In the world of entrepreneurship, there are a litany of tasks that business owners find themselves about of everyday.
Managing employees.
Managing cash flows.
Scaling.
Taxes.
And personal financial plans to name a few.
In my experience in working with business owners, the burden of these tasks often prevent them from operating at a higher capacity because much of their brain power is occupied with business needs.
I get it. I’m a business owner, too, and often struggle with relinquishing control over the processes that I’ve built, or trusting counsel to make them better. Yet, when I have taken that proverbial leap, I’ve always found myself scaling faster, making more money and enjoying other parts of my life.
It’s an arduous road to get to this point, but I've collected the 10 things that business owners should be doing right now to position themselves for success.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “you have to spend money to make money?” Depending on the context, it’s true. Quality things cost money. Yet, many business owners don’t know what they are spending money on, and how it affects their bottom line.
By cleaning up your bookkeeping, you’ll get data that will help you to be a more conscious spender while understanding your firm's balance sheet more clearly.
We all know what are the only two things guaranteed in life. Unfortunately, we have to plan for both while we are alive. A great tax advisor can help you to understand your liabilities and can even recommend maintenance strategies that can make dealing with taxes easier.
By implementing a maintenance and accounting plan, you should never find yourself surprised by what Uncle Sam has in store for you, and will be prepared for audits should they come.
I’ll admit: the financial services industry is one that can be confusing. Understanding what advisors actually do, how they charge and who they serve has been debated for as long as I’ve been alive, and probably before then.
It’s important that you seek out an advisor that has expertise in working with business owners, but that gets the ebbs and flows of entrepreneurship and what's at stake. This type of relationship will be ongoing, will give you access to the qualified professionals listed above and will be agile as life and business plans progress for you. They’ll get it, and so will you.
I find that business owners are extremely motivated, but that does not mean that they’ll identify their financial purpose. It’s important for everyone - business owner or not - to align their dollars with their ideal life.
Part of this exploration is to figure out how a business fits into your life design. By doing this, no financial stone will be left unturned and you’ll know exactly what needs to be done to reach your goals.
When it comes to your business, you must define what you want for it, and strategize along the way. Without defining exactly what you’d like to achieve, you’ll be susceptible to trends, undeserving clients and bad outcomes. Pinpointing your goals is the first step to success throughout the many stages of running your business.
Your financial advisor - if niche focused - may act as a business consultant that fills in the gaps in your thought process. By leveraging this person, you’ll be able to avoid jeopardizing your own personal financial well being while finding information and resources that could assist you on your upward trajectory.
This is less financial than it is a well-being practice. I believe that business owners need to have a wellbeing practice that allows them to realign on a daily basis. This practice serves as a self-assessment, moment of peace and alignment for you to restore your faith and energy to complete the tasks in front of you.
My daily practice includes prayer and meditation, a peloton ride, lifting session, a good stretch and a short journal. This time to myself every morning gives me the energy and balance that I need to serve my family, business and clients each day.
Consider a combination of spiritual, physical and emotional practices as a part of your daily routine.
There are financial foundations that people sometimes sacrifice to start their business: retirement planning, investing, health insurance and the list goes on.
There are simple ways to make sure that you are not gaining financial blind spots in an effort to run your business. Think about this early and often.
I used to think that no one would care about my business the way that I did - and that might be true. I had an “I’ll do it myself” attitude and that was the wrong idea. It was until I delegated that I saw sustainable growth in my business.
What are you doing right now that you could offload to someone else? How could offloading those tasks spark growth and efficiency? Make a list and plan to hire and delegate for it. You’ll see that the best thing for your business may not be you doing administrative tasks, but using your talents to get closer to your vision.
All these efforts should lead to growth. Growth in morale, growth in awareness of your business, and growth in revenue.
Write a list of 5 key metrics that you’d like to measure as you implement these 10 foundation building items. By tracking these, you’ll find areas that need improvement and areas that are driving the most growth for your business.
A note on tracking: it’s important to give yourself time here, as nothing great was built overnight. Be patient enough to let the seeds that you’ve planted grow into trees.
Let’s acknowledge that running a business is difficult. Businesses fail all of the time and every win, no matter the size should be celebrated. Often, entrepreneurs can find themselves lost in the work, but nothing fuels you from stage-to-stage like the acknowledgement and gratitude for a job well done.
Take yourself to lunch, end the day early and spend time with your family. A small gesture has big impacts on your mental health, and overall wellness.
By doing this, you refuel yourself for the journey ahead. You set the example for yourself that you are still a priority even if your capital - your time, energy, talent and resources - are being poured into the business.
Are you doing these 10 things? Do any of them need to be reviewed? Schedule your appointment with me today so we can look through them together.
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In our guide you’ll learn the financial essentials for any business, marketing hacks, and the best ways to optimize your dollars.
Financial advice & investment management for California business owners
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