The Lies About Financial Freedom No One Talks About

Welcome to today's episode of Black Belt Startup with Feras. Thank you for tuning in. What's new in the world of entrepreneurship? A mentor once told me, if you really want to get rich, only use cash. No credit, no checks. Just spend what you have. Now, this advice Came from the '80s, and it stuck. Since then, I've never carried personal credit card debt, and even at work, always pay by the end of the cycle. And you'd be surprised how much freedom that one habit bought me. But the truth is, when we talk about financial independence, a lot of us think, uh, of income— how much is someone You know how much someone is making, their bonuses, their salary, whatever they're making in the stock market. But it's not about the top line. It's not about how many six or seven figures you're making. I've met founders making, I don't know, six, seven figures, and they still they're still living with anxiety, debt, and constant pressure because. Chaos doesn't disappear when your revenue grows. It just hides behind a fancier lifestyle and maybe a prettier, prettier spreadsheet. So this week's, uh, this week's livestream, this episode isn't about getting rich quick. It's about staying rich slow. In honor of real independence, we're unpacking what financial freedom actually looks like for business owners. And a lot of these tips apply for individuals as well, but the focus of this channel is on entrepreneurs and those who want to build something big and scale their businesses to 6 figures, 7 figures, and 8 figures. So we're talking about this, this real way, this, uh, staying rich slow, and not, not the social media version the real thing, not the, the, the flowery, uh, the, the, the boring stuff, the powerful stuff, the, the stuff that will help you get there quicker than any, any of those get-rich-quick schemes that you see on, on social media. So we'll be talking about why frugality beats flashy every time, the difference between high income and true control, how solopreneurship can become a trap if you're not careful. Then the silent leak that kills profitable businesses. And then why delayed gratification might be the only freedom worth chasing. So 5 points I want to cover today with a lot of personal anecdotes. And then if you're just joining us today, feel free to leave us a question, leave us a comment. This is what I do every other week, every other Thursday at 3 PM Pacific. 6 PM Eastern. I cover a business topic for entrepreneurs, and then I answer questions that we get from the community. So if you have any question about a challenge that you're running into, about maybe a business partner, um, that things are not going well between you and them, about financials, your P&L does not look right and you can't figure out what's going on, about, about just getting maybe just getting started, you really want to get into this thing called entrepreneurship and you're not sure how or you're just stuck, whatever the case might be, I'd love to hear from you. Leave me a comment on YouTube, on LinkedIn, on any of the platforms we're on, and we're on most if not all the platforms out there. And then if it's something more private, you don't want to put it online, just email me at feras@startupwithferas.com. Again, Feras is spelled F-E-R-A-S like my first name, and I'll be I'll be more than happy to answer. I, I— we keep everything confidential around here, so if you send me something private, personal, I'll get back to you and we'll keep it confidential. Good stuff. And again, if you have questions, you don't have to wait till the end of the live stream. You can send your comments here and let me know what, what the challenges that you're going through and also the wins. I'd love to hear about the wins that our community members are experiencing. So I'm hoping that by the end of this episode, you'll realize that financial independence is not just a milestone that one gets to; it's a mindset, and it starts how we think about money when no one is watching. All right, so the first. The first part: why frugality beats flashy every time. Look, I get it. You finally hit your stride. Revenue is up. You're making money and maybe some some profitability. It's tempting to start rewarding yourself with things that look like success. New office in the nicest part of town. Maybe. The latest edition of the iPhone and the MacBook, maybe weekly, um, or every other day dinners that cost more than your first client retainer. I know you want to celebrate, and I'm big on celebrating the moment, but the truth is nobody, uh, you know, nobody posts on Instagram, frugality is freedom's bodyguard. I mean, I've seen founders making $15,000, $20,000, $30,000 a month, and they still live in a constant— in constant stress because they scale their lifestyle with their revenue. And I've seen founders making $6,000 a month, $7,000, $8,000 a month, much less than the first group, and they sleep like babies, and they're content, and they're making good progress. Because they had discipline. So if you really want to build wealth, stop borrowing from your future. Spend only what you have. This is something that I continue to try to build into my own DNA. No credit card debt ever. That's something, you know, I'm fortunate to be able to say. And the idea that if I couldn't pay for it in cash, or maybe by, by the end of the cycle, at the cycle at the latest, I don't want to buy it. It sounds simple, but you'd be shocked how far that one habit has taken me. Because when you don't owe anyone, you think clearer, you choose better, and then you sleep deeper. So that was on the first one. Again, for those of you who who are just joining us, thank you for being with us here on this livestream. We're covering 5 points on how to get to financial freedom, not what you see on Instagram, not the get-rich-quick approach, but how to stay rich long. So we covered the first point, and that was on frugality and how frugality beats flashy every time. And now I'm gonna— I want to cover the second part, And that is the difference between high income and true control. And for those founders who are just starting out, or those maybe who started and they are struggling, and also for entrepreneurs who want to start something, financial literacy is really important. So I recommend you take a course online. We have some— we have articles, we have modules on this in our— on our Black Belt startup.com site where you get to know the basics of financials for your business. What is profit and loss? What is gross margin? What is margin? What is, you know, the main lines in a balance sheet? What is the difference between revenue, profitability, and cash flow? A big admission here, for the first couple of years, I had no idea. You know, we have money in the bank, I was doing fine. But if you have a whole lot of debt, if you have half a million dollars in debt and you only have $100,000 in the bank, you might not be able to survive, especially if you have a lot of expenses like payroll and other things. So, so, so it's important for those of you who, who, who are about to start, or they maybe they just started, to improve your financial literacy as it relates to business, right? In terms of the habits and the mindsets, which I'm covering a lot today, those apply to you, I think, to all of us at whichever point in life we are in on this journey of entrepreneurship. Later, when you make it big, maybe you'll have a bit more leeway to spend on things, you know, from a lifestyle perspective. But initially, I want you to know the difference between high income and high lifestyle. And true control. So earning $15,000 a month, $20,000 a month, $30,000 a month looks great on paper, but if you cannot slow down without the whole business collapsing, if you're still scrambling every month to make things work, you don't have financial independence. You just have a higher-paid prison. So control isn't about money, it's about margin. It's your ability to pause, to invest, to think long term without panic. And that kind of control doesn't come from top line, doesn't come from revenue, from income alone. It comes from systems, from boundaries. It comes from systems, from boundaries, and habits. And it's coming— it comes from doing the boring stuff well: tracking your finances, managing your spending, controlling your expenses, and knowing what your burn rate is. Because we glamorize hustle, but long-term success is built on control. So that's point number 2. Don't just look at how much money I'm, I'm making. the top line, top line revenue, but also look at the bottom line and look at cash flow and look at, at where you're spending the expenses that you have. Which, which leads me to this 3rd point, and that is on, on how solopreneurship can become a trap. Nothing— I'm not against solopreneurship. You can have a very healthy, very, very profitable business as a solopreneur, no problem whatsoever. I mean, you're going to tap out at one point as a solopreneur. So if you want to grow and build a 7-figure business, an 8-figure business, you have to hire people, you have to scale. But for those of us who are, who, who are solopreneurs today, you have to be careful. It's good to be your own boss, that's one thing. Maybe that's why you left corporate, um, uh, and it's a good, good starting point. To just be by yourself. You don't have people to manage, you don't have payroll, you don't have to deal with things. You can maybe outsource certain activities to contractors, but if you're doing everything by yourself, that can easily become a trap. When you do everything in your business, and that includes sales, marketing, delivery, all the back office stuff, customer service, you start to think no one can do this better than me. I mean, to me, this sounds like a bit of pride, but also it could be fear dressed up in perfectionism. So the longer you avoid delegating, the longer you delay growth. And I had an entire episode on delegation, the art of delegation. And I had actually, we have this on our website. You can check out, actually email me or leave a comment if you don't have access to it. We have, I have this Founder Focus Optimizer to help you identify the thing that you should be spending time and effort on and things you should be delegating or outsourcing, right? So, so again, the longer you avoid delegating, the longer you delay your growth. And the other part of it, which is worse, is you could potentially burn out. So if you're spending time on tasks that you can outsource to, to someone, a virtual assistant or maybe an intern, and you can pay $15, $20 an hour, while you can take that same time that you have and sell it at $150, $200, or $250 an hour Then, then you're not putting your time and effort where you could be focused on growth. There's only so many hours in a day, and I'm, I'm a big believer of working hard. If you follow me on, on our channel, on, on social media, I'm a big believer of working hard. I work really hard. Even after growing and selling an 8-figure business, still work hard. That's just a habit I have. I still have time, quality time for family, for For relationships, for martial arts, for other activities I do, but I believe in working hard. So don't get me wrong, but I don't want you to burn out either. I know, um, I know that people might be thinking, you know, I'm, I'm just can't, you know, I don't know how to hire, or I can't find the right talent, or I can't afford to hire help. But here's the real question. Can you afford to stay stuck? At one phase in the business, if you're bootstrapping, you don't have money to pay anyone else. I get it. But as you start to have some traction, as you get some deals, as you get some revenue, as you have some profitability, think of ways to outsource the headache. I just had a podcast on startup success with Kate Adams and the Brooklyn team. And the whole episode was on outsourcing the headache. So successful founders, the best founders, they just don't do it all alone. They delegate, they automate, they build support, they build processes and systems, even if it's just 5 hours a week, because freedom isn't found on doing everything yourself. It's found in building something that runs without you. All right, so that was the third, uh, the third point. And again, for those of you who are just joining, we are covering these 5 components to help you get to financial independence and how to do it with confidence and how to build habits that, uh, that will get you there. It's not, it's not a milestone, financial independence. Yes, it could be a transaction, you sell the business or you have an amazing you know, an amazing profit margin at one point, but it's that mindset that will get you there and also will keep you there, keep you in that financial independence state. Number 4 here, the factor number 4 is the silent leak that kills profitable businesses. So this is a bit more invisible, but it's as dangerous, the leaks These subtle creeping costs that slowly destroy even sustainable profitable businesses. Those subscriptions that you don't use but you never cancel just in case, or maybe the, the overhiring that you did so that you look big. I get it, you cannot predict hiring 100%. Sometimes you underhire so it's a crunch, sometimes you overhire so yes, it's a hit to the bottom line, But if you're doing the overhiring just to look big, maybe you want to reconsider. Or maybe that coaching program, the $2,000 a month that you joined but never started or never put the real time into it. Or maybe the systems that you pay for but don't implement. You hire a consultant to help you set up your CRM or your accounting system or whatever system you need for your business but you don't put the system to use. So every month money is seeping out quietly, and these leaks don't just affect your bank account, they affect obviously your bottom line, your, your clarity, your ability to plan, and your sense of momentum. Because if the profit margins are not there and they're eroding or they're just not growing, you, you just, you don't have time to think about what is it that I can do with these margins. You're just trying to chase the next deal, the next lead, the next deal. You'd sell at maybe at cost or at a small margin because you need that cash flow. So the more you can control your expenses, and those are just 4 things I mentioned earlier about subscriptions or coaching programs or overhiring. These are just examples. There are probably 20 other things that you can examine on a weekly basis, on a monthly basis, definitely on a monthly basis when you meet, when you look at your P&L and see what is it you can do to control these expenses. I always tell founders, your biggest expenses— excuse me— your big expenses aren't always visible, but you feel them. So do a deep audit today, this weekend, of all the tools. Look at what your team team members are spending on. Take a look at your time as well and then patch those leaks. Or don't be surprised when you're, you know, if you don't patch those leaks, the boat starts sinking even while cash is coming in. So that was number 4. Number 5, and, and the last one here, is something that culturally, societally we all, I think, have to deal with and bombarded with is this sort of this instant gratification. I gotta have this stuff now and I can get it now. So number 5 is why delayed gratification might be the only freedom worth chasing. So this is the final point here for today's episode, and maybe is something unpopular, but if you want fast pleasure, entrepreneurship is the wrong game because the real wins, they take time. It takes time to build real margins. It takes time to build recurring revenue. It takes time to hire and hire the right people and time to develop a reputation that earns you inbound clients and, you know, a name in the industry that this person, this consultant, they know what they're doing, they've got the certifications, they've got a track record, they rely on the track record, they're reliable. I mean, it takes time to build that personal brand or the brand for your business, time to invest in the right foundations— content, systems, brand— that make you money while you sleep. See, we live in an age where Everything, everything screams now, and it's available. You know, go on the phone here and click, and the stuff is delivered to you same day, right? But true freedom is found in the later. In learning to say no today, you can say yes to everything that matters 3, 4, 5 years from now. So discipline is freedom in disguise. I'm not telling you to starve yourself. I'm telling you, don't eat all your crops in the spring. Plant, water, protect. And when the harvest comes— I guess those of us with some farming background would appreciate this example— but when the harvest comes, you'll be glad you didn't trade it away for some shiny dopamine hit in July. So if you're tired of the cycle, if you're working harder than ever, if you're working harder than ever but still don't feel in control, if you're done being the high earner who still feels broke, this is your moment. Take stock of your expenses, fight this instant gratification. That delayed gratification will work out really well. And then think of frugality, um, that is freedom, um, that they'll give you that long-term freedom. And I remember a quote from Eric Schmidt, the ex-CEO of Google. He said the best founders are frugal founders. So even though you might have your own money or you've invested, you know, some folks invested in you or if you're in tech and you have VC funding, just because you have a whole lot of money, it doesn't mean that you spend it on shiny objects. Frugal founders are, are, are good founders, and hopefully they are more successful founders. So that is it for today. If you have any question, any comment, again, let me know. I'm happy to answer it now, or you can reach out later, leave us a comment, or, um, email me at feras@startupwithferas.com. And then if you are liking this this content. Would love you, uh, you can connect with me on, um, on LinkedIn. I have it here on the screen. You can also hit the subscribe button to the YouTube channel, hit the like button on wherever you are, and then, uh, don't forget that we have— I have a weekly newsletter called the Black Belt Startup Newsletter. Uh, you'll join a community of 17,000 people where I, I get every Friday, every Saturday, you you have some practical tips, strategies on how to start and grow a sustainable business. So I guess leave us a comment, hit the subscribe button, hit the like button, and don't hesitate to reach out with any questions or your comment— or comment that you have. And see you next time. Thank you.