Your practice is a business but do you run it like one? Before you would invest your money in a business, you would study the business plan and financial statements. Your business is no different. Every day you invest your scarcest resource of all your time. You can always get more money but never more time so some due diligence on your business is called for.

Think = Act

If you think like an employee then youll act like one. An employee thinks very differently than a professional that thinks like an owner. Some generalizations about these differences follow:

Employee

Has a Job
Product Focus
More Clients
Thinks Gross $
Serve all Clients
Works more Hours
One Year Outlook

Owner

Runs a Business
Market Focus
Profitable Clients
Thinks Profits
Serve Profitable Clients
More Free time
Has an Exit Strategy

Proof

You want proof of the difference? Ask an employee thinker (most financial professionals) about a marketing plan; ask about profitable clients; ask to see a value proposition; ask what the business looks like 10 or 20 years from now. And finally, ask to see a weekly action plan. The lack of these is what contributes to average performance or less. I see a lot of employees working a lot of hours to get just average performance.

Rethink Your Business as an Owner

Changing your mindset to think like an owner is challenging (See Change or Die Memo at www.boblodie.com). Its a process not an event. You dont do it by attending a seminar although that may be a start. You do it by thinking and doing things differently every day. You can start the process by taking a critical look at your reality. Are your current activities going to get you the results you want in the future? Have you really thought about what you want your future to look like? Here are some simple steps to take now to begin to think like an owner.

Employee to Owner Steps

1. Start taking a niche approach to the market not spray and pray.

2. Set a breakeven P&L line and fire the clients below the line

3. Know your value proposition and build on it

4. Run each day with a game plan

5. Consult with your personal Board of Advisors monthly

The most important thing to realize is that you decide everyday what your day and the future will be. We all have a free will and we all create, promote or allow most of what happens in our life. The honest view says that its not the market, the economy, your government or your company or broker/dealer that will determine your future. Its you!

People get in the habit of finding ways to confirm their own thinking, which in time creates barriers to seeing the realities that differ from those theyre comfortable with.

Confronting Reality Larry Bossidy, CEO Honeywell

Perception is real even when it is not reality. If you do not design the future someone or something else will design it for you. De Bono