Entrepreneurs vs Accountants!

Someone once said to me:”Never let an accountant run your business, it will be death of you,” but, surely, there has to be a half way house between the figure people and the would be millionaires? Let me tell you a story!This week I needed to print 160 A4 colour copies, so I rang a local copying franchise who quoted me 37p an item. Could you be bothered to check whether there was anyone cheaper? I could! The next one dropped to 34p and, when I rang the third, Raymond said it would be 57p a copy until I took a sharp intake of breath, after which he rapidly reduced the figure to 30p…………………almost a 50% reduction; but still the search continued! I found someone in Uxbridge near London that would print my copies for 10p each but they had a delivery charge, upping the cost considerably. I finally settled on the local library at 15p an item! That represented a 59% reduction on the original 37p figure. Imagine if you could cut your overhead by 59%…..the process starts with the small things!Times are tough! Sensibly drive cost out of your business and be bothered about the small items. As my mum always used to remind me: “Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.” Many would claim that this is the accountant’s philosophy. When a company is losing money, take cost out of the overhead and square the circle…..make the sums add up. But, what happens if you bring everything into line and, in doing so, you compromise the very infrastructure that delivers the service that makes the profit?Running a business is akin to tightrope walking, a careful balance. Some would say that you need to spend more than you have in order to create the marketplace in which to prosper. Isn’t that what people are saying the UK government should be doing at the moment, cutting less and spending more? Spend its way out of recession? If Mr Osborne (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) freed the purse strings, would the UK expand its economy or spiral into further debt, or prosper more?A business is like a smaller version of a country! You have to look at all the facts and take a calculated risk, a decision, often in the face of persistent criticism.

But make sure you know who is running the business, and heed the words of those people who understand the merits of management information and a Profit and Loss account, before taking the plunge. And remember, the answer is usually somewhere in between the accountant and the entrepreneur! Both have a valid role.