Wealth and trucking in the same sentence may seem as opposites.  But if this is true, then we can move forward in a rule of physics—opposites attract each other.

Building wealth is a process; it is not based on luck, or being in the right place at the right time.  Individuals who become wealthy and remain wealthy do it with a plan, no matter what business they enter. We’ve all seen the person who has the Midas touch—every business he goes into rockets to the stratosphere. If you sat down with such a person and asked what were the most important things he did to make each of those businesses successful, here is what he would answer:

1. Have a complete business plan. Know the numbers--expenses versus income. Be sure the business has a real opportunity for success.
2. Don’t follow the crowd. Select a niche that gives you an edge against your competition.
3. Have a vision of the future, and how you’ll reach each plateau to the top.
4. Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate. Have the facts and figures of what you’re doing according to your plan. If it’s working, stay the course; if it’s not working, adjust if possible or scrap the portion not achieving its goals.
5. Know your break-even point--the figure that changes every time any expense increases or decreases. It’s not the amount of incoming money (revenue) that covers your costs--it’s the point where losing money stops and profit begins.
6. Be sure you’ve included in your break-even costs a salary for yourself, and anyone else who is performing tasks for your company. Any company owner who is waiting for the profits to pay his salary is doomed to working for someone else. Your profits are where your performance bonuses come from, not your salary.
7. Never allow a shipment or load to be hauled that is below your break-even point.
8. Base your business model on creating value in your services, not attempting to compete on price.
9. “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” You shouldn’t let a single customer represent any more than 20% to 25% of your total revenue or accounts receivable.
10.  Customers are the core of your business, so it’s best to focus on continually farming for new business.
11.  Have a system in place to control cash flow and augment it when necessary.
12.  Remember to invest in your company. Profits from your company sales efforts need to be reinvested into the company to build value in your company’s worth.
13.  Engage experts to do what you either don’t have time to do or don’t have the skill or resources to do.
14.  Enlist expert advisors to provide direction and advice on how to maintain and grow your business.

Of these all-important skills, the one that will insure your success and underwrite all the other requirements for success is your cash flow management and reinvestment system. Remember cash is king in any business and without it you cannot operate. In your business plan and your day-to-day strategic plan, you must have an accounts receivable management company in place. Keep in mind every start-up company and any company attempting to grow will experience a cash flow deficit.  You need an organization that becomes your backbone. Beware of most traditional factoring companies. They have one goal: get as much money as possible out of your pocket in fourteen months (the average length of time most start-up trucking companies last). Traditional factoring companies will tie you up contractually, so there is no escape until you’ve failed.

You need an accounts receivable collection company that gives you flexible and effective programs that provide you with:

• assistance in building wealth,
• quick access to cash,
• guidance and direction to become self-capitalized (a way of reinvesting your profits to a point where you no longer need a factoring company).

You need a partner in cash-flow management who doesn’t have:

• overnight delivery fees,
• bank wire charges, set-up fees,
• long-term contracts,
• termination penalties,
• high factoring costs.

You work hard and long for your money; be sure you work with someone who has your best interests in mind, and who will work with you every day to achieve your financial goals, and you’ll become a successful trucking company.

Remember, it’s your company, and your truck.

Timothy D. Brady is

•  A 20 + year trucking veteran.
•  AMSA’s 2002 Super Van Operator of the Year HHG.
• The “Trucker’s Business Advisor” on Sirius Road Dog Trucking Radio’s “Morning Show.”
• Author of top-selling trucking business books.
• A columnist for trucking industry publications.
• An instructor for trucking business workshops through a partnership with a major university.
• Available for speaking engagements and to conduct workshops for drivers, trucking company personnel and trucking industry service and product providers.

Contact him at tbrady@writeuptheroad.com or call (731) 749-8567.