Why are you in business?

For those of you who are in business (or aspire to be) let me ask you a straight-forward question:

Why are you (or why do you want to be) in business?

If your answer doesn’t at least include TO SELL OUT FOR $x [insert your favorite number greater than $1 million here] then you need to readjust your thinking.

You see, as Michael Gerber said in his famous (and required reading!) book The E-Myth Revisited your business should support your life … in other words, at some stage you probably want to get out of your business so that you can have your real life back (or, for the first time!).

The best way to get that life is to sell out (eventually) and retire (one day) … when and how are all subjects for future posts.

Or, you may decide to keep the business (perhaps running on autopilot, generating mountains of cash) but at least being CERTAIN that it COULD be sold anytime that you wanted for the amount that you needed to live the life of your dreams …

For now, it’s just sufficient to recognize that you should ALWAYS be thinking about your business in terms of “how much do I NEED to sell it for … and when”.

As I mentioned in a recent post, this will always be MORE than you think … and, sooner!

So, you had better get back to work!

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6 thoughts on “Why are you in business?

  1. I just read your post and to be honest I’ve never thought about this. There are several reasons why I am in business, but I have to admit I’ve never thought about the “end” result, let’s just say 15 years down the road. Hmmm….

  2. Pingback: The most important question that you can ever ask about your own business … « How to Make 7 Million in 7 Years™

  3. @ Alex – If you’re interested in going into business (and, it sounds like you are … or already are in business/es) then this is perhaps the ONE book that you need to read. I should (in fact, will) do a whole post about it … it’s THAT important!

  4. I am in business to make a great living every month, doing things I like and helping people. I also love the freedom to travel, and spend time with my family. Lastly I want to build something of value and when I get bored with it I want to sell it to someone who finds it exciting.

    Jason Dragon
    http://capitalactive.wordpress.com/

  5. @ Jason – For me, business is/was an end to all of the above (i.e. doing things I like and helping people. I also love the freedom to travel, and spend time with my family) … I was never happier than when I was selling a business than running it … Mark Cuban would NOT be happy 😉 Truth be told, I am never happier than STARTING a business – then running it in a ‘saleable’ fashion – that’s why I am up to my eyeballs in starting a couple of new ones (and, I do still have a couple of offshore B&M businesses left, although I am in the process of handing one over to my partner, because it’s too small for me to worry about).

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