Ignore your numbers, doom your business

For many business owners, keeping on top of their finances is a real challenge. Either they find their financial reports—with all their associated jargon and calculations—to be incredibly confusing and frustrating, or they simply struggle to find the time to look at them alongside all the other plates they’re spinning at any given time.

But there’s the thing: it’s a critical error to lose sight of your finances, and doing so might just be fatal for your business.

It’s honestly that simple.

Luckily, my advice to you is equally simple:

Either give yourself the skills to manage your books with confidence, accuracy, and perception—or hire someone to do them for you!

My general rule of thumb for young businesses is to opt for the former, since it’s incredibly valuable to give yourself an inside-out understanding of your finances in the early days.

The knowledge you gain during this time will be useful for the rest of your career—wherever it may take you—and if you do decide to outsource down the road, you’ll be better equipped to demand the best from your shiny new accountant, bookkeeper or CFO.

As you begin to grow, I recommend you pass this responsibility on to a trusted advisor.

Your time is one of your business’s most valuable assets, after all. And as demands upon it continue to grow, you’ll want to dedicate as much of it as possible to high-value tasks.

Bringing in the right external expert—someone with decades of experience in your industry, ideally—will open up new growth opportunities for your business, giving you a much-needed boost in your pursuit of the next level.

Just remember: your finances are a beating heart, telling you everything you need to know about the overall health of your business.

Let your finger slip off the pulse at your peril!