This is how I like to look at it.
The art and science of creating usable financial reporting is also known, in my experience, as running your numbers.
The verb gerund ‘running’ works well here in the context of acquiring useful information to measure the success of your business.
I like it because of the coincidence of my love of running.
In this case meaning the actual act of flying between footfalls and moving twice or more the speed of a walk.
Have you ever heard that metaphor before, by the way?
When a person runs with a typical three-foot gait, he or she runs about 1,320 footfalls, touching ground for one-fourth of the distance.
The runner spends three-quarters of the distance covered during running in the air, between strides.
Flying.
Is it any wonder, my love for the running – business allegory?
Running your numbers, the way it’s supposed to be, the way I like to see it, is like learning to fly.
Earlier in the story of our company I gave a presentation to a group, and I made a decision to do it in running clothes.
I came up with the idea to open with, “At Owings LLC, we love running your numbers.”
We still do.
Learning to Fly is not just one of my favorite Foo Fighters songs.
This is a consideration to inspire potential greatness.
Think about it, fellow entrepreneur.
You’ve already committed to a path requiring great courage, seeking to create a living from the world by your own unique efforts, talents, workmanship, whatever it is of value you have to sell.
You realized, deep down, that you CAN sell yourself to some degree, whether you ever looked like it that way or not.
That’s right. Aren’t we all engaged in selling ourselves in some way, beginning in childhood?
You don’t think so? Let me ask you this: how was it for you when you met the person you fell in love with the first time?
Isn’t winning the heart of a person that has clearly won yours a form of salesmanship?
In any case, you went into business for yourself, convinced yourself that you got this.
This is a big deal. Take a moment to soak that in, and congratulate yourself for that.
You’re doing something most people won’t, or can’t, do.
Kind of like running.
How many of my entrepreneurs reading this are also runners?
I think the number of people that have run in a 5K race in America is over 9 million by now, which is a pretty good cross-section of the population.
There has to be quite a few of you entrepreneurs that have, just by sheer weight of the numbers and probabilities.
Beginning to run, like the early stage of a business, can be a very simple process to start.
You don’t need a membership, or fancy equipment. Just a pair of adequate shoes.
And you can do it practically anywhere, without having to go someplace like a gym first.
Now, there was a point a few years ago where I realized there were a lot of books I would love to read in my thirst for learning, and I also wanted to keep running, even when I was struggling with maintaining a healthy weight, and the idea hit me.
Like a lightning bolt.
Audiobooks. I can read while running.
So, that’s what I do. All the time.
In running, as in business, one must build a foundation to run on.
The first couple of years you’re in business you may or may not have great success, but more than likely you’re going to have some pain.
You may ask yourself if this was a good decision after all, when your early revenues barely cover your overheads.
Especially if you’re not running your numbers properly.
There really is no substitute for a good understanding of your position.
In running, I still have a clear memory of the first couple of years hurting physically and mentally.
The will to get through the last couple of minutes to complete the day’s mileage, especially when early runner aches and pains are pretty much a constant companion, was an endurance struggle.
You have to want it to get it.
Also, nobody told me about I.T. band pain, a persistent problem for a middle-aged runner returning to running after years of relative inactivity.
Short for iliotibial, the damned I.T. band descends the upper part of the leg from the outside of the hip to the outside of the knee, and it’s down there that the pain really hits you.
But you know what? With practice and exercise, we get stronger and better.
Same as with business, in fact.
I live to run, and run to live, and I feel the same way about the business I’ve created.
I love what I do, and what it does for the clients I’m so grateful to have.
They say if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life, which is in my opinion not true.
The truth of the matter is that the work feels like a mission and a passion, not a burdensome slog through life.
I never look at the clock, willing it to get to the end of the day. Something school children and indentured workers are known to do, never happens when you believe in yourself.
I’m going back and forth between running and business because I find similarities and remarkable comparisons all the time between the two.
I’m thinking about these comparisons a lot this week because I’m just six days away from my first marathon in a little over 5 years, and I’m ready.
I cannot wait for Saturday to get here.
I’ve ran eight marathons in the past, but I have never trained for one quite the way I have this year.
I think it has a lot to do with the approach to business I’ve developed over the past few years.
Running the numbers works in running, too!
Consider this: you have some training runs that need to be at an easy conversational pace, and others that need to be at race tempo or even faster.
This involves measuring your progress with GPS tracking, recording information, and in fact being aware while moving of your average pace.
It’s work, but when done correctly (as I feel I have this time) it’s a huge boost to the confidence.
I know I’m ready. Because I’ve been running the numbers.
So as in running, so as in business.
If you know what your numbers are, in a way that makes sense, you know how much you can take out of your business for yourself and your family.
Running your numbers.
One of the most important things you should be doing for yourself in your business.
If you’re not 110% confident you’ve got this, it’s totally okay.
You are brilliant at what you do, and the probability is strong that’s not accounting.
That, as well as running is what I do.
With, not surprisingly, a level of effort similar to training for a marathon.
It’s a year-round endeavor with planning, tax strategy, and of course…
…running your numbers.
On steroids.
If you’re interested in the next level of transformational business accounting, we should talk about that.
We’re only able to take two clients at this level of service in the coming month.
Find my work-with-me link on the website or social media, and let’s talk.
Soon.