Building Personal Wealth as a Business Owner

Executive Interview: Nicholas Subich, CEO of Award-Winning YTS Wealth Management, on Building Personal Wealth as a Business Owner

Preserving capital is only one part of an entrepreneur's financial life. What an owner does with the wealth that growth creates often gets far less attention. To explore that question, we sat down with Nicholas Subich, CEO of YTS Wealth Management, an award-winning* wealth management firm serving Pennsylvania and the DC Metro Area. At Byzfunder, we help small business owners access the funding they need to grow, so we wanted his perspective on safeguarding and building the personal wealth that growth makes possible.

Q: Why does a business owner need a personal financial plan that is separate from the business?

A: A business is an asset, not a financial plan. The two should stay separate, so a hard season in one does not put the other at risk. Your personal plan covers retirement, taxes, your family's confidence, and goals that exist no matter how the company performs. When owners blur that line, they often under-save for themselves, because every spare dollar flows back into operations. A dedicated plan helps you pay yourself first and build wealth that lives outside the business.

Q: So much of an owner's net worth is tied up in the company. How do you think about that concentration?

A: Concentration is the risk most owners underestimate. It is common for 80 to 90 percent of a founder's net worth to sit inside one illiquid business. We focus on building wealth in parallel: retirement accounts, taxable investments, and reserves that are not exposed to your industry's ups and downs. The point is not to pull energy away from the company. It is to make sure that if you sell, slow down, or hit a rough year, your lifestyle does not depend on perfect timing.

Q: When an owner takes on financing to grow, what should they be doing personally at the same time?

A: Financing is a growth tool, and growth raises your income, your risk, and your obligations all at once. That is exactly the moment to revisit your emergency reserves, your insurance, and how much you set aside outside the company. Owners who plan personally while they scale tend to make calmer decisions. Their family's security is not riding on any single business outcome.

Q: What is the most common mistake you see successful owners make with their money?

A: Waiting for one big liquidity event. Many owners assume the eventual sale of the business will fund their retirement, so they delay personal saving for years. The trouble is that valuations, buyers, and timing are never guaranteed. The owners who end up most confident are the ones who built personal wealth steadily along the way, so a sale becomes a bonus rather than the entire plan.

Q: For an owner who is heads-down running the business, where should they start?

A: Start with three numbers: what you take home, what you save outside the business, and what you would need if the income stopped tomorrow. From there, a planner can coordinate your taxes, retirement contributions, and investments around your situation. As an award-winning firm serving owners across Pennsylvania and the DC Metro Area, we spend much of our first conversations simply helping people separate their personal goals from their business goals. That clarity is usually where better decisions start.

To learn more about YTS Wealth Management and schedule a financial planning consultation, visit www.ytswealth.com. 

Disclosure:

*The Pittsburgh Business Times Fast 50 is a ranking of locally owned, for-profit entities in the Pittsburgh region based on revenue growth during the three-year period from 2022-2024. The winners were announced on 11/20/2025. Businesses were required to have at least $2,000,000 in revenue in 2022 to qualify. Firms do not pay a fee to be considered for this recognition. Receiving this award is no guarantee of past or future performance. 

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly