No matter how savvy of a business owner or leader you are, not only will there always be the opportunity for a blind spot to exist, but there will always be one at every point in time. A business blind spot is basically the lack of knowledge or understanding of some aspect of the business. A blind spot can exist by way of a leader creating the blind spot for others who are involved in the business in some way. Financial blind spots can arise from a disconnect between the accounting and business decision making. As a tax advisor who also assists businesses with their bookkeeping, I get to experience instances where it is obvious that there is a blind spot.
In many cases I’ve found business owners and leaders have blind spots but never figure out that they exist. They also never realize that blind spots are something that they should be looking out for. As I have already stated, all leaders need to be aware of blind spots in their business. How do you find those blind spots? Let’s discuss some helpful information that will assist in realizing those blind spots and how to overcome them.
Blind Spots in Leadership
Going at it Alone
Business owners, no matter how great you are at whatever it is that you do, there will be reasons for you to solicit the help of others. Besides the fact that a business can become overwhelming with significant growth, it is also necessary to have diversity when it comes to brainstorming. It is good to surround yourself with other intelligent minds, especially those who you can learn from and have different experiences and perspectives than you do. Not having people like this around or available for you as a go-to, creates blind spots that can stunt business growth or even lead to the detriment of a business. It is impossible for one person to catch every aspect of a business. You will need others to give input on past, present, and future decisions you make and recognize holes in your business that you otherwise would have overlooked. Not having this kind of help equals a blind spot.
Lack of Communicated Vision
Many owners or leadership in businesses seem to believe that everyone involved fully understands the vision and direction in which the company is moving. The truth is in many instances this is not the case. The vision for a business must be communicated clearly and consistently to ensure that everyone understands and is on board. What if the team members do not have a clear view of where the company is headed? Let’s create a visual – it would be like having cars on a one-way street driving without headlights, a recipe for disaster or a blind spot.
Lack of Documented Processes
In the process of running a business and business growth, there will be some things that work out well for you and others that do not. The things that do work well must be documented internally so that there is never a need to re-invent a process that has already been established or perfected. Also, if you have employees that have great knowledge in various areas, if they ever move on, you will be missing a very important piece of your business if processes are not documented. The lack of documented processes can be one of the most painful blind spots in a business.
Lack of Focus on Lead Generation
The lack of focus on lead generation and lack of focus on prospective customers is a common blind spot for many businesses. Many business leaders focus heavily on the product or service of the company, and as it concerns sales, they focus on the closing aspect. If that is the case for you, there is a blind spot that exists. More focus needs to be on who your prospective clients are and how sales leads are being generated. This allows you to make the proper marketing efforts, and reach the target market that will increase your sales volume.
Lack of Attention to Changes is the Industry
Business industries have evolved throughout history and are doing so at a faster pace in modern times do to advances in technology. A blind spot that exists for many business leaders is the knowledge of what is going on in the world around them as it concerns their industry as a whole. Businesses leads must be aware of changes in their perspective business segments and be willing to adapt to those changes. In many cases leaders do not realize they need to evolve or will not commit to evolving until their business climate has reached a level of crisis, or even the point of competitors pushing them out of the market. To avoid these consequences, business leadership should always be on top of the forward moving changes happening with their industries.
Financial Blind Spots
Lack financial Understanding and Assistance
Having accurate financial statements is a great tool for businesses, but this is only true if you can draw conclusions from the data. There are many business owners who do not have a background in account or finance. This is not really a big problem unless you never get educated on what the financial statement data means, or you never make sure you have the proper help form someone with a finance or accounting background. You will need someone with proper knowledge to assist you with interpreting what the numbers mean. Not being able to interpret the data or not having someone do it for you can be a very costly blind spot for your business. See the following link for information and examples how financials can be used to evaluate your business. https://molentax.com/4-key-ratios-to-look-for-in-your-business/
Lack of good bookkeeping / Accounting
As I just previously discussed, accurate financial statements are a great tool for your business, if they can be interpreted. The first step in being able to use financial statements is having a good bookkeeper or accountant who will present you with valid data. If your company books are not properly kept up, you now have run into the foundation of financial blind spots. So, be sure that you have someone in place to have your bookkeeping kept up to standard. See the following link for more information on the benefits of good bookkeeping. https://molentax.com/bookkeeping-power-your-business-growth/
I have presented you with some very valuable information as it concerns business blind spots. While the mentioned blind spots are important, there are many other ways that blind spots can occur in your business. Here is a link that provides more information about some of the blind spots I have discussed and some others that were not discussed, https://www.inc.com/martin-zwilling/10-blind-spots-that-can-kill-your-growing-business.html. Hopefully, what was discussed here today will help you recognize your blind spots and helps to keep them at a minimum.
Molen and Associates can assist you with realizing blind spots via our needs analysis or financial analysis consultations. We can help you overcome those blind spots with a business consultation. If you have of these needs please do not hesitate to reach out and schedule an appointment with one of our advisors.
Arthur Harris
Tax Advisor, Accounting, EA