Hey,

This week I received a CSP from Jessica and Vip, who were recently making $300k a year — until Jessica got laid off. They have one child and would like to have another. 

Jessica is wondering: 

“Should I start my own business so I have more flexibility with my kids? Or do I need to find a new job?” 

Check out their CSP and my thoughts below.

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One of the best things I’ve done in the last decade is join a CEO Council: a group of 10 other CEOs I meet with regularly. 

As a CEO, it can be lonely. Your team depends on you, and it’s hard to weigh all the 5,347 options you face daily for growing the business. That’s why I love that I can go to my CEO Council with a problem — they ask all the right questions and help me clarify what steps to take next.

Here are 5 things they have helped me with in the last few years:

• When to hire a CFO
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• How to be a better partner as an entrepreneur
• How to be a better manager
• How to have 1-1s
• How to design compensation plans

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“I want to start my own business — and I want another child. Can I do both?”

Now let’s get into this week’s Conscious Spending Plan. Here are some details about this week’s couple:

• Jessica (31) and Vip (32)
• We are looking at homes to buy and thinking about a second baby
• I (Jessica) just got laid off and want to start my own business
• We're trying to figure out what's possible and not possible right now

Let's take a look at their CSP and see if Jessica can realistically start her own business.

Net worth

• The first thing I see is a relatively high amount of investments. Good! Again, seeing this is a big sign that this couple has a demonstrated ability to invest money consistently. 
  
  
• Savings at $70K? Okay, that sounds good on its face, but it really depends on their monthly fixed costs.
  
  
• Debt is $17,000. I'm willing to bet it's student loans, not credit card debt.

Income

• Before, they were making $300,000 gross. Now, he's making $187,000. ​​And she is not making what she used to, which was $110,000 gross. 
  
  
• She got laid off and now they’re wondering: can she start a business? The short answer is yes, you can start a business, but there is a catch, and I want to walk you through it…

Fixed Costs

• Fixed costs at 72%. That's fairly high, but let's break it down. 
  
  
• Daycare is a very high cost, and that's pretty much it. Without daycare, the numbers would drop considerably. So, what does it mean? It means that's an issue, but a temporary issue. But they’re thinking of also having a second child, so that will have to be factored in if she started a business with the daycare at this rate.

Investments

• They're investing only $377 a month. 
  
  
• But their current investments are just over $300,000, and they’re in their early thirties.
  
  
• I just ran a calculation, assuming she never gets a job again and he never gets a raise again. If they continue investing $377 a month on top of their $300K, they’ll have about $140,000 a year of income throughout the rest of their lives if we use the 4% rule.
  
  
• The fact that they have already accumulated $300,000 buys them flexibility. That's the good news. The bad news is I can tell a couple, like this, who used to make $300,000 in their early thirties is not going to be satisfied with $140,000 of income.

Overall

• This high-achieving couple will want more money. For that reason, you can start a business and jointly develop a specific set of rules for it. 
  
  
• I would take a look at these numbers and have a really serious conversation about daycare or childcare. What's going to happen with that? Are you going to have a second child? If so, roughly when is Jessica going to go full-time on starting this business? All those questions need to be considered, but the most important question is how long is Jessica going to give herself and how much money does this business need to make?
  
  
• If it were me, it would be something like this: If I'm Jessica, I used to make $9,167 a month gross. Starting a business, I know I'm not gonna make that much. I give myself six months to be making $5,000 a month gross. If you can make $5,000, then you can double that to $10,000. If you can make $10,000, you can make a lot more.  But if on the other hand, she gets to six months and she's only making $1,500 a month or even like $2,500 a month, she needs to move on.
  
  
• We teach exactly how to do that in our Earnable business program, which I highly recommend you join. One of the things I tell them is they need to be specific with their goals. For example, I give myself 6 months to get 50 customers at an average order value of $400. Now if you get 48 customers, you basically hit your goal. If you get 3 customers, you need to move on from that business.
  
  
• If the business doesn’t work out, the two of you need to be specific as to what Jessica is going to do. Find a job? That would probably be the natural thing I’d suggest.
  
  
• The bottom line is yes, you can afford to start a business but you cannot afford to do it indefinitely. 
  
  
• I highly encourage you get some coaching, learn the process of starting a business, accelerate your growth, and use our Earnable program. 
  
  
• You've both done well in terms of earning and investing. Therefore you've bought yourself some flexibility. Use it, but use it wisely. 

I wish you the best!

P.S. Next month: Join me live in San Diego and Seattle!

My next tour dates have been announced! I’m excited to host two more live events in July on the West Coast:

• July 1: San Diego, CA (get tickets here)
• July 18: Seattle, WA (get tickets here)

Once again, I’m looking to coach couples on stage at these events. If you and your partner want help getting on the same financial page and are in the Seattle or San Diego areas, please apply for live coaching here. 

P.P.S. New podcast: “He hid $77k in CC debt…but can’t tell me what he bought”

This week on the podcast I talk to Jim and Dana, both 58 and five years into their second marriages. While Jim has been hiding tens of thousands in debt, Dana daydreams of the lifetime of alimony she passed up. Watch the full conversation here. 

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