survival” mode and do better than just getting by.

But Rome wasn’t built in a day.  Be patient.  Take only what you need.  And one day it will all come together.

…Right? ;)