Joseph's "Just My Thoughts"

Let’s think about it this way. If you run a business and only make one transaction per day, chances are you won’t keep a record of those transactions because you can remember them. However, if there are hundreds of transactions in a year, or even in a single day, will you be able to remember all those transactions? A business makes a profit , but do you know how much you have earned or how much you’ve lost? After all, if we don’t keep the books, we can’t know the profit or loss. Those book records are called financial statements ( balance sheets ). You can do business without reading and understanding financial statements, but you’re just doing the hard-working, foolish thing without knowing the real content of the business. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Founded in 1991, the American craft beer company, New Belgium Brewing Company, is unique because its employees hold all the shares. Since 1996, the founding couples have distributed 10% of their shares to employees annually as incentives, and they have now completely transformed the company into an employee-owned entity. Currently, the founders hold no shares in the company. Furthermore, all employees receive financial training to enhance their management mindset. Training in financial statements, which includes everyone from minor clerks to executives, is standard practice for the company. Running a company without the ability to read financial statements is like signing a contract without understanding the terms. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”