Financial Management: I Know My Numbers Now How Can I Effect Them

When I first started running stores I didn't know a thing about
Income Statements, P&L's or General Ledgers. I spent countless hours
convincing myself that if I worked hard, drove top line sales and
focused on customer satisfaction that it wouldn't matter how
Financial Illiterate I was. I believed blood, sweat and tears would
cure all my deficiencies. After years of long day's and nights,
missing my kids events and family activities; I had an epiphany.
There had to be a way to work smarter not just harder.

Through self-study I began to learn financial management. I studied
to be a true manager not just a hard working operator. I worked with
my mentor on a monthly and quarterly basis reviewing all my financial
statements. The first thing was to learn where to find all the data
and reports. We then analyzed the P&L Statement and General Ledger
line by line. Learning what each line meant and where the numbers
came from. I then learned how my day-to-day actions and decisions
affected the numbers both positively and negatively. After I knew
what the numbers meant and how I could affect them; I created action
plans to attack my opportunity areas. With a little knowledge and
focus I put my energy in the right places to drive my team to
success. The next step I taught my key leaders to analysis their
departmental numbers. Teaching Financial Management to yourself and
key leaders can be a gift to your dealerships bottom line and
longevity. It's never to late learn Financial Management.