I often get asked why my emails cover such a wide range of topics and not just accounting and finance.
The answer is simple....we are, first of all, business advisers.
And most businesses are either struggling or just getting by. 80% or more in fact. And what they need first is advice on how to be more
effective in their marketing.
In Figure it Out I explain why your most important asset is your customer list and your most important job is getting and keeping customers (marketing in other words).
You see there is no point in accounting, which is measuring your business performance, if you don't have customers. But when you do have customers, then knowing your numbers (accounting) is vital.
Accounting and marketing go together. They take businesses from the 80% who are
struggling or just getting by into the 20% who are successful or getting there. They are the pillars on which great businesses are built. They are the Morecambe and Wise of business.
And just as most businesses don't 'get' marketing (and in fact do it all wrong), have websites that don’t make money and live with ‘build it and they will come’ syndrome, so most don't get that knowing your numbers is about far more than employing a bookkeeper, letting your accountant do your books once
a year and paying your taxes. Ask a successful business owner.
If you would like to join the 20%, we have a programme, unsurprisingly, called 'Know your Business Numbers' which you might want to join. It will open your eyes to what marketing and accounting are really about.
Look out for more details next week.
Noel Guilford.
01244 660866. He is the author of the best selling book 'Figure it out - an entrepreneurs guide to understanding your business numbers' which you can obtain by visiting http://guilfordaccounting.co.uk/figureit out. His forthcoming book 'Know your business numbers' will be published in the autumn.