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3 Money Mistakes that Keep Your Business Broke

3 Money Mistakes that Keep Your Business Broke

by | | business coach, Entrepreneurial Mentoring, Financial Guides, Financial Independence Coach, Mentoring, The Blog

“Good companies fail to become great not because of bad employees, but rather bad management” ~ Ike Ikokwu

Poor money management has been the cause of more business failures than any other single issue.  Having held a CPA license and worked with businesses for over two decades, I know this to be true.  And, is there any reason to wonder why this happens?

If you think about it, you’ll realize that the vast majority of us aren’t born knowing how to manage money.  Truth be told, our parents were likely lousy at managing money. And, our educational system does little to correct the financial illiteracy epidemic.  With a vacuum in sourcing this piece of education, most of us simply “figure it out” along the way, through much trial and error, while creating a poor money mindset.

Those same money mindset issues and bad habits that wreak havoc in our personal finances can plague our businesses as well if we’re not careful.  Below are 3 common money mistakes I see that keep your business broke.

If you’re a Coach, Consultant, or Professional Practice Owner, kindly pay attention to these 3 mistakes:

1. Catching Shiny Object Syndrome

Some things are just hard to resist.  Apple pie a la mode was one of those things for me.  But seriously, many things in life and business are kind of hard to resist—especially when your friends and colleagues are all jumping on board!  New tools, training, group coaching programs and even business models can all have a strong pull, and if you aren’t careful, these shiny objects can quickly distract you from your current goals.  Ask me how I know (wink wink).

If you find yourself catching shiny object syndrome frequently, try this three-step plan instead:

• For “too good to refuse” offers, make a plan for achieving a positive return on investment (ROI) before you purchase.  If you cannot find a (realistic) way to make the purchase pay for itself, don’t buy it. 

• For exciting new business ideas, create a “someday” list.  Jot down your idea and a basic outline, then get back to the task at hand.  Now that great idea won’t be lost, but it also won’t join the ranks of half-finished business plans that litter the internet. 

• For other irresistible offers that you become aware of, do a “PVG” check.  Look back at your Purpose, Vision and Goals and see if this new offer is in alignment with meeting the goals you’ve established to manifest the vision you have for fulfilling the very purpose you exist.  If it is, give it further consideration. If it’s not, then you can calmly and confidently kiss that shiny object goodbye knowing it isn’t in alignment with your PVG. If you haven’t determined your PVG, that’s likely one of several reasons you should be working with a coach and/or mentor.

2. Falling for the Sunk Costs Fallacy

If you’ve ever said to yourself, “I’m not using this subscription, but I can’t give it up!  I’m still paying the launch price and now it’s much more expensive!” Then you’ve fallen for the sunk costs fallacy. 

This common mistake is famous among economists, and we all fall victim to it from time to time. Simply put, the sunk costs fallacy is what makes us justify investing more money or time in something—even though we’re not seeing results—because we’ve already spent so much. It’s what encourages us to repair the car one more time (after all, you just put new tires on it), eat a meal we don’t enjoy (simply because you’ve paid for it), and yes, continue to pay for tools and resources you’re not using. 

Take a few minutes and examine your current business expenses. What are you paying for month after month that you’re not using? Either make a plan to put them to work for you, or cancel them. Stop falling for the sunk costs’ fallacy.  Rather than focusing on the sunk cost, think opportunity cost. Had you not invested money into that subscription, what would it be worth today invested in somewhere else that would have provide a more productive return?

I saved five figures annually by simply letting go of subscriptions that at one point I thought were “good” ideas, but upon further consideration of my “PVG” and realization that I hadn’t done anything with those subscriptions in 3 years (shameful I know), it became obvious it was past time to cancel!

3. Too Much Penny Pinching

You thought this was all going to be about overspending, didn’t you? Here’s the kicker: Spending too little is just as bad for business.

When you’re constantly on the lookout for free and low-cost tools or working 16-hour days because you “can’t afford to outsource,” you’re not doing your business any favors. Sure, it looks like you’re bootstrapping and working really hard to make something from nothing, but what you’re really doing is digging yourself a rut it will be nearly impossible to climb out of.  Not only that, but you’re reinforcing a scarcity mindset that will continue to plague you for years if you let it.

Rather than pinching pennies, learn to spend money strategically. Buy what you need, when you need it. Invest in top-quality products and programs rather than settling for the low-ticket, half-baked plans. Just like quality clothes, cars and furniture, quality services and software last longer and work better.  And unlike that car, good quality business tools will pay for themselves.

Bottom line is that with resources in abundance to outsource a laundry list of tasks from as little as $5 per hour to $25 per hour, the simple question to answer is this: Do you know how much your time is worth?  Or have you fallen into the trap of being busy doing those $5 an hour tasks in your business just so you can “come across” as being busy? Trying to save money not outsourcing is like tripping over dollars to save a penny.  Don’t do it. Your wallet and business bank account will thank me later!

These 3 mistakes are just a few of many that could be causing you to repel all of the money that is trying to make its way to you.  If you aren’t experiencing money and life abundantly, here’s your chance to fix it right NOW by grabbing your FREE GIFT below.

Click on the link below and subscribe to my newsletter.  Just for subscribing, you’ll receive a complimentary copy of my E-Book and Workbook: 7 Steps to Experiencing Money and Life Abundantly

FREE GIFT LINK: https://ikeikokwu.com/free-gift

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If you think you can create a financially empowered life you can’t wait to live, one that’s designed around your purpose and that brings immense success, satisfaction and fulfillment beyond even your wildest dreams, you can. If you think you can’t, just borrow my “you can” until it turns your “I can’t” to an “I can.”

That can happen easily and effortlessly for you by simply taking your first step and completing the assessment and then booking a call so we can chat!

TAKE ASSESSMENT NOW

Cheers to you thinking BIG!

With Abundance & Fulfillment,

Ike

7 Core Considerations To Constructing A New Money Story

7 Core Considerations To Constructing A New Money Story

by | | Entrepreneurial Mentoring, Financial Guides, Mentoring, My Story, Others Story

“Think you can, think you can’t; either way you’ll be right.” ~ Henry Ford

If you’ve been reading my blogs or following me on social media, then you’ve likely become familiar with the debilitating effects money blocks can have on your success with money and in life. Perhaps you’ve started uncovering some of your own money blocks and you’re now at the point where you are ready to write a new money story?

If that’s where you find yourself that’s great. But regardless of where you may be on your journey shattering the invisible boundaries over what’s possible for your life and creating a financially empowered life designed around your purpose, you’ll appreciate the wisdom from this article on things you should take into consideration that I learned from Dave, one of my mentors.

7 Core Considerations To Constructing A New Money Story

1. Disengage from “what might have been.”

If you attempt to reenter an old story and acquire what you missed in the past; it won’t work because it is no longer the past. I wasted a lot of time and energy lamenting over all of the reasons why despite my best efforts, I was unable to acquire a CPA firm in the past. Little did I know then that acquiring a CPA was not a part of God’s plan and purpose for my life. Looking back, it’s amazing how every door I thought I was to walk in to acquire those firms, was “magically” close shut for one reason or the other

By focusing on what might have been, you lose today and tomorrow. “If only” fantasies erode the power of today and expend energy that could be better served pursing your purpose for tomorrow. I know from personal experience that when you let go of the past, you reclaim your aliveness in the present.

2. Coming to the end of your past and even resolving emotional issues isn’t enough.

Gaining insights from your past and even resolving the self-limiting beliefs and attitudes that held you captive to an unsatisfying and unfulfilled life is great. However, you can’t get stuck in the moral victories of resolving all of the emotional baggage from your past. You have to harness all of that energy and use if for something good.

You have to have a purpose, a dream, in order to give hope a blueprint. To live a satisfying and fulfilled live, your next act has to be built around your purpose. The fire, passion and discipline that purpose gives you is what will not only sustain you on the journey ahead, but also help you overcome every obstacle while keeping hope alive.

The plot and strategies forged from your new money story provide the organization. The goals you set will provide the direction.

3. Have a “big picture” of your money story and bring it into focus whenever necessary.

The big picture consists of your own ideals and principles, and objectively organizing your life and decisions according to what you believe to be in your best interest. We’re talking about the rest of your life here so let’s take the time to set ourselves up for success.

Start by getting absolute clarity on your purpose. Why do you exist here on planet earth? What’s the one thing you do uniquely well that you’d do even if you weren’t getting paid? What are you passionate about? What did you used to dream about doing as a kid?

For example, my purpose is help clients overcome the magnetic pull of limiting beliefs from their past, so they can take action on present opportunities to create a financially empowered life, designed around their purpose, that brings immense success satisfaction and fulfillment beyond even their wildest dreams

Then work on getting clear about your vision. What are all of the different ways you are going to bring your purpose to pass? Will you be working as a solopreneur? Will you work with partners? What specific initiatives will you engage in? Who’s your target market? What are the different ways you can serve them.

For example part of my vision entails working with solopreneurs, small business owners, coaches, professional practice owners and executives. Some of the ways I’ll serve them will be working one on one with them in a coaching, mentoring or consultancy capacity. I’ll also work with them through my group coaching programs, online courses, summits, conferences, speaking engagements etc. etc.

Lastly, work on identifying specific goals that will support your vision and ultimately serve your purpose. Make your goals SMART….specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time sensitive.

For example, when I was working on developing as a speaker, I set a goal to complete being certified by the John Maxwell Team by a specific date and did. As part of that goal, I wanted to be one of the finalists to speak on the stage at his biannual international certification events and though I didn’t make it to the stage, I did make the Top 10 list, which was the last phase before they picked 3 people to speak on the stage. Making the top 10 was a huge accomplishment for me back then.

The beauty of having complete clarity of your Purpose, Vision and Goals (“PVG”) is that it’s the safest way to avoid falling victim to the ‘shiny object syndrome’….something I’ve fallen victim to many times in the past. As you journey into living into your new money story, while the next right thing may not always be clear to you, I can assure you that if you have clarity on your “PVG,” you will always be clear about what the next right thing isn’t. If that next thing isn’t in harmony with your PVG, instantly you know you can confidently say NO to that shiny object being proposed to you.

4. Distinguish need from want and establish priorities

A need is an essential requirement, a necessity for mind, body or spirit. Think food, water, shelter, community etc.

Wants (wishes and desires) are replaceable with other wants, but a need cannot substitute for another need. Remember my earlier story about purchasing HIS and HERS Mercedes Benz while on my journey to becoming debt free? That was clearly a want that I somehow convinced myself was a need back then. The sad thing about wants is you can never get enough of what you don’t need. Think about it, do we all need a new smart phone every 12 months?

Priorities are about getting clarity about what is really important to you? Every day of your life, you will redefine and refine priorities, and make decisions based on this fundamental question. As you make those decisions, remember to prioritize plans and pursuits based on core values and needs. Again, did I really need those HIS and HERS Mercedes Benz vehicles?

Money and finances must be balanced with family, work, health, friendship, leisure and taking care of yourself. Any neglect or imbalance in one area may generate overcompensation in other areas, which strangely enough, throws you right back to being out of balance again. Forget being balanced and identify the right rhythm to your life and focus on staying in rhythm.

5. When establishing a goal, ask yourself, “What is good enough?” and also know what reaching a goal will do

The goal of “more money” can never be reached, because it has no end point. More money, like perfection is a quest that’s never satisfied. Instead, think about the level of influence and impact you want to have in specific areas and let that determine your money goal.

It is important to know what achieving a goal will do in order to distinguish clearly what it will not do. If you’re read through one of the gifts that I’ve given you on the 17 common money storylines, then you should be aware of some of the things money can’t do. Reaching a monetary goal will not undo the past, make your marriage better or make other troubles go away. This is one reason why I stress the importance of mastering the emotional language of money, for it truly is a secret language that determines your success in money mastery.

6. The only familiar territory is behind you

Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” If worrying about the future fills your present, then both will be diminished.

As scary as taking bold steps forward to live into your new money story might seem, remember that you’ll never do anything important that will feel comfortable in the beginning. Your capacity to endure uncertainty is the essence of growth.

So, whatever your new money story calls for you to do, do it afraid. That’s what courage looks like…doing the unfamiliar afraid, until it becomes familiar and no longer scary.

7. Seek out suggestions, critique and professional advice

While it’s been said one the best investments you can make is in knowledge, the only other better investment you can make is in the specified knowledge you get from someone who’s been down the path you are embarking on. That’s where consulting with a mentor-coach to help you identify, deconstruct and construct a new money story for you will pay the highest dividends to you.

At times this may be difficult emotionally, when it would seem easier to consult (really collude) with someone who would mirror and agree with your own opinions. Taking the easier route would be fatal to your end goal. Seeking the help of professional advice from mentors and coaches, who are not only objective but can help unearth the treasures that lie within you, is something that quite frankly is invaluable.

Read this as many times as necessary so you can internalize each consideration. Then put it to good use in constructing your new money story. As you do, you’ll find that you are getting more fluent with the emotional language of money.

Needless to say, I believe it’s imperative you become fluent on the emotional language of money. It’s the secret sauce to creating a financially empowered life, designed around your purpose, the brings fulfillment and satisfaction beyond even your wildest dreams. It’s part of my calling and life work. It’s changed my life and the life of my clients for the better. It will have dramatic impact on your life too once you discard your old money story and live into a new one that you co-author with me as your trusted guide. I know you’re ready to start the journey to creating the life you can’t wait to live. We can get started right after you take the assessment and then book a call so we can chat!

TAKE ASSESSMENT NOW

That life you desire, that life you’ve been dreaming of, that sense of purpose, success and fulfillment that you know is your birth right, all of that is within your reach. It can ALL happen easily and effortlessly for you by simply taking your first step and completing the assessment and then booking a call so we can chat!

TAKE ASSESSMENT NOW

It’s time to construct a powerful new money story that empowers you to live the life you’ve always dreamed of!

 

With Abundance & Fulfillment,

Ike

6 Guidelines For Finding Your Purpose

6 Guidelines For Finding Your Purpose

by | | Entrepreneurial Mentoring, Financial Guides, Mentoring, My Story, Others Story, The Blog, The Politics of Personal Finance

“Purpose is the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s needs” ~ Frederick Buechner

To waste 30 years of your life working for a company that isn’t fulfilling your life purpose is s complete waste of three decades.  When people tell me that they are overwhelmed by life, that’s usually a clue they are not in purpose.  When you are in purpose, you have passion on your side.  Passion ignites and drives you.  It gives you the discipline needed to overcome every obstacle on your journey to your greatest aspiration.

Beyond the levels of satisfaction and fulfillment that come from living out your purpose in life, another reason why it’s paramount to get into fulfilling your purpose is that it’s the answer to increasing the flow of money into your life.

What is it that you do uniquely well and enjoy doing more than anything else?  Perhaps you have something you do better than others.  Or perhaps there’s something you so completely enjoy that it galvanizes you and brings out the best in you.  To find your purpose, look no further than your passion.  You can start that search by following these 6 guidelines I learned from Dave, one of my mentors:

  1. Get curious

    Embrace the fact that you don’t know what your purpose is and simply begin to ask, “Why?” Why am I here? Why am I driven by “X”?, Why am I motivated by “Y”? Why am I passionate about “Z”? Develop a hunger to understand the new, unknown and unfamiliar.

  2. Engage

    It’s tough to find passion without leaving the house. Hermits by definition are not passionate people for all of their energy isn’t being directed anywhere outside of their home.  Passion is directed energy, and revealing it requires that you create opportunities to engage in new activities, meet new people and get out of your comfort zone.  Get comfortable saying “Yes” when you normally might have said “No.”

  3. Get out of the details

    Passion requires that you take a big-picture view of things and see things from the 30,000-foot level versus being stuck in the minutia of it all. Book an appointment with yourself on your calendar for this time of reflection

  4. Think back to when you were a kid

    At one point in time, we all felt passion. Children have boatloads of it by default, but over time it has a way of slipping away.  Spend some time mentally revisiting your childhood.  Reflect on times when you were most engaged, vibrant and alive.  What did you love?  Why did you love? What did you want to be when you grew up?

  5. Recruit help

    Sometimes we can’t see the forest from the trees. You may find it necessary to enlist the help of others to help you find your passion.  Working with a mentor or a coach should be high on your priority list.  Others that may provide insights for you could be a close friend or spouse/partner who can tell you when they’ve seen you really come alive.  Sharing your quest with a professional or others will prove to be a valuable experience for you.  You won’t regret opening up this way to others that can help you.

  6. Move on

    An old dog lies half-asleep on the port of a general store, moaning and groaning in the sun. After watching him go on like that for a few minutes, a customer asks the store owner, “Why is your dog acting that way?”

    “Oh, him,” the store owner says, “that’s Homer.  Homer’s fussin’ cause he’s lyin’ on a nail.”

    “Well, why doesn’t he move?”

    “Cause it ain’t hurtin’ him bad enough.”

    You can become so absorbed in your story of financial hardship that you can’t focus on anything else.  When I lost millions to a Ponzi-scheme and the SEC wanted to hold me responsible for me and my clients’ losses, it seemed like I held onto that story for years much like a scarlet letter had been etched into my chest.

    It’s easy to get into a rut of telling our stories of loss and how unfair the system is.  Frankly, we’d tell that story over and over again to ourselves and to anyone who will listen….the boyfriend or girlfriend who left, the cheating spouse who wrecked your marriage, the scheming business partner who stole from you, the lousy boss, the job we can’t stand but can’t quit, the government, the economy….the list goes on and on

    While there may be some truth or even a whole lot of truth to any of these stories, at the end of the day they are just that, stories.  There comes a time in your life when you just need to move on, when you just need to get off the nail you’ve been lying on before you can see clearly enough to find your passion and ultimately, your purpose.

I hope you find these 6 guidelines helpful in your quest for finding your purpose.  I believe there is no more noble cause in life.  It’s been said that the two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why?

Today, I stand on the sidelines, rooting for and cheering you on in your quest to find your purpose.  It’s something I take very seriously and is a part of the work I do in my Total Money Language Mastery one on one coaching program.  If that’s something that would interest you, take the assessment and then book a call so we can chat!

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Out of all the gifts I could give you, the gift of finding and living into your purpose is one of the best ones I could pass onto you.  It’s made a profound difference in my life and in the lives of the clients I serve.  Here’s what one of my clients had to say:

“I hired Ike to be my life coach during one of the toughest seasons in my life!  In just a few short sessions, he helped to guide me towards a path of success and purpose!” ~ Chanel E. Martin, CEO PNTHRClaw Consulting

Rooting for and cheering you on your quest!

“If a life unexamined isn’t worth living, perhaps the unexamined life is truly worth living? ~ Socrates & Ike Ikokwu

A life built around your purpose is really the only life worth living.  It’s the life where purpose and passion meet to let money flow abundantly into you so you experience money and life abundantly.

You can embark upon that life by taking your first step and completing the assessment and then book a call so we can chat!

TAKE ASSESSMENT NOW

 

With Abundance & Fulfillment,

Ike

How To Change Negative Perceptions Of You

How To Change Negative Perceptions Of You

by | | business coach, Entrepreneurial Mentoring, Mentoring

Are you one of those who has grown beyond the insecurities of others perception of you?  If that’s you, I want to congratulate you.  But what if this strength of yours could actually be one of your biggest weaknesses?

 

Despite being a Harvard grad, an acclaimed author and being named US Bankers Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance, Carla Harris, an African American Senior VP at Morgan Stanely says “The work you do is less important than how others perceive you and your work.” The fact is, as Carla says, perception is the co-pilot of reality.  So, if others negative perception of you and your work is holding you back from the success you deserve, do what Carla did and change their perception with your actions and language.

 

To change the perception on Wall Street that she wasn’t tough enough, Carla would conduct meetings and negotiations with such tenacity, that people were now cautioned before going into meetings to be prepared because she was tough.  In bio’s given to anyone introducing her at a speaking event, Carla carefully chose the right set of adjectives to describe just how tough she was.  Within a very short time, she flipped the switch on others negative perception on her, which allowed her to ascend to the heights of success in her field.

 

 

 

How To Overcome Being Stressed

How To Overcome Being Stressed

by | | business coach, Entrepreneurial Mentoring, Mentoring

Remember a time when you felt stressed or overwhelmed by something you know you wanted to do but didn’t know how to do?  That’s exactly how I felt after I wrote my book Winning The Money Game and realized I wanted to make it a best seller but didn’t know how.  Here’s 3 simple steps I found to evict that stress like a bad tenant.  I call it the 3 R’s Realize, Release and Redirect.

 

First, Realize what the true source of the stress is: (it’s just the fear of doing something new and last I checked, not knowing how to do something stopped Thomas Edison or The Wright Brothers, so it shouldn’t stop me);

 

Next is Release (you want to release all of the toxins and self- sabotaging thoughts that don’t serve you like I can’t do this or I’m not good enough.  Your job is to take those thoughts captive and prevent them from getting deep into your subconscious mind, or your spirit man).

 

Final step is to Redirect instead of Accept.  Rather than using definitive and conclusive statements like I can’t, you redirect them into open-ended questions that put your mind’s creative to work.  Once an “I can’t” is redirected to questions like (How can I become a Best Seller, What are the top 3 things best-selling authors did to make their book a best seller).  You then realize that Once I do the top 3 things best-selling authors have done, I too will be a best-selling author.  Going through this process allowed me to make my book Winning The Money Game, an Amazon best seller the week it was released in 2012.

 

 

 

How To Avoid Having A Bad Day

How To Avoid Having A Bad Day

by | | business coach, Entrepreneurial Mentoring, Mentoring

Ever have one of those days where you wake up and realize you’re out of toothpaste, you go downstairs to fix a cup of morning Joe and you guess it, you’re out of coffee, you get in the car and on the way to work someone cuts you off and gives you the you need Jesus sign and just then you realize you have a flat tire, and all of that happened before 8am.  If you’re like me, you’ve had your share of bad days.  In this video, I’ll show you how to avoid them, you can use this simple hack.  Don’t turn a bad 10 minutes, into a bad hour, or a bad hour in to a bad day.  It’s so easy to allow all of that negative stimuli from that bad hour to hijack our emotions and set the course for the rest of the day to be bad.  To avoid that, my friend Bonnie St. John, says to get a First Aid Kit for your attitude.  Whether on your phone or a physical bag, this kit would have pictures from a memorable trip, sand from your last vacation, meaningful quotes and a host of other things that can help redirect your thoughts, which impact your feelings, which determine your actions or behaviors which ultimately create the results you experience.  So, the next time you feel the onset of a bad day, remember to grab a first aid kit for your attitude.