financial records useful for business and tax planning.

That
includes a better system to track and file receipts so they are
easily accessed when needed. Brian now puts each day’s receipts
in a special place in his office every day. He sorts through that
pile once a week and places receipts into appropriate folders. He
keeps the original receipts in case he’s ever audited, but he and
his accountant can work from the PDF files created by scanning
the receipts. Brian concedes that scanning receipts takes time and
it costs money when you pay someone else to do it. But that level
of receipt organization makes Brian’s accountant’s job easier and
faster, which also saves money. “My accountant takes care of the
actual deductions and I provide whatever he needs to do that,”
says Brian, who figures he sees his accountant once a month.
A self-proclaimed high achiever who wants to grow his
investment business as wisely as he can, Brian admits he takes a
very disciplined approach to money. “Right now, I live off the
cash flow of my real estate. That requires me to be very
disciplined in terms of knowing exactly where my business is at.
I do that because I have to,” says Brian.

ACTION STEPS
• Commit to constant improvement: Set aside some time to
think about your investment business. What’s making
money? What’s not? What causes you stress? What
comes easy? What do your answers to these questions tell
you about what you need to change?
• Make change happen: Mediocrity is madness. Where can
you go to learn how to strengthen your weaknesses? Who
can you talk to? Where can you learn about “systems”
you can adopt? What will you need to do to make sure
you follow those systems?
• Write an action plan: