The Profit Builder Unscripted

Stop Avoiding Your Numbers—It’s Easier Than You Think!

• Vicki Suiter • Episode 25

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Do financial reports leave you confused or make you want to avoid them altogether?

You’re not alone.

Many business owners feel the same, but here’s the good news: understanding your numbers is a skill you can learn, one small step at a time.

Take Aaron, a contractor who went from avoiding his numbers to using them confidently to grow his business. By consistently reviewing and asking questions, he turned his uncertainty into clarity—even when the numbers weren’t perfect.

Think of learning your numbers like building muscle—it takes practice but leads to real strength.

To help you start, I’ve included links to videos and a simple guide to walk you through the process.

The challenge? Take one small step today. Listen (or watch) now, then click the links, and discover how knowing your numbers can transform your business.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
 
How to Read Your Financial Reports:  How to Read a Profit & Loss 

Financial Benchmarks Worksheet:  How To Read Financial Statements

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Connect with Vicki on social media:


If you love listening to this podcast, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts.


welcome back to the profit builder unscripted in today's episode we're talking about how do you start to have a better relationship with your numbers and more importantly how do you be willing to be a beginner and a Learner in order to get more clarity and confidence so that you can take more powerful actions to get to where you want to go all right let's jump in[Music] I run a peer group called the contractors Collective and last month we had our two-day event together and one of the things that I asked the members to bring was their financial results for the last couple of years so last two years and then and then through uh through the previous month and when when I started asking people about what they noticed about the numbers or how did they feel about them the resounding feedback I got was that they were not particularly comfortable looking at their numbers or um you know they didn't have uh you know I asked about budgeting and they didn't really have a budget or a plan and and a lot of kind of the answer I got was well I'm not sure how to do that or I don't know how to do that or I don't need I don't know how to what to look at in my financial reports and you know I I took a deep breath and I thought what is the most useful thing that I can say to people about this because for me I see how it's such a critical and important part of running your business is having a relationship with your results you know even this morning talking to a client about what's the most what is the most important and useful part of our work together for you and it's somebody that I've worked with for quite a long time and he said it's looking at the numbers it's being able to see where I've been where I am and where I'm headed like just like it said it moves me from a place of being uh so uh in angst where I'm headed and as soon as I look at the numbers and we sit down and we talk about them he goes I always have more peace of mind even if I don't like what the numbers say he said at least I know where I stand and I know what I need to do like it it gives me an idea of where the Gap is and how much I have to sell additionally or I have to do to improve my gross profit margin or cut down my overhead expenses or whatever he said but it just like being able to see the numbers gives me more peace of mind and you know I got to thinking what is the you know it's not I like he doesn't he didn't he didn't just learn one day how to look at numbers and then it all of a sudden just became clear to him you know he said where I started out 15 years ago he goes I just never even looked at him I never knew to even pay attention to them or I was intimidated by them and he said it's just been a practice of learning and it got me thinking about a story for myself about this whole thing about when are we willing to be a beginner and a learner and are we willing to make mistakes because that's the thing a lot of times our greatest learning comes from our greatest mistakes or that like to be willing to put in the effort to keep learning when we make mist mes or when we don't know or to be able to move through that discomfort of not knowing and I think a lot of times people get intimidated by numbers when the truth is it's just a practice um so so I about seven years ago um my husband uh his family owns a farm where they grow wheat and I knew it was my father-in-law's last year for uh harvesting wheat and I was like I'm going to get some of the wheat and I think I'm going to do starter so starter bread so you make it with instead of using yeast to make bread you do starter bread you make it out of that so I ground up the wheat it was a very industrious project but I ground up the wheat and so on and I was like I wanted to preserve that that history I had Now understand I had never actually I think I may be made bread once up until that point and starter bread is particularly timec consuming and challenging to make but I was committed and I started looking up all these recipes on the internet I started buying books and I took classes and I got to tell you I made more horrible loaves of bread for years before I learned how to make bread but I kept like what I I I would keep at it I would keep making bread I would like it would be really dense or it wouldn't rise or it didn't have holes or it had too many holes or it exploded in my oven or like you name it bread making mistakes I made them all and here's the thing though is that every time I made a mistake I was like oh like I don't understand that what made that happen like why did that happen and then I would do a little bit more research and I would find out oh you did this you had too much water you didn't have enough water you didn't let it rise long enough whatever it was I needed it too long or what have you but I kept I made mistakes and as I didn't understand what caused that mistake to happen I started to learn more and more it wasn't until about a year and a half ago so five and a half years in of making bread it wasn't until then that I looked up one day and I turned to my husband Tim and I said I'm a good bread Baker I can make a decent loaf of bread it was a long journey now the thing you know why am I sharing this story with you is because we don't wake up one day being an expert in something you know people people say to me like how do you know so much about numbers and finance I'm like hey I have made every possible mistake when it comes to bookkeeping and accounting that you could ever make in my early career um I've made horrible mistakes the thing was that I learned from them and not like you want to make mistakes in your financial data but and but the point is is like we have to start at some point being a beginner and being a learner and the more you are willing you know like this whole thing about numbers if you're somebody who's intimidated by your numbers if you don't have your know your numbers if you don't like look at your financial reports because you're not sure what they say first of all I'm going to tell you I'm going to give you a couple links below for videos that will explain to you how to read your numbers and it will also give you uh there's a sheet that I'm going to include that includes how to look at like what benchmarks how do what like how do you make meaning of the numbers so I'm going to I'm going to give you links below to help you do that if you're somebody who doesn't know how to or doesn't feel comfortable with looking at your profit and loss or your balance sheet but I just I've seen that you know when you're willing to do this in your business when you're willing to learn when you're willing to invest as as Aaron did in learning and in in looking and reviewing and looking and reviewing the more you do that you build muscle memory right I kept making bread and I kept learning every time I Made bread I learned more and more until it became second nature I don't look at a recipe anymore I had to look at every detail of a recipe for for a long long time so you might have to look at that sheet for a really long time that says look at this look at this notice that you might listen to that video dozens of times in order to help you get more comfortable with it but I'm telling you you know having a relationship with your numbers can be a GameChanger in being able to build a more profitable business because when you can see the numbers and you can start to interpret them now you can start to go and you're going to find out by the way it's there's just a handful of really key things that you're looking at on those reports that when you can start to like narrow down all right what do I need to improve on is it we a lot of times we pay attention to the revenue number but is it gross profit margin and then I talk about like some of the ways to make a difference in that and how to improve that um and uh you know it's kind of a big the whole what's a good set of numbers to have for your business depends on you depends on your business but there are some industry standards so look at the Benchmark uh information that I share with you but anyway the the point is not to drive you to go watch videos although I encourage you to watch them and to look at this document I'm sharing with you below but more importantly that be willing to be a learner be willing to be a beginner be okay with not knowing be okay with I'm not sure and asking questions um be okay with spending the time investing the time because the more time you spend with it it the more comfortable you will get with it just like Aaron like the more he over the years has looked at his numbers month and and month out and I can say this is true for everybody that I work with the more you look at your numbers the more comfortable you get with them the more confidence you will build and the more confidence you know it first of all it gives you that Clarity and the more clarity you have the more confidence you have and the more confidence you have the more powerful actions that you can take and uh yeah and it's the way that you will start to be able to build a more profitable and successful contracting business all right I hope this has been helpful to you uh and feel free to reach out if you have questions make sure to download the stuff below make sure to follow or subscribe um if you uh have enjoyed or appreciated this content also feel free to share it and uh and if you have not checked out my book The Profit bleed how managing margin can say save your contracting business uh that is uh really a great resource to help you once you start looking at your numbers actually identify where are some places that you can start to make improvements in your numbers to increase your profitability all right thank you for being here today and I look forward to seeing you next time on the profit Builder unscripted

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Vicki Suiter

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