What Does It Mean to Know Your Numbers?

If you watch Shark Tank, you might think it means you can spew off profit margins, revenue, projected growth rate, all the things and be able to say it in two seconds, or someone might yell at you.

I don't think Shark Tank has done us any favors when it comes to feeling less anxiety around knowing our numbers. That’s stressful!

At Love Your Numbers Now, we believe in being kind to ourselves regarding our relationship with our financial information.

When we spend time looking at the details of the past to understand what has happened, ask ourselves what we think will happen in the coming months, and enter data into the spreadsheet for the future, we're communing with our numbers.

[Carol stops to look up the definition of communing:

Communing - feeling in close spiritual contact with.]

I like it! The numbers have a lot to say when we take the time to get curious about what is happening, ask questions, and receive answers. We usually know what to do.

So, if you feel bad about not knowing your numbers, know that you don’t have to be someone who can memorize numbers to be a good financial steward of your business.

There is a big difference between what it feels like to look at reports (eyes may glaze over) and the tactile interaction with the information that happens through Forecasting.

The practice of monthly Financial Forecasting changes your relationship with your numbers. You will begin to know your numbers intimately in a way that improves profitability, and you don't have to memorize anything ever!

The most important thing is to spend time understanding what's happening because the numbers tell a story, and through Forecasting, you can change that story.