Running a business is a very taxing and relentless responsibility. So much so that, while doing their best to keep their companies viable, inexperienced business owners often pay the same attention to personal finances opening the way for some very costly mistakes.

And rest assured, when problems start crawling into your private life, they start crawling their way into your company preventing you to run the organization efficiently. Therefore, before you engage in any kind of expensive project or business expansion you should make sure that the things are well at home.

Let us take a look at a couple of tips that should help you along the way.

Diversify your investments

You know the old rule – you should never put all of your eggs in the same basket. Speaking in terms of your business and personal finances, diversifying the investments should open you additional sources of revenue and relieve some of the pressure on your company to deliver. This more relaxed financial situation, in turn, allows you to make more prudent and beneficial financial decisions. As a result, you don't only have more sources of revenue but more time to devote to your personal finances as well.

Create a monthly and annual budget

This way, you will be able to keep a better track of your finances, discover eventual leak points, plan the expenses and set up the savings fund for the eventual rainy days (more on that in a bit). All these things should prevent the situations in which when the rough patches do start coming your start recalling funds from your company and cutting its wings. Ideally, your monthly after-tax budget should be divided into three sections:

• Needs (50%) – Money you will use to pay the bills, debt repayment, and cover fixed monthly expenses

• Wants (30%) – Things you enjoy but are not absolutely essential in your life

• Savings (20%) – The funds you are going to put aside, or even better, invest in some other source of revenue

Start preparing for the rough periods

They will come knocking at your doors sooner or later so it’s better to await them with a loaded savings account and plans for bridging the financial gaps in the shortest time possible. Fortunately, the financial world has become very diverse so there is a good instant personal loan for you to find out there. Also, most of these options feature flexible repayment terms so you can easily use them in different kinds of situations. Just be sure to explore these options and make them a part of your financial plans in time.

Automate whatever you can

As we mentioned in the introduction – sometimes people are too busy to take good care of their personal finances so some things are inevitably lost in the shuffle. Automation does a tremendous level of the heavy lifting in making this issue disappear. Therefore, it would be a good idea to explore the budgeting tools that automatically calculate your taxes, interest rates, savings, spending limits, etc. Also, it is highly recommended to automate debt payment and make sure you never miss a single due date.

Think long-term

In other words, no matter even if you are at the very start of your career you need to be aware that years tend to speed by so you should start. Fortunately, as a self-employed person, you have far more options than an average laborer. Some of the more popular options come in the form of individual 401k, IRAs, and SEP plans. Just be sure to make these expenses a part of your financial plan and annual budget. Another option you should strongly consider is protecting your family's best interests with life insurance.

Ask for a professional help

Last but not least, even if all strategies we have proposed above simply don't bear results you should, by all means, be open to the idea of hiring the services of a professional financial or tax advisor. Granted, keeping in mind you are dealing with financial difficulties this may sound like one expense too much but try to remember – these are the professionals whose sole job is to keep your finances in order. They can make your budget healthy enough to be able to charge their services without creating additional debts.

So, there you have it – top six tips that should help you keep your finances in order while you are, at the same time running a company. The previous two years have shown us we shouldn't take anything for granted and, as the things stand now, the period ahead won't be any easier. The only way to deal with these problems is to start preparing for the problems before they come knocking at your doors. Now you know where to start.