Hey folks, welcome to my lunch table. This is the podcast where small business owners come together to feed their mind, fuel their leadership, and face the day with purpose. I'm your host, Simon Hague. I'm a business coach, resilience builder, and your partnering progress through this session today. So today we're diving into a subject that quite frankly is or should be. Front of mind for any small business owners, and this is about money, money and finance. We're not gonna be thinking about it in a slick spreadsheets and stock charts type of way, but I'm gonna be talking about some messy month to month reality that so many of us are living through. So here's the stat I want to kick off with though, and this is the thing that's inspired the podcast today according to the status of small business. Britain 2024 report over half of SMEs, that small, medium sized enterprises expect their reserves to last less than six months. So let's let that sink in. That means that most small businesses across the UK are just two bad quarters away from serious financial stress or even failure. Now if that panic hits close to home, I want you to know this. You're not alone, and there is a way outta panic into planning and greater confidence. So in this bite-sized episode, I'll walk you through three practical ways you can boost your financial clarity and start building long-term resilience without needing to become an accountant. So think of this very much as your financial reset. Think of this as your financial reset. So let's begin. First things first, we need to understand why cashflow clarity really matters, and what we're talking about today is not gonna be about financial perfection. This is about clarity. See, cash flow is like the lifeblood of your business. It's not just numbers, it's breathing room. It's confidence. It's the fuel for your next decision, whether that's hiring, investing or simply paying yourself properly. When that fuel runs low, when we are not watching income and out go with intention, we do what all stressed humans do. We react, we cut back, we delay, we guess, and those quick decisions often make us feel isolated and that isolation can spiral. But when we gain clarity, when we understand what's really going on with our cash, we shift from guessing to leading. So let me take you through three steps you can take this week to get that clarity and set foundations for the longer term financial health. So first is book a Cashflow Health Check with yourself. Now, don't worry, this is not going to be a detailed cashflow forecast analysis exercise, which you may do with your accountant quite frequently. And if you're not, then I'd suggest you maybe think about that. Here's a simple three question checklist that you can do today. So the first question is, what's your average monthly outgoing over the past 90 days? Second question, how much liquid cash, that's money available in your business bank account, or that you can liquidate quickly, do you have right now? And the first third question is straightforward. Divide your cash by your average monthly spend, and that's your runway. Okay? If that number is less than six, then you're not alone. You drop into this greater than 50%, but now you know. From there, ask, what costs can be trimmed without cutting value? Can you renegotiate terms with suppliers? Are there any large invoices that you're expecting, which haven't been paid yet? Can you accelerate any monies that you're gonna have paid to you? As they say, what's measured is managed, so if we can increase that number, then it means that our business is more sustainable in the long term. The second model to think about is how you can triple your visibility. Financial confidence doesn't come from just knowing your current position. It's about building habits which can make panic less likely. So here's another suggestion for you. Increased visibility with some simple routines. So every Monday, spend 10 minutes reviewing last week's income and where the cash went. In the midweek forecast, any known payments or income for the week ahead and at the end of the week, plan for the following week. What you already know is coming. What you already know is coming in. And going out. You don't need any fancy systems, A spreadsheet will do, but if you prefer tools, apps like Zero or SmartBooks, integrate Brilliant with your bank feeds and give you some really accurate, fast, up-to-date information. In fact, just seeing regular graphs and predictions can shift your mindset profoundly. The third area is seek external support either from an accountant or from a coach. One of the big lessons from the State of Small Business Britain report is this. Coaches can play a powerful after underrated role in helping leaders build their financial literacy so they can help plan behaviors and they can help look at long-term resilience. And this really cannot be overstated. A coach can translate numbers into strategy. They can help you stop avoiding those tricky decisions, or worse, ignoring the data altogether. I've had a client come to me feeling genuinely ashamed about their financial fog, but this just understanding and going through simple planning exercises helped them to understand where their runway is. What business they've got coming in over the next six months and where they need to be focusing their efforts to bring more business in. So the third area is really capitalizing on this thing about not asking for help being seen as a weakness because it's one of the most smart business moves that you can take. Now the third area is talking about the elephant in the room. That money talk feels hard. A lot of small business owners feel embarrassed. They feel lost or even ashamed about not knowing their numbers inside out. Listen, I get it. Okay. If you ask me what my EBITDA is right now, or if I understood what my profit is on my business right now, I'd have to dip into my systems to get that. I don't carry that in my mind, but I, I know where it is in my business. So you don't. Start your business to stare at balance sheets or profit and loss statements. But we need to think that understanding the profitability in our business is a leadership skill. Our financial confidence is a leadership skill. It's not just about knowing every nitty gritty account code or chart of accounts. Our financial clarity is about knowing your runway. Owning your decision and being more proactive, not reactive. So your team is looking to you for decisions your clients seek stability and your future self. Yeah, they'll thank you for building the foundations now. So the, the kicker here is you don't need to be a finance whiz, but you do need to feel the ownership of your business's financial health. So today's a perfect place to start. So let's recap three steps to shift from panic to planning. Step one, book a cashflow health check. Step two, triple your visibility. Step three, get some external support, either from a coach or from an accountant. Each of these actions moves you closer to clarity and clarity. That fuels confidence, doesn't it? So if you want to take this one step further, you can then start thinking about how you're going to utilize the money that's coming into your business. And one of the things I, I work with is developed something which Jim Rowan from the 1990s used, which was having pots, which I can put income into when the. Income comes into my business, that means I'm building up pots of money for various different projects, thereby reducing the need for credit arrangements later on, should I need to or leveraging credit in the best possible way I can. So here's the thing, okay? Take action. Take ownership on what is happening with your financial leadership of your business. And what you'll find is that your financial leadership of your business will then lead your business to a better place. I. If you want to take a quick cashflow guide download our free financial clarity checklist, you'll find it over at my lunch table.com/podcast/five and enjoy. So thank you for joining me around my lunch table today. Until next time, lead well. Live well and keep going. The world is a tough place right now. Yeah. But if you're doing it with a good understanding of what your financial measures are, you'll be in a best place to conquer what your future self is going to be thanking you for. Until next time, stay good.