I reckon there are four money games we play in business.
Each one feeds the next.
And each one matters more than the last.
Revenue. How much money the business brings in. A lot of time, attention, and energy goes into this number (as it should).
But... it can become a vanity metric (“I run an 8-figure business”) … sometimes at the expense of the more important games below.
Profit. How much money is left over. What you, as the owner, actually get to take home.
Revenue is nice, and you can’t have profit without it. But profit trumps revenue.
This is the most important money game inside the business.
Assets. As a business owner, you take the profit from the business and turn it into assets outside the business.
What you own matters more than what you make. This is the net worth game.
Financial Freedom. The game we rarely think about. I considered calling this “the gap”: the difference between what we make (initially from profit, eventually from assets) and what we spend on our lifestyle. Financial freedom comes from growing the numbers from games 1, 2, and 3. Without letting your lifestyle keep up.
Years ago I coined the phrase: “rockstar your income, not your lifestyle.” I still reckon it’s good advice.
Good luck with your money games.
