I’m assuming you, the readers, have achieved some kind of financial success in the past. In fact, perhaps you’re probably one of the achievers in your circle of friends. So let’s talk about going to the next level.
Many clients I work with know how to achieve a certain level of wealth at least once, and are sometimes struggling to do it again at a different level. As I work with different entrepreneurs, I notice a similar pattern.
Often people get stuck going to the next level of wealth, because they are using the old pattern of thinking. You see, there are 6 levels of thinking in business ownership. You can technically be a business owner (defined by the fact that you legally own a business), but the level of success you will have in your wealth creation will depend on the level in you choose to operate.
For instance, the Employee thinking. Your first business was highly successful in terms of revenues, but 70% of the sales we re made by you. Yes, you’re technically a business owner, but you work like an employee. Then you wonder why it’s so hard to l eave the business to go to your next level dream of passive income. You can’t go there until you shift to a higher level of thinking.
Second example, the Self-Employed. Your business gives you great profits, because you’re the only one in it. You’re a professional services company and you do the marketing, the service delivery, the invoicing, and the admin. Technically you own a business, but you are really self-employed. It may be difficult for you to trust people. After all, nobody can do it better than you, right? If you want to have more time and a business that works without you, it’s impossible to do it at that level of thinking.
Here’s the example that I see most often, the Manager. You’re the Managing Director of your business, the CEO (Chief Everything Officer), the General Manager. Great, so you think you’ve made it. You’ve got a management team perhaps. You don’t even have to work 8 hours a day. You can come in only 20 hours a week. But think about it, what will happen to your company if you decide to stop working altogether? How developed are your management team to take over your role when you decide to retire early and enjoy life?
Or perhaps, the Investor. You got rich because you made some great investing choices. You owned a share in a great business.
But now you want to create a business of your own without partners. The challenges here is that you know how to be an adviser, but can you now run the business?
Here’s a new one that is up and coming, the Entrepreneur. You’re great at selling your ideas to angel investors and venture capitalists. They give you a lot of money to start up your business, but you struggle to give them returns. You’ve got great startup cash, but end up with very little profit.
So what level of thinking got you wealth the last time? And what level of thinking is required to get you the future wealth that you want? One level that is missing here is the Business Owner. This is a crucial level that not many people have the competence and awareness to execute. It is the ability to inspire your team to move towards a common vision, to plan and measure strategies that improve revenues and profits, to build a system that enables you to delegate properly to your team, and to develop a winning team that you can trust. It is a level that many still have yet to learn. In many ways, it is your gateway to sustainable wealth creation and passive income.
Coach Cynthia is the Founder of ActionCOACH South Jakarta, a business coaching firm that assists business owners to build an autopilot system that gives them more time and profits with proven frameworks. For a complimentary Business Health Check, go to actioncoachsouthjakarta.com.
