Great business owners need to have a clear focus on their Bank Balance. When I talk about a clear focus on Bank Balance, it is more than just how much money is in your business bank account. It is about understanding how financial structuring improves your knowledge of how the business is performing and how that benefits your future. You work hard and have made many sacrifices for your business and deserve a Powerful Financial Firewall protecting your investment, but if you can’t easily understand how your business is performing with a quick glance at your banking app, then you’ll want to keep reading because this is a key component in the Show Me The Profit® system.
The Bank Balance for your business is most likely one of the first things you check in the morning…you might even check it before you do anything else, like make your coffee in the morning. Yes, making a big pot of coffee is the very first thing I do in the morning. Anyway, checking your banking app in the morning is fantastic! It’s a great habit to have and one that should provide you with a wealth of information immediately without having to read your financial statements and cash flow analysis. You should be able to view your Bank Balance and know exactly where you stand.
What if you are driving millions of dollars (or millions of millions) through the account? You might even have a CFO that manages your business’s financials. What could be better than the CFO you spend a small fortune on to run your business finances? If that’s your situation you might be thinking it shouldn’t matter to you. Well, I am here to tell you that you’re wrong. It does matter and it should matter to you. Why would you entrust your Wealth Engine, aka your business and thus your personal financial prosperity, to someone else? The beauty of the Bank Balance is that it works for every size of business…no matter how large or how small.
Let’s get started on breaking down the importance of your Bank Balance and how cash either has power, or it doesn’t.
Do you remember when you closed your biggest deal, and your bank account was flush with cash…that was such a good feeling! You had validation and you had confidence. We will talk more about confidence later but first, let’s focus on Bank Balance stability and why the money never works out the way you expect it to in your business.
Simply put the reason is due to the stage of stability you have in your Bank Balance.
STAGES OF BANK BALANCE STABILITY
Cash Powerless – Business owners in this stage have no clue of their Bank Balance, which shows up as the lack of cash in the business. This lack of cash disempowers the owners, and consequently, they are in crisis mode. Their cash position is a liability for the business.
(Tip: Having one bank account is indicative of being cash powerless.)
Cash Volatility – Business owners in this stage experience wild swings in their Bank Balance, which shows up as an emotional roller coaster. The lows threaten to end the business from lack of cash flow and the highs are witnessed by overspending when they should be saving. Business owners here have a fundamental misunderstanding of the importance of the Bank Balance and what it takes to make money in the business, which only leads to further volatility.
Cash Instability – While most businesses find themselves in the Cash Volatility stage, a few make it over the hump into Cash Instability. The good thing about this stage is the swings aren’t as low or high, but unfortunately, it is still not stable and there is no predictability in this stage because even though it’s better, there are still swings. As a business owner having been in this stage, I can attest that this stage is so frustrating, but I also learned that being Cash Powerful is amazing and attainable for everyone.
Cash Powerful – Your goal is to get to this stage! Very few business owners ever get to the point where cash is a genuine lever for their business. Where there is no unpredictability in your cash, only certainty. This is the place where you know for certain where you stand by looking at your banking app. In this stage, cash has power, and you are completely in control and know exactly where your business stands without having to review a cash flow statement or schedule a meeting to review financials.
A properly executed Bank Balance drives confidence. Being Cash Powerful means having the knowledge and confidence to make decisions for your business, and in turn your wealth and family. How confident are you in your business financials for last year when it is June, and you are still waiting for them? When it takes an enormous amount of time to determine how the business has performed you cannot be confident or Cash Powerful.
What if you want to buy that dream house in the mountains (or the beach, if you prefer)? Do you have all your bases covered? Cash Powerful Bank Balance stability means you know you have your bases covered and you’ve been planning this purchase – and it’s most likely been in your GAME PLAN for some time. Information is power and if you don’t have the information you need at your fingertips – it can be a deciding factor on whether you move forward or back out.
Worst yet, would be to move forward on a new property without the confidence that you are ready and able to handle the liability and have all your other financial responsibilities covered, and believe me when I say, “We see it all the time.” Unfortunately, CPAs are sometimes the last to know. All sorts of issues can come up and the last thing we want you to face is being short with Uncle Sam and having them place a lien on your new vacation home. Sounds like Cash Volatility or Cash Instability to me.
Great business owners don’t act on blind faith or a hunch. Instead, they are number-oriented, fact-based decision-makers, and they are Cash Powerful.
Unfortunately, most business owners, I’d say 80 percent or more, are watching their Bank Balance, but are either Cash Powerless or at best experiencing Cash Instability or somewhere in between. Wouldn’t you love to wake up every morning, open your banking app, and realize that your Bank Balance has become Cash Powerful? How would it change your business if you could be in this position? Our clients can answer this question and you can too, and confidence is a big part of the answer.
When I talk about the wealth of information that you should gather by opening your banking app, I mean you should be able immediately to see how you are tracking towards your goals.
· Is it time to give yourself a raise?
· Do you have the ability to give a raise to your team?
· How much profit you have set aside for your GAME PLAN that is completely unencumbered money?
· How much you have saved towards your tax obligation? And yes, you should have a pretty good idea of how much your taxes are for the current year.
· How is your operating budget doing compared to your projection?
We help great business owners set up a system to organize and separate their profit so they can see it. Most business owners have their profit comingled with their operating funds. Income taxes are paid from the profit of the business. Most business owners are afraid to find out how much money they are going to owe the IRS for their taxes and put it off until the last minute – basically 9-10 months past when they are due. (Taxes are due throughout the current year – not when the tax return is due!) This is just throwing money towards penalties and interest and a complete waste!
We take a different approach; we take the guesswork out of tax time and proactively estimate your taxes throughout the year. We track how the business is performing and how much you need to be paying in on your estimated taxes throughout the year because information is power. If you have advanced preparation of your tax position before the year is over, aka power, you will be more able to fine-tune your tax planning before the year-end and save real money.
Our clients don’t like to admit it, but they enthusiastically look forward to tax time so that they can make decisions before the year is over so they can keep more of what they make. How awesome it is when you don’t have to pay all your tax savings account out to taxes and you can decide to put those extra dollars towards the down payment of the mountain property you’ve been dreaming of for so long. (Yes, that really does happen!)
Our clients enthusiastically look forward to checking their Bank Balances every morning because it’s a game changer on my Show Me The Profit® system.
It is worth mentioning here how amazing it is to experience what happens once you become Cash Powerful. When you become confident because you are Cash Powerful, and you can finally have a solid sense of security, your brain lets go of the stress associated with all the other stages of cash stability. This release from worry allows you to become more creative and positive and enthusiastic about your business, your personal life, your goals, and your aspirations. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, it is.
When I look at my bank balance, I am Cash Powerful, and you can be too.
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