One of the strong motivators for starting a business is that we want to be our own boss because we believe we can be more financially successful that way. What happens, in fact, is that most small business owners do little more than generate a salary for themselves.
While they are very good at doing the work of the business, they lack the skills, knowledge, and experience to build the business and make it financially successful. They don’t know how to work in the business, only how to work in it.
They want to build a secure future for themselves and their families with their business, but what happens is that they put that future at great risk because they don’t know how to protect their business from the many challenges to its success. They don’t know how to shield it.
This is why every small business owner needs this book by Daryl La’Brooy. How I wish I had this book in my hands when I started my business over 25 years ago. Wealthy small business owners have the resources to pay for this type of advice, but those who have not yet reached that level are not aware of the steps they need to take to protect this important asset.
This book is an awareness book for small business owners where Daryl opens up the challenges and unforeseen issues that can arise for people setting up small businesses. It takes a proactive approach to how small business owners can meet those challenges, discussing everything from starting and growing a business to getting out of it. In fact, the first key in Daryl’s bulletproof plan is for him to plan the way he wants to go out as he sets up his business. Most small businesses don’t do this, but instead wait until shortly before they’re ready to retire and find they can’t get out when they want to because they don’t have enough financial security to fund their retirement.
His second key is about the challenges and risks around ownership both for the sole trader and when other partners get involved in the business. He highlights the fact that if the business owner is not aware of what can happen here and thus fails to protect the business against unforeseen and unexpected events, the consequences can be dire for the business.
Making sure the wealth created in his small business ultimately ends up in the hands of the people it’s meant for is Daryl’s third key. He demonstrates how many times the lack of awareness, naivety or lack of planning see money, entrepreneurs have spent their lives earning it, ending up in the hands of people for whom it was not intended.
The fourth key in the book is to establish a business-independent personal wealth management plan, including an estate plan, that demonstrates the bulletproofing this provides to family finances.
The last chapter of Daryl’s book is about how you can create your own do-it-yourself financial plan to protect your business. No one wants to face the trauma of bankruptcy or the collapse of the business they’ve put so much of themselves into. That can have a devastating impact, both emotionally and financially.
Many of you who read Daryl’s book and have your eyes open to the vulnerable position your own business is in, may not have the confidence to take the steps you need to protect your business. What the book does is highlight the enormous value that good financial planners can be to small business owners and their families by helping them get it right, covering all the bases and possibilities. They can provide the expertise to ensure your small business provides a financially successful future for you and the important people in your life.
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