Recently, one of my readers forwarded me an email they had received from someone called David Perell.
I’d never heard of him before, but he turned out to be a pretty insightful guy who writes about the craft of writing.
Every Monday, he also sends out an email full of the most interesting ideas he’s come across the previous week.
This particular email included the following quote:
“When you first start a company, you need Swiss Army Knife people who can do a little bit of everything. Once your company gets big, you need a bunch of kitchen knife people who do one thing very, very well.”
I smiled when I saw it, because I understood exactly why it had been forwarded to me!
The quote applies perfectly to the way your company manages its finances.
You see, when you’re small, you usually only have one or two people handling your cash – probably a bookkeeper and / or an accountant. They have to be your “jack of all financial trades,” doing your accounts, your taxes and maybe even running your payroll to acceptable standards.
That’s usually all you can afford when your company is young. And with relatively low trading volumes, you might not need much more, either.
But once your company reaches several million pounds turnover, your financial management needs typically become more sophisticated.
As your team and client base grows, there’s a lot more work to process.
It’s different kind of work, too. It’s no longer enough simply to have your numbers processed in a timely manner.
Your payroll and taxes may become fiendishly complicated…
Even your basic accounts may not be so basic anymore, with lots of different products, currencies, offices, suppliers and expenses to consider.
You might be mulling taking a loan, and will need someone who can help investigate the possibilities and even negotiate with your bank. Or maybe you’re considering buying another company… or a property… or need help reducing debt.
Your bookkeeper or compliance led accountant is unlikely to be able to do any of this. You require experienced specialists and need someone on your team with great commercial acumen, who can give you excellent financial advice.
In short, you need kitchen knife people!
That’s exactly what our Outsourced Finance Department team provides…
…With bookkeepers and accountants at all levels and with different areas of expertise.
That’s the kind of financial management that corporates take for granted.
But the catch is, we provide this to you when you’re smaller…
…At a point when, if you were hiring internally, you’d probably still have to make do with a swiss army knife!
You see, we believe that if you’re ambitious and want to reach £5 million, £10 million or beyond, you need world-class financial management as early as possible.
When you have the right people and process in place, you’re able to make much better financial decisions and maximise your profitability – making your growth both easier and faster.
If that’s the kind of financial management your company needs, get in touch with me today by email or calling us on 01279 647 447. I’ll get right back to you, to arrange a time to chat.
Warmly,
Garry “Kitchen knife” Mumford
