Your journey to Financial Freedom begins in the Crystallize Phase — the phase where you take your dreams of a successful business and turn them into a specific, actionable business plan. But establishing your vision is just the first phase of creating personal Financial Freedom. A key element of Phase One (the Crystallize Phase in our Cash Flow Cure Program) is determining your ultimate Ideal Profit Goal so you can monetize your business properly.
You find your Ideal Profit Goal by answering the following two questions:
- What is the total amount of profit you need to take out of the business to create personal Financial Freedom?
- Based on this, how much will you need to take out of your business’ profit each year?
Next, find your Business Value Goal by figuring out:
- How much will you need to sell your business to fund your Freedom Generator?
Determining these numbers is absolutely crucial to building a business that gives you personal Financial Freedom and facilitating life-changing transformations for your clients.
Getting Ahead of Yourself
Think back. When you were growing up, you probably heard adults say, “Don’t get ahead of yourself!” Throw that bit of ‘conventional wisdom’ right out the window, along with every other outdated, old-fashioned and downright BS belief about money, success and hard work.
You must get ahead of yourself if you want Financial Freedom. The journey to Financial Freedom begins at the end. If you want to get there, you must have a clear vision of your final destination, including how you’ll use your business as the acceleration tool to get you there.
When you know where you want to take your business you can develop a plan to get there. This may include product evaluation and selection, pricing, marketing and sales. These are part of what we call Phase Two: the Customize Phase.
Before you take a single step toward your end goal, you must Crystallize and Customize your business plans. Once you’ve completed these two phases, you’re ready for the critical third phase: the Monetize Phase.
Monetize Your Business
The Monetize Phase is where you implement, track and optimize your plan. This is where you put your vision and business plan into practice and actually do the work. You start to generate profits, track your growth and relentlessly check your numbers to achieve the goals set in Phase One. This is where you monetize your business.
So let’s say your business generates $100,000 in sales the first year. Sounds good, right? Maybe, maybe not. That $100,000 is gross revenue coming into the company — not money going in your pocket. Revenues don’t take business expenses into account, net profits do. Track net profit to learn how much your business is making after the bills are paid.
This is where the rubber meets the road, so grab your magnifying glass and a calculator!
Dashboards We Use:
We use seven dashboard tools to track the flow of money into, out of and within your business. This is how we monetize your business.
Financial Dashboards:
- Profit/Loss Summary (Annual/Monthly)
- Statement of Cash Flows
- Balance Sheet
- Debts/Receivables (Annual/Monthly)
Internal Dashboards:
- Magical Mix of Products (Annual/Monthly)
- Calendar Summary of each Division in the Business (Annual/Monthly)
- Influence and Media Reach (Annual/Monthly)
Don’t let this list intimidate you! In Cash Flow Cure, we show you how to use these tools.
Here’s What You Need to Do:
If you only track one thing in your business, it should be your profit. On a monthly and quarterly basis, look at your company’s finances and analyze how much you spent. That includes marketing costs, rent, taxes, utilities, staff wages, development costs, inventory purchases … everything!
After you pay your monthly expenses, is there money left over to pay yourself? Was the income enough to cover your personal monthly expenses and meet your Ideal Profit Goal? If not, you have work to do!
Remember, your personal Financial Freedom lives outside, not inside, your business.
Makaylah Rogers is the co-founder of MindShift.money. She is a Thought Leader for her generation, teaching people how to rewrite their “money rules.” With an extensive background in wealth building and personal development, Makaylah’s path has taken her into executive roles in various fields including launching startups, real estate sales and motivational keynote speaking.