Part 1 of the 4 part series covering essential steps in growing your bottom line.
In this series I talk about essential steps to not just make more money, but to keep it! Part of the series is to address business development, and how to make more money. But it’s not always about how much you make, sometimes it’s about how much you keep! In this 4 part series we’re talking about Lifestyle, Business Development, Loss Prevention, Growth & Branding.
Lifestyle
Lifestyle is easily one of the biggest factors that keep our finances from growing. This holds true for the way you run your business and your personal life. I don’t think that there is one true policy to abide by, but rather to to find balance in all things. For example, it does take spending some money to make some money, personal and business. I’ll touch on both.
Business
So we want to focus money generating activities, but the key is keep an eye on over spending. I understand that it’s important to spend money on nice clothes and vehicles, to close a real estate deal for example. Because you have to represent yourself in person as a professional, but you don’t want to spend on items that aren’t necessary. I have friends that will take clients to dinner, and spend money on taking them out for drinks etc.. That’s not necessary if it’s not your job. Let your professional services speak to your value, and spend money on only necessary items.
This can seem like a grey area, depending on what your business is, but the point I’m trying to make is to look for ways to save. Try to spend less and not blow money on anything that is not necessary to your bottom line. Also try to keep an eye on justifying your behavior, regarding what’s a necessary expense.
So look for ways to save, if it’s equipment, look for ways to refurbish and recycle. If it’s promotions, pay attention to sales analytics and only spend on what has a history of producing. If you’re spending money on salaries, make sure that they are hitting their KPIs and implementing performance reports for training. Last but not least, implement as much technology to help you keep more money. Technology and analytic tracking systems that are delivered in user-friendly reports, help you prevent loss.
Personal
This one is a little easier I think than business. Because we have a harder time justifying the money we spend, if it’s for business. In our personal life, it truly comes down to discipline, and living within your means. Robert Kiyosaki that authored Rich Dad Poor Dad, is my favorite example of how to live within your means.
For me the biggest expenses that I had was a huge house, bigger than I needed. My food expenses and entertainment expenses, oh and dating. I probably had the most unessary expenses with those areas. After tuning into Robert Kiyosaki, I downsized my house and bills. I moved into a cheap apartment to begin to save.
My priorities changed, I grew up and was no longer interested in making the most out of a Saturday night, partying and dancing with random women. I cared more about establishing stability, to build the foundation to start a family. So I began cooking more at home, and actually fell in love with cooking shows! I saved so much money cooking at home, and my lifestyle was starting to help me build a nest egg.
I started rock climbing more, and doing more outdoor sports in the mornings on my days off. I was meeting different people, that weren’t spending their evenings partying the night away and sleeping the next day. These were people that had healthy lifestyles, with hobbies and sports that were otherwise free once you got your equipment. So my personal lifestyle became healthier, and again I was saving money. I could take a date out for a climb or hike, not spend any money and make a more genuine connection.
In Summary – It’s not always what you make, but what you keep
Life has it’s ups and downs, and it’s important to not allow depression to control you. You can spend years of living within your means, and successfully save money, but have a set back. Life is always teaching us, and we have to try to learn from our mistakes. Remember that saying, “Stuck on Stupid?” Once we have some money saved, it’s important to spend it on things that make you money.
There’s only 2 ways to make money, you either work for it, or you own something that makes you money. Retirement is a subject that we will always talk about, and keep our eye on. Retirement is about owning things that make you money, and it’s a great topic of discussion.
Once you have the money, investing wisely is yet another lesson to be learned. You can work hard, live within your means, and waste $30k-$100k on a marketing campaign that didn’t work. That’s a punch in the stomach, and doesn’t feel good. I first hand, I’ve been there and done that, but it was a lesson learned.
You can try and go the safe route and buy real estate. A friend on mine owns 10 properties and retired off them, but the economy took a bad turn. He couldn’t sell his properties when he needed to, because he bought them at mid to high market prices. His long term renters couldn’t pay, and now he was stuck with 10 properties and monthly expenses.
Buying vacation rental properties does make sense, but anything can happen. Like a Corona virus, and all vacation rental income come to a crashing halt. That’s when having 5 streams of income make sense, in case one stream stops. Or living a self-sustained life by growing your own food. That’s another topic though.
Set a Free Discovery Call with me
Set a free discovery call with me, and we can talk about your business model. Besides making a friend, we may be able to figure out some lifestyle changes that could help you save more money.
If you suspect a deeper issue, causing a loss to your bottom line. Maybe organized internal theft, or inflated vendor prices, something unkown. An in person consultation or corporate analysis may be required. If you already know that you would like me to pay you a visit, you can book my time on my shopping cart here (Click to Schedule)