Know your numbers - I know it’s bad, I don’t want to look - what next?

You know you should figure out how to “know your numbers”, but you know it’s bad, and you don’t want to look…

Ever been there?

I’d bet most contractors have been there at some point in their journey.

If you feel this way now, you’re not weird, messed up, or alone.

It’s common!

We all deal with it or have dealt with it.

You know how it is…

When you know your bank account is running low, for whatever reason, you swipe that card and hold your breath, and breathe a sigh of relief when it goes through.

I’ve been there myself.

Why not just open your banking app and check the balance first?

I don’t know.

Human nature I guess…

It’s easier to avoid the reality, ignore it, pretend it doesn’t exist.

….Just put our nose to the grindstone and work harder…

But unfortunately, that strategy doesn’t work.

You know the saying – the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.

You can’t outwork not knowing your numbers.

I’m out here at the LinQ Academy training event in Bend Oregon right now, working with a couple dozen contractors who are learning how to install outdoor living projects.

I’m here to share and teach, and make sure they also make money doing it.

And that’s what inspired me to write on this topic today.

I had a conversation with a contractor from California, and he sought me out, came up to me, and said “I don’t know my numbers. I know I don’t. How can you help?”

He also shared that he’s paying himself $0, is barely surviving cashflow wise, and is at the point where he’s either going to have to figure this out, or shut down.

He said this in a group setting, and as he was saying this, a few others in the group chimed in and said they are in the exact same boat.

Figure it out or shut down.

This is what kills me.

And here’s why:

Solving the “how to know your numbers” problem is actually really simple.

It can be done in an hour.

It’s nothing more than sitting down and plugging some numbers in and letting the budgeting tool in SynkedUP do the math.

But for whatever reason, the same thing that prevents us from checking our bank account balance before we swipe that card, is the same thing that prevents us from just ripping off the band aid and just doing it.

We make it up to be way more than it is.

We get overwhelmed.

We think we don’t know how, not sure what the first step is, on and on.

Human nature…

I’m here to tell you, it’s not hard.

It can be done in an hour.

It’s a simple process.

The kicker is the human element.

We fear what we don’t know.

It’s easier to keep doing what you’ve always done, even if that thing is broken.

Do you have the courage to lean in and do something you’ve never done before?

Smash through the imposter syndrome and just do it.

Do you have the discipline to not ignore the problem and go take care of that persistent toothache.

So, back to that group conversation, I decided impromptu to prove it to these hard-working craftsmen, you can do it!

We went back to the hotel lobby, and pulled up the contractor from California’s new SynkedUP account, and we built his budget live, in front of the whole room, so they could see exactly how it works, how it all comes together, and how easy it is.

I even went live on our Instagram account and streamed the whole thing.

When we finally got to the last step in building his budget, and flipped over to the ‘Overview’ tab to see what his final numbers were, he literally got emotional.

The relief of finally just knowing the truth was washing over him.

No more second guessing his pricing.

Now knowing exactly what his breakeven is on every job, which provides the confidence to walk away from the bad jobs where you make no money.

I’m telling you… you can have this too.

It is not going to bite you.

Schedule a free budgeting and know your numbers consultation with one of our incredible SynkedUP team members for free right here.

They’ll do the exact same thing for you on a zoom call as I did for our brother from California.

We’re here for you my friend.

This is why we built SynkedUP.

We’re on a mission to eradicate this entrepreneurial poverty from our industry of hard-working contractors that take pride in their work.

Join us on this mission.

Weston Zimmerman

SynkedUP co-founder and CEO