Freelancers, Small Business Owners, Entrepreneurs - Did You Reach Your Financial Goal(s) This Year?

If Not, Here are Some Encouraging Thoughts

As the end of the year is quickly approaching, most of us who are self-employed are preparing to gather together our business documents in anticipation of the tax season. Did you make the amount of money you wanted to make this year? The answer for me is an emphatical - "no". Once again I'm disappointed with the financial success of my business/freelance ventures this year. Having been self-employed for about 10 years now, this is not a new discovery for me. It seems to be getting harder and harder to make money these days. My obstacles this year have been the same as past years - accounts receivable problems (in other words clients who owe), and business being slow (I started the year with a bang but it slowed down in the middle, possibly due to my own lack of motivation).

Does any of this sound familiar to you? If you are a small business entrepreneur or freelancer, it probably does. As you approach the end of your financial year, let me share with you some encouraging thoughts.

1 - You are a success whether the numbers say so or not. If you don't think so, possibly you need to reevaluate what tool you are using for a measuring stick. Are you only measuring your success by the amount of money you're making? If so, you're making a grave mistake as success is much more than money. I have to constantly remind myself that success is not always measured by dollars. Yes, I'm in business to make money, however, some successes that don't pay off financially may pay-off in other ways, or may pay-off in the future.

2- Remember back to why you became self-employed. Most of us did not become self-employed just to make money. In all reality, I made much more money when I was employed by someone else. One of my reasons for becoming self-employed was to work less hours and have more freedom in my schedule. Do I have that flexibility in my schedule? Yes, I do, thus I am achieving one of my goals by having a flexible schedule. When my money is funny so-to-speak, I have to remember and center upon why I became self-employed in the first place.