Congratulations on the launch of your business! While you’ve covered the basic administrative requirements to launch your business (decided on a legal structure, secured your legal name and internet domain name, created your business entity, paid for your licenses and permits, insurance, etc…) there are two very important things that are NOT administrative-related, seldom mentioned, and yet… will be key to your success: your relationship with time and money.

Change Your Mind About Time

In today’s world, TIME is the currency and the velocity of change makes it increasingly invaluable. Time flows differently for entrepreneurs. If you’re an entrepreneur who is still attached to 9 to 5 behaviors and a live-for-the-weekend lifestyle, you should shut down the business – you’re not ready yet. Here’s what I’m asking: If you’ve faithfully worked 40 hours per week for an employer, how much more time and energy would you give to build and create something for yourself?

The Weekend Is Not For You

Let’s not deceive ourselves or play games. The weekend lifestyle is for W-2 wage earners. Entrepreneurs have to adopt a different mindset. Ask yourself this: How many Income Producing Activities (IPAs) did you have this week and how many will you have to produce next week to achieve your goals? When you’re an entrepreneur, you have to take your rest as seriously as you take your work. We grind until the task is done and then take time off to refresh and reconnect while wage earners are suffering thru rush hour and working. This can be really sweet.

Know Your “Break Even” Number

If you have the option, I don’t recommend starting a business without a fair amount of change in the bank as things in business always take longer than expected to produce. The question for most new entrepreneurs, is “Produce what?” One of the most important numbers a new entrepreneur needs know and manage is their “break-even number.”

What Is A Break Even Number?

A “break-even” number is the minimum amount of revenue you need to produce to ensure your life and business expenses (including your salary are covered.) Always know your numbers and then create and build scalable systems with repeatable processes to automate it. Successful entrepreneurs know how many qualified leads need to be generated that produce interactions that drive deals sufficient in size and scope to achieve and surpass the revenue number for the products and services being sold. Know your break-even number or prepare for massive failure.

Build Your Team

Working to put the time & money dynamic in order is always a workout, but your chances for business credibility and success are amplified when you are working with a team. Unfortunately, many of the new entrepreneurs I know are reluctant to share the truth of their business dreams and condition with friends and relatives for one reason: their counsel is often biased or critical. Call a member of my team to discuss what a StealthEnomics teaming agreement looks like (or not) and discuss how best to optimize your post-launch situation. But whatever you do, make building your team a priority for peace-of-mind.

Love to see you win,
~Christopher Bell, III