By Stefania Aulicino

Can you finance your passion – your company vision- the same way you finance your company’s growth?

If you had pursued your passion of the future you really wanted – your passion—in 2008, could you have changed the impact of 2009 on your company? In 2009 an incredible number of companies lost half of their revenue base.

Rob’s company was doing great in 2008- it was his best year ever- $8 million in revenue. By 2009, he had to cut 26 employees and was down to $3 million.

“Cash was not the issue” Rob said. He still had a bank line of credit and plenty of internally generated cash flow because his customer terms were 40% with order and 40% progress payment on top of healthy profit margins. So what happened?

“I guess we lulled ourselves into thinking everything was OK in 2008 because we were growing”. Actually, Rob stopped pursing his passion- his vision of the company he really wanted to build.

His proprietary chemical process allowed him to win clients in his current industry- the paint industry and it was keeping his staff fully occupied. So Rob just did not have time to pursue other profit making opportunities in the food/beverage, steel or aluminum industries. Opportunities came to him to expand geographically, open new sales channels of distribution and introduce new product line, but he was too busy growing in his current market which diverted his attention from his passion of the future he knew was possible.

“We could have diversified our customer base, trained more of our staff, invested in technology, added more new products, picked up some great new management talent to help us navigate our future. But we did not pursue our vision which would have required more resources that we had in hand to invest in infrastructure, new sales channels, top quality talent to name just a few items”.

To ensure 2010 is a different story, for Rob and you, here are 3 secrets:

  1. Nurture your entrepreneurial genius; stay focused on your vision- your future
  2. Keep your focus out 10 years in the future to ensure you prioritize what to do in the next 10 minutes, next month, next quarter, consistent with your real goals.
  3. Laser communicate your future to your team internally and your market externally about your passion of the future you really want.

You can’t finance your passion – your vision of the future, the same way you finance your growth. We must distinguish growth funding from funding to pursue your passion. The dilemma is that no prudent business builder will peruse a business strategy without the cash to fuel it. But it is risky NOT to finance your passion. Luckily the bigger your future vision, the more valuable is your currency to create your own funding sources for non-bank debt and equity that wants YOU in control

When your future is bigger, much bigger than your past, you cannot use the past to finance the future.

You need to use your own unique currency. Use your future as the valuable currency it is.

Passion properly financed lowers the risk of your company’s future. Growth is based on yesterday. Passion is consistent with the future. You – the business builder — create a future that is different from your past. That future is unique. What is unique is special and that makes your future your own unique currency to safely finance your passion in today’s fast changing marketplace.

Stefania Aulicino, president of CapitalLinkUSA ensures business owns get cash to keep control of a bigger, more profitable company, faster, safer than they ever thought possible- in any economy. Let us help you become a magnet for non equity and equity sources to fuel your growth. Please explore our tools, solutions and consulting options tailored for different growth stages and different budgets: www.CashAndControl.com