Dad was an entrepreneur through and through, he started teaching me about business at a very young age, he always talked about giving good service but also, about making sure you get the money down to the bank before they closed.
Managing the money in his business was always done by someone in the family who he could trust and had the maturity to handle the job. However, it is not always possible to keep this in the family but it is important that you trust the person and they care for your business like it’s family.
What does “managing the money'' mean?
The person who controls the cash flow is controlling the most important aspect of your business, they are responsible for your success. If they are not mature in mind to handle what you give them, you will not be given more to handle. Always delegate the management of money to someone who handles their own money well.
It means that whoever you have in control of this job must have the maturity to act in ways that serve both the customer and the business. They are responsible for holding customers accountable to pay their bills and not allowing people to get away without paying while others do.
Managing the money also means having systems in place so that cracks never appear, it means money management is always the highest priority, it can be the difference between surviving and thriving.
Being a business leader can mean you are sometimes challenged to look at the bigger picture and when it comes to managing money, it is a responsibility that cannot be ignored. Many businesses get into the habit of doing a job a particular way because that is the way it has always been done, it is important to check in on your systems for money management. Just because it has always been done a certain way doesn’t mean it is the best way.
Recently, I have seen this happen in a business where we were asked to look into accounts management and we found many ways to improve both cash flow and customer service. However, there was such a strong culture of keeping things the way they had always been that we were unable to help them see a better way.
I challenge you to look at your systems around money management and reach out and find where you may be able to improve.
Like I said 'whoever manages the money is in control of the business'.
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