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Are You Making Money?

Guest post by: Chris Rugh

Article Overview: A serial entrepreneur, Christopher is the founder and CEO of several companies, including 1-800-Good Credit, Worldwide Telegraph, and Customtollfree.com. He has been an EO member since 2001. You can reach Christopher at cmb@customtollfree.com.

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Are You Making Money?

While it may seem obvious, the principal test of financial success is whether or not you’re making money. When it comes down to it, this is the bottom line.

When I first started out, I confused being insanely busy with growing a business. At one point I was running seven businesses — all on my own. No employees. No vacations. Now it may be obvious to you that this wasn’t going to work, but it wasn’t to me. I admit I was a dumb, naive kid with something to prove.

Then, I got a reality check. A man who later became one of my mentors asked me, “Chris, are you making any money?”

This question hit me like a ton of bricks. That was when I sat down with the financials and realized that the seven businesses, collectively, were making just enough for me to squeak by. Not to mention all the hours I was working! And most of them had no hope of ever doing more than that. That meant that what I was working so hard at was treading water. And if I kept treading water at this insane rate, I was going to get exhausted and drown.

Take a moment to ask yourself the question my mentor asked me: Are you making money?

What’s your answer?

When I ask entrepreneurs that question, I get some interesting responses. Keep in mind that if your answer to “Are you making money"?” is not a firm “yes,” it means there’s a major problem with what you’re doing or with your current business model. You can blame it on the economy, your location, your employees, or your investors, but if you aren’t making money, alarms should be going off. Your system is not working.

The great thing about acknowledging that your system isn’t working is that you can start with a clean slate and create a whole new system. You’ve learned a lot of lessons. You have a lot of the information you need to start doing things the right way.

In my case, I chose the one business out of the seven that had a strong chance of making money — if I would actually give it the opportunity. Then I gave that business everything it needed to become a moneymaker.

If your business isn’t making money, it could be that you’re distracting yourself with other commitments, other jobs, or studying, all while trying to run your business on the side. It might be that you have the wrong employees. It might even be that the business you’re in is the wrong one for you.

The good news is that you can do something about it. These four steps can help you get back on the road to entrepreneurial success:

Assess yourself. Identify what you’re good at and what you can’t or won’t do. Be brutally honest. Now pick a business that’s a good match for you.
Assess your business needs. Make a list of the types of people you’ll need to support your chosen business. These are people who are strong in those areas where you’re weak. (If you hate making cold calls, you’ll need a salesperson who can make 10 of those before they gulp their first cup of coffee.) Write down the specific traits each person needs to have, so you won’t be tempted to fill that job with the first pleasant person who comes along.
Put your team together. Hire the people on your list and empower them to get the work done. If you don’t understand how they do it — and you probably don’t — ask them to explain. You’ll either learn something or you’ll come away with a better appreciation for what great hires you made.
Dump the baggage. Don’t encumber yourself and your business with other responsibilities and distractions. I disposed of my six other businesses. Chances are you’ll need to give something up as well.

Following this four-step process, I went from being my own miserable employee to being a successful, satisfied entrepreneur. I’m enjoying myself and, yes, I am making money!

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About the Author: Chris Rugh
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Chris Rugh began his career as a young, naive kid who thought he knew all there was to know about business, but didn't have a penny to his name. He graduated from Grand Valley State University and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations and Advertising. After several business failures, he realized he was doing something wrong. He made the changes and the necessary improvements to help him become the successful entrepreneur he is today. Chris Rugh is a successful entrepreneur with irrepressible passion for business and life. He launched Custom Toll Free (www.customtollfree.com) as a DBA of Rugly Holdings Inc. (www.rugly.com) in 1997. Custom Toll Free has since become the nation's leading vanity telephone number search firm. Fortune 500 companies and well recognized brands such as 1-800-CONTACTS, Comcast, and Best Buy are among the company's valued clients. Even during the worst recession in history, revenues grew 30%. However, Chris didn't stop there. Now he is an accomplished entrepreneur, business owner and CEO, award-winning public speaker and private consultant. He is also recognized through the Entrepreneurs Organization and serves on the board. Chris believes that life isn't all about work. He is a firm believer that striking a balance between work and personal life is important to your overall success, which is one of the key topics he preaches in his book 1-800-Awesome: Tactics for Making $10,000 an Hour. He is a founder and board member for BloopCamp, a non-profit artist collective where he has done fun and interesting things like build an electric car from scratch. He is also a strong advocate for social justice and a lifetime member of the ACLU and currently lives in Seattle, WA.

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