A while back, we were working with a business that had hired a really strong head of operations.
He was smart. Experienced. Well respected internally… Exactly the kind of person you hire because you don’t want everything landing back on your desk.
On the surface, things were fine. Projects were being delivered. The team was busy. Nothing was “wrong”.
But the founder kept coming back to the same frustration.
“I feel like we’re leaving money on the table.”
When we started talking that through — looking at the decisions that were being made, and how — the issue became clear.
When it came to the head of operations, there was no question around his skills or ability. He was making sensible, careful decisions…
…but he lacked financial context.
He didn’t really know which costs really mattered, where margins were tight, or which parts of the business were under the most pressure.
No one had ever shared that information with him, because… well, it just wasn’t how things had been done.
So he was doing exactly what he thought was necessary. It just wasn’t exactly what the business most needed at that stage of its growth.
In my last article, I mentioned that I’d be talking about when and how to share financial information with members of your team.
This is the first reason it matters.
Sharing financial information isn’t really about “transparency”. It’s about helping your people do their job more successfully.
If you imagine a large corporate for a moment, it would be unthinkable for the CEO to keep all financial information to themselves. Department heads are expected to own budgets, manage costs, and deliver results — and they’re given the financial context to do that properly.
The principle is exactly the same in a growing business. The only difference is scale.
As businesses grow, you bring in more people. Better people. People with experience and judgement. But if all the financial context still sits with you as the founder, you limit how much value those people can really add.
In the early days, it makes sense for everything to sit with you — including the numbers. That’s how most businesses start. But at a certain point, that way of operating stops scaling.
You’ve invested in talent. You’ve hired people because they know how to improve efficiency, spot opportunities and make better calls.
For them to do that, they need to understand what’s actually going on — not everything, but the things that are relevant to their role and the decisions they’re responsible for.
Without that context, they’re flying blind.
That’s exactly where we come in.
At Insight Associates, we help business owners get the financial information they need to make better decisions. And, just as importantly, we help you decide what information makes sense to share with your wider team.
We then create clear, tailored dashboards for department heads, showing the numbers that matter to their area of the business.
Nothing overwhelming. Nothing inappropriate. Just the right level of financial context to help them take ownership, make better decisions, and contribute more effectively — while overall financial control stays firmly with you as the founder.
In my next article, I’ll talk about a second reason to share financial information — one that surprisingly few business owners ever consider.
But in the meantime, if you’d like to explore how we could support your business, you can set up a consultation with me or one of our specialists today.
Simply email garry@insightassociates.co.uk or call our office on 01279 647 447 to find out more.
Garry
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