I care how much money I make. I'd like the business to make more of it.
I'm saying that plainly because owners are taught not to. We talk about impact, freedom, legacy. The money is supposed to arrive quietly in the background while we're busy being principled about everything else.
No owner has ever looked at the year-end figures and said, "Goodness, where did all this profit come from?"
Wanting money isn't the problem. Not knowing what it's for is.
A number with no purpose never finishes
If the number you're chasing isn't attached to anything, it behaves like every other empty target. You hit it. You feel almost nothing. You set a bigger one.
That's how owners end up five years in, earning more than they ever planned to, and still working like the business might fold next month. The finish line keeps moving because there never was one.
Mine is embarrassingly specific. The house done the way we actually want it. A pool we do not need in any sensible sense. And a ridiculously good oven.
That's the list. Because I know what's on it, the number has an end. I'll know when I've got there. You'll find me by the pool, cooking something unnecessary.
The sentence test
Finish this sentence, honestly, in pounds:
"I need the business to pay me £_____ a year, so that _____."
Then go through the second half and cross out anything that's there because someone else would be impressed by it. The car you'd buy for the car park. The office you'd take because it looks like success.
What's left is your real number. For most owners it's smaller than the one they're chasing, and a lot closer.
Which raises a better question than "how do I grow?": if I already know my number, what am I still paying for the extra?
Hit reply and tell me what's on your list. Pool and oven recommendations very welcome.
