Have your business inspected….its a ‘must do’.

What is that old saying, you can see a flea on another’s nose, but not an elephant on your own…

Here is the point.

We all believe our own stories. We all see ourselves through our own filters. We may be able to advise others on what to do and how to do it, but when it comes to evaluating what we do individually, we all typically flunk the test, as we believe our own effort is the best and we cannot see the elephant on our noses.

If we had a board of directors, to watch and check our actions and programs, systems and operations, and if we produced daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reports, along with tracking key indicators and if we had a flat organization, we might be able to say with confidence. “I am doing it right.!”

But most of us are doing it alone, and do not have a board of directors and the appropriate reporting mechanisms and systems installed and operational to help us guide our businesses effectively and successfully. If there are no checks and balances and no flow of critical information how can we tell if we are operating profitably, effectively, successfully. We cannot. Admit it. Unless we believe our own evaluation and analysis, which is usually a mistake, because we also all usually believe our own stories and our own stories are fraught with our own biases.

Remember we can see a flea on another’s nose, but not an elephant on our own.

So what are we to do?

Simple, we all probably have an accountant, a CPA, trained in business systems and financial reporting. Maybe the CPA who does your annual taxes, maybe not. However there are competent CPA’s in every market and they are all trained and have the experience and expertise to evaluate your business systems and provide you with the checks and balances you need to evaluate your business and operations to determine if you are operating truly effectively and profitably and efficiently.

Take the test! Hire your CPA Accountant, or hire one you may not know. This exercise will in all likelihood cost you less then a thousand dollars, and may be the best money you have spent in a long time.

Ask him to come into your business and inspect your systems, reporting mechanisms and procedures and make recommendations. Have him evaluate what you have operating, what is working, what is not working and what you need. Let him loose, let him review, talk to your managers and evaluate your business operation.

You will be amazed at what his report will tell you, and the recommendations he makes and without judgment follow his recommendations. Do not re-evaluate him, do not argue with his findings, do not say glibly, ‘I do not need these systems and recommendations, I know what’s going on without these reports’. Do what he says, this is basic and he is trained to make these recommendations. Listen to him and follow his advice and maybe you too will have a profitable and successful business operation.

Inspect yourself through the eyes of an expert.

Do this quarterly and you will be assured that you are on the right path. Do not do this and you will be assured you are probably wondering off the trail. Arrange for your business to be inspected, evaluated and then follow the recommendations.