I’ve been meeting with a few clients over the past few weeks, and noticed that they fell roughly into two groups. One group was confident about the future of their business and where they were going, and the other group just wasn’t.
It struck me that the key factor behind the business confidence levels of the two groups was not how well their business was doing. Some people had struggling businesses but were calm, whilst others had good businesses but just weren’t that sure about things.
So what made the difference between the 2 groups? It was quite simple:
The confident business people had a good grasp of their business financials.
They knew their profit/loss situation and reviewed it, at the least, weekly. They knew their monthly invoicing expectations and how far they were towards that goal. They knew their cashflow expectations over the next few weeks.
So even if there were struggles (and let’s face it, every business has struggles) there was a sense of calmness and control. Of being on top of things.
Business life can be tough at the best of times, so why would you sacrifice the opportunity for some calmness and control when it comes along?
There’s now no excuse for not being on top of your financials. Excellent software, like Xero, exists, that helps you keep on top of your bookkeeping for a few minutes’ work a day. From that, you can view all the financial reports you need, whenever you need.
By all means use a bookkeeper, or outsource to your accountant, but that doesn’t excuse you from knowing where your business stands, every month, every week, every day.
Get some business confidence. Get it sorted.