Give the number a purpose
Gary used the story of the ants saving food for winter. We admire their discipline. They worked, prepared and put something away for the future.
Read This Lesson →Where do you want the business to be in ten years?
Most entrepreneurs can give you a number. Revenue. Profit. A valuation. We have the target written down somewhere, and we know whether we're getting closer.
Then ask the next question: why that number?
That one can take longer.
Gary Preisser has spent years having that conversation with people about their wealth. He's a wealth advisor, co-founder of Stonebriar Wealth Advisors and the author of The Function of Wealth. His starting point is simple: what does the money need to accomplish, and when will it be needed?
In our conversation, he kept bringing us back to the trap of treating more as a plan.
Give the number a purpose
Gary used the story of the ants saving food for winter. We admire their discipline. They worked, prepared and put something away for the future.
But what happens when winter arrives? They eat the food.
They don't spend the winter admiring how much they've collected. The saving had a purpose.
That example stuck with me because it makes the question so clear. You can spend decades preparing for a future without recognizing when that future has arrived.
Gary sees that in clients who have saved their entire lives and still struggle with the idea of using those assets. The habit that helped them accumulate wealth doesn't automatically help them decide what to do with it.
His point is to connect the money to something specific. A family need. Time together. A decision you want to make while it still matters. A number alone doesn't tell you whether you're getting closer to that.
Ask when, as well as why
Before working in personal wealth management, Gary worked with small businesses. Cash flow made the lesson practical. A business could have a strong idea and still struggle to keep the doors open if the money wasn't available when it was needed.
He brings that same attention to timing into his conversations about wealth.
Money intended for something six months away has a different job from money intended for ten years from now. Gary argues that understanding those jobs should come before choosing the tools.
He also challenges the assumption that two people of the same age with the same answer on a risk questionnaire necessarily need the same plan. One may still be earning more than they spend. The other may need income from their assets every month.
Their situations matter. The purpose and timing matter.
For me, the broader business lesson is about asking enough questions before reaching for a familiar solution. You can't judge whether a tool is useful until you know what you're trying to do with it.
Notice when a useful habit becomes a trap
Gary described a client who needed repeated reassurance about spending money on a patio. She could leave a meeting feeling comfortable, then return with the same worry.
That wasn't simply a math problem. It was the shift from accumulation to distribution, from saving for later to accepting that later had arrived.
Entrepreneurs can recognize a version of that pattern. Working harder helped you get the business started. Keeping a close eye on every detail helped you survive. Then the company changes, and the habit stays.
Gary's question gives you a way to pause. What is this effort for now? What would it look like to use what you've built?
That answer won't be the same for everyone. I learned that the hard way.
Your team may want a different life
Early in my time in the hair business, I assumed people wanted what I wanted. More hours. More income. Keep pushing.
I had come from a very different business culture, and I carried those expectations with me. I couldn't understand why someone wouldn't want to work fifty hours a week.
Then I started listening. Some people wanted to work part time and teach yoga. Some wanted more time with their kids. The outcome they were building toward was different from mine.
Once I understood that, I could ask a better question: how can this business help you create that life?
That lesson changed how I led. And it's why Gary's point about purpose resonated with me. We can get so attached to a measure of success that we forget to ask whose definition we're using.
Start with the answer behind the target
Gary isn't arguing that the numbers don't matter. He needs his business to work financially so he can keep serving families. The issue is letting the measure become the entire goal.
Pick one growth target you've been chasing. Write down what reaching it would make possible. Then ask when you want that outcome to happen.
If the answer is still just more, stay with the question a little longer.
A clearer purpose can change what you keep building, what you hand off and how you use your time today. You don't have to wait until the next milestone to begin that conversation.
