Set sail for a financially independent future!

Maintain a healthy profit margin!

Are there any extreme outdoor sports you have participated in? Stop and think for a moment about the first time you tried it.

I have found, without exception, that entrepreneurs are risk takers. And I guess I’m one of them. I did my first whitewater rafting trip in 2011. But I took a lot of risk by doing this trip and participating in this type of outdoor activity.

* * * I do not swim. * * *

To minimize my risk, I asked to sit closer to the guide, Lee. Also, just to ensure my safety, I asked my daughter to come with me on the trip, because she is a certified Girl Scout in this type of extreme outdoor sports. She was my extra safety net.

We were on the Nantahala River, a well-known Olympic training site in North Carolina. The entire race was two hours in the water, through lots of pounding rapids, extreme moments of excitement and splashing and soaking, along with lots of laughs. I even got hit hard by a tree branch hanging along the river bank. Lee (our guide) tried to warn me with a “Watch out!” only two seconds before he saw it, but it was already too late. Luckily I didn’t get out of the raft.

The goals of the trip were to navigate safely to our destination of 9ft Nantahala Falls, stay on the boat, enjoy the ride, and HAVE FUN!

There were many boats on the river that day, some without a Lee to guide their raft, and many of those rafts got stuck on the river bank or hopelessly stranded on rocks jutting out of the water. I asked Lee why these boats didn’t have a rafting guide like him.

“People want to save money and go down this river on their own. Unfortunately, only experienced guides know the river well enough to successfully maneuver and navigate to the finish line,” Lee replied.

Did you know that 60% of business owners feel challenged to maintain a healthy profit margin? However, according to my Business Value Drivers, or BVD Study, many companies receive their company’s financial statement three months after the fact. How can you know that you are consistently maintaining a healthy profit margin without having that information at all times?

An Asian immigrant builds a successful business by focusing on quality, customer service, and satisfied employees.

Many immigrants who come to this country have entered the restaurant business, for many different reasons, such as a lack of English communication skills, a love of their own cultural foods, or they know or have friends who are in the business and earn decently. to live. As a result, people here eat more Chinese food than McDonald’s fast food. The food industry is very competitive and most businesses in this industry are not scalable. However, many immigrants find that it gives them a satisfying lifestyle.

Of course, the trend in Asian restaurants changed, many years ago, from a traditional Chinese food offering to a buffet or sushi bar presentation. And as a result, my friend and client Philip Maung decided to do something completely different, about 13 years ago. He entered the “Sushi box” business wholesale market platform. For many Asians, this reminds us of home – lunch or bento box style is comfort food for us, but it’s considered very trendy here in the US.

Philip started this business with his wife Kristina at the kitchen table. Philip currently employs more than 400 employees and contractors in the U.S. Philip sells his sushi boxes to upscale supermarket chains like Whole Foods, to corporate, university, and hospital cafes like Carolinas Medical Center, and to airports like the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport. Philip’s business, Hissho Sushi, is one of the few businesses in the US named three years in a row by the Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest growing private businesses.

Throughout the years of working with entrepreneurs, I have come to the conclusion that there are three categories of entrepreneurs: Technician, Manager and Commercial Architect:

Technician: If you are a technician, your business provides you with a salary of less than $100,000 per year. (Please make a note here; I said “salary” not “income”).

Manager: Typically, as a manager, you have managed to create a lifestyle where the business provides you with a salary of around $250,000 a year.

Commercial Architect – If you are a commercial architect, the firm provides you with an annual salary of over $250,000. There is also usually a minimum of three to five times the market value to you as the owner.

Philip is the commercial architect that many private owners aspire to become.

Navigating through today’s troubled business waters

Our study indicated that 67% of business owners are in business because they want to make more money and be financially independent. So how do you start building equity value in your business to reward yourself for the risk you took in starting, building, and maintaining your business?

The equity value of your business changes due to various factors and triggers. You need to make sure that all factors are working in your favor when considering a capital expansion or even withdrawing money.

Even if you withdraw money due to the need for capital to expand your business, you still need to have the correct guidance. Why? As in my whitewater rafting trip example, with the right guide, I reached my destination safely and claimed my reward for the day, which in this case, was just plain FUN.

Yes, think of the equity value in your business as your reward. Claim that reward and compensate yourself for the risk you took in building and running your business. Don’t wait too long or you could face triggers that could lower your business’s equity value.

In my BVD study, there are specific value creation methods that help owners gain insight on how to avoid unfavorable triggers. Helps owners proactively and intentionally build their business on equity value. It means knowing what investors and buyers are looking for. Then you can increase the value of your business to create a win-win situation for you and all stakeholders.

Do yourself a favor: set a goal so you can claim your reward at any time! Profitably! Make it a win-win for you, your families, and your investors or buyers. Get the right guidance in your gear to navigate through today’s choppy business waters.