Mr Pavuk refers to this as the first Deadly Sin of being in business, in his book Nobody Else’s Business.

As a owner of a legal practice and solicitor, Mr Pavuk has seen many good businesses fail due to the lack of understanding and planning on behalf of the owner.

“To take profit correctly, business owners must develop a business structure that is simple to control and administer in order to prepare for both expected and unexpected changes that may arise. In order to do this, they need to get to know their business”.

Mr Pavuk also says that the business must:
• Determine personal needs and objectives
• Understand their business model
• Understand their business drivers
• Decide how they want to extract wealth from their business, and
• Select appropriate advisers

Mr Pavuk said that the role adviser’s play in the process is crucial to determining the personal needs of the owner and balancing such needs against the business.

“A financial adviser looks at the business from an outside angle, and may identify parts that are failing that may not have been noticed by the owner. They will assist in the development of goals for the business, that will help lead owners down the path to financial freedom”.

By seeking advice, business owners can focus on developing their business from strategies and advice that has worked for other businesses, often similar to their own. Advisers provide direction to owners who may not have thought about how their business can extract wealth effectively.

Mr Pavuk said that taking profits and investing them outside the business, or preparing to sell the business for capital gain are both ideal ways to prevent failure in the future.

“Extracting wealth is one of the most important ways to build a business to keep, sell or close. By extracting wealth, it will maximize the value of a business and opportunities to invest will provide a more secure path to financial freedom in the future”.

Financial freedom is the ideal outcome of any business owner. Throughout Nobody Else’s Business, Mr Pavuk devises strategies that will give business owners a path to follow when determining the future success of their business. 

According to contributor Brian Boggs, it is a roadmap to financial freedom that is applicable to all business owners.

“Without planning, owners may end up losing their business, or not be able to retire when they expect”, he said.

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