Entrepreneurs think about money all the time. Even if they tell you that they don’t, they do. They have to.
Business runs on dollars. Life costs money. What they really mean is that they don’t worry about money – successful entrepreneurs, that is.
Those just starting out or trying to grow their businesses are certainly thinking about money all the time. And that’s not a bad thing.
Money makes the world go around and you need it to keep your business afloat, pay your employees and yourself, and afford the life you want while creating value in the world.
How do you get to the point where you can think about money without worrying about it?
If you stress about money and wonder how you’ll be able to find the success you want, read on.
There are many ways to build wealth in your life and business, but it all starts with the belief that it is possible.
1. Take stock
The first step in building wealth in your life and business is to take stock of where you are now and determine where you want to be.
If your business currently makes $100,000 per year, determine how much of that is being saved and reinvested back in the business to help it grow.
If you don’t spend any money on the growth of your business, it won’t grow.
Yes, content marketing and organic growth are possible options, but building wealth requires the trust that any dollar you put into your business will come back to you.
Taking stock of your existing situation means getting real about the numbers.
Many entrepreneurs don’t like to look at the numbers because then their fun business starts to feel like work. But it’s part of the process and being wealthy means having a handle on your finances. If you ignore the money, it will ignore you.
Once you know where the money stands, you can begin to make decisions about how you can reallocate some of that money.
You need to be saving for two things: now and later. That means you need some money in the bank to float your business during operations and you need money in the bank for when times are tough.
You also need money in the bank for when you want to call it quits some day.
The word retirement is becoming a thing of the past, but smart entrepreneurs who want to be wealthy are still investing in themselves for the future by putting sums of money away.
Whether you decide to invest in a retirement savings plan or real estate, do something with your money so you know it will be there when you need it.
It’s also important to make sure you have a pot of money to invest in yourself, your professional and personal development.
It’s a good idea to have some money set aside for when you want to take a class or a workshop or attend an expensive seminar.
This money is not just spent on a whim but spent so that you can better yourself and your position.
Education is an important part of the entrepreneurial experience and if you aren’t investing money in yourself, you can’t hope to grow beyond capacity and expand your business to bring in even more money.
There are skills we can all use, knowing more is one of them.
2. Make your money work for you
After taking stock of where you are, you need to decide where you want to be.
A lot of entrepreneurs are fearful about choosing a target to work toward because they worry that they won’t make it or that they’ll fall short.
It’s hard to plan to spend money you don’t yet have. But that’s why it’s important to figure out where you want to go.
Once you have a target in mind, you can begin brainstorming ways to move forward.
Money remains an important part of the growth process because as much as we’d hate to admit it, it really does take money to make money.
You need to continually invest in yourself and your business to see a return on your investment.
Making your money work for you is about making smart decisions.
If you invest $10,000 in a marketing campaign that flops, it’s not that it was a waste of money, but that you aren’t seeing the opportunities to learn from the experience.
Entrepreneurship is all about learning and most of your time is going to be spent making mistakes, some of them costly if you don’t have the right perspective.
If you lost money on an investment, it doesn’t make it a bad investment. It just means that’s not the way you were going to make more money.
Getting some outside advice on how to put together a proper marketing campaign might be a better use of your time and money and provide you with more information to learn and grow from.
Each time you see a return on your investment, take some of that return and reinvest it in yourself and your business.
3. You are your biggest asset
As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day responsibilities of running a business, but the best way to see a return on your hard-earned money is to reinvest it back into yourself.
The more you know and the more you are confident in your abilities to run your own business, the further you will be able to take it.
Remember that you are the biggest asset your company has and see how you can create opportunities for you and your business at every turn.
Wealth isn’t just about money, it’s about a feeling, a belief that you can develop systems and strategies for getting what you want.
It’s about confidence in yourself and what you have to offer.
Wealth means something different to everyone, so before you set out to make your millions, decide what the term, “wealth” means to you and what a wealthy life would look like for yourself and your business.
It doesn’t have to be millions of dollars. It might be just the comfort and confidence to know you can take a break if you need to, or you can sign up for a conference and travel for a few days without your business falling apart.
Get clear on what you want, invest money in yourself and your business, and understand what the wealth goal is for you and you’ll be on your way to creating wealth in your life now and in the future.
John Packham writes about business and entrepreneurship.
