A few weeks ago, my wife Thelma flew off to Australia for nearly a month, to visit her lifelong friend in Perth.
I was left to fend for myself at home — and I’ll be honest, my odds of survival weren’t great.
The good news? I didn’t poison myself, and I managed to wear clean clothes every day. Miraculous, really.
All thanks to Thelma.
In preparation, Thelma — who is incredibly organised — cooked several meals and popped them in the freezer, each one meticulously labelled with heating instructions. She left written guidelines on how to do the laundry. She even ordered the food shopping — from Australia!
In short, she turned the day-to-day running of our home into a system: a set of simple, reliable, documented processes that even I could follow without mishap.
And that’s exactly what every business should aim for too.
Because when the way you operate lives only in people’s heads — especially when it comes to something as critical as your finances — you’re vulnerable.
If a key staff member leaves, so does the knowledge. No one’s quite sure how things were done, or why.
And even if they never go anywhere, working without a documented system leaves you exposed to mistakes and oversights.
I’ve seen it happen too many times: Duplicate invoices paid. Supplier contracts lost. Budgets missed. Invoices never raised.
All because people were “making it up as they went along” or working from memory.
A mature, well-run business doesn’t operate like that. It works to systems — to ensure consistency and avoid costly errors.
That’s why, when Insight Associates takes over your financial management, one of the first things we do is put proper systems and processes in place. These are tried-and-tested methods we’ve refined over decades, because clear, consistent systems are fundamental to upgrading your financial management.
That might include:
- Robust approval processes, so no unauthorised spend slips through
- Timely, accurate, standardised reporting you can rely on
- Clear documentation of key financial tasks, so nothing grinds to a halt if someone’s off sick or leaves.
It gives you resilience. It gives you clarity. And it makes scaling your business far easier.
As our Associate Director Shirley Hoy said to me recently, after hearing about how I survived solo:
“Every business needs a Thelma!”
But here’s the truth: Businesses can’t rely on individual people the way I relied on my wonderful wife. People get sick. They leave. They go to Australia for a month.
What your business actually needs is a Thelma-like system — something dependable, organised, and quietly keeping everything running behind the scenes, no matter who’s in the chair.
That’s what solid financial systems do.
If you’d like to find out how we can help you put those systems in place and bring your financial management to world-class standards, just email garry@insightassociates.co.uk or call 01279 647 447 to book a consultation with me or one of our specialists.
Warmly,
Garry
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