How Gaining Clarity Will Help Your Business Grow

In the second installment of our series on the Cash Flow Cure Phases, we’re taking a Deep Dive into the Crystallize Phase. You can find the first article in this series here.

There’s a good reason we put the Crystallize Phase at the beginning of Cash Flow Cure. We structured the business finance program this way so your business starts out with both a solid foundation and a clear direction. That means you achieve personal Financial Freedom as quickly as possible.

As French author Antoine de Saint–Exupéry said, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” Now is the time to stop wishing for Financial Freedom. So let’s get crystal clear on where your business is headed, what it will take to get there and where you’re starting from on your path to Freedom.

Reaching The Right Goals

Your goals will be different depending on what type of business you’re building. In a Profit Business, the focus is on keeping costs as low as possible so you can turn a profit quickly. If you want a Legacy Business, your biggest concern is building a business someone will buy, even if that means generating low to no profits initially.

Whether you have a Profit or Legacy Business, the most important goals are your Profit Goals. These will help you determine how much you need to earn to cover both your Baseline Number and your Freedom Number.

Remember, personal Financial Freedom is the main goal of business owners. All other goals you set for your business are designed to create and support using your business to accelerate that Freedom.

How Long Will Freedom Take?

Once you’ve gotten crystal clear about your Profit Goals, you need the same clarity around timing. Will achieving your goals take a five year minimum with a 15-year maximum time limit? Or do you want to get there in ten years?

Your type of business will influence the timeline. In general, Profit Business owners will have shorter timelines than Legacy Business Owners. In a Profit Business, your goal is to take out profits along the way to fund your Freedom Generator on your way to Personal Financial Freedom. As a Legacy Business Owner, your focus will be on reinvesting profits in order to build a sellable business that will fund your Freedom at the time of sale.

Whatever business model you choose, set a clear goal for the maximum amount of time to achieve your Profit Goal. To reach your Profit Goals within a reasonable amount of time, you need a deadline. Because hitting a target is nearly impossible if you can’t see it.

Let’s Get Real

Now you know your Profit Goals, and you’ve given yourself a time limit to achieve these goals. You’re on your way to clarity! But you need to take an honest look at your starting point. Where are you in your business and personal financial life? How far off are you from where you need to be?

These questions will take some reflection to answer. As you’re moving through this module in Cash Flow Cure, answer honestly, and don’t waste time playing it safe. Stop being willfully ignorant about your financial situation. You and you alone have the power to transform your financial situation and live the life of Financial Freedom you’ve dreamed of. But you can’t do that if you won’t get real.

Give yourself the space to confront the obstacles you need to overcome to achieve Financial Freedom. Let that reality inspire you to make lasting change, so you achieve the Freedom you deserve.

Crystallize Your Business Vision

In the same way you wouldn’t start a road trip without GPS, you have to know where your business is going. If your goals don’t have timelines for expected outcomes, how will you know when you’ve succeeded? How will you know if you’ve hit your target if you don’t know where the target is located?

By taking the time now to Crystallize your plan for your business, you’re setting yourself up to hit your personal Financial Freedom target as quickly as possible. You’ll understand where you’re starting from and exactly what you need to do to get there. In fact, the goals and timelines you create now will continue to guide your business decisions going forward. The choices you make will either bring your closer to or farther away from your goals.

Achieving Personal Financial Freedom through your business may not be easy. But the journey is more enjoyable when you know where you’re going.

Community Question: How do you envision completing the Crystallize Phase of Cash Flow Cure will help your business grow? Share your vision in the Business Owner’s Only Facebook Group!

 

image credit: Bigstock/EzumeImages

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