What comes to mind when you hear the term financial management? Maybe it makes you feel anxious or confused. If so, please don’t! Like any other business activity, managing your company’s finances can be broken down into smaller, repeatable, and actionable steps. Taking these steps will erase worries and help ensure that this part of your business runs smoothly.

There are lots of ways to describe small business owners. From smart and ambitious to creative, decisive, and resilient, there are many notable qualities that help those of us in this position succeed. But what about organized? While maybe it doesn’t sound quite as exciting as the rest, being organized is incredibly important when you’re running a business. After all, there’s surely a lot on your plate and all those details matter!

It might be tempting to count yourself out as you’re first getting your company off the ground. You might think when my business gets bigger, I’ll get some real accounting software or once my company grows, it’ll be time to automate that process. But, in fact, even a company in its nascent stage can benefit from automating many of its processes. And there are many free and low-fee automation options available – you just need to look for them.

There are lots of small business owners out there who have reached a certain level of success. We can point to them as examples and say that they are clearly operating successful businesses. And that success can be defined in many different ways. Perhaps they’re making a ton in revenue, they’re simply happy, or their team is strong and capable. The meaning of success is naturally open to interpretation.

Everyone gets stressed, no matter who they are or what type of job they have. Small business owners, however, share many of the same stressors. The good news is if you can identify the sources of your stress, you can alleviate and ideally eliminate it – stopping the stress right in its tracks. So if you’re losing sleep, money, or even friends because you’re so high-strung and anxious all the time, keep reading for more information about the eight most common sources of SMB stress and learn how to get it under control.

Have you ever wondered what makes someone successful in business? In a way, it’s kind of like cooking – put in the right ingredients in the right amounts, and chances are you’ll be happy with the end result. And so is the case with a successful businesswoman too. If she lives by and structures her professional life around certain values, chances are very good that she’ll achieve the level of success she desires.

Everyone feels scared sometimes – especially business owners. After all, by starting and running your own company, you’re really putting yourself out there. You’re taking a leap of faith that many people will never be courageous enough to take. Be proud of that but also recognize that this doesn’t mean you’re immune to fear. Naturally, there will still be times when you feel afraid – and you aren’t alone. Other business owners frequently feel the same way.