Money and business are two inseparable twins of any enterprise. And thus, the way you manage the two, determines how well your enterprise will succeed or fail.

Here are four key principles that can guide you if want to succeed in your enterprise.

At Human Capital International (HCI), being a leadership, entrepreneurship and human resource organisation, our focus has always been to research and share insights on how successful businesses have done all over the world. If your business must succeed, then you must take these four insights about money and business seriously.

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• Time. if your business must grow, time is very crucial. In business and especially, in this time of robust competition, time has everything to do with the success or failure of businesses. As a business, your products must reach customers on time before your competitors do so. Failure to deliver the products or service on time means failure to generate revenue and thus no business. For example, in the service industry, the time you take to serve your customers matters a lot. The faster, the better, else you will get swallowed in the sea of competition. Knowing the value of time and how to manage it is key for the survival of any business in the current business milieu.
• Debt Management. In all enduring businesses, just like in normal life, there are two types of debts that an entrepreneur should know of: good debt and bad debt. A good debt is one that seeks to invest in a business, increases its assets on the balance sheet, and adds value to the business, either in the short or long term. A bad debt, on the other hand, is when an entrepreneur borrows money in the name of the business but diverts the funds to satisfy his or her personal lifestyle such as drinking, buying a new car, wedding among others. It is crucial for the entrepreneur to appreciate that; bad debt brings a lot of strain on the business which can lead to the eventual collapse of the business. So, when as an entrepreneur, you take on a bad debt, just know that such enterprise is on a sloppy path and will sink anytime soon.

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• Business ideas. It is a known fact that many have gone into business with the sole objective of wanting to make money. But success in any business is largely determined by the quality of your business ideas which then determines the amount of money your business is able to generate in the form of revenue. Good ideas generate consistent revenue for every business and maintains a solid cash flow position for the business and eventually, future generations. It is therefore very important that every entrepreneur protects his or her business ideas and keeps on innovating in this ever-changing global village if a business is to succeed. There are many entrepreneurs who revealed their business ideas to competitors who later elbowed them out of business. It is therefore important to be wise and protect your innovative business ideas if you are to keep in business. Guard firmly the blueprint of your enterprise to remain solvent as an entrepreneur.
• Asset/liability. The other important principle to know about business is the functional differences between an asset and a liability. How much cash of your business is tied up in assets and liabilities? Is this in anyway affecting the day -to -day running of the business such as paying salaries, restocking and meeting other operational overheads of the business? It is not uncommon for many entrepreneurs to lose their businesses not because the business is not making profit, but simply because too much cash is tied up in fixed or non-liquid assets. Successful entrepreneurs understand that it is a prudent business practice not to keep too much stock that is neither moving or that have no market value. They also understand that it is always prudent to invest their cash in things that generate revenue for the business than buying things that rather take cash from the business without any returns to the business. Better management of assets and liability is very important for business sustainability.

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