Let’s begin with a few thought provoking questions about what business is and what it is, or is not… What is the essence of business? How do you boil it down to what is most fundamental? Is it your product or service, your people, your profitability, your services to the community? Yes, these are all aspects of a business, but there are four basic elements that every business can be divided into—property, contracts, cash and behavior (people). Since the last group, people, manage the first three, it seems essential that everyone at a company understands the relationship of the other three areas. Furthermore, people must understand how these areas are affected by individual and collective decisions. How many people at your company can accurately describe these relationships? Property, contracts, and cash each has a story to tell about a business; each has a primary financial document that conveys the story; you just have to know how to read it…

Read full article