Every day in the Business Owners Only Community at MindShift.money, we talk to entrepreneurs who have fallen into the soul-crushing Business Owner’s Trap.
All these entrepreneurs have one thing in common. Let’s use Sally as an example. Sally wanted Freedom from the 9 to 5 grind, the unreasonable bosses and the endless drudgery of her corporate job. She wanted the Freedom to work how and when she wanted, and most importantly, she wanted control over her own life. Her dream was to start her own business—one that would someday operate without her. She believed in herself, and she took the leap.
But after two or three years of hard work and sacrifice, Sally took a good look at her life and realized she wasn’t really Free. She was a one-woman army, inseparable from her business. Without even noticing, her business had become a job. Her dreams of Financial Freedom, fulfillment and success were still just that: dreams.
That’s not what she set out to do, so how did she end up in the Business Owner’s Trap? More importantly, how does she escape?
Avoiding the Business Owner’s Trap
Your goal is to serve your clients while also accelerating your own growth toward Personal Financial Freedom outside your business. Any other approach lands you squarely in the Business Owner’s Trap with no way out.
To reach that goal, you need an operational structure that ensures efficiency, growth and effective bottom-line results. We talk about how to do this in Phase Three of our Cash Flow Cure Program.
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Implementing, Tracking and Optimizing
In Phase One of Cash Flow Cure (the Crystallize Phase), you set the goals for your business and turned those goals into a detailed business plan. You determined two key numbers: your Ideal Profit Goal or your Ideal Business Value Goal.
In Phase Two (the Customize Phase) you defined the precise elements of your business that set you apart from other businesses. You chose the product(s), the ideal pricing and the marketing plan to govern your day-to-day operations.
Phase Three (the Monetize Phase) is the make-or-break phase. This is where your dreams, goals and plans are put into practice. You’ll create a company that will either provide you with passive income to fund your Personal Financial Freedom or one that grows to the point where you sell it for your ideal lump sum of cash.
Navigating the Monetize Phase
When the Monetize Phase is implemented correctly and consistently, your goals are quickly within reach. In this phase, your motto is, “Monitor, measure and track your numbers relentlessly.” You do this with seven Dashboard Tools that track the flow of money into, out of and within your business.
Thinking about this now, you may feel overwhelmed. But when you see the steps broken down and laid out in the Cash Flow Cure program, you’ll understand what and how to put the right dashboards in place. Collecting data and tracking your numbers will be straightforward.
The Most Important Number
When tracking your data, the most important monthly and quarterly number is your net profit. On a monthly and quarterly basis, analyze how much you spent. Collect all your expenses including ads, rent, taxes, utilities, staff costs and inventory. Everything you spent throughout the month.
When you look at the resulting report, was there money left at the end of the month to pay yourself? Was it enough to cover your living expenses and meet your monthly Ideal Profit Goal? Remember, you want to build your business to the point where you achieve Personal Financial Freedom outside your business.
If you haven’t downloaded our free book, The Truth: The Real Secret to Building a Business That Sets You Free, do that today. You’ll get the information you need to navigate the Monetize Phase and avoid the Business Owner’s Trap.
image credit: Bigstock/PsychoShadow
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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.