It's \"Only £30!\" . . . Until It's Your Money

I’m loving the school holidays - partly because I get more time with my son, and partly because we’ve been able to do things we don’t normally have time for, like wandering around beautiful art such as The Wallace Collection.

What I’m loving slightly less is the almost daily requirement to dole out spending money. 😩

My son recently asked for a video game.

“It’s only £30, Mum.”

ONLY. 😂

Yet when I suggested he spend £4 of his own money on an app he wanted, he looked at me as though I’d suggested we remortgage the house.

“£4?! That’s WAY too expensive!”

And it made me think about business.

When entrepreneurs are bootstrapping, we can be incredibly disciplined.

We negotiate. We question every expense. We make £1 do the work of £5. We think very carefully before committing money.

But give a business funding, a healthy credit limit or access to borrowing and suddenly…

“It’s only £500.”

“It’s only £2,000.”

“This course will pay for itself.”

“We definitely need the newest laptop.”

I know because I did exactly this in my first business.

I spent money on coaching, advertising and equipment without being disciplined enough about one very important question:

What return is this money actually going to produce?

I’m rebuilding very differently now.

Every pound needs a purpose.

I’m putting financial systems in place to understand where the money goes, what it generates and whether an expense is genuinely helping the business grow.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned through my own mistakes is that more money doesn’t automatically make you financially smarter.

Sometimes having less forces you to become a much better steward of what you already have.

#BusinessFinance #Entrepreneurship #BusinessGrowth