Today’s episode is one of the most important we’ve ever produced on this show, because it acknowledges several huge financial traps that most entrepreneurs will certainly face. We’re joined my Mike Michalowicz, who’s the author of one of the most important books that I’ve ever read, “Profit First”. Now there are two primary traps that we’re going to discuss today… The first is a vicious cycle that many entrepreneurs will experience, and that’s the cycle of paying yourself last as the business owner. 99% of the time, if you have expenses that need to be covered to keep your business operating, you’re going to pay those expenses first, even that doesn’t leave enough money for you personally. This increases stress tremendously, and it constantly puts you in a short-term reactive state of emergency, instead of a proactive state of steady, stable growth that reduces your stress, and allows you to make better, long-term decisions. The second trap that we’re going to run into, has to do with the way you manage your company’s finances. If you’re a small business with less than 10 employees, there’s a very good chance that you run your business by simply looking at the current balance of your checking account. If there’s money in the account, great! You’ll find a place to spend or invest it until it’s gone, and you’re back a square one again. I can’t tell you how common these traps are. Ryan Deiss shared the fact that he went through these same patterns until he found Mike’s book. I’ve gone through them as well, and so has Mike. If you’ll take a few days to implement Mike’s system in Profit First, I firmly believe that it will completely change your financial life, and your relationship with money. Your profits will increase, your stress will decrease, and you’ll build a more stable and successful business. So please help me welcome Mike. Resources:  MikeMichalowicz.com ProfitFirstProfessionals.com Profit First: A Simple System to Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine  Music: Music by: Omri Song: Dis\Honest Licensed under a Creative Commons License