As a small business owner, chances are you got into business because you wanted to control your own destiny. And to a degree, you may feel like you do. But over time, you start to realize something different. Your customers have influence. Your employees have influence. And the banks certainly have influence.
So the question becomes: what can you actually control? One of the most important concepts we emphasize is control—specifically, control of your financial function. While it’s true that you cannot control everything, gaining control over how your money flows in and out of your business and personal life can be a complete game changer. Why does this matter so much? Because lack of control over finances is one of the biggest sources of stress for business owners. According to a recent Intuit survey, 64% of small business owners struggle with cash flow issues, and 69% report losing sleep due to those concerns. That’s significant. But here’s the surprising part. After decades of working with business owners, we’ve found that most cash flow problems are self-inflicted. It comes down to how money is being used—how it flows into the business and how it’s allocated every month.
The real question is this: are you building a pool of capital that you own and control? Or are you constantly cycling money through your business without ever retaining access to it? Let’s look at a real example. We worked with a business owner who absolutely hated paying interest. Because of that, they paid cash for nearly everything. They would carry credit card balances between $50,000 and $100,000 for operating expenses, but they made it a priority to pay off those balances in full every single month to avoid interest charges.
On the surface, that sounds like a smart financial move. But in reality, it created constant stress. Every month, the business had to scramble to generate enough cash to pay off the credit cards before interest was applied. That pressure trickled down through the entire organization, creating anxiety for both leadership and employees. So while they were avoiding interest, they were sacrificing control. Now let’s look at an alternative approach. Instead of focusing solely on eliminating interest, what if they restructured their finances to do two things at once?
First, accept that using other people’s money comes with a cost. Paying some interest is simply the price of leverage. Second, use that leverage to simultaneously build a pool of capital that they own and control. This is exactly what we helped them implement. We had them set aside just 5% of every dollar that came into the business into a separate account. Over the course of one year, they accumulated $350,000. Now let’s look at the tradeoff. During that same year, they carried credit card balances and paid approximately $22,000 in interest. So the question we asked was simple: was $22,000 worth having access to $350,000? The answer was obvious. It completely changed their financial position.
The president of the company even compared it to a marketing investment. If they had spent $22,000 on marketing and generated $350,000 in revenue, they would consider that a success. That’s how powerful this shift can be. By making small adjustments to how money flows through your business—what we call the financial golf swing—you can dramatically change your outcomes. And the benefits don’t stop there. Once they built that $350,000 pool of capital, they were no longer dependent on high-interest credit cards. They could use their own money more efficiently. Instead of paying 18% interest, they could access their own capital at a much lower effective cost. Even better, that pool of money continues to grow. As they continue setting aside funds each year, the capital compounds and becomes a long-term asset. It can eventually serve as a source of retirement income, a buyout strategy, or a financial safety net for the business. And when structured properly using cash value life insurance, this strategy becomes even more powerful.
You gain guaranteed access to capital through policy loans. You control how and when that money is repaid. And all the while, the underlying pool of money continues to grow through interest and dividends. This creates a system where you are no longer dependent on banks or external financing. You are in control. And ultimately, that is the goal. Because when you control the financial function, you reduce stress, increase flexibility, and put yourself in a position to grow—regardless of what’s happening in the economy.
If you would like to learn how to implement this strategy for your business, your family, and your future, you can explore it further by visiting our website www.tier1capital.com and click the “Schedule Your Free Strategy Session” today.
Thanks for reading, and remember it’s not how much money you make, it’s how much money you keep that really matters.