As you know, money is the lifeblood of any business. This is especially true if you’re trying to start your own small business for the first time. If you neglect to keep your cash tightly managed at all times, you increase your chance of failure. Here are 5 easy ways of making sure you mange your money the right way:

Price your products or services to ensure a profit. Don’t fall into the “price war” trap with competitors. If you price everything too low, you won’t make enough profit to stay alive. To stay profitable, think of creative ways to make your business stand out from the crowd, while keeping prices high enough to justify staying in business.

Find your small business start up money. Lucky for you, most small businesses don’t require a large amount of cash to get going. However, if you do need a large lump sum of start up capital, you can tap into home equity or take out a 401k loan. Just be sure to take your loan repayments into consideration when mapping out a financial plan.

Hire a small business tax prepare. Don’t make the mistake of trying to do your own taxes. This is one area where you simply must take off your “jack of all trades” hat and outsource to a professional tax preparer. Tax laws are constantly changing, and only become more confusing with time.

You don’t want to be hit with an audit, and risk losing everything you’ve worked so hard to build up, just because of an innocent tax mistake. Additionally, a good accountant can more than make up for their fee because they’ll be able to organize and file your taxes in ways that save you a ton of money.

Cover your assets. Insurance is a necessary expense, like it or not. As the owner of your own business, the responsibility of being insured falls on your shoulders. This includes liability, health, disability, and life insurance.

Liability insurance can protect you from financial disaster in the event of a lawsuit. You will need to buy your own health insurance, since you won’t be working for an employer who will provide it.

Since you’re more likely to be disabled then accidentally killed, disability insurance is critical. Finally, life insurance will protect your family and loved ones from financial ruin should you pass away.

Monitor your small business cash flow at all times. Accounting and bookkeeping software is cheap and easy to use these days. Programs like Quicken or Microsoft Money make keeping an eye on your financial picture a snap.

To remain successful and profitable, you must constantly monitor your cash flow. It is the only way to avoid financial disaster.

As you can see, managing your small business money isn’t all that difficult. But it can be time consuming, especially if you don’t use bookkeeping software or hire a tax expert.

You also must go through the initial hassle of setting up the proper insurance, and learning how to price your products and services. However, if you keep these 5 quick tips in mind before starting up your new small business, you’ll be headed for success!