Why 'I need a dollar, dollar, dollar is all I need' Is Not All You Need
Remember that catchy song that came out a few years ago by American singer Aloe Blacc ‘I need a dollar, dollar, dollar is all I need’…. And so many people on a daily basis really buy into the idea that if they just had more money all their business problems would disappear.
Here’s why “I need a dollar, dollar, dollar is all I need” is not what you need…
The Financial Ceiling
When you have hit a financial ceiling, which is a tell-tale sign that as an entrepreneur you have now wandered into the Wilderness, just getting more ‘dollars’ is not the solution to your problem.
See the thing is, when you are trading time for money and going after a bigger bank balance to showcase how good you are at ‘growing a business’ your mates might unwittingly think that you are ultra-successful and got it all going on, but the truth is time is running out on that shallow business strategy. Literally.
Time is the cap to the dollar when you have built a cash for time structure with you in the centre running on the wheel.
You are not valuable in your business. I know that might be hard to take right now, and sure you have done a brilliant job to be where you are and still standing (many fall out within the first three years as we know), but I can’t buy you. I can’t buy the way you think, your skillful sales pitch you have locked in your head, or the way you run your organisation on a whim and a dream.
The only way your business will ever be valuable is to focus less on the dollar (initially) and more on the asset. Build it and they will come (the dollars that is).
Building Something More Valuable Than You
Building an asset will not only set you up with an exit plan in the future when another shiny object takes your eye and you want to expand your interests into other business ventures, it will also give you the vision to establish a well modelled framework that will push you into developing good systems, structures, processes and an organisation that runs like a well-oiled machine. One that no longer needs you to run it.
If you haven’t got the drive and discipline to build out the structures for your business that it really needs to operate at higher levels of efficiency simply to alleviate some of the stress in your life, then do it to build an asset that will one day be worth a whole lot more than the dollar, dollar, dollar you think you need right now.
The challenge of taking a job you created for yourself and turning it into an asset that can weather any storm, and one day deliver you a nest egg in return for effort is to develop and increase both tangible and intangible assets.
Getting Started On Building Your Asset
There are three ways to do this effectively, and you can start right where you are today:
1. Get a clear vision for your future – we call this a strategic plan that is actionable, with clear milestones and is able to be communicated at any time to anyone associated with the company.
2. Invest in your core competencies – know what your strengths are, resolve your weaknesses (either cut them, or develop them) and grow the muscle that is your company’s differentiating super power
3. Deliver predictable and consistent results across all areas of the business continuously, no matter what storms blow in on any given day.
Back To Pirates & Navies
Just reflecting back on the pirate ship compared to the navy ship analogy from our previous blog – what really is the defining difference within their organisational structures is this:
A pirate ship is full of people just out for themselves looking for the quick cash (treasure) and trying to stay alive.
A Navy is full of people who have banded together under one goal protecting an asset that is much greater than their own selfish needs (a nation), and their own short-sighted vision.
Focus on the asset you want to build, and the Navy-type organisational structure will become an essential part of your business development.
Build the asset and the dollar, dollar, dollar will be more than enough for what you need.
Next week: What are tangible and intangible assets, and how can a service based business build both.
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