Spend some time with your bookkeeper

It can be dull (would you rather be looking at potential sales or spreadsheets) and some entrepreneurs struggle with some of the complexities of accounting.

Fair enough. Studying numbers isn’t great fun except when they are numbers in your bank account.

But entrepreneurs have a solemn duty to themselves and their staff to get across the numbers behind their business and to develop a nose for potential problems.

Otherwise you end up with tax problems, cashflow problems and even fraud.

The best way to do that is to spend lots of time with your bookkeeper or accountant.

When something doesn’t look quite right to you ask them about it and get them to explain the problem – in detail, until you completely understand what’s happened, why it’s happened and what it means for your business.

The idea isn’t to become an accounting whiz kid. The idea is to be able to spot problems and deal with them.

Those instincts are as important as your sales and marketing or leadership instincts. So start building them – today.