So, if you’re someone who hates numbers I have five reasons Why you should ignore your numbers.

Firstly, if having no clarity or focus in your business sounds appealing to you then by all means continue to avoid looking at your numbers.

Secondly, if making decisions on the fly without any real understanding of what is happening works for you then keep doing what you’re doing.

Thirdly, if experiencing stress and anxiety is how you like to roll then go ahead and stay blissfully ignorant of your numbers.

Fourthly, if feeling like you’re in control and knowing what is happening with your business puts too much pressure on you then don’t worry about it!

Lastly, if having a time consuming hobby that doesn’t make any profits is more up your alley than actually making money then ignore away.

.Although it may be tempting to ignore your numbers, there are many reasons why you should not. The most important reason is that by understanding and paying attention to your numbers, you put yourself in the driver’s seat of your business and can make better decisions based on data rather than guesswork. If this sounds like something you would prefer to avoid, then I suggest subscribing to my I Hate Numbers You Tube channel where I will continue providing helpful tips and information about all things related to numbers (and how to ignore them).

Good to know

Are you ready to have an easier and more rewarding relationship with your numbers?  My book, I Hate Numbers helps you get there.

This book is based on my 27 + years in business, helping thousands of businesses survive and prosper.  Furthermore, it is an easy, humorous but serious read about running a business, having a financially rewarding relationship with your numbers, Furthermore, my book will help with that battle between the ears, that all business owners experience.

Get in touch with us to help make your life easier and stress-free. Contact us if you need help figuring out and sorting your numbers, creating your future financial story plans, your tax, payroll and other accounting and business matters.

Getting your Finances in Order is key to a successful business.  Find out more by checking out Numbers Know How 

Your numbers in your business. Should you really be that bothered with them? Well, in this week's podcast, I'm gonna give you five good reasons why you can safely ignore your numbers.

You are listening to the I Hate Numbers podcast with Mahmood Reza. The I Hate Numbers Podcast mission is to help your business survive and thrive by you better understanding and connecting with your numbers. Number love and care is what it's all about. Tune in every week. Now, here's your host, Mahmood Reza.

Hi folks. My name is Mahmood. I'm an accountant and financial coach and founder of the accounting firm I Hate Numbers and also the financial storytelling platform Numbers Knowhow. My mission over the last 27 plus years has been helping thousands of business owners make money in their business, increase their financial awareness and understanding, help them win more battles than they lose with what goes on between their ears.

Save tax, save time, and have the business they aspire to. A pretty good combo if I do say so myself. Let's crack on with the podcast. I said there are five good reasons to hate numbers, and as a spoiler alert, I should tell you that I actually love numbers and what they can do for my business and every business that I come across.

However, so many people have a real fear of numbers, mass, accounts, and even accountants between me and you. Therefore, their business struggles to survive, nevermind thrive. If only they knew how to get a fondness and some kind of control of their numbers. Well, in this podcast, I'm gonna give you five good reasons why you can safely ignore your numbers.

Reason number one, if you prefer to have no clarity, no focus or thought and approach in your business, then ignore your numbers with my blessing. If you prefer to have muddled thinking, to have a bit of a wispy outlook in terms of what your business future looks like, you don't want something that's more certain, then please ignore your numbers.

Numbers will give you that clarity of thought. They will give you that framework that's more certain in terms of the direction you want your business to go into, what's likely to happen in terms of the challenges that you face, and it'll quantify and translate your future and give you a bit more certainty and focus even through the mechanism of planning of which I'm a big fan,

through the focus of actually looking ahead through the windscreen of your business and not the rear view mirror, you will be able to understand with more certainty the direction you should be going. You'll cut down and reduce those activities that perhaps put you into a side tunnel, and clarity in focus will certainly gain.

But if you prefer not to have that clarity in focus, then ignore those numbers. Reason number two. If you prefer your decision making to be haphazard more by the seat of your pants, more by instinct and feeling than in terms of some factual judgment coming into a play, then ignore your numbers. Numbers will certainly power you and improve your decision making dramatically.

So when you make those decisions about whether you can afford to take on staff, whether you should outsource what you're doing, where those profits are leaking, we can generate more cash, what your financial future looks like, whether you should make those investments in your business, whether they're likely to come to fruition, the numbers will come to your rescue.

If, however, you prefer to run your business on a reactive basis, see what goes on. Trusting everything by instinct. And there's nothing wrong with instinct, but instinct alone is not a good way to base your decisions. Numbers are very powerful. They reinforce, they might even give you insights that you weren't aware of, but if you prefer to have poor decision making which is one of the common reasons by the way folks, that businesses face financial problems and eventually go into liquidation.

You prefer that decision to be haphazard. Ignore your numbers. However, if you prefer your decision making to be more grown up, to give you some degree of clarity and certainty. Then get closer to your numbers. Reason number three, if your preference for running your business is to have a mindset that's befuddled, to experience stress and anxiety, to not quite know what's going on ahead of you, to be panicky.

Cash flows are suffering. Money's not being collected. You're working hard, you're working frenetically, but there's nothing to show in your bank account. There's more going out than there is coming in. You don't quite know what's going on. Well ignore your numbers. Numbers can be a very powerful friend, and when I say can be what I'm really meaning is they are.

They are your best friend in business. They will tell you the truth. They will give you insights. They will be there for good times as well as bad times. There is a connection, there is a correlation between your mental wellbeing and how you handle money, and there's a correlation between money and how it impacts on your wellbeing.

I've found over the last 27 plus years that those business owners that engage with planning, with looking ahead, thinking about what their business future looks like, the Northern Star they wish to get to that formulate a plan of action, that formulate a financial plan and translate their journey into that financial impact,

find they stress less. There's more clarity given to them. They know what their efforts will result in, in terms of profitability, in terms of cash flow, in terms of being able to take that time off, being able to make those investments in terms of making those big decision. The way of thinking of their business is much more comfortable.

And those earlier things we talked about, like clarity, powerful decision making, all come in to minimise the stress and anxiety. Now, I'm not saying you will not have any stress in your business. It goes with the territory. Running your business is difficult. Not impossible. It's hard work, but it's much harder if your numbers are not in your passenger seat there to support you and help you as you go through.

Reason number four. So, so far we've talked about clarity of thoughts and focus. We've talked about making more effective decisions. We've talked about reducing and lessening anxiety and stress, and improving that space that goes on between your ear lobes. Number four is about control. And we're not talking about being a control freak, but actually having an understanding of numbers, being closer to your numbers, puts you in the driving seat of your business.

You're no longer a passenger sitting at the back of the bus. You are actually in the driving seat, powering your business along. You have more control over what goes on. You have a better understanding, and again, through the mechanism of something like a financial plan or a budget, having good accounting systems, being able to capture that data, getting more comfortable, and nobody's talking about turning anybody into accounters, we're talking about increasing our financial understanding.

And making sure that you haven't got that phobic reaction to numbers, but you see numbers for what they are. Numbers are your words to your financial story, but if you prefer to run a business with no control, let your business dictate what happens. You're spending more time working in the business as opposed to on the business if you don't have that liberation,

if you prefer to abrogate control, then ignore your numbers. For my purposes, I don't really want that for you. I don't want that for me, and I don't want that for any business owner at all. So control will be your best friend and numbers will help you get there. Now, more importantly, I leave the best till last. Whatever your business is,

reason number five, to ignore your numbers is if you are quite relaxed about making money in your business. If you prefer to have a time consuming hobby, and an expensive one to boot, if you prefer not to make profits from your endeavors, from the sharing of your time and skills with somebody else, for delivering that transformation into your clients, for helping them solve problems.

If you prefer not to make a profit and you prefer to be a organization that's gonna decline, not have any sustainability, not be able to prosper, not be able to reward yourself and your team, not be able to make investments in the future, not able to actually give yourself that prosperous future as well,

then ignore your numbers. Fundamentally, whatever your business type is, whatever size you are, whatever shape you are with your private not-for-profit vocational, philanthropic or whatever you need to make profits. Profits are a necessity. They are there to recoup the costs that you've expensed, to give you something over and above that to compensate you and your team and to provide funds for you to be able to continue delivering your why.

If you do not make profits, if profit sounds like an icky, dirty word to you, then you are in the wrong industry. You run a business, you need to make a profit. How you make that profit, your ethics and integrity are certainly very important. But making a profit, you must have as one of your primary financial objectives. An awareness,

a command of your numbers can tell you where you are leaking money, which products and services are not generating any value. There may be good reason commercially, but it'll give you that insight to where profits are being made, where losses are being incurred, what those cash flow pressures are, where efficiency gains can be made, what your pricing looks like.

All those things will come by having numbers in your dashboard, having numbers in your passenger seat and numbers to accompany you on your business journey. Folks, let's round up what we've got. So the reasons not to connect with your numbers to ignore them safely is if you prefer to have a muddiness and, unclarity of thoughts,

if you prefer poor decision making, if you would rather have a stressful life that's anxiety ridden, if you prefer to abrogate control and wander aimlessly in the dark, if you prefer not to make profits in your business, then please ignore your numbers with my blessing. However, I'm hoping that's not the case with you listening in. Now, why you might be thinking, am I so passionate about all this stuff?

Well, I'm so passionate because I have a strong belief based on a number of decades of working in the field of numbers, 27 plus years of running my own businesses, that once you understand what your numbers are, where they come from, what they mean, you can use them to make better decisions and ultimately make or keep more money.

Surely what every business owner wants. Now, the one thing I can guarantee for you is that whether you are the CEO of a global corporation or a market store trader in your local town, your numbers matter and you simply can't get away from them. Your numbers are your best friend in business. They give you that insight and they share their honesty with you.

They point you in times of prosperity and when things are turbulent, they will be there to guide you through that murkiness and also when things are calmer. Face your fears and make those numbers work for you. Until next week, folks don't have nightmares. We hope you enjoyed this episode and appreciate you taking the time to listen to the show.

We hope you got some value. If you did, then we'd love it if you shared the episode. We look forward to you joining us next week for another I Hate Numbers episode.