Finance Coach - Vol. 1

Here's a copy of what's on my Facebook group - Finance Coach (by Gareth Cotten):

Finance tip: Utilities

Saving water. One of the easiest ways to save water, and reduce your water bill, is by 'managing' the use of your toilet/s. The average flush can use up to 11 litres of water at a time (picture 5 and half big bottles of Coke), so just imagine how much money you are literally flushing away! For a cheap solution, put a brick in your cistern (the big ceramic thing generally above and behind the toilet seat) - your toilet will fill up less each time it's flushed, and save wastage. If you can afford it, consider putting in a 'two-flush' system, where you have an option of a light flush or a full flush - it will pay itself off pretty quickly if used correctly.

Business tip: Strategy

Focus. It may be tempting to spend most of your time looking at other options for your business, or other industries entirely, convincing yourself that you are focused on growth. This is quite common when a business starts to stagnate, or fails to take off as expected. A trait of successful businesses, however, is focus. They focus and concentrate on their particular industry, products, services and strengths, and aim to consolidate on these. Only once they've achieved this, do they look at growing into other areas. If you feel frustrated with your current business, but aren't actually spending that much time working on it, rather use some of your 'browsing' time to get back to basics on your business - re-look at your business plan, assumptions and business model, spend time on your marketing strategy, get on top of your finances, etc. These simple steps can inject new life into your business, and may re-ignite the passion you once had for it.