A family friend of ours recently asked AI to plan a family holiday itinerary for Italy.
The result looked incredibly impressive.
Museum recommendations. Wine bars. Historic walking tours. Tiny hidden restaurants “loved by locals.”
There was just one problem.
It was clearly a holiday designed for energetic adults with unlimited stamina – not for two exhausted parents travelling with grumpy teenagers.
One day alone included an early morning guided tour, a museum, lunch across the city, an afternoon vineyard visit and a “sunset stroll” several miles away.
She told me that had they followed the itinerary, everyone would have needed therapy rather than tiramisu…
The issue wasn’t that AI was bad.
It was that the advice AI gives you is only as good as the information it’s given.
Our friend had simply been far too general in her instructions, rather than giving the AI all the context it needed – the ages of the children, their interests, the fact everyone needed downtime.
Had she provided more detail, the results would have been better.
Working with Insight Associates is a bit like that…
To get the best results from us, we need information. Lots of it.
Understanding your numbers is not enough. We need to understand your products or services, your team structure, your clients, your commercial challenges, your competitive advantages, your growth plans, your pressures, your cash flow cycle, your operational bottlenecks and the way your business actually functions day to day.
It’s only when we understand all those details that we can give you financial information that is genuinely useful to you, and tailor our advice to help you make better decisions.
For example, if we understand that one of your services isn’t especially profitable in itself but consistently brings in reliable, long-term clients, we may view those numbers very differently than we would in isolation.
If we know your industry has highly seasonal cash flow, we can help you plan ahead properly rather than simply reacting when pressure hits.
And if we understand your personal goals as a business owner – whether that’s growth, stability, eventual exit or simply less stress – we can shape financial reporting around the things that actually matter to you.
That’s why we ask questions. Usually lots of them.
Because the more we understand, the more useful we become – just like AI.
That’s very different from the way a traditional accountant typically works.
A traditional accountant generally just needs access to your numbers – not the context behind them – because they’re producing accounts, not providing the forward-looking planning, budgeting and strategic advice that we give our clients.
So if you’re looking for an outsourced finance department that works more like a genuine partner in your business than a traditional accountant…
If you want financial information that is tailored to your business, genuinely useful and capable of helping you make better decisions…
And if you’re prepared for the collaborative process that requires…
…then we’d love to talk to you.
At Insight Associates, we work closely with ambitious businesses turning over £1m+ to help them improve financial visibility, make better decisions and grow more sustainably.
If that sounds like the kind of relationship you want from your finance team, simply email garry@insightassociates.co.uk or call us on 01279 647 447 for a no-obligation conversation with myself or one of our specialists.
Warmly,
Garry
You might also like: The Insight team in action: Simon and Vikki – Insight Associates Limited
