Developing a Plan: The starting point of Financial Growth

Nobody plans to fail, but many people fail to plan. Lack of planning eventually leads to failure. 33% of Americans have no financial plan, according to a report by CNBC .

Success in life and business needs a roadmap to guide us towards financial growth and success.

Having a great idea, product or services is not enough. Even having an outstanding staff or enough resources is inadequate. Everyone needs to have a plan to achieve financial growth, whether in business or in personal life.

This article will provide some actions you can begin to take right now to help you thrive and grow financially.

Desire and Make A Decision To Grow Financially

When you really desire something enough, you will often always find a way to make it a reality . Desire is the starting point of any worthwhile achievement . You must first-of-all desire and then decide to grow financially.

Your desire and your decision will help you to make the commitments and sacrifices needed for you to accomplish your desired goals.

Set Your Financial Goals

You don’t just achieve financial growth, you make them happen. Setting up your financial goals requires you to assess where you desire to be in 1, 2, 5, 10 or 20 years from now. In setting your financial goals , you must clearly define your financial goals, set a time frame to achieve it and track your progress along the way.

Think Long Term

Thinking in the long term about your financial future and taking measurable actions will increase your chances of achieving your goals.

Learning and taking financial actions early, whether it’s saving for retirement , saving for a down payment for a house or saving for your unborn child’s education, thinking long term goals and saving towards it will enable you to create wealth.

Be Detailed Oriented

Paying attention to details when planning, saving, borrowing or investing is crucial to your success . Paying attention to details will help you avoid rip-offs and scams, and even noticing when the phone bill or cable bill is higher than normal.

Before signing any contract or agreement, always pay attention to the terms and conditions to ensure you are getting what you expect to prevent stories that touch later in the future.

Become an Entrepreneur

I believe you must have heard the clinch that “ the most reliable way to become rich is to start your own business.” I’m sure you must have heard at least something similar. To truly grow financially, you can’t avoid the idea of becoming an entrepreneur .

The importance of becoming an entrepreneur , both to an individual and to the society cannot be overemphasized. Research on different business opportunities you can start and give it your best effort to ensure it succeeds.

Assess Your Expenses and Cut Down Cost

Assess how you spend your money and make every effort to cut down on it, especially on stuff that you do not really need.

One of our biggest problems today is buying on impulse . According to Rook (1987) “Marketing researchers have found ways to bolster impulsive spending. In today’s world, many products are marketed toward impulse buyers through a variety of techniques.”

Impulse spending is a big cash drainer and one of the reasons most people are not able to stick to their budget.

There are so many things wrong with buying on impulse; however, you can use these simple ways to curb impulsive buying .

Avoiding impulse spending will enable you to cut down your expenses and stick to your budget.

Get Rid of and Avoid Debt

8 in 10 Americans, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts , have debt, with mortgages, the most common liability. It’s hard to plan for investment and savings when you’ve got debts hanging over you. If you are in debts, personal loans, credit cards, mortgage or other debts, you need to come up with a debt-elimination-plan .

You can begin by listing out all your debts to find out how much debts you owe. Arrange them in order, if possible, with the one attracting the highest interest at the top while the one with the least interest at the bottom.

Focus on the debt with the highest interest rate, saving as much as you can with a determined focus to clearing it off. Even if it’s only $50 you can save every week towards paying off the debt , you’ll realize that with time, the more you pay off the debt , the more the interest attached reduces, thereby helping you to save even more to contribute towards totally clearing off of all your debts.

It’s important to keep in mind that clearing off a huge amount of debts can take years, but, as long as you stick to your plan and determination, it will be rewarding and beneficial to you in the long run.

Learn More about Personal Finance

Knowledge is the key to success in any endeavor. Follow personal finance blogs to educate yourself more and enhance your financial life.

Stick To Your Budget

It’s hard to get much done in terms of finance without a budget. Whether you are planning to invest or save, you must have a budget to guide your spending otherwise, impulse buying and other expenses not budgeted will keep draining your cash.

Budgeting gives you a good picture of your cash flow and helps to keep you focused on your financial goals. Learning how to plan a budget is important because of its many benefits.

Track your Money

Apart from budgeting your finances, keeping track of all your financial commitments – investment, loans, income & expenditure, etc. will help you to know where your money is coming from and where it’s going.

Using Excel spreadsheets, as well as other online apps like Mint or Quicken will help you to track your income and expenses automatically.

Make Saving Automatic

One of the easiest ways to save is to set up an automatic saving system (usually through your bank) that ensures that a certain percentage of all your paycheck is automatically transferred to your saving account.

Once this done, you can be rest assured that some amount of money is automatically saved for you from every paycheck.

Conclusion

The list here is not exhaustive by any means. even so, adopting the suggestions listed above can go a long way towards helping you achieve financial growth and success.

Best of Luck!