Get into your P&L, my friend. Those numbers are trying to tell you something genuinely useful.

This is the month we lovingly freak our clients out. It’s the moment of truth — when we pull out the profit and loss and the balance sheet and look at how the business is really doing.

The core idea

One skill that isn’t especially glamorous, but will serve you for the rest of your business life, is learning to read and interpret your profit and loss and your balance sheet.

There is so much gold in there — it helps you make better decisions, know exactly where you stand, plan your cash flow, and check that things are genuinely moving in the right direction.

But so many business owners don’t look often enough.

They almost hand that responsibility over to their tax accountant — and unless you’ve specifically engaged them for it, that was never their job.

Becoming financially literate is one of the best things you will ever do for yourself.

Financial outcomes are one of the three most important outcomes of any business: you’ve got to enjoy your business, you’ve got to get paid well, and you’ve got to leave a legacy.

Check out my short video on the topic below.