Listen instead on your Monday Morning Drive:

After 25 years of building and running a company, an owner asked me pointedly, “Where’s my reward?”

He continued, “I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I’m still dealing with the same problems. I can’t leave the business alone. I can’t look away. When is it all about me?”

I hear this question often. It gets to the heart of what business owners really want.

When you start a business, your wants are simple: control, independence, proving yourself. But quickly, other wants take precedence.

Let’s break down what owners really want, both practically and emotionally, so you can start getting more of what you deserve from your business.

The 5 Things Owners Want

1. Cash Flow

Cash is king. Without proper cash management, stress will consume you. Trying to sleep while putting off vendors or foregoing your own paycheck is nearly impossible.

Cash flow problems are tough to fix quickly, which makes everything more frustrating. If the rest of your business is solid but you’ve got cash problems, you can usually fix them. But when other issues exist, your cash problems get worse.

Quick cash flow fixes:

• Expect to get paid — improve your deposit requirements and collection process
• Recognize that cash in hand beats receivables every time
• Consider offering discounts for early payment (3–5%)
• Cut discretionary spending immediately during crunches
• Ask suppliers for better pricing
• Contact creditors with a payment plan

Long-term, examine your pricing structure. Cash flow problems often signal pricing issues. Without profit, you’ll rely on deposits to pay current bills, which is a dangerous cycle.

2. Profit

Profit gives you the freedom to make choices. True profitability means 15–25% operating profit, not scraping by with 2% net profit.

Most small business owners don’t respond quickly enough to market changes. If you haven’t reviewed your pricing in months (or years), you’ve missed opportunities. Make incremental 5–10% adjustments over time rather than one massive increase.

Watch your costs closely. When costs change, your prices must change, too. People don’t make money from earning more revenue. They make money by optimizing the revenue they already have.

3. Growth

Many owners want to grow because they aren’t profitable. They believe more revenue will fix their profit problems. This typically means you have too much overhead.

If you aren’t profitable at your current size, cut overhead first. You likely need to improve gross profit margins too, but pricing fixes take time to implement. Shows already in your pipeline are priced, and it may take 6–12 months to realize improvements from new pricing.

If you’re already unprofitable and struggling with cash flow, growth alone won’t solve it. Growth will be a band-aid at best.

4. Satisfaction

Think back to when running your business was fun. What made it enjoyable? What’s getting in the way now?

At your next team meeting, share a story about the good times. Explain why it’s a great memory for you and talk about the importance of making similar memories again. Then listen. Your team will explain why “we can’t do that anymore.”

Help them understand what makes the business satisfying for you, then work to understand what satisfies them. Find a happy compromise.

5. Harmony

Wanting harmony means you want to be understood.

When your team lacks harmony, people don’t understand each other. Maybe you don’t understand them, or they don’t understand you.

Being an owner is isolating. You make decisions that can create discord within the team. You’re left asking, “Can’t we all just get along?”

The truth is, as the owner, you’re not on the same team as the rest of your staff. You have different responsibilities.

To improve harmony:

• Replace org charts with process owner charts
• Keep meetings focused on specific topics
• Create clear agendas with designated meeting owners
• Stop people who hijack meetings (especially if it’s you)
• Focus on behaviors, not personalities
• Help team members narrow their job descriptions

Work in the Right Order

Work on these five elements in sequence. Can you have a harmonious team with horrible cash flow? Not for long. You won’t be able to pay them.

Start with cash flow, then improve profit. Once those are stable, consider growth. When the business is financially sound, focus on satisfaction, which leads to harmony. Only then can you effectively work toward your long-term goals.

Your reward will be a business that works for you instead of a business you work for. When you achieve that, your options for the future, whether selling, passing it on, or starting a new venture, become much clearer.