The Cash Flow Quadrant, with thanks to “Rich Dad” Robert Kiyosaki, offers powerful insight into where money comes from — in other words from which ‘quadrant’ — and what does it looks like from the perspective of each quadrant. Read on as we explain. Here we address the “S” Quadrant.

“S” stands for Specialist. Like your own attorney, CPA, hair stylist, architect, or dentist. Or “S” stands for Self Employed. Like your favorite IT person. Or Web Designer. Your personal performance Coach. Or Real Estate consultant. Or handyperson. Or independent massage or spa services practitioner. “I only want to work with YOU.” Or “S” stands for Small Business Owner. Like the restaurant owner or salon or bike repair shop owner. In our personal story, the “S Quadrant” also represents a world-class fishing guide (my husband,) whose clientele were the Fortune 100 Captains of industry. Read on for more on that.

Here’s a key to the S Quadrant. If you are the ‘chosen one’ — the King or Queen that is the only one people want — then what happens if you’re not available? Or too busy? Or sick? Or want to take 3 weeks and go to Australia? Business shuts down!

THIS WAS WRITTEN BEFORE THE GLOBAL CHANGES OF 2020. NOTE THAT MANY OF THOSE MOST IMPACTED IN BUSINESS SHUT-DOWNS ARE THOSE IN PERSONAL SERVICES, HOSPITALITY, AND OTHER SUCH ‘SMALL BUSINESSES.’ THE  CONCEPTS IN THIS MESSAGE ARE EVEN MORE RELEVANT NOW THAN WHEN THIS WAS FIRST WRITTEN. 

Or as you’ll see, “S” can also stand for ‘Solo.’ or ‘Stuck.’ Or ‘Slave.’ Almost like in jail! WHY?
For one thing, you can’t scale yourself. There are only 24 hours in each day. You can raise your rates and get more out of each day. But bottom line is, if it’s YOU that people want, there aren’t satisfactory substitutes. They want the King or Queen. Not an alternate.

If you’re a Small Business Owner, shutting down and not sticking with ‘dependable hours’ starts jeopardizing reliability of your services. And if you decide you want to get out of your business, can you sell? What are you selling? Your own services, with you not there?

There are many appealing parts of the S Quadrant. It’s much of the Gig Economy. You can run your own show. Maybe set your own hours. Write your own rules. But…do you have an experienced mentor? What happens if you are sick. Or want to take some time off? Or want to go diving or skiing on Wednesday? Or, if in the case of my husband, what happens to the income when the environment changes and takes away the ability for him to do his trade — in which he excelled for decades.

Why is this relevant? It’s a screaming call for being open to adding an alternate stream of income — one that builds an Income-producing asset that does not depend on your being there or producing in order to be paid. In other words, a Financial Safety Net.

Here’s a personal story. Our Shaklee business qualified us for a bucket list trip — first to the Big Island of Hawaii and then to Australia and the Great Barrier Reef. We took our son, then about 5 years old. We added another 10 days or so of travel in Australia, and returned home after about 3 weeks. Both my husband Eddie and I had stacks of mail. Bills. Junk mail. The usual. Eddie, of course, had no income because he wasn’t working. I’d taken us on a world-class award and nearly-fully-paid business trip, and though we were away, inside my mail was the receipt for the monthly income — at that time maybe $15,000 — which was deposited into my account for earnings from the ASSET of our business, which produced whether we were in town and ‘working’ or not. So which quadrant would you choose? Our Shaklee “B Quadrant Business” vs Eddie’s “S Quadrant Business.”

If you’re open to exploring how these options might be available to you also, reach out and we can look together. We partner with high performing leaders and active families for peak physical health and financial health. No better time to explore new possibilities than when you get a tip that such possibilities really do exist. We get to be living proof.