4 Minute Read

I’ll just come out and say it. I am awful with my finances. I am not a numbers guy whatsoever, and the thought of staring at a spreadsheet makes me want to run and turn Netflix on full blast.  

I blame it on being a creative but that’s just a cop-out.

Dealing with money can be a scary thing, especially when it comes to running a business. Between all the 1099’s and W2’s and tax write-offs, the financial side of our business can begin to feel like the devil pulling us into the fires below. Our little hell on earth.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

I see it all the time: entrepreneurs only want to focus on the passion side of their hustle and drop the business side of…well, their business. You can run your business, fuel your passion, and still know your numbers – it just takes work.

Knowing your finances as a business owner is essential to your hustle. If you don’t know your numbers, you don’t understand your business.

I love watching the show “The Profit” with Marcus Lemonis. Each episode is the process of how Marcus invests into struggling businesses all across the country. Each episode opens up with the same formula. Marcus visits the company, observes the process and then asks for the finances. If you watch the show enough, you’ll realize that 90% of the businesses he deals with have poor bookkeeping.

They would have no idea if they made a profit, where they are hemorrhaging money,  or how much their items cost. They don’t know the price of their business, and that scares me. Every time I watch an episode, it’s a wake-up call to my very own hustle.

There is this misconception that being financially well means you have a surplus of money. That’s not the case. Being financially responsible means that you have come to an understanding of your relationship with money and how you plan to utilize it as a tool. That’s all money is. It’s a tool to help further your hustle. It’s a tool to help advance the glory of God.

Scripture

23 Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds, 24 for riches don’t last forever, and the crown might not be passed to the next generation.  25 After the hay is harvested and the new crop appears, and the mountain grasses are gathered in, 26 your sheep will provide wool for clothing, and your goats will provide the price of a field. 27 And you will have enough goats’ milk for yourself, your family, and your servant girls. Proverbs 27:23-27

This passage is so interesting to me because this isn’t a recommendation. The writer of Proverbs isn’t saying “Well, it would be a good idea if you do know the state of your flocks.” The passage starts out as a command: “Know the state of your flocks” … know your business.

The rest of the passage shows why we must know the state of our flocks. If we know where we stand, we can plan for the future. We can plan to cove