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Your reason for owning a business is some combination of money and people. But how do you hold those two together? One way is to look at how you view your resources. Understanding your perspective on people and money helps you recognize the opportunity to grow.
Between money and people, money is the easy one to get. Much of our focus is on money, but much our time is with people.
Money is available, but it comes at a cost. You can take a cash advance on a personal credit card and pay a high interest. Or you can work hard to manage your cash and protect your reserves, always knowing there can be a rainy-er day ahead.
To grow a business, you need money, or access to capital. Sometimes this capital is already in your business, in which case you have to steward that. Sometimes it is family money, and the consequences of your decisions go far beyond what will affect the business.
But you also need the ability to attract, organize and motivate people, and the ability to manage your people and finances to stay out of legal trouble. You need to pay your taxes, and you need to understand what you owe and when so you don’t pay penalties, or pay too much.
This is a lot, and it doesn’t take long before every business owner finds they can’t keep up with all the demands. This happens regardless of how smart, hard-working or successful you are. And that’s just in the good times. You also need the ability to weather hard times, and the capacity to grow when things get better again.
Put this all together, and you really need a good reason to own a business.
It’s hard work, and it’s getting harder. The demands of the financial world are increasing, and the complexities of HR and legal compliance are daunting.
You understand that people are counting on you. The security of their livelihoods depend on you, either directly for the income they earn, or because you provide a key component to their business. Each one of those people represents a family. And each one of those families is part of a community (Read more about community at RedemptiveLeader.com).
Together, we are a network of relationships that touches every part of life, from cities to small towns, from churches to clubs, from schools to Scouts. Each of these also require money and people. But they are not businesses.
Only you, as a business owner, have a unique opportunity to make money as you develop people.
But how does that work? And how do you protect against one overwhelming the other? That’s what we’ll talk about next.
Many of us at MLA have been business owners in the past, and we have closely advised business owners for many years. This runs the gamut from mom-and-pop retailers to large, regional employers.
We’ve felt the strain of failure and the excitement of success, and we believe success can be worth the effort. We do not believe in success at any cost. But we do believe that success must be defined by its benefit to those who depend on us.
This experience helps us provide perspective on your reason to be in business, and your opportunity to grow. It’s part of our Business Redeemed Process.