Is Financial Freedom in Business Possible?

The relationship between business owners and money is a complex one. You need money to make your passion come to life, but if passion is your only motivation to put in a full day’s work, it can be hard to get the cash flow you need to make your dreams a reality.

As part of your vision for your business, you also need a structured way to make it not just financially stable, but profitable too.

When you have consistent profits coming in you can reinvest in your business, increase your reach and have a bigger impact.

Unlike big business owners, hunting luxury cars and dream mansions, small business owners usually have a more heartfelt goal in mind. To change people’s lives. Marketing and sales tend to take a backseat with a focus on building friendships with like-minded people and growing a network.

Often when I dig deeper in my business coaching sessions I find there is an underlying mindset there as well.  Things like:

• Money is the root of all evil
• Money equals greed
• Wanting more money is selfish
• Money doesn’t buy happiness
• Saving money is hard work
• Even the belief that they don’t deserve more than they currently have.

It’s interesting how these mindsets can play out in business. Even if money comes in, it can often be lost again just as quickly.

It’s okay to have a mindset around making money and being rich, because money in the right hands can change people’s lives too.

Why is money important in Business?

Even if your aim in business isn’t to make money, you need to accept that if you have a great product or experience on offer, it’s going to be in high demand and turn a profit. Knowing how to handle a sudden growth in your business gives you more control over where the funds go and what impact they have.

On the flip side, if you don’t make money, your business will fail. That means you won’t have the chance to do what you set out to do as a business owner. I’ve seen situations with clients who are in incredible debt putting in 70 hours or more work a week only to get further into debt. If your mindset is to run away from money, you are really going to struggle to get your business going.

Negative thoughts about money will decide the actions you take and the results you get.

When you don’t value money it will hurt your business efforts, yes, but it will also hurt you. There is a pretty strong link between valuing monetary wealth and valuing your own wealth as well as your financial well-being.

It’s true that you don’t need to have a lot of money to be successful. There are plenty of other ways to measure success that don’t involve dollar signs. That said, there are a lot of things that money can do, and a lot of ways that having an abundance of money can help fund your other passions and goals, including valuing how important you are and getting the help you need to have personal strength and health.

More money into your business means you can:

• Host events
• Adapt your offer to a wider group of people
• Help people who have been overlooked by big markets
• Employ more staff
• Set up in additional locations
• Pay for keynote speakers
• Consult with experts
• Fundraisers and charity opportunities

There are even more ways money can grow your goals that will be specific to your passion and what you are trying to achieve. Think about how far you can go even with just an extra $500,000 to a million dollars.

How can I rewire my mindset to love making money?

What you want is for money to be a higher value in your business. Not your highest value, your passion needs to come first, but money needs to be high up enough to bring in enough cash to make your business the biggest and best it can be.

Money will help your vision become a reality and provide sustainability for future success.

Money is something we learn about early in life. Long before we have a business idea or set out on the path of business ownership, we are taught about money. We learn from our parents, grandparents, school teachers, siblings, movies and books by filing away comments and observing interactions. There are plenty of characters who are rich and evil, and plenty of times parents tell their kids, “Money doesn’t grow on trees”.

We also absorb early experiences with birthday gifts, pocket money and purchasing toys and lollies as lessons on what money is and if our relationship is positive or negative. These small, long-ago events have created pathways of “how-to” in our mental networks that we follow unwittingly. 

Think about it. Do you really want your five-year-old self making your business financial decisions?

Luckily you can rewire your mindset as an adult to have a more powerful and rewarding money relationship by reassessing money values with these four steps:

#1. Identify

Identify what’s holding you back. This is about going deeper than the symptoms of not being able to save, or not being able to ask for sales and asking “why not?”. The event you find is most likely from your childhood and may even be small. As insignificant as it might appear this has been a big part of shaping how you feel about money as an adult.

#2. Reword

You made your decision around money as a child, now it’s time to have another look at the situation as an adult. The circumstances surrounding the event probably look very different looking back. This is a great opportunity to reword the negative lessons you took on and find positive lessons instead. 

Look at the big-picture scenario and make new decisions about what occurred. Let’s say when you were a kid you had five bucks and you were excited about spending it. When you get to the shops the money is gone. It must have fallen out of your pocket. As a kid, you were devastated and heartbroken. As an adult, you can see that five bucks can be easily replaced. You can also take on the lesson to take better care of money to ensure it gets to its destination safely.

Instead of the belief that money is evil, you can replace it with the belief that you can do more with more money. 

#3. Visualise

Now that you have a new mindset it’s time to reset your vision for your business. What’s the new goal now that you have access to more money? Make sure your goals are all SMART. Once you define the big goal, put actions in place for how to achieve this by marking out what you need to achieve in 3 months, six months and nine months’ time. These milestones will give you daily or weekly action steps you can complete.

See my previous blog to understand why a five year vision is the best timeframe for 1st time small businesses.

#4. Drive

With your roadmap chartered it’s time to get behind the wheel and drive your business to success. All you need to do is check off the milestones you have mapped out on the route to each goal’s completion. This will be the part where your old values and money beliefs might show up and pull you back. When you identify and re-word your negative beliefs correctly you will have buried the hatchet on them for good. If something has been missed you might still have doubts about your own value or blocks when receiving or asking for money. Go back to step one and start again. It might be that there is some earlier lesson you need to reword or that there is another situation that goes hand in hand that needs your attention.

How long do you need to be in business to create financial freedom?

There is this idea that financial freedom comes with retirement and old age. Not so. When you run your business correctly you can have financial freedom in just a few years.

As a start up you will be doing most of the work yourself and putting in more hours but that’s only to get some traction. You don’t need to be doing 60+ hours a week to make money or get your work done.

As you progress and earn more money you will have the ability to turn over larger tasks to your team to handle and step back from running the daily tasks of your business.

A big mistake small business owners make is failing to hire staff early on. As soon as you can afford to, being in people to reduce your workload. Ideally, you want to employ people who have more experience than you, so you can get the benefit of their skills. That might not be realistic off the bat, in which case aim to employ people who have the same work values as you and who are willing to learn and grow with your business. 

With the right mindset and a focus on personal growth you can:

• Build a business that’s scalable
• Achieve genuine wealth
• Grow a business that doesn’t need your undivided attention
• Become a leader for your team and also your industry

What I love about business wealth is that it’s continuous. As long as you are willing to do the work personally and break through limiting mindsets you can continue to push forward and make more money and impact more lives. Each step of the way you need to remember to go back and reset your vision every time you realign your values.

If you are ready to start enjoying the life you want right now, book a call and let’s get you on the road to financial freedom.

Is Financial Freedom in Business Possible? – FAQs

Q: Is it possible to become financially free?

A: Yes, it is possible to become financially free. Financial freedom refers to the ability to cover your living expenses without relying on a paycheck or a job. It allows you to have more control over your time and choices, as you can pursue your passions, hobbies, or interests without worrying about how to make ends meet. However, achieving financial freedom requires discipline, patience, and a plan that aligns with your values and goals.

Q: Why is it important to achieve financial freedom?

A: Achieving financial freedom is important because it gives you peace of mind, reduces stress, and allows you to pursue your dreams. Financial freedom means that you have enough savings, investments, and passive income streams to cover your expenses and handle emergencies. It also means that you can afford to take risks, invest in your education, start a business, or travel the world without worrying about money. Financial freedom provides you with options, choices, and a sense of security that can enhance your overall well-being.

Q: Is financial freedom real?

A: Yes, financial freedom is a real concept that many people have achieved through different paths. Financial freedom is not a one-size-fits-all solution, as it depends on your lifestyle, goals, and circumstances. However, financial freedom is achievable by anyone who is willing to learn, save, invest, and manage their money wisely. It requires a mindset shift from a consumption-driven lifestyle to a value-driven lifestyle, where you focus on what truly matters to you and align your spending, saving, and investing habits with your priorities.

Q: How do you achieve true financial freedom?

A: Achieving true financial freedom requires a comprehensive approach that involves several steps, such as creating a budget, reducing debt, saving money, investing in assets, and building passive income streams. Here are some tips on how to achieve true financial freedom:

• Define your goals and values
• Create a budget and stick to it
• Reduce debt and avoid new debt
• Save at least 10-20% of your income
• Invest in assets that appreciate over time
• Diversify your investments and minimize risks
• Build passive income streams that generate cash flow
• Continuously learn and improve your financial skills
• Surround yourself with supportive and knowledgeable people
• Stay disciplined, patient, and persistent in your journey towards financial freedom.

Q: How financial freedom is more important than wealth?

A: Financial freedom is more important than wealth because it provides you with more options and choices than wealth alone. Wealth refers to the amount of money or assets you have, while financial freedom refers to the ability to use your money and assets to cover your expenses and pursue your goals. Wealth can bring temporary happiness or status, but it does not guarantee long-term fulfillment or freedom. Financial freedom, on the other hand, allows you to have control over your life, make meaningful decisions, and contribute to your community.