Trending
When you’re first building your Soloist expertise business, it’s not uncommon to keep your head down—focusing on getting new ideal clients while optimizing your pricing and tinkering with your suite of services and products.
You’re not really thinking about the financial big picture, beyond covering your expenses and building a pipeline (and a cushion) for the future.
But once you start tasting some success, paying attention to your finances beyond your cash flow can pay some serious dividends.
Consider these three financial stages of successful Soloist expertise businesses (and where you’d slot yourself right now).
Stage 1: Sustainable
Sustainability is the marker that you have a real business—you’re past that initial stressful lift of proving your concept. You have clients (not one or two whales whose departure would gut you) and/or steady buyers with more lined up for the future.
You’re earning enough to cover whatever “nut” you’ve set for yourself (typically at least six figures) AND have a repeatable system to keep delivering ideal clients and buyers to your door.
Equally importantly, you can comfortably deliver this level of performance without blowing up your life and relationships by working constantly.
Stage 2: Protected Freedom
Protected freedom means your business isn’t just sustainable, but you have set aside enough money to make daring and bold decisions without financial suffering. It means having a stash of FU or SHTF money. Haven’t heard that one? It’s when the sh*t hits the fan. Because at some point in your life, it will.
It could be bad: your spouse loses their job and you need to step up. A health diagnosis—for you or your family—upends everything you counted on. A pandemic shuts down your key revenue stream.
Or, it could be an opportunity you’ve always wanted to chase: taking a year off to slow travel, investing serious time with your kids, going back to school.
Protected freedom gives you choices—while it fuels your confidence to make big decisions.
Stage 3: Financial Independence
Financial Independence isn’t just about your business—although it’s often the key contributor. It’s about erasing the need to work for pay ever again (unless you want to).
Most experts agree you’re financially independent when your investable assets (don’t count your house) hit 25 times your annual expenses. This theoretically allows you to pull 4% a year from your assets without outliving your money.
If that sounds wildly unattainable right now, know this: a successful expertise business throwing off cash that you are consistently tucking away can usher you to full independence over time.
Depending on your revenue and your lifestyle, it may be closer than you think.
Regardless of which financial stage you choose as your ultimate goal, there’s a huge difference between dabbling at an expertise business and building it to move you toward financial independence.
The choice is yours.
Related: The New Wealth = Money, Time and Freedom. How To Get Yourself More