If you’re looking to start a business, there can be a lot of factors influencing your decision to become your own boss. Perhaps you’re tired of working for someone else and want the freedom to do things your way, or maybe you’re a natural leader who just wants to increase their income. Whatever your reasoning, it’s important to figure out how to make your business successful, or else you’re going to be looking for a new job in a short matter of months.

One of the ways to ensure that your business stays successful is to launch a company that doesn’t wind up breaking the bank. Funding any new venture can be expensive, and if you don’t have a good ratio of expenses to the sorts of profit margins you’re looking at, you may be setting yourself up for disaster. If you’re really interested in running a successful business without losing your shirt in the process, here are a few tips to set you up for success.

Don’t go it alone

One of the easiest ways to protect your bank account when starting a business is to start a partnership with someone you trust. That might be a family member or a close friend. Whichever route you choose, be sure that you truly trust this individual, have an understanding of their finances and credit score, and are able to have frank, tough discussions. Just because you like someone doesn’t mean that they’d make a good business partner, especially when you consider how expensive it is to launch a business.

If you have to start your business by yourself, don’t fund your venture that way. Going solo puts you up for a much greater financial risk, so find a bank that specializes in small business loans so that you can secure the money you need to get things rolling without swiping your credit card for every expense.

Pick a franchise with name-recognition

One way to succeed when starting a business is to open a franchise instead of starting a business completely from scratch. After all, there’s no sense reinventing the wheel if you’re more interested in owning and operating your own business than coming up with your own original ideas. Picking a franchise that’s familiar but might not exist in a convenient location in your neighborhood or city is a great place to start.

For example, nowadays thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, there is more and more emphasis on sending things in the mail. If you have a passion for helping people send gifts and other packages, The UPS Store might be an ideal franchise opportunity. The UPS Store even offers special pricing for veterans, so if you served in the military or armed forces, you may qualify for an even better deal when looking to start your franchise.

Start investing your profits as soon as possible

If you want to ensure that your business has a future, you need to start thinking about the future. Mark Wiseman, a global investment manager, has long recommended long-term investing strategies in order to operate more sustainably. By investing some of your profits each month, you’ll begin to grow your profits thanks to the magic of compound interest, helping you weather any potential storm you might face as a business.

Many times, new business owners like the idea of spending their profits on themselves, especially if their income has gone up substantially after working for someone else for so long. While that’s tempting, it’s a much better idea to invest in your company’s security as well as your future. Doing so ensures that you have financial security, even in the midst of a global financial crisis.