Know your business numbers

Is money leaking from your business without your knowing?

We noticed water dropping under the kitchen sink. It was so insignificant and since we saw it at night we just placed a 30 litres container under the place to avoid a wet floor but surprisingly the container got filled and the kitchen was flooded by morning. Wait oh! The water was just some tiny inconsequential dropping so how did it get to fill the 30 litres container? I could not believe it but I could not also doubt what I saw.

In building a business you need to constantly identify the tiny leakages that does not look harmful. With the container we put under the sink we were able to see first-hand what amount of water we will lose in 30 days if we ignore that tiny leakage. Can imagine such a loss as this in your business?
60 litres a day
1800 litres a month
21,600 litres a year

Is there a cash flow-out of your business that can drown your business that you don’t even know about? As a business even if you are starting today, someone has to capture how much comes in, how it came, what was done with it and what is left. With the 30 litres container, we were able to predict the damage that could happen if we kept ignoring the supposed tiny droppings. Looking at it merely from the eye I would never have believed the droppings will fill a 30 litres container overnight but it did. Unknown and unrecorded cost kill business faster so you must know your business numbers if you want to keep it alive.

Adequate record keeping is not an option if you want to grow that business. Today we have websites, apps and even freelancers that can help in this area. Also there are lots of templates that can make record keeping much easier all you need do is; find one that best suits what you are doing. Track your business money to the last digit and you will make sound decisions about your business.

I went into one of our banks and noticed there are now paperless, no more deposit and withdrawal slips. I suspect the numbers showed this as a leak and I am sure millions have been saved monthly from this singular decision. You can actually build a 6 – 7 figure a month business around your gift and passion but you must track what is coming in and what is going out.