When my business partner and I started our company, we divided our responsibilities. My partner focused on the client work, while I took on sales, finances, and leading the team. In those early days, I assumed that if I just kept an eye on the sales and left the financial details to my accountant, everything would fall into place. After all, we were busy landing clients and growing the business, and I figured the numbers would take care of themselves.
But here’s the thing: the financial health of your business isn’t something you can leave to chance.
One day, I sat down with the financials and took a closer look. It wasn’t just about checking if we had more money coming in than going out; it was about understanding where the money was going and what that meant for the future of the business. That’s when I realized something—a lot of the decisions I was making in sales and strategy were disconnected from the reality of our finances.
For instance, I saw that we were spending more on certain services than I had expected, and while it wasn’t a huge issue at the time, it got me thinking: What if this continued? What if we missed something bigger because I wasn’t paying attention?
So, I made a commitment to regularly review our financials—not just once a year or when things felt off, but consistently, every month. It wasn’t just about looking at the profit margins; it was about digging into the details and understanding the story behind the numbers. And here’s where the real change happened: I started involving my team. I’d sit down with them and ask questions like, “Where do you think we can improve?” or “Is there anything here that looks off to you?”
One conversation in particular stands out. There was an unexplained bump in expenses, something that seemed small but nagged at me. I brought it up to the team, asking if anyone knew what caused it. After some back and forth, we realized it was a mistake in the way we categorized a project’s costs. Fixing that didn’t just clear up the issue—it taught us to be more diligent and transparent with our processes.
That experience taught me a simple, but powerful, lesson: always ask questions, especially when something doesn’t sit right. It’s easy to assume everything’s fine because the numbers look stable, but if you don’t dig into them, you’re missing opportunities to fix problems before they become real headaches.
For any business owner, I can’t stress this enough: get into the habit of reviewing your finances regularly. Not in a stressful, number-crunching way, but as a part of understanding your business better. Sit down with your partner, your accountant, or your team, and really look at what the numbers are telling you. Ask questions, even if they seem basic. You’d be amazed at the clarity you can get just by asking, “Can someone walk me through this?”
The more I did this, the more confident I became in my decisions—because they weren’t just based on gut feeling anymore; they were grounded in the reality of where we stood financially. And that confidence filtered down into everything else we did, from the way we approached sales to how we handled clients and projects.
So if you’re feeling disconnected from your business’s financials, or if you’re just trusting that someone else has it handled, take a step back and get involved. Understanding your numbers is like having a map that shows you exactly where you are and where you need to go next.