When you started your business you would have had many goals and driving forces, and ultimately they’ll come down to one (or a combination) of three things. We call these the three freedoms.
- Financial Freedom
- Time Freedom
- Mind Freedom
And our job as your accountant is to help you achieve these three freedoms. Our job is to help you make more money, pay less tax (legally) and of course enjoy your desired lifestyle!
Let’s look at each freedom in a little more detail:
1) Financial Freedom
Financial freedom means having enough money to enjoy your desired lifestyle. You will have money goals – and these will grow as you achieve each goal. Initially financial freedom to me meant being able to pay all my own bills without relying on anyone.
As my life has changed, and my family has grown, financial freedom is now a larger number than it was in 2014 when I first started PPF – but ultimately it has the same meaning – to pay my (larger) bills without relying on anyone, but also to be able to afford a few luxuries here and there – like holidays/visits to Cyprus!
And your number will change and probably grow over time. As your family grows and spreads their own wings you may find your number and needs are less – and therefore the amount you need for financial freedom is also less too. Your attention may then turn to building further on your nest egg for retirement – and possibly even the number you need for early retirement!
To achieve financial freedom the areas of your business you need to look at will include growing sales, improving your profit margins, and of course getting that cash in the bank! As your accountant we can help you with things like business planning, budgeting and cash flow management. Once we know what your number is we can help build a plan and help you achieve it!
2) Time Freedom
Having the cash to live your desired lifestyle is great – but you also need the time to do the things you want to! Without the time to live how you wish the money to be able to afford it is pointless!
Society tells us that money is one of the main factors in success – but actually time freedom is just as important to many business owners in their view of success. They want to be able to pick the kids up from school, attend sports day etc, spend time with friends and family, doing their hobbies.
Time freedom is having the time you want to do the things you want! Being able to drop down from working 5 days a week (or maybe 7 days when you first start!) to however many days you want to work. Taking time off when you want for the holidays or rest time you want.
Dropping to a 4 day week was one of my time goals for 2021, and I achieved this in the later part of the year. I now spend my Monday’s on the golf course with my hubby. After a few full on years where I worked crazy hours and nearly risked burn out this is now non negotiable (during term time at least!) as I know the benefits of the rest and exercise has on my mental and physical wellbeing! It’s also something I enjoy and I get some child free time with my hubby – yay!
Some of the areas to look at to help reach your time freedom goals include creating a sustainable, scalable and saleable business, clarifying who does what, and improving efficiency. We can help here with coaching, an organisational review, and an app review & training – helping to make sure your business is as efficient as possible!
Another quick exercise to help free up some time is looking at the Achiever Matrix by Steven Covey. Check out our free worksheet to see where you spend your time, and what you can do to help free up your time!
3) Mind Freedom
And finally – having the cash and time is great – but you also need the mind freedom to actually enjoy doing the things you love with the people you love! You need the peace of mind to really switch off and be present, and of course sleep at night!
This is probably the hardest freedom to achieve – well in my view! Our businesses are our babies – will we ever not worry or think about them?! Will we ever not wake up at silly o’clock with an idea, or go away and not get inspiration?
But having that peace of mind that things are being done, you’re all legal and above board – but not paying more than you should, and generally knowing that everything is ok and as it should be will enable you to really be present and enjoy the lifestyle you’re working towards.
It’s pretty much a given that you want your accounts and tax returns done correctly and filed on time (check out our compliance services – bookkeeping, VAT, PAYE, accounts, tax returns and more!) and of course you want your taxes as low as legally possible (basic tax planning is included as standard within our accounts services, and more complex tax planning is delivered as and where required), but also having that support and understanding what on earth is going on with your business is also pretty important (check out our coaching services, and our Money Confidence Programme).
Quick Wins
Fully achieving the three freedoms will take time and some hard work – but there are plenty of quick wins and smaller goals along the way. Check out our free Three Freedoms Worksheet to help you identify areas in your business that you can work on to ensure you achieve financial, time and mind freedom.
Want more help?
Well that is exactly what we’re here for! As I’ve said above – it’s our job to help you achieve these three freedoms, and that is what we want for all of our clients. We want them to have enough money and time to do the things they love with the people they love – and most importantly enjoy it!
If you’d like some help achieving these three freedoms then pop over to our Get Started page, complete the quick questionnaire and book a discovery call with us. We look forward to speaking with you and helping you achieve your goals 🙂
