Yes – there are many other reasons why you are driven to be in business. Regardless, you are in business to generate money. You have set a plan for your business and those plans include the generation of money to cover costs, which will include your personal remuneration.

When all of the costs are covered there will be profit…you have planned for gross profit. Linked to that profit, you likely have planned to make bonus payments to employees, including yourself and to other owner-operators, if any. After those payments are made, the remaining profit can either be left in your business as retained earnings or it can be paid out as dividends to owners.

There are lots of choices in business.

And, business is about generating profits and personal wealth.

Don't be shy about that.

Profit is a valuable thing in business.

Be clear about that.

Talk about profit.

Talk about profit and its relationship with your other corporate Values.

Use visual tools to clarify the picture as you see it.

For example...

In summary, you have 3 ways to receive money from your business:

1. Salary [wages],
2. Bonus, and
3. Dividends.

Many might view the following question as rhetorical.

Nonetheless, we will ask it:

Why would you want to receive money from your business?

The answer is: (1) to cover your current needs for money and (2) to cover your future needs for money.

Few small-business owners will argue with both those reasons.

Fewer small-business owners will do both of them.

Most small-business owners are challenged to succeed at the first one. In fact, succeeding at the first one consumes so much time and energy, most small-business owners never get around to working on the second one.

Why? 

Because most small-business owners fail to plan. When they fail to business plan they pave the path for failing to succession plan. Time spent planning and particularly time spent succession planning keeps the end-point vision front and centre in the business owner’s mind. That vision is linked to longer-term goals. So, longer-term goals are also front and centre in the business owner’s mind. When the end-point vision and long-term goals are front and centre, actions have guiding lights to follow. With guiding lights in place, the likelihood of success increases.

This is another key reason you should create a succession plan.

Separate yourself from the pack.

About the pack: Most small-business owners will be acutely aware of the need for current transfers of money from their business bank to their personal bank. They are acutely aware of the need because they know they need personal money to buy food, pay for a place to live, pay for a car…and pay for a long list of other things. Most small-business owners will expend a great deal of energy figuring out how to make these money transfers to cover their immediate, personal-money needs.

Yet, most small-business owners will expend little or no energy figuring out how to make money transfers to cover future needs. As a result, most small-business owners are ill-prepared to cover personal-emergency cash needs and even more fail to prepare for their retirement-money needs.

Increasing the likelihood of business success…that is one of the main reasons a business owner must perform succession planning. As Napoleon Hill taught in his 1937 classic ‘Think And Grow Rich’ –

“Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan.”

If you want to lead change and influence others to help you achieve the success you desire, consider these things:

• Your Intelligence - This is a tough one! How can you be objective? How can you know whether or not you have the intelligence required to be a successful leader? Here's a few suggestions: (1) view this as a life-long process, work at self-knowledge, & figure out how to measure accurately [then you will be able to apply these things to understanding others], (2) ask for input from others then consider it from different perspectives [as examples, subjectively and objectively], (3) have at least one mentor...intelligence is not fixed - it is something you can expand if you work at it.

• Your Self-Control - There are two dimensions: (1) short-term control over emotions, feelings, thoughts, & actions and (2) 'Grit', the ability to control thoughts and actions so they align with personal Values, Vision, Rules, & Goals. 'Grit', as defined here, is the thing in you that determines whether or not you can illustrate Integrity to others and whether or not you have the conviction required to achieve your Desires.

• Your Talents & Strengths - understand them in detail, use them to perform specific Tasks [Take Talent To Task], align with other people who can cover your weaknesses with their Talents & Strengths...figure out how to effectively Influence those people.

• Your Emotions - Another tough one! Start by defining Emotions and how they differ from feelings, moods, and other mind states. Seek help from others who can observe you in a variety of Situations: under heavy workload, under stress, under assault [for example, while being criticized]. Assessments can help identify your weaknesses. Major weaknesses must be corrected. If they are not you will violate sacred things like Integrity and your stated Values...violations will destroy followers' Trust in a blink. 

• Your Thoughts - Seek Simple, seek clarity, & consider the stories that touch you. Are you naturally optimistic or pessimistic? Work on being more optimistic. Are you naturally interested in other People? Work at being more interested. A leading Attitude is essential. Understand how human brains work. As an introduction: work at improving your ability to focus, initiate, plan, organize, shift, monitor, & regulate.

• Your Desires - these must mesh with your Values, Vision, Rules, & Goals. You must also understand them thoroughly. You must be able to communicate them with ease and with examples [stories work best].

• Your Actions - and the Actions you must do to deliver value, lead others, inspire others, influence others, and help others. 

Delegation is the decision-making engine of business.

The Delegation engine is fuelled by Influence.

Influence is built on a track record of releasing control and growing trust...all laced together, consistently, with Vision, Values, Rules, Goals, & Measures...all making best use of Talents & Strengths...and, together, learning lessons from errors made along the road to Success.

And the key to successful Delegation: make Decisions around How you will go about Releasing Control and How you will go about Growing Trust. For most people and most businesses, these things do not just happen naturally. They only happen after a great deal of forethought, self-analysis, and good planning. 

Practice the 80% Rule: If someone else can do the Task 80% as well as you can do it then Delegate.

And remember...

Constructive Criticism is an Oxymoron...so choose to celebrate lessons learned from failures rather than criticizing others' errors.