When business owners are asked why they started or bought their own business, an overwhelming majority respond that they did it to get freedom – more particularly, time and money freedom. When asked how they are doing with this, most admit to feeling trapped with very little free time and no sight of the piles of money they dreamt of. Why is this? We believe it is because they are not building their business the right way.

Let’s explore the notion of Time & Money Freedom and provide a few tips on how to achieve this:

Time Freedom

This means you don’t need to be at work every minute of every day to keep things going. You have the freedom to take holidays and long weekends away whilst the business still continues to operate without you present. You can take time off to watch your children’s sports days and school concerts. You get home at a reasonable hour each day, spend quality time with your family and get a good night’s sleep. You also have time to exercise regularly, do activities and hobbies that interest you and enjoy your life.

Money Freedom

Money freedom means that you have good cash flow in your business as well as reserves for the unimaginable (think 2020). You don’t lie awake at night wondering how you are going to make payroll this month. You are saving a good portion of your income towards retirement and have a solid plan that will see you become financially free in the future (financially free = passive income from assets and investments exceeds your monthly living costs). You can enjoy the finer things in life – after all you have worked extremely hard, put in blood, sweat and tears and now deserve to really enjoy your life. Money certainly does not buy you happiness, it does however buy you moments of happiness. Most importantly money gives you choices and options.

If you can’t relate to a number of the examples mentioned above, then you are probably not building your business the right way. Make no mistake, when you first start out you are going to have no time and probably not a lot of money but the longer your business is around and the more experienced you become as a business owner, the better things should get.

Here are some of our top tips to achieving these levels of freedom:

Time Tips

• Plan your week in advance at the beginning of each week.
• Be extremely disciplined and constantly prioritise and re-prioritise. Remember, some things are just more important than others.
• Employ the right people to join your team and make your expectations crystal clear in the form of KPI’s.
• Hold your team accountable to their deliverables and ensure you are documenting all the systems (processes and procedures) in your business so that you have a fully systemised business.
• Empower your team by delegating responsibilities to them and learn to let go. Don’t be a control freak or micro manage your team members as this will prevent you from ever having time freedom.
• Constantly teach, coach, manage and lead your team so that ultimately the business can work without you.

Money Tips

• Have a very clear understanding of the numbers in your business (targets, breakeven, margins etc.)
• Ensure you master the marketing in your business as effective marketing is the key to business growth and success.
• Pay yourself a market-related salary as soon as possible (the salary you would earn based on your skills and value if you worked for somebody else).
• As you start to grow your profitability, save a minimum of two months expenses as a contingency and then start to commit to monthly savings. Don’t get tempted to buy ‘toys’ that don’t grow in value until you have saved in accordance with your plan.
• Make sure you have a solid wealth plan that will lead you to financial freedom.

Our Offer to you

A Complimentary Business Self-Assessment. Email darrynlegrange@actioncoach.com and we will send you the self-assessment document that will enable you to assess where your business currently is.