First-generation wealth creators are often wading in unknown waters. They might not have access to mentors or confidantes in their families or their businesses who have created success as they have. 

They are often lonely on their journey to the top, and almost certainly lonely at the top. 

That loneliness leads to a few common pitfalls that might be hard to avoid. According to new research launched by Ultimate Finance, over 73% of business owners admit to having felt lonely whilst running their company, with a third saying that this is how they feel on a regular basis. 

In addition to that, wealth creators are often shouldering the entire responsibility of running a successful business, struggling to strike a balance between personal and professional. 

As a result of all of this, here are the common mistakes or pitfalls that wealth creators succumb to: 

1. Basking in the confidence that nothing can go wrong 

Because wealth creators are champions who take control of and ‘fix’ situations on the daily, they often feel a sense of total control: Like nothing can go wrong that they can’t fix. 

This can be a crippling delusion when circumstances outside of their control grip their business, family, wealth, health, or any other aspect of their lives. 

Many wealth creators often fail to build ‘moats’ around their empire, they leave themselves and their assets largely exposed and unprotected. 

2. Not wired to ‘preserve’ 

Wealth creators are risk-takers. They are often ready to put their faith in an idea and plunge in. They often use this approach to grow their businesses, to invest, to step into partnerships and other big decisions. 

This risk-taking quality means that they are often impulsive and not wired to act conservatively, in preservation mode. 

While a lot of their risks do pay off, when it comes to building lasting wealth, patience, and preservation, the long-term mindset, is key. 

3. Too busy to zero in on a wealth-vision

With the entire weight of the business on their shoulders, and the constant tug between work and life’s other priorities means that most wealth creators are too busy to spend the time crafting their wealth vision and plan.

They keep accumulating money, building their asset base, but at some point, the growth starts to feel directionless or unfulfilling. Ever wondered how some people seem to have everything in life but still seem unhappy or empty? 

That comes from the lack of an end goal, and leads to the question: ‘I’m building all of this, but for what?’ 

When it does come, be sure to have a definite answer. 

4. Assuming their values will pass down with their wealth 

I’ve seen this one error tear many families apart, and turn generational wealth to ashes – mine included.

My forefathers assumed their values, their vision for the wealth and empire they were building would pass on along to the generations that come after them. 

It did not. 

Most family businesses do not make it past their third generation due to this very cause. As the generation following the first wealth-creator generation is born into abundance, it takes a certain conscious education in legacy, into a family’s history to help them see and align with that wealth vision created years before them. 

5. Obsessive control over the next generation 

The other extreme of this is an obsessive control over how to next-generation steps into your wealth and legacy. 

The wealth creator can only create the environment, share their values and guide the generation that comes after them. Some of these values will carry on, others won’t. Without that acceptance, sons and daughters are often forced into running businesses, estates, and empires that they don’t want to run, leading lives they don’t want to live. 

That displeasure ultimately leads to a short-lived legacy.  

I’ve seen these five challenges plague wealth creators nearly all my life. I saw my grandparents and my parents struggle to align values, and growing up, I watched my family empire crumble to dust owing to these causes. 

After that deeply personal experience, I also saw my clients and their families struggle with the very same issues. 

It has been my life’s mission to help wealth-creators overcome these challenges and preserve their wealth in harmony. To learn more about how I help my clients, schedule a discovery call.