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In business as in life, it’s important to keep your assets and liabilities in check. You don’t want to operate from a position where you feel forced to make decisions based on an over extended balance sheet. If you’re operating too heavy on your liabilities and you fear that you have to take on certain clients or jobs that you don’t want to do and you forego new projects that you don’t have the energy and capacity for simply because you know you’re overexposed then I would strongly suggest you’re Liability heavy and a quick adjustment is needed.

In my view, I don’t want to be in a position where I do a job simply because it pays the bills. I want to be able to go into the marketplace in a relaxed state of ready awareness. I prefer to see opportunities as real choices and know that I can make the commitment to follow through with the idea or not. My decisions should not be made based purely on income.

I want to grow and maintain ample assets that can cover any outstanding liabilities.

Often as entrepreneurs, we take overzealous chances in the marketplace and make assumptions about future values. When we get it right we get paid handsomely but sometimes things don’t go exactly according to plan.

And when this happens, I don’t want to feel like I’m under undue pressure to make my next move. I want to be able to weather a down market or a bad storm and still be able to maintain my current lifestyle.

If you don’t think you’re in a good position at the moment don’t fret because you can start now by making new decisions and adjustments to your current situation that will make your balance sheet much more attractive and favorable in the coming years.

It’s all about the plan and the commitment to that plan and your relentless focus. It also helps if the markets continue to climb, your property values inflate and you resist the urge to borrow more money just because you can.

If the money you borrow doesn’t make you more money then the interest you’re paying then it’s not an efficient use of your capital. Be vigil with your personal borrowing and strive ardently to be mortgage free. Business wise it’s rarely a good idea to borrow money to pay your expenses. If you’re having to borrow just to pay expenses then your business is not growing and is probably shrinking.

You should be taking the scalpel to your expenses until you’re at least at a break-even point. If you can’t squeeze a profit after you’ve stripped your expenses then you should consider looking for a new opportunity. There’s always a new way forward.

Sometimes you might need a little help to find your new direction and as hard as things are, try to remember that there’s always someone who’s been in a similar position as you yet found a way out or a way through. Thankfully, some of these individuals are now working as coaches or consultants catering to businesses just like yours.

If your business is doing good and revenues are going up then it might be wise to get some advice in order to continue on your trajectory and take things to the next level, but if your business is on a downturn then there’s definitely no time to waste. Get on the phone and get the help you need to make the hard choices you’ve gotta make to set things right.

Dominic Kotarski – International Consultant | Author | Coach | Trainer | Speaker