Cyber Monday Sale! 50% Off All Access

4 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Delegate Your Company's Finances Don't forget about the numbers while your busy leading sales and marketing efforts.

By Melissa Houston

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Moon Safari | Getty Images

As an entrepreneur, you start your new business with hopes and dreams. You nurture your business, you want it to be successful, you have lofty goals and you do everything you can to achieve them. You swear you'll be the best.

But do you know your business numbers? Because business is all about numbers. More to the point, have you considered what happens when you make business decisions without knowing how it will impact your bottom line?

Do not go into business blindly. You need to understand how your decisions affect the profitability of your business. The reason entrepreneurs go into business is to make money, so if you are not tracking the money you are making, or even know whether your business is generating a profit, it defeats the purpose of being in business. Here are four reasons why you need to familiarize yourself with your company's finances.

Related: 7 Tips to Hit 7 Figures in 2020 and Beyond

1. You can create a financial plan

Having a financial plan is important because it gives your business direction. You can set goals such as revenue targets and monitor your progress against these goals throughout the year. You can also set profit margin goals to ensure the profitability of your business. You'll want to do this to ensure the expenses in your business aren't so inflated that you aren't making any profit.

2. You can identify issues before they become bigger problems

When you monitor your business throughout the year you can see issues forming that can potentially become bigger problems and cost you a lot of money. But, because you are monitoring your numbers, and you know your numbers, you will see this issue before it becomes a huge money suck and make adjustments to course correct. This actually ends up saving you a lot of money as you prevented a financial loss from occurring.

The U.S. Small Business Administration states, "Looking closely at money-in and money-out helps maintain a sustainable balance between profit and loss."

3. You can understand how each decision you make as a business owner affects your bottom line

Because you understand your business numbers, you will have a solid understanding of how your business decisions will affect the profitability of your business. You can make confident business decisions knowing that these decisions will increase the profit line in your business.

Related: 3 Reasons Why You Should Always Know the Financial Health of Your Business

4. You can stay in business for the long term

One of the main reasons businesses close their doors is due to a lack of profitability. Don't let that be your business.

When you are the CEO of your business, you are likely taking on the roles of many because you can't afford to hire all the professionals. You're likely the sales manager, marketer, operations manager, customer relations . but don't forget to include the finance manager in those roles. Investing in this skill now will not only pay off now but will carry your business into the growth stage, and when you can afford to hire financial help, you will always need to be involved in the numbers and decision making.

Melissa Houston

Financial Strategist

Melissa Houston is a certified professional accountant, host of the She Means Profit podcast and blog (www.shemeansprofit.com), which helps successful business owners increase their profit margins so they keep more money in their pocket and increase their net worth.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business News

'Pre-Boarding Scam': Customers Furious at Southwest Airlines After 20 Passengers Ask For Wheelchair Assistance to Board

A viral tweet is slamming the airline's wheelchair policy for boarding and disembarking.

Business News

'Something Previously Impossible': New AI Makes 3D Worlds Out of a Single Image

The new technology allows viewers to explore two-dimensional images in 3D.

Business News

'I Stand By My Decisions': A CEO Is Going Viral For Firing Almost All of the Company's Employees — Here's Why

The Musicians Club CEO Baldvin Oddsson fired 99 workers at once over Slack for missing a morning meeting. But there's a catch.

Fundraising

They Turned Down an Early Pay Day to Maintain Control of Their Business. And Then Went on to Raise $190 Million.

Jason Yeh, co-founder and General Partner of Patron, explains the early-stage venture firm's creation and future outlook.

Business News

'This Company Has Been My Life': Intel CEO Retires, Reportedly Forced Out

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has led the company since February 2021 and said his departure is "bittersweet."