If you find yourself in a “dry spell” with money in your business, you are like any other entrepreneur out there. We have all been there and it feels like it will never end. Until it does. Then you wonder what magic caused it to end.

While it may feel like magic when the money starts flowing again, it really isn’t (in the sense that magic is just “science we don’t understand yet”). You can, in most cases, trace it back to something you did – consciously or unconsciously – to get energy moving in your life where it was stuck before.

In my six years of being self-employed and therefore responsible for generating my own paycheck, I have developed a toolkit of strategies for harnessing the “magic” that brings money in when I need it.

It doesn’t matter what kind of business you have, or even if you don’t have your own business–these strategies can work for you.

Please understand: these are not necessarily tips for how to establish long term success with money. There is no “business advice” here. These seven ways to get money moving are practical tips for the days when you feel absolutely stuck and it seems like nothing. is. coming. in.

First, let’s establish a couple of assumptions that underlie these strategies.

1. You are in charge of your money flow (i.e. no outside forces, including “the economy” have power over how money flows in and out of your life). Even if you have a “boss,” you understand that money comes to you through your employer, not from your employer.
2. Money is a form of energy that responds to your energy.

Now that we have the “woo woo” part out of the way, here are seven ways to get money moving in your business today.

1. Make a decision

If you find yourself mulling over a situation to the point of worry, find that one place where you have power to make a decision. Even if it’s a small decision, it might lead to you being empowered to make a bigger decision later.

Recently I was approached by someone who wanted help with their e-commerce website. I spent a whole day thinking it over and wondering why it was taking me so long to get back to them–until I realized that I don’t really enjoy building e-commerce websites. (I prefer building websites for service-based entrepreneurs.)

I made the decision to refer this lead to someone else who loves e-commerce, and I instantly I felt better. Everything (including money) flowed more smoothly for me the day after.

2. Surrender

If you are the type of person who is always striving for what you want, only to see that it is out of your reach, a little surrender is the necessary antidote for you.

You may be trying to save or get money for something important–a trip, some new equipment for your business, etc. If it’s more money than you usually spend on your business, you may be hitting some resistance. And when you resist that resistance, you are obviously adding… more resistance!

Experiment with a little surrender. Surrender to the possibility that you might not get that thing you really want… and imagine a scenario in which you are still happy and satisfied.

Recently this happened to me when I hit some unexpected expenses right before a much anticipated trip. Faced with the possibility that I would have to cancel my trip, I kept up my striving for a while, and it was clearly not working for me. Nothing was moving in my bank account and I was getting stressed out. I decided to take one day and release my need for this trip. I experimented with the thought that I would be happy even if I didn’t go.

Within a couple of days of taking the pressure off the situation, I got an unexpected payment that more than covered the costs of my trip.

3. Cry

Yes. You read that correctly. Find a nice, quiet, private place, and just cry.

Not to feel sorry for yourself. Not to wallow in self-pity. But simply to release the build-up of stuck emotions (shame, fear, sadness, etc.) that come with feeling like you don’t have enough money/time/resources, etc. There are a ton of physical benefits to having a good cry, and energetically speaking, you are releasing stuck energy and therefore making room for more money/time/resources, etc. to flow into your life.

You don’t have to “hold it together” all the time. Sometimes holding it together holds back the flow of abundance into your experience.

4. Ask, and receive

I am not saying “Ask and you shall receive.” I am saying get unstuck by asking for help. Let’s say you need a big chunk of money. You have invoices out for various amounts of money, but not necessarily that amount.

OK, now forget the invoices and forget the money for a little bit.

Ask someone for something. A favor, a few bucks, a cookie, their advice, anything. The point is for you to put yourself in a position to receive.

And then… receive.

I cannot tell you how many times I have done this – just by consciously receiving, money flowed in within minutes of me flexing my receiving muscle. Invoices I’d been waiting on were suddenly paid. Opportunities for new projects showed up in my inbox. All because I first allowed myself to receive something relatively small.

5. Return a call or email

Ok now, back to those invoices. What if you are checking your email, snail mail, and and voice mail for evidence that your hard work will be paid for on time, but there is no sign of life? You even take a break, believing that “a watched pot never boils.”

Apparently, sometimes, an unwatched pot doesn’t, either.

In this case, ask yourself if there are any calls or emails you have not returned. If there are, go and take care of them now. Pushing that energy out of the way often creates a vacuum that draws in the correspondence you have been waiting for. Try it and see what happens!

6. Pay a bill

Holding on to that last bit of money because you think it’s the last payment your self-employed self will ever get?

Much like my dogs bark whenever we leave the house, believing we will never again return, we entrepreneurs can sometimes feel that way about money. Forget the fact that we have proven–time and time again–that we are capable of generating the money we need. No, this time could be the last time ever I make money in my business and then I’ll be broke and have to get a JOB!

If someone is not paying their bill from you, see if maybe paying a bill yourself can clear up the energy of “not paying bills.” We are in a universe of “like attracts like,” after all.

7. Snooze

Any fans of Abraham-Hicks have heard that sleeping stops the momentum of your thoughts (for as long as you are asleep). If your thoughts are putting the energy out there of worry and lack, take a nap. And then wake up and reset your mind by focusing on gratitude for as long as you can. Sometimes feelings of worry may pop back up, but giving your mind an opportunity to reset can make all the difference in letting go of that stuck feeling and allowing inspiration to come through that will help you get your energy flowing again.

While these strategies are not necessarily long term solutions for cash flow in and of themselves, they can lead to more inspired action that will help you cultivate more sustainable habits in your business and in your life. When you don’t have someone giving you a steady paycheck month after month, you realize how much of an effect your energy has on what is coming in.

Amazingly, I found in the few years following my “retirement” from my career in education, I continued to make an average of almost exactly how much I had made as a teacher. My set point of income remained the same, but it definitely fluctuated according to my mood and motivation. Since hiring a fabulous business coach I have seen that amount go up and stabilize significantly, and my use of these tools is becoming more fine tuned.

Use your intuition to know which, if any, of these strategies is appropriate in any given situation. You may have studied universal laws and use them all like a wizard to bring money into your business. If so, bravo! I can learn from you. 🙂 In any case, this life as an entrepreneur will teach you so much about yourself and your relationship with money.

Enjoy the ride!

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