My good friend, Robin Dickinson begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting, has just posted the latest episode in his Black Chair: Business Success TV series ... today's episode, "The Most Exciting Numbers".
In this 1-minute video, Robin describes how many business owners avoid the topic of numbers in their business - perhaps they're too busy, not interested or they just hand it over to someone else like their bookkeeper or accountant.
Keith and I see this all the time as well ... and one of the reasons we uncover about this 'number-avoidance' is fear or dislike of numbers. Somewhere in our learning journey as kids, our excitement of learning how to count from 1-10 got replaced with humiliation, embarrassment orconfusion when the numbers stopped making sense ... or more-to-the-point ... we couldn't make sense of them in that context. (for me, that moment was year 4, when we were drilled incessantly on our multiplcation tables - and my fear of maths just grew from there).
But your business numbers have dollar-signs in front of them ... that should make them far more interesting, if not exciting, than any algebraic equation you did at school. What's more, your business numbers are far-less complicated than any high-school maths class - all you need is a pencil, paper, calculator and maybe a spreadsheet.
So I'm echoing Robin's call-to-action - get to know YOUR business numbers (and no, these aren't the stock-standard numbers that are spat out by MYOB) and get to understand how these numbers work in YOUR business. I promise you, once you understand YOUR business numbers, you'll find YOUR numbers exciting again.
What's your numbers game?
Are you scared of numbers and therefore 'ignore' your business numbers? Do you just not understand how your numbers work ... and feel stupid everytime you ask your accountant to explain them? What help would you need to get excited about your business numbers?
Or do you really get excited about your business numbers? Why? What do they tell you that makes them so interesting? And did you always have a knack for it ... or did you have to overcome some fears just like everyone else?
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There's often a great shock - and it's a pleasant shock - that business people who step out of the darkness and into the light with *their* numbers experience. The shock of how simple it is; how much control they get and the sheer joy of working the numbers in their favour! Oh, and one more slightly painful shock -- "Why did I avoid my numbers for so long??"
Best, Robin :)
Thanks for sharing the original Black Chair TV segment ... and thank you for contributing here too.
:-)
Thanks so much. This, like Robin' post, really resonated with me. I think you are absolutely correct that fear of numbers is at the heart of avoiding them.
As an artistic, creative kinda gal I have often felt ill-equipped, threatened and bamboozled by all those columns of numbers, despite the fact that I run my own business. I will also admit that for a long time I totally opted out and allowed (um encouraged, possibly begged) my ex-husband to take care of those aspects of my business while I was off doing what I do best- designing. After my husband and I separated, opening the excel file he used to organise my financial life and not understanding any of it was terrifying.
I now think my avoidance was insane! It was a massive relief to discover that it isn't actually rocket science. I still don't know everything- it's a learning curve- but understanding how the dollars operate in and out of my business, and how they actually work for me feels really empowering. More than that it's absolutely essential.
And here I am actually enjoying reading business blogs. Who would a thunk it??
Emily