Business owners: Do you have a personal plan?

Take a step back from facts and figures for a moment and think about why you started your business. Chances are, you wanted to be your own boss, have a fulfilling career, and achieve financial security for yourself and perhaps your family. Thinking about the bigger picture is a great starting point for laying out your personal plan.

A personal plan helps to set you and your business up for long-term success. Here are six questions I ask all of my clients to get an idea of what their goals are:

1. What are you trying to achieve personally with your money? Is it financial independence?
2. Do you have liabilities to fund and for how long?
3. Have you structured your Income Tax efficiently?
4. Have you accounted for school/higher education fees for loved ones?
5. How will your family be financially protected if you die prematurely?
6. Are you building a long-term income solution to allow for your eventual retirement, or will this be funded by selling your business?

For your personal plan to succeed, your business plan must also be carefully considered, monitored, and adapted. To keep you from falling into disarray, here are three of my non-negotiables for a quality business plan.

1. Establish timeframes and targets

It may seem obvious, but getting this penned down will hold you to account as a business owner and save you from ‘moving the goalposts’ as your situation evolves. Your business’s financial objectives, profit forecasts, EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation), and turnover are among the most important things to record for future reference – alongside a clear understanding of your costs and the factors that influence them.

2. Craft your business culture

Perhaps a less conventional component to a business plan, but extremely underrated in its importance. Noting down the tactics you’re employing to deliver the culture you envision is a good starting point. Remuneration structure, staff training needs/requirements, staff promotions, and recruitment strategy should all be part of this to give you control and insight.

3. Changes to the financial climate as they happen

Documenting economic events and updates to government legislation or taxation will make a huge difference in realising how your business needs to adapt to new challenges, keeping you a step ahead of the competition.

At Old Mill, we work with business owners like you to actualise their thoughts and structure a personal plan to work in harmony with whatever business goals they may have. We will:

• Work with you to create a personal plan using cash flow modelling
• Help you create a tailored business plan if you don’t already have one
• Regularly check in with you to make sure you’re on track
• Ensure your plans are both robust and realistic
• Provide valuable insights from our experiences working with a range of businesses

If you want to find out how we work with clients to create a personal plan – Get in touch.