097 Roger Whitney | Cash Flow with the Retirement Answer Man

Roger WhitneyMost financial planners dance to the same song. Today’s guest has a different approach to financial planning that business owners can appreciate. Roger Whitney, the Retirement Answer Man, shares how thinking like a business owner can improve your own cash flow. Roger shares how many business owners never get out of the mindset of “hard work” after they become successful. Discover the real reason why emotions are so important when comes to understanding money too.

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Roger’s Target Audience: Roger’s target audience includes stewards and delegators. They usually fall within the age bracket of 45- 60 and are beginning to positions themselves for the ‘end game’ phase of their lives and their businesses. They are in the midst of wanting to make smarter financial decisions and are wondering how they are going to make it all work.

 

Roger has a long and deep background providing financial advice and being a business owner. He tells us in this podcast that he’s always had the perspective of a business owner because he has been one all his life.

Eleven years ago, Roger partnered up with two other individuals and they collectively began their own independent advisory. Some of the common elements Roger and his partners see in their clients is that they are trying to create a framework to make a long-term plan in order to avoid or prevent any long-term financial consequences.

Typically his clients are thinking about retiring and are thinking about positioning their business for sale (or keep it but make it work for their pace) but are unsure what decisions need to be made to create the best outcome. Roger and his partners help them strategically plan so that they feel comfortable with the trade- offs and what will come along with it.

Roger emphasized that the more people can start to create systems, (check out Gene’s freebie on SYSTEMS) the more stable their businesses can grow to be. The sooner people can start to think in those terms as entrepreneurs, the better they can organize and maximize the value of their business. In creating systems for your business, you can create it in a way that works for you (not the other way around).

Roger advises all entrepreneurs to acknowledge things that come up as they come up. He suggests that it’s better to have smaller conversations than allow small things to fester up. Roger says it’s about constantly checking the numbers in sales and costs in order to prevent many “little” things from snowballing into something bigger.

Roger has realized that building and managing a business require two different mindsets. You can become a slave or addicted to the deal. How does one break free? Roger suggests having a “guide” of some sort (i.e- life coach, etc) who will help you see your own blind spots to help you understand what it is you are doing it for and the finding RESOURCES to create what you want.

Fears will always be embedded on the entrepreneurial journey. It’s beneficial to reach out and get support and a different perspective.

In this episode we’ll cover:

  • The importance of slowing down when you can start to finally slow down
  • The very crucial mindset difference between building a business and managing one
  • Why having smaller yet more frequent conversations about your business is beneficial
  • Why everyone needs a “guide” to help them see their blind spots
  • How using SYSTEMS can help business owners maximize value on their business
  • How you can make your business work for you and not become a slave to your own business

Practical & Actionable:

Think of your personal life separately from your business life and treat it like a business where you are focusing on free cash flow in your personal life. You are focusing on allocating you balance sheet. Prudently focus on your why from a personal level- not just an entrepreneurial level. This will provide you balance from thinking from a business/entrepreneurial standpoint all the time.

Resources and Links

 

Do you have questions about today’s episode?

Did you know that you can apply to chat with me by phone? This is a limited time offer to help anyone that is serious about refining their business as well as developing a clear & compelling strategy that will drive them forward. Complete the questions and our team will follow up with you to schedule time for your “Vision Breakthrough Session”. These are limited to 30 minutes, completely free and oh, so valuable. Apply Now!

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