Anyone who says financial success is “simple” probably isn’t very successful or didn’t build that success themselves. While the concepts can be straightforward, executing them in the context of life is not. Yet, there is one principle that, if followed, makes all the difference:
Stay on Top of It.
Almost all the issues we see at Alchemy stem from someone losing control of their financial situation along the growth journey, which is a natural outcome of growth.
So if it’s predictable — and in fact a requirement — that you lose control of your finances at some point due to growth, what do you do to stay on top of that?
First, time-block 15-30 minutes a week for finance admin work. This might include answering emails from your finance team, reviewing this week’s transactions in your bank account and P&L (if it’s up to date), or calling the bank, the state, or the IRS to handle an issue blocking everything.
Second, set regular meetings with your finance team. The cadence depends on how much you have going on, but at a minimum, you should review your P&L monthly with someone who can talk you through it, and you should meet with your CPA twice per year to look at your current and future tax liability.
That’s the foundation.
Finances are like houses in that if you have deferred the maintenance for a while, and maybe even left it vacant (so to speak), it will take an uncomfortable amount of time and investment to catch up, so buckle up.
When you make that investment, you’ll sleep a lot better at night and see that staying on top of it isn’t as hard as you thought.
