Recently I had the privilege to become acquainted with someone who has some serious experience with getting the money and finances right. I want to introduce you to our guest post for today from entrepreneur Nathan W. Morris. He is a personal finance expert for small- to medium-sized businesses, helping his students achieve financial freedom. His upcoming book Your 33-Day Money Action Plan will be out soon, so I wanted him to share with you some of his wisdom. Nathan posts regularly on his blog nathanwmorris.com. With that, Nathan, take it away:
I’ve been an entrepreneur for about 10 years now and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve just about thrown in the towel. Entrepreneurship is not easy, but it IS exceptionally rewarding. If it was easy, they’d call it a job. You show up, do a limited set of duties while a huge network of other people do other parts of the business and you collect a reasonable salary from the word go.
As an entrepreneur, you’ll be plagued with spikes and dips in income. Usually you’ll start out broke and your friends and family might even “worry” about you and suggest that you do what everyone else does and just get a job. Of course, when you’re winning and the income and lifestyle are sweet, those same people will praise you and even envy you.
Today though, I want to talk to you about getting your financial foundation laid to both start and survive business. Many entrepreneurs not only have business issues but they also have fundamental financial issues and it’s almost impossible to overcome financial stress when you have so much else on your plate.
I specialize in helping entrepreneurs, small-medium business owners and high-income professionals get their financial houses in order and teach them how to manage their money so that even when they’re making the big bucks, their money doesn’t manage them.
Odds are good that you were brought up with a middle class or even “lower” class mindset about money. You may have read a number of financial books, but the reality is that your programming is the same as most other people’s. You see income as the ultimate goal. “If only I could make a million bucks a year then I’d be happy,” you say.
Well, I thought the same way. I thought if I just made six figures, everything would be so much easier and I’d be able to go anywhere and do anything. Unfortunately, before I made six figures I had no debt and very few worries; when I started making money I actually wound up in debt and struggling despite my high income.
I knew a lot about money, and the reason I got myself in trouble was because I thought I was particularly clever with money. One of the things that got me in trouble was taking on debt that I didn’t really need to take on, just because the interest rate was low (0% for 36 months). I had the money at the time to pay for the thing, but I thought I’d take the loan at 0% and use the money in the meantime in my business or an investment.
Nathan has given us some great information. But wait, there’s more. We talked about all Nathan had to share, with his experiences, information, and his book that is coming out. He had so much that fits with our weekly theme I am going to save part 2 of this post until tomorrow.
If you get a chance, check out his page, nathanwmorris.com and get on the list to get his book when it’s released.
I’m Tim Gillette, the Rocker Life Coach. It’s time to live your dream, to love what you do and those you share life with. Getting your money right will drive you to RockStar status faster.
