Hi. My Name is Dr. Jean Murray and I’m the author of 50 Secrets for Growing a Successful Frugal Business: Save Money. Simplify. Work Smart.
I’ve worked with small business owners over the last 35 years and the most common problem business owners have is MONEY. Many small business just don’t having enough of it.
You need money in business.
- You need money to pay the bills.
- You need money to pay employees.
- You need money for unexpected business expenses.
- You need mooney to expand.
You even need to have money to get a startup loan.
Most importantly you need PROFIT which is the money to take home from your business for your personal financial life.
To misquote Mark Twain on the weather,
Everyone Talks About Money, but No One Does Anything About It.
I propose to do something about it. Your business money problem, I mean. Instead of looking at your business money problem as fixable by getting more money, I’m proposing a more effective way to have enough money in your business.
My solution: Start and Run a Frugal Business.
And I’ve gathered 50 Secrets to share with you to help you gain control of your business and turn it into a FRUGAL Business.
Why a Frugal Business?
I want to Bust some Myths about the word “Frugal,” then to tell you about what it means to have a “Frugal Business.”
FRUGAL has had a bad rap for quite a while. It’s a great word, but misunderstood. If you don’t believe me, stop and think about the word “FRUGAL” for a minute.
What comes to your mind when you think of the word “Frugal?”
-
-
- Pinching pennies?
- Scrooge McDuck?
- Ebenezer Scrooge?
- A 1950s housewife clipping coupons?
- How about a 21st century business owner?
-
We need to re-think this interesting word.
Frugal: /froogal/ (1) sparing or economical with regard to money or food. “He led a remarkably frugal existence.”
Synonyms: thrifty, economical, careful, cautious, prudent, provident.
Origin: Latin: frux, frug – fruit. Latin: frugi – economical, thrifty.
A Frugal Business Bears Fruit
Note that the term “frugal” first had to do with fruit, then became a word to mean thrifty or economical. I like this concept – being thrifty and economical can bear fruit. And bearing fruit is what it’s all about.
Frugal isn’t just about spending money. When an apple tree bears fruit, it’s doing what it’s supposed to be doing. What a successful fruit tree does is to grow and produce fruit.
When your business bears fruit, it’s doing what it’s supposed to do. When your business:
-
-
- satisfies its customers,
- pays its bills,
- pays its employees,
- has enough left over to pay the owner
- has enough to save for a rainy day
- and provide for continued growth (think of fertilizer)
-
it’s bearing fruit.
Over the past 30 years, I have started several successful businesses (one that’s still running after 13 years), and I’ve learned the hard way. In my book, 50 Secrets for Growing a Successful Frugal Business: Save Money. Simplify. Work Smart, I share things I have learned about running a successful and frugal business.
What Does it Mean to Have a Frugal Business?
Curious about what it takes to have a Frugal Business? It’s not easy. Nothing worthwhile was ever easy.
Having a Frugal Business includes a commitment to these principles:
-
-
- Simplifying business finances and business processes, to save money and time.
- Saving money. Getting the best deals, not spending when you don’t have to, and learning how to be careful with cash
- Working smart. Finding the best way to do something, deciding who can do it most efficiently, and letting go of micro-management.
- The Frugal Business: A New Way of Thinking About Your Business
- Deciding to become a Frugal Business involves:
- An initial commitment to doing what it takes to create or change the basics of your business to the Frugal Business principles – working smart, staying simple, and saving money.
- A day-to-day continuing commitment to using the Frugal Business Secrets to make your business grow faster and to make it more secure.
-
Growing a Frugal Business
You don’t just wake up one morning and have a Frugal Business. It’s a process, a continuing effort. That’s why I emphasize “growing.” Growth is a continuing process of nurturing and tending to the details, day in and day out.