Keep Two Wallets: Personal and Venture

In the first excited months, the venture pays for things from whichever account is open: personal card for the domain, household money for the flight, venture wallet for a family dinner 'because we discussed the business'. Eighteen months later, nobody can answer the only question that matters: is this venture actually making money?

Separation is not about tax first — it is about truth first. One bank account for the venture, one card, one simple sheet of what came in and went out. Pay yourself from the venture formally, even if it's a small symbolic amount. Reimburse cross-payments the same week they happen, not 'eventually'.

This gives you a real monthly picture: revenue, burn, and the honest gap between them. It also builds the habits that matter later — when there are partners, investors or buyers, clean books are the difference between a smooth conversation and a humiliating one.

A venture whose numbers are mixed with household numbers isn't a business yet. It's an expensive hobby with invoices.