Certainly, with a lot of hard work and a good support system, it is possible to reach a million dollars in your business, but you need to be aware that those success stories don’t always show exactly what it takes to get to seven-figures -- or what happens after you make it there. I didn’t realize when I started my business how much money I would have to put back into it because I’d believed what I’d seen from others boasting about their wins. This is why it’s important to step up as a leader in your business. Then you can focus on your larger responsibilities of running the business and helping it grow while your team handles the behind-the-scenes details. You realize "imposter syndrome" is a real thing. Not because my team and I didn’t earn it, but because the dreaded imposter syndrome started creeping in -- the belief that somehow others had worked harder than I had or had spent more time building their business. Imposter syndrome is a real thing that even high-profile leaders and celebrities experience. You focus on nurturing relationships instead of day-to-day grunt work. But at some point, you have to take a step back and focus on developing better relationships and connections in your business. Successful CEOs spend less time out and about and more time nurturing their business relationships, from meeting with team members to connecting with clients.
It sounds counterintuitive, but the more zeroes you see behind the dollar sign, the more headaches you may endure.
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It’s every entrepreneur’s dream to reach seven figures in business, but as my own experience has taught me, hitting the million-dollar mark doesn’t mean it’s all been smooth sailing.
Before my language app crossed seven figures, I believed a lot of what I’d read or heard from other entrepreneurs who’d “made it.” I was certain I would be flying in a private jet, buying new cars every other week and never having to work hard again. But once my business hit that big “success” milestone, I realized that not everything is as it seems. I’m not kicking back, taking sales calls from a lounge chair on the beach or snapping photos in front of my brand new Lamborghini. None of that is reality.
Certainly, with a lot of hard work and a good support system, it is possible to reach a million dollars in your business, but you need to be aware that those success stories don’t always show exactly what it takes to get to seven-figures — or what happens after you make it there.
Here are five things no one tells you about running a million-dollar business:
1. You can make a million dollars and still be broke.
Unfortunately, there’s this little thing called cash flow that most aspiring entrepreneurs don’t think about until it’s too late. Cash flow actually represents all of the money flowing into and out of your business. This means that any expenses you have — like taxes, office supplies and invoices for vendors or team members — count against your profits. In fact, 82 percent of small businesses that fail do so because of cash-flow problems.
Even Twitter, which has been around since 2006, has had these profit issues. Despite having 336 million monthly active users, the company took 12 years, until 2018, to achieve a profitable status for the first time This is not unusual — most businesses don’t make a profit in their early ears of operation.
In my own first year, I barely made a profit and paid myself a salary of only $11,000. My business had reached six figures but I still didn’t make enough to fully cover my living expenses. I didn’t realize when I started my business how much money I would have to put back into it because I’d believed what I’d seen from others boasting about their wins.
I’ve often seen entrepreneurs who post only their gross income without acknowledging expenses like travel costs, office rent and team salaries. So when you see an entrepreneur who says his or her business has reached “seven figures,” remember that that might not mean the amount of money in the bank. It’s more than likely “total revenue.”
One way to ensure you don’t go broke on your way to seven figures is to use a cash-flow statement to track revenue going in and out of your business. This will help you and your team anticipate issues and plan accordingly.
2. You have more responsibility, not less.
For most of us driven entrepreneurs, the day-to-day hustle is part of daily life: We wake up and before we can even say, “I’ll have a grande quad nonfat no-whip mocha,” we’re already checking off a thousand things to get done — and usually doing them all ourselves. We wait for the day when we finally make big money so we can stop…
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