You may have dozens of clients, thousands of customers, hundreds of visitors to your website each day, a bunch of credentials after you name, a beautiful website, awards out the kazzoo ...

... but if your business can't pay the bills each month, what's the point?

The #1 mistake made by business owners is neglecting their cash flow. Neglecting not only records and bookkeeping, but creating an analyzing their finances. Only by creating and interpreting the right reports & info can you plan for your business, make adjustments, and actually TAKE HOME profit!

Here are the 3 reports you must create and analyze:

(1) Profit & Loss Statement: Your Income Minus Your Expenses = Profit

(2) Balance Sheet: Your Assets Minus Your Liabilities = Net Worth

(3) Cash Flow Projections: Future Income Minus Future Expenses Each Month

For service providers, consultants, and information marketers, you are generally concerned with protecting your ideas, and your marketing symbols and words.

You protect your creative ideas (writings, photograph, recordings) under copyright law.

You protect the symbols and words you use to market your products and services (logos, tag lines, brand names) under trademark law.

Both have automatic protections. For creative works, you have a copyright as soon as you create a tangible expression of the work (write it down, take the photo, record the speech). For symbols and words, you have a common-law trademark as soon as you use it in commerce (interstate commerce, if you want federal protection), in conjuction with selling a product or service.

But, you may want to register the copyright or trademark, so you can (1) sue people if needed, (2) get more damages, and (3) prove the date of first use or creation.

You can file these things yourselves, but you may want an attorney if you run into problems.

But don't be too stingy with your stuff. You may want to license people to use your articles, for example, in exchange for linking back to your site or letting you promote your free services.