Chances are, unless you are an accountant, you didn’t go into business because you love working with financial numbers. Small business owners are typically good at making a product or delivering a service, but are less comfortable with the financial side of the business. That’s understandable. However, the numbers are critical to understanding how money flows in and out of your business and ultimately the survival of the business itself.

A recent article written by John Gallagher and published in the Detroit Free Press cited a JPMorgan Chase Institute study of 1 million small businesses. “Small businesses don’t fail because it’s a bad business. They fail because of cash flow problems,” notes Chris Wheat of the JPMorgan Chase Institute.

When I’m advising Wyoming entrepreneurs, I strongly encourage them to become familiar with the financial side of their business before problems arise. You don’t want to wait until it’s too late. The Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network provides entrepreneurs with no-to-low cost assistance in several ways:

  • help with bookkeeping;
  • our Financial Health Check-up service;
  • financial literacy classes such as Profit Mastery.

You don’t have to become an accounting expert, but as a business owner it is important that you understand what your accurate, timely financial reports are telling you. It may not be as exciting as marketing, but it is equally — if not more — important!

The next Profit Mastery class is coming up on Oct 10 & 11 in Gillette, WY. This comprehensive 16-hour course teaches you how to use your financial reports to make your business more successful. New business owners, bankers, and even accountants have said this course has been extremely helpful to them.

If you have any questions about using financial information to drive you business decisions, contact myself or your local advisor for no-cost assistance here.

About the author: Bruce Morse is the Northwest Regional Director for the Wyoming SBDC Network.  He has a bachelor’s degree in Business Finance with a minor in Marketing from Montana State University-Bozeman.  A former banker and Economic Development Finance Professional, Bruce specializes in assisting clients with all things numbers: loan applications, financial analysis, business planning and projections, and crowdfunding ideas.

When he’s not in the office:

When he’s not in the office: Bruce loves travel, good food, and an occasional round of golf!

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