Business
Ownership
Life
Goals
01
Foundation
&
First
Revenue
Getting
the
legal
,
financial
and
commercial
basics
right
before
anything
scales
.
01
Separate
personal
and
business
finances
A
dedicated
business
checking
account
,
savings
account
and
card
—
opened
before
the
first
invoice
goes
out
.
YEAR
1
02
Formally
incorporate
the
business
Choose
LLC
,
S
-
corp
or
C
-
corp
with
an
accountant
and
file
it
correctly
in
the
right
state
the
first
time
.
YEAR
1
03
Land
the
first
paying
customer
Not
a
free
pilot
and
not
a
favour
—
an
invoice
that
gets
paid
within
thirty
days
.
YEAR
1
04
Reach
$
10,000
in
monthly
recurring
revenue
The
first
honest
proof
that
the
business
can
cover
a
salary
and
keep
going
.
YEARS
1–2
05
Build
a
six
-
month
operating
reserve
Cash
in
the
bank
that
covers
rent
,
payroll
and
tools
even
if
revenue
stops
arriving
.
YEARS
1–2
06
Write
the
one
-
sentence
business
definition
If
a
stranger
cannot
repeat
what
you
do
after
hearing
it
once
,
the
positioning
is
not
finished
.
YEAR
1
1 / 7
02
Money
,
Margin
&
Ownership
Turning
revenue
into
personal
wealth
that
does
not
depend
on
the
business
surviving
.
01
Pay
yourself
a
real
salary
A
fixed
monthly
draw
set
by
a
budget
—
not
whatever
happens
to
be
left
after
expenses
.
YEAR
1
02
Reach
$
1
M
in
annual
revenue
The
threshold
where
the
business
stops
being
a
side
project
and
starts
behaving
like
an
asset
.
YEARS
2–3
03
Build
$
1
M
in
net
worth
outside
the
company
Investments
,
property
and
savings
that
stand
on
their
own
if
the
business
ever
doesn
'
t
.
YEARS
3–5
04
Hold
gross
margin
above
60%
Enough
room
for
payroll
,
marketing
and
mistakes
without
the
whole
thing
wobbling
.
YEARS
1–2
05
Diversify
into
three
income
streams
Products
,
services
and
recurring
revenue
—
so
no
single
client
or
contract
can
end
the
year
.
YEARS
2–4
06
Get
to
zero
high
-
interest
debt
Owner
loans
,
card
balances
and
merchant
advances
paid
off
and
closed
for
good
.
YEARS
1–3
2 / 7
03
Growth
&
Scale
Milestones
that
force
the
business
to
work
through
systems
rather
than
through
you
.
01
Make
the
first
full
-
time
hire
Someone
who
removes
an
entire
category
of
work
from
your
plate
permanently
.
YEARS
1–2
02
Build
a
team
of
ten
Ten
people
who
each
own
an
outcome
—
not
ten
people
waiting
for
instructions
.
YEARS
3–5
03
Cross
$
5
M
in
annual
revenue
A
number
that
cannot
be
reached
on
effort
alone
;
it
needs
process
,
pricing
and
people
.
YEARS
3–5
04
Launch
a
second
product
or
a
second
location
Prove
the
model
works
twice
,
in
a
place
where
you
are
not
standing
.
YEARS
3–5
05
Operate
a
full
week
without
you
Seven
days
,
no
email
and
no
calls
,
with
revenue
unchanged
at
the
end
of
it
.
YEARS
2–4
06
Enter
a
second
market
New
city
,
new
country
or
new
customer
segment
—
with
a
written
playbook
for
the
move
.
YEARS
5+
04
Team
,
Culture
&
Leadership
The
part
of
the
business
that
keeps
running
when
you
stop
being
in
the
room
.
01
Hire
people
better
than
you
in
every
key
seat
Operations
,
finance
,
sales
,
product
—
no
exceptions
and
no
ego
about
it
.
ONG OING
02
Publish
core
values
and
hire
against
them
Written
down
,
asked
about
in
interviews
,
and
referenced
in
performance
reviews
.
YEAR
1
03
Never
miss
payroll
A
track
record
rather
than
an
intention
—
payroll
runs
before
anything
else
does
.
ONG OING
04
Give
early
employees
real
ownership
Profit
share
,
equity
or
phantom
equity
—
documented
,
vesting
and
explained
plainly
.
YEARS
1–3
05
Name
your
own
successor
A
specific
person
,
with
a
written
development
plan
and
a
date
attached
to
it
.
YEARS
3–7
06
Mentor
three
first
-
time
founders
Structured
time
each
month
for
people
a
few
steps
behind
you
on
the
same
road
.
ONG OING
3 / 7
05
Time
,
Freedom
&
Lifestyle
What
the
business
is
supposed
to
buy
you
—
measured
in
hours
,
not
in
revenue
.
01
Work
a
four
-
day
week
The
same
revenue
,
one
fewer
day
,
protected
on
the
calendar
like
any
other
commitment
.
YEARS
2–4
02
Take
a
four
-
week
unplugged
vacation
No
laptop
,
a
deputy
in
charge
,
and
a
business
that
is
still
standing
when
you
return
.
YEARS
2–5
03
Design
the
calendar
around
your
best
hours
Deep
work
in
the
morning
,
meetings
after
lunch
,
and
nobody
else
deciding
the
shape
of
your
day
.
YEAR
1
04
Decouple
income
from
hours
worked
Revenue
that
arrives
whether
you
worked
twenty
hours
that
week
or
sixty
.
YEARS
4–7
05
Live
debt
-
free
outside
the
business
Mortgage
,
car
and
cards
cleared
—
so
a
bad
quarter
cannot
reach
your
family
.
YEARS
3–6
06
Be
home
for
dinner
five
nights
a
week
A
boundary
that
survives
the
busiest
stretch
of
the
year
,
not
just
the
quiet
ones
.
ONG OING
4 / 7
06
Legacy
&
Impact
What
the
business
does
for
people
other
than
its
owner
.
01
Employ
25+
people
in
your
own
community
Local
wages
,
local
suppliers
and
local
taxes
—
growth
that
shows
up
on
your
own
street
.
YEARS
5–7
02
Give
1%
of
revenue
every
year
To
a
named
cause
,
committed
in
writing
,
and
paid
whether
or
not
the
year
went
well
.
YEAR
1
03
Write
the
book
or
give
the
talk
Put
the
lessons
on
the
record
where
the
next
owner
can
find
them
.
YEARS
3–5
04
Document
the
company
playbook
Every
core
process
written
down
,
so
the
business
does
not
live
only
inside
your
head
.
YEARS
1–2
05
Fund
a
scholarship
or
a
foundation
A
permanent
structure
that
keeps
giving
long
after
the
business
changes
hands
.
YEARS
5+
06
Build
something
that
outlives
you
A
company
,
a
standard
or
a
body
of
work
that
keeps
running
without
its
founder
in
the
room
.
LONG
T ERM
5 / 7
07
Exit
,
Valuation
&
Succession
Making
the
business
valuable
to
someone
else
—
and
deciding
ahead
of
time
who
that
someone
is
.
01
Know
what
the
business
is
actually
worth
A
defensible
valuation
,
updated
annually
,
with
the
drivers
written
down
next
to
the
number
.
YEARS
2–3
02
Build
a
business
that
can
be
sold
Clean
books
,
documented
systems
,
signed
contracts
and
revenue
that
does
not
depend
on
you
.
YEARS
2–5
03
Receive
a
written
acquisition
offer
A
real
term
sheet
with
real
numbers
—
even
if
the
answer
turns
out
to
be
no
.
YEARS
3–7
04
Complete
an
exit
on
your
own
terms
The
timing
,
buyer
and
price
you
chose
—
not
the
ones
the
market
chose
for
you
.
YEARS
5–10
05
Leave
a
written
succession
plan
Who
takes
over
each
function
,
what
happens
in
the
first
ninety
days
,
and
who
is
accountable
.
YEARS
3–5
06
Keep
the
relationships
after
the
money
Former
employees
,
clients
and
partners
who
would
still
take
your
call
on
a
Monday
morning
.
POST
-
EXIT
6 / 7
08
Health
,
Learning
&
Resilience
The
owner
is
the
asset
that
has
to
keep
working
—
long
after
the
business
does
.
01
Read
twelve
business
books
a
year
One
a
month
,
notes
kept
,
and
one
idea
actually
applied
before
starting
the
next
one
.
ONG OING
02
Build
a
peer
group
or
advisory
board
Four
to
six
owners
who
will
tell
you
the
truth
on
a
quarterly
schedule
.
YEAR
1
03
Survive
a
near
-
death
year
The
year
revenue
halves
—
and
you
keep
the
team
,
the
clients
and
your
own
health
intact
.
ANYT IME
04
Protect
the
body
that
runs
the
business
Sleep
,
training
and
a
doctor
'
s
visit
that
is
a
check
-
up
rather
than
an
emergency
.
ONG OING
05
Write
down
your
walk
-
away
number
The
figure
at
which
you
sell
,
close
or
hand
it
off
—
decided
before
you
are
emotional
about
it
.
YEAR
1
06
Teach
everything
you
know
No
proprietary
secrets
held
close
—
the
industry
gets
better
,
and
so
do
you
.
ONG OING
7 / 7
