The bottom line for any business is money. You have to understand how it works on both macroeconomic and microeconomic levels in order to ensure long-term success of your business, regardless of what your industry is. So beyond just general accounting skills, what are some other overarching concepts that you should be aware of?

Well, five in particular include recession tendencies, stock market fluctuations, what the national debt means, how the Fed and interest rates work, and the importance of credit to both individuals and businesses. Having at least a basic understanding of all of those topics is going to be useful if not vital to the typical business person.

Recession Tendencies

The thing about recessions is that they come and go naturally. So, if you’re in a natural economic boom right now, at the very least, you should prepare for a recession whenever it may come. There are concrete steps that you can take to do this – it’s not some kind of secret method. But it does take some planning, and it does take some self-control and perhaps even a bit of delayed gratification fortitude.

Stock Market Fluctuations

When you learn how the stock market works, you’ll have a better idea about where your business fits into the mix as well. Economics in that realm are naturally a bit chaotic, but when you learn the right people to trust for the right reasons, and which trends to follow during what stages of your personal business development, you’ll come out much wiser with regard to decisions about things like basic investments. Being able to make money on the stock market while also running a business is a definite positive.

The National Debt

The national debt affects the entire world, if abstractly. If you learn about where it came from and how it got to be the way it is, you’ll have some mental and emotional protection from the recourses that are bound to come down the line eventually when it all catches up with the country on a business level.

The Fed and Interest Rates

The Fed is one of the most misunderstood concepts in modern economics. But that doesn’t stop it from being a driving force in the business world. If you plan on taking on any large scale loans, the interest rates that the Fed creates can have a major and immediate effect on your business dealings.

The Importance of Credit

Chances are fairly likely that you didn’t start your business with money that you’d already saved. You probably had to get some startup cash based on your credit. And after that, your business will earn credit in its own right as well, which you can use to leverage further loans for future expansion.