A founder I work with recently noticed a steady squeeze on margins in one part of their business.
The numbers themselves were clear. What wasn’t obvious from the reports was why it had started — or why it seemed to be getting worse month by month.
The founder didn’t have an answer.
But his team did.
When he asked them directly, the explanation was immediate. Over the previous few months, they’d started spending more time per customer than before.
Not because of inefficiency, but because customer expectations had shifted. As economic conditions tightened, customers were asking more questions, needing more reassurance, and demanding more attention than they used to.
The team adapted with longer calls. More follow-ups. More hand-holding.
All sensible decisions, made in the moment, to protect revenue.
What they hadn’t realised was how much those small changes were eroding margin when multiplied across more than a dozen customers.
The cost was visible in the numbers. The cause wasn’t — until the team saw them.
In my last email, I talked about the first reason to share select financial information with your team: it helps them do their jobs more effectively.
This story captures the second.
When your team understands the numbers, they can give you insight into the business that you simply may not have.
You see, when your business is young, you’re usually very close to the coalface. You manage much of the day-to-day work yourself. You speak to clients. You feel changes as they happen.
As the business grows — and especially once you pass the £1m turnover mark — that inevitably changes. You hire more people. Your role becomes more strategic. You step further away from the detail.
Often without realising it, you lose some of that instinctive sense for what’s really happening: what clients are saying, how their behaviour is shifting, and how market forces are starting to bite.
Those insights don’t disappear. They just move.
They now sit with the people you’ve hired — often at significant expense — who are closest to the work.
This is why the numbers, on their own, aren’t always enough.
The figures can tell you what is happening – for example, margins are tightening or costs are rising.
But they don’t always tell you why. And as the founder or CEO of a growing business, you don’t always have that answer anymore.
When the people closest to the work can see the same financial picture, they’re able to connect the dots between what they experience day to day and what shows up in the reports. They can explain the story behind the numbers — and, just as importantly, what might need to change.
That conversation allows you to do your job better: to set clearer direction, to adjust where necessary, and to make better financial decisions.
This is where Insight Associates can help.
When we work with you, we provide the numbers that form the basis of these conversations on a monthly basis. Together, we analyse them to build a clear, accurate picture of what’s really happening in your business — and what to do next.
And together, we decide which numbers to share with your team.
The aim isn’t openness for its own sake, but better decision-making: giving your people the context they need to do their jobs well, and giving you the insight you need to lead more effectively.
If that’s the kind of financial insight and support you’d like for your business, get in touch with us today. Simply email me garry@insightassociates.co.uk or call on 01279 647 447 to find out more about how we could work together.
Warmly,
Garry
