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Last Sunday, I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Alison Maslan, CEO of Alison Maslan International. During that interview, which was broadcast live to nearly 100 business owners from around the world, I had the opportunity to share and teach some of the most important things business owners need to know to take control of their money and build the wealth they really want.
I am a business owner, planning for retirement alongside my clients, many of whom are also entrepreneurs. You could say I am surrounded by the choices and impacts of decisions entrepreneurs make when it comes to their own retirement planning.
And in 14 or so years of this, I’ve seen it all.
I often get asked what special considerations should be involved in retirement planning for entrepreneurs. In other words, what secrets do successful entrepreneurs know about achieving financial success?
In my professional opinion, successful retirement planning for entrepreneurs follows these 5 guiding principles:
Your business is your empire, so you need to understand its prospects and its limitations–most importantly; when and how will you make your exit?
If you are already running a business, you should know your business type, and what that means about the potential ways you can exit or sell the business. This will inform the planning and saving you need to do to retire successfully.
A map to your success–that’s a business plan worth having. It’s not enough that you’ve struck out as an entrepreneur. You’ve got your good idea, your seed round, your first follower. Now, you’ve got a written business plan that got you this far–the broad strokes you wrote down on paper to get that first seed round of funding. But the essence of that business plan–maybe even the spirit of it is just this simple: win big. In order to win big, you need a business plan mapping your success.
You’ve got to share the map with all who share the Journey
Always, always, always, when planning to win in business or anything else, start with the end in mind. In your Business Plan, that big win will need a picture of what it looks like next to that great big X that marks the “you’ve made it” spot. What does the happy ending you imagine for yourself look like to you? Now, what does it mean in terms of “exit plan”?
Bring the mindset of a Chief Executive to your finances and steer yourself to success
Most CEOs are highly educated and have lots of hand-on training. They’re accountable for the company numbers–some are even accountable to Wall Street. So we can be pretty sure that if we learn to manage money like a CEO, we’ll hold ourselves to a gold standard.
Add these key concepts to an informed collection of personal finance best practices, and you’re definitely on your way to achieving financial freedom: