What to Do with What You've Got—Managing the Wealth You've Earned

So, your small business is taking off, and you're starting to see significant returns for the time and money you've invested.

Congratulations! You're one of the people who is taking this tough economy and turning it around.

But now that you're earning real wealth, what should you do with it to make sure your money works for you? After all, lots of people earn good money. But far fewer people keep that wealth and build on it. This is where your independence and intelligence as an entrepreneur have to come in to make sure you're managing your wealth as wisely as you're running your business.

The first wealth management task you've got in front of you is to find a good tax advisor. I'm not talking H&R Block here—they may be fine for people who are content with traditional jobs, but you're not one of them. You don't just need someone to help you manage your business taxes, either.

Now that you're a self-employed success, you may have self-employment taxes at both the federal and state levels to deal with. At the same time, you're going to want to invest your wealth wisely to make it grow. Your tax advisor can help you on both counts by making sure your taxes are done right and helping you direct your investments in ways that will minimize your tax bill.

Once you've got a good tax professional in place, it's time to decide what your goals are. This is exactly the same process you used to choose what business to go into, but now you're tailoring your questions specifically to your lifestyle. Where do you want to live 2, 5, 10, and more years from now? Do you still want to be working at your business or do you want to be retired?

How much traveling do you want to do? How many hobbies that you want to pursue have you been putting off, and how much time and money will it take for you to enjoy them? You might even decide you want to go back to school, and that's not cheap.

When you know what you want to do and how you want to live, you'll be able to put together a ballpark figure of how much money you're going to need. And that's where wealth management comes in: If you manage your money well, you're going to be able to live the life you want to live. It's that simple.

The first step to achieving your goals is to pay yourself first. Seriously. I want you to pick a percentage of your income and put it away in investments before you even start on bills other than for your basics and your loan. You're not going to have any wealth to manage if you don't save your money, now, are you?

Next you need to learn about the kinds of investments you can make. Don't rush into this or just start throwing your wealth into different things. Do your due diligence, just like you did when you researched your business. Good wealth management is done by learning, thinking, and planning before doing.

Finally, remember that aside from running your business, managing wealth is your #1 job. Don't count on the government or financial services firms to take care of you—just like you do with your business, do it yourself. Just like your business, that's the only way to be truly successful when it comes to financial management.