I recently traveled to Austin to take an intense 4-day course titled Know Your Numbers.
It was a practical course on how to analyze how a business is performing, plan for the future and make decisions on how (and when) to afford growth – from business financials.
My work supporting business owners and programs and accelerators in pitch development (for funding and sales) has me involved in numbers, ALOT. I’m comfortable with some level of biz numbers (like forecasts, sales projections, ROI, % increase and decrease, profit margins, etc.).
BUT now I can say I KNOW that I KNOW the numbers! And when it comes to my on-going support of businesses in strategy, selling, pricing and negotiations – this skill is priceless.
You and I have worked together on a myriad of things including the development of your market, your model and/or your message .
Your messaging (whether it’s your 3 minute pitch, your unique growth plan or your sales presentation) is what I call the thread that connects all of these parts together and it’s been a major focus of my work.
BUT, there’s one thing I’m well aware of but haven’t highlighted as much. It’s your money or how your numbers have a narrative.
Your financials tell a story, because where you spend your money reveals a lot. (This is true in life and business.)
Recently I invited you to take an inventory of your sales including open deals and closed ones. (This is a powerful exercise and I hope you’re still chipping away at it – I definitely still am.)
But it’s just as important to look at the other side of the P& L (profit & loss statement) – expenses – where money is going out (or leaking out, if you’re unaware).
Your Action Plan:
Now is a good time to review the past 1-3 months of your bank statements (or if you have it, your income statement). Look at where money left your account (your expenses) and check for opportunities to:
- cut software/services you’re no longer using
- clear up a mistake in billing
- renegotiate terms and services to reduce prices
- upgrade/improve services to gain higher productivity or performance
- buy at a discount during Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving), Small Biz Saturday (Saturday after Thanksgiving) and Cyber Monday (Monday after Thanksgiving)
This simple task will set you up for the upcoming year. You should be able to understand where you stand heading into 2020 and find money (or identify a plan to make more of it) that can be used to finance other things. And you’ll get a complete story for you business based on what your numbers are saying.
Know this…
Honing the skill of reading and analyzing your financials is a game-changer and I’m looking forward to integrating this info into my service offers. I’ll be sure to keep you in the loop.
I was able to cut my biz expenses by 25% during this hunting exercise. If you’re looking for ways to save on software and productivity tools, check out my fav site here.
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