Week 10 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

The biggest surprised to me was how much detail goes into preparing and maintaining financial statements. There are so many considerations to take and it seems like it can mean trouble for an unprepared entrepreneur.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

The global currency trading seemed brief and did not explain much, although I think it is an important consideration in today’s global world. It would have been nice for the author to go into more detail, especially since involvement with global currency can usually mitigate risk, even at a small, start-up level.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

Do you think it would be better just to hire an accountant to handle all of the finances? I understand it is good to “know” the finances, but hiring a reputable accountant in the beginning seems to be setting a good foundation and will alleviate much stress on the entrepreneur while they focus on building the business instead of running the business.

Should collections be outsourced for non-paying clients? Once you cut ties with the client, at what point does it make sense to sell the bad debt to a collection agency? At least the entrepreneur can collect on some of the debt which may have already been written off as a complete loss, and not have to worry too much about pursuing it, as the collection agency would do it as part of their process.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

I didn’t really disagree with anything the author wrote, simply because it was a chapter on financial formulas. I don’t think there is much room to disagree with on something so definite.