Are you a small business owner and looking to grow your business, but wondering how you’re going to retire one day?
If that sounds like you, stick around because today we’re going to talk about how you could continue to fund the growth of your business and still save for the future.
As small business owners, everyone knows that the number one issue is often cash flow. There are constant demands on our cash flow and the question of how do we manage everything?
Think of it this way. There are several types of cash flow to pay attention to.
Cash flow needed to operate your business.
Cash flow needed to reinvest in your business.
Cash flow needed to grow your business.
Cash flow needed to support your family.
With all of these demands on your cash flow. Every single day, it becomes incumbent upon you, the business owner, to make your money and your cash flow as efficient as possible so you can manage all of these demands.
The first step in making any change, is to acknowledge that there may be a better way out there and to be open to hearing about it.
Whenever we sit down with a business owner and it comes to the recommendation of doing a cash flow analysis.
They all say unequivocally, “Well, I’m using my cash flow properly,” or their CFO will say, “Well, we’ve already done this. We’re using our cash flow efficiently.” Or their accounting firm will say, “Well, you know, we’ve done the analysis. They’re using their cash flow efficiently.”
I’m here to tell you, you’re probably not using it as efficiently as you possibly can.
What does it mean to make your cash flow efficient?
Well, first of all, we like to get $1 to do the job of many dollars. And we like to make sure that the cash flow is working as hard as possible for you, not for the banks, not for other institutions, but for you, your business, and your family. So getting $1 to do the job of many dollars, we call that multi-duty dollars.
How do we get $1 to do multiple jobs?
The first step is to identify dollars that can be working harder for you. We usually find that in how you’re making major capital purchases and how you’re financing your debt. It’s not what you buy, it’s how you pay for it that really matters. That’s where efficiency can come in.
Recently we worked with a retail operation and they said they were using their money efficiently. The problem was they needed over $300,000 to fund their buy-sell agreement. The question was, where in the world were they going to find $300,000 to do that?
Well, we looked at how they were making major purchases and we looked at how they were handling their debt. Lo and behold, we found over $400,000. They were completely blown away. But again, it’s not what you buy, it’s how you pay for it that matters. So basically, we took the dollars that they were utilizing to pay off their debt and we converted it to create an asset that they can use to fund their buy-sell agreement.
So think about it.
We got $1 that was used for debt and we made it $2 by not only paying off their debt but also creating the asset that they needed to fund their buy-sell agreement. Multi-duty dollars. The same principle of converting liabilities into assets can be utilized for funding your own retirement or major capital purchases for your family, like sending your kids to college, or financing major purchases for your business, like equipment or vehicles for your business.
Also, you could use it to expand your business so you don’t have to choose.
“Hey, I need to get out of debt as soon as possible. Let me put all my extra cash flow towards this goal.” You can achieve that goal, but also save along the way to achieve your own financial goals and put you in a more secure financial position.
So here’s the point. Over 35 years ago, I began working with a young couple who happen to be business owners, and I said, you know, let’s set up some life insurance that you can utilize along the way. Basically, this will be your exit strategy. You can borrow against the money for whatever you want between now and the time you retire. But then, when you retire, you can live off the growth of that policy. And sure enough, that’s what they did over the years. They borrowed against their policy to grow their business, expand their building, buy equipment and buy cars. They used it to educate their children, but they always borrowed and put it back.
Now, they recently sold their business. They came into a huge windfall and they’re getting all this advice to tie up their money to prevent themselves from having to pay taxes. But, because of all the work that we did, their legacy is intact and consequently, they can use the proceeds from the sale of their business to fund their retirement instead of their life insurance, and all of that money is now going to be utilized for legacy purposes for their children and grandchildren.
The point is we got $1 to do multiple jobs over a 35-year period, and it gave them the flexibility to do the things that they want to do for their children and grandchildren.
If you’re tired of giving away control of your cash flow, and you’re looking for a cash flow analysis. Feel free to hop on our website at Tier1Capital.com to schedule your free strategy session today.
Also, if you’d like to learn more about how our process works for families and business owners, check out our free web course, the Four Steps to Financial Freedom. It’s right on our website.
And remember, it’s not how much money you make, it’s how much money you keep that really matters.
