How Long Before Profit First Changes Your Life?

This question is the most difficult to answer for my Profit First clients: “When do I feel the difference?” For many business owners there is an overarching anxiety where their personal finances lag behind their business finances. And, while I am a business coach I know that for many of us, finances have to impact us before we feel the impact. Our business could improve as much as possible, but until that becomes owner’s takeaway and profit? 

It’s a fair question, and I remember that I had the same question before Profit First. However the answer truly is different for everyone. For some, the change clicks in the first quarter. That first profit celebration translates to the owner’s dreams, and proves to them that a powerful transformation is taking place within their business. For others, it doesn’t happen until the hectic parts of life begin to automatically be addressed by the systems put in place by the Profit First system. 

This is the reason for the series we have been published on the connection between Profit First and The Money Habit. Because when you have a system that manages your personal finances then you gain a clarity to the actual impact Profit First is having in your personal life. When you can say “today I have 500 dollars in my personal emergency fund that I never imagined having before” and that is completely funded by regular owner’s compensation payments? Then you can follow the logic back to its source. You can say “Well, that money came from my owner’s compensation account which must mean that my emergency fund is provided by X% of my business’ revenue.” 

Now you can think “the package that I charge 1000 dollars for? I need to sell this many to secure my personal finances for the month, and the excess only improves my finances.” That can’t happen when personal finances or business finances are messy. We can’t feel the impact when we go “well I pay myself regularly, but I don’t know where it goes.” 

What I’ve found to be the answer to: “When do I feel the impact?” Is built into the packages I offer. 12 months is the package I offer, and I charge a fee for early cancellation. This isn’t because I want to nickel and dime my clients. It’s because Profit First is the act of constant repetition within the first year. That active repetition feeds into my clients making better personal finances decisions because dividing money between accounts is already a habit. 

Now I won’t lie, the first year is difficult. Most people want to quit before they make it, but those that stick to the transformation realize the benefits of systematizing their business finances.  When their cashflow is healthier, when their owner’s compensation regularly ensures they already have the money for their personal lives? When their business has retained cash, and profit has been celebrated? That’s when my clients realized the power of consistency and building the habit. I know, because that’s when I felt the impact of Profit First.