Contrary to what many entrepreneurs think, growth doesn’t always measure success.

As new businesses begin to grow, so, too, do the challenges and complexities. In many cases, a business’s ‘growth’ does nothing to advance the overall profit. You might be spending more on hiring employees or acquiring new assets and end up having to work more–for less.

Using a Scoreboard to Weigh Your Options

Accounting isn’t just a way to keep you out of financial trouble; it’s a scoreboard for your business. It’s a way to look not only at the past and present but also toward the future. Scoreboards dictate decisions. If a football team is down by 40 and it’s fourth down, chances are they’re not going to punt the ball. That’s because they’re able to check the scoreboard to see exactly where they stand.

A person who makes decisions without having a firm grasp on their business’s numbers is like a football team choosing to run a random play without knowing the score. This is particularly important for entrepreneurs because every decision they make directly impacts the one that comes next.

Business owners need to be looking ahead, and without a scoreboard it simply isn’t possible. To reach your goals you need to first identify your destination and from there you can start working toward them.  

Knowing How to Build a Roadmap

Aside from acting as a scoreboard, accounting can also work as a roadmap to help you follow and accomplish both your short- and long-term goals. To become an empowered business owner means to understand what’s happening in the industry — to have the confidence to know where you are and where you’re going.

An empowered business owner can look at their numbers and use them to build a roadmap for the future.

The first step to reaching your goals is identifying the destination.

How Kahuna's Virtual Accounting Team Can Help You Keep Score