10% Is the New Breakeven

10% Is the New Breakeven

(this article originally appeared in Amalgamate – Summer 2015)

One of the advantages of a conference are the random conversations you find yourself having at lunch, during breaks and after 5 at the hotel cantina. On day 2 I found myself with a consultant from Boulder, CO who specializes in coaching owners of Small to Medium Enterprises (SME) and a second consultant from Seattle, WA who specializes in operational efficiency after a career working for Boeing. The gist of the conversation was the economic outlook for the near future but it quickly turned to an existential question of why business exists.

I’m blaming the guy from Boulder.

That said, it is a great question.

At a simple level, your business generates the cash that creates your wealth.

Yet, at a spiritual level, True Wealth is more about having self-directed time than money. The ability to go where you want, engage in the activities you want, whenever you want is the definition of True Wealth.

The opposite of that having someone else controlling your happiness.

The “10% growth is the new breakeven” quote above is offered up by a consultant that focuses on increasing profit. It’s an arbitrary number he uses to illustrate his point that if you’re not growing you’re regressing toward the mean.

I’m suggesting that you take his maxim further. You need to decide what your personal spiritual breakeven is, based on maximizing your True Wealth.

You have the opportunity to use your business as the means of providing the cash you need to maximize your True Wealth. Maximize it in the way that makes sense for you. There is no set measure for True Wealth. It’s not your neighbor’s car, your eccentric Uncle Max’s vacation home, or the latest smartwatch. They have no impact on your happiness.

10% growth is not only the new breakeven for your business, it’s the new breakeven for measuring the growth of your True Wealth.