The vast majority of business owners I know don’t want to bury their heads in Spreadsheets, Profit and Loss Statements, and Balance Sheets every day. Or even at all.
Yes, it’s important to know some key financial numbers when you own a business. Having objective data that answers our financial questions and helps us make good decisions is more than just helpful, it is crucial to long term business success. But if you are like me (and I like numbers), you don’t want to live your life by the numbers.
The financial plan for your business needs to answer your “Why?” and serve you, not be your boss.
Why did you start your business? What do you hope to accomplish by owning your own company? How do you want to spend your time and energy? What do you want to use your money to enjoy?
Answering questions like these, and then creating a business financial plan around the answers is ultimately why Fit For Profit exists.
My goals for Get Fit NH, the personal training company we sold last year in a seven-figure deal, were very modest when we first started out in the first decade of the 21st century.
I just wanted to find a way to work myself out of a job I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in, and find a viable business model to do what I wanted to do and enjoyed doing; helping people lose weight, get in shape, and feel better.
What we were doing worked, and we started growing outside of my capacity to serve my clients by myself. As I started to hire trainers who had the same mission and passion I did, my goals changed. I saw an industry that was churning through people, good people, at a crazy rate because they had no career path. In our area it wasn’t uncommon for a trainer to work at 2 or 3 different gyms, because that was the only way they could make it work financially. Benefits were non-existent.
My new goal become to provide the coaches that worked for me a viable career; a good salaried position, health care benefits and retirement. And there is a practical side to all this as well, of course. Happier employees stay longer, and employee turnover is a killer to any business.
My question became “How can we as a company make all that happen, continue to be profitable, and still support my personal financial goals as the owner?”
The answer was to create a business financial plan, and support it with a cash management system and strategy that allowed us to incrementally accomplish every one of those goals.
It didn’t happen overnight. It took several years until the entire full-time team was on salary, we added a 401k, and finally company sponsored health insurance. All while maintaining profit margins and paying ourselves a market based wage.
That story is not to brag or tell you how great I or my company are. The reality is I could not have done it alone, or without a system that had the configurability and flexibility to support those goals.
Your story is no doubt different, and that should excite you.
Like the gym owner who wanted to take his entire team to the Arnold Classic every year.
And the business owner dad who was getting crushed by tens of thousands in debt, but still wanted to take his family to Disney World.
They both created a plan that worked for them, and both made those things happen.
The point is to create a strategy that makes your story possible, by wisely allocating current resources, creating a sound plan for growth, and preparing for your future and the future of your business.
So you can have a business that means something to you.
And enjoy the freedom that comes with being a successful entrepreneur, no matter what your definition of that is.
Without having to live with your head buried in a spreadsheet all the time.
If you want to get started with a plan like that, I’d like to invite you to reach out. Get in touch with me here, and let’s talk about what you want to accomplish with your business. If you have questions, I’m here to answer.
To your best success,
Dean