Our office is full of canapes and drinks and there’s an excited buzz…
…Because later this week, we’re celebrating Insight Associate’s 30th anniversary with our clients, contacts and business partners.
Back when we started, I could never have imagined we’d reach this milestone – or what our company looks like today.
I had a very clear vision. One of my previous employers had built a successful business. Yet the only financial information this MD ever saw was the company’s financial accounts, some months after the end of the financial year. He finally realised that it was incredibly risky to have such a poor understanding of his own financial situation. It was my challenge to change that.
My idea was to help company owners become confident about their own numbers, so they could make financially astute decisions. I wanted to give smaller companies the financial support which corporates take for granted.
All this gave us focus and direction, and to a large extent my vision has come true.
Still, our journey has been full of twists and turns.
Take technology. When we started, we had no email. I still remember trying to work out what might make a snappy email address, and then dialling into our modem to download our emails twice a day.
Nowadays technology is a backbone of our business. We’re early adopters, working with a cutting-edge accounting platform with capabilities we could only have dreamed of 30 years ago.
Then there’s our client base. When we started out, we were mostly working with businesses in financial trouble.
We still occasionally help distresses companies, but mostly work with companies that are thriving. Their CEOs need to professionalise their financial management in order to grow faster and more smoothly.
This change – like many others – came about by following suggestions made by our own clients. Over the years, we’ve also tried out many different approaches, some of which didn’t work and some of which are now a strong focus.
Our journey has never been straightforward. There have been stops and starts, digressions, great leaps forward in unexpected directions…
We still don’t have all the answers!
The lesson for your business? Don’t be too set in your ways. It’s easy to imagine that the way you’ve always done things is the only way.
But a business is a “live” entity which must continually adapt as external circumstances change and as your own interests and needs change, too. (Presumably you don’t stay static over 30 years either!)
As Mikhail Gorbachev once put it, “If you don’t move forward, sooner or later you begin to move backward.”
Take financial management. When they’re small, companies get used to managing their cash in specific ways – for example, with an in-house bookkeeper or accountant in charge, using software they’re comfortable with.
This doesn’t mean you are wedded to this way of working forever. Sometimes a change is forced on you. You lose that essential key member and discover that without them, nothing really works well. Or you get a huge, unexpected tax bill and realise that your existing team wasn’t doing a great job after all.
Most commonly, as your company grows, your financial needs change.
Processing a higher volume of transactions requires more capacity and efficiency than before. There will be new tasks which your existing people just can’t do, like budgeting, arranging loans with the bank or cutting costs.
And because your business is more complex, it’s no longer enough to glance at your accounts once a year. You need more information about what’s coming down the road financially and want to discuss your decisions with someone who is financially knowledgeable.
In short, you need a financial management upgrade.
This can feel risky and different, which is why many business owners get stuck with financial management which holds them back. They look for a silver bullet which allows them to continue managing their cash the way they always did – for example bringing on board a new in-house bookkeeper – hoping for better results.
It rarely works like that.
You usually have to take a chance and do something significantly different – rethinking the way you manage your finances more broadly, in order to produce better results.
That’s where we come in. Our Outsourced Finance Department puts in place world-class financial management for your business quickly and painlessly.
It may not be the way you’ve done things in the past, but it’s built for your next evolution.
Then, if you’re ready to upgrade your financial management, call me today on 01279 647 447, or simply hit ‘reply’ to this email to get in touch.
Companies have been trusting us with their financial management for 30 years, and we’d love for you to be our next success story.
Warmly,
Garry ’30 years young’ Mumford
