By Brad Giles
The question is not whether you can make your business bigger. The real question is whether you can make it better. Bigger might feel rewarding in the short term, but better is the only goal that compounds into freedom, wealth, and a life you actually want to live.
Revenue is rising. Your team is busier than ever. On paper, the business looks like it’s growing. But beneath the surface, something else is happening. Net profit dollars creep up only slightly, while profit margin percentage quietly shrinks. You’re working harder for less reward. That’s financial drift.
Drift is the silent killer of owner-led companies. It feels like you’re moving forward, but the gap between effort and return keeps widening. As well as financial drift, teams can drift toward toxicity, customers can drift toward indifference, and offerings can drift toward mediocrity. Complexity expands, stress builds, and the freedom you set out to create slips further away. For the owner, drift feels like endless nights staring at the numbers, wondering why the harder you push, the less freedom you have. Family time shrinks, stress climbs, and the business that was meant to give you choices quietly takes them away.
I’ve seen owners fall into drift because they rely on instinct, chase benchmarks, or spend reactively. One leader once told me they “should” be investing ten per cent of revenue into marketing. When I asked why, the answer was, “That’s what good companies do.” The problem? Their business was making no profit, had no budget, and no plan. They weren’t investing. They were guessing. And the results showed it.
The antidote to financial drift is financial discipline. Without structure, money leaks away. With it, every dollar has a job and momentum begins to compound. In my work with owner-led businesses, I’ve found there are ten clear levels of financial discipline. Each step builds on the last, with structure, clarity, and intent guiding the way.
1. There are no budgets or forecasting. All financial data is historical
This is financial survival mode. You’re flying blind, relying on instinct and past results with no forward view or structure.
2. There are quarterly and annual sales and profit targets
There’s a goal, but no data to back it. Targets are set, but often missed because no one owns the outcome or tracks the gap.
3. Income reporting is normalised at meetings
Reporting becomes routine, but impact is still inconsistent. The team sees the numbers, but they don’t yet drive behaviour.
4. Income budgets are consistently achieved
Now there’s some rigour. Budgeting is tied to reality, and performance begins to align with the plan. People are starting to take it seriously.
5. All financial decisions are made before the year begins
Budgeting isn’t just about tracking; it’s about intent. At this level, decisions are mapped before the year begins, and execution follows design, not emotion.
6. Budget variance is normalised in reports and meetings
Leaders are trained to see, understand, and respond to variance. There’s a culture of review, learning, and course correction.
7. Financial statements have a person assigned to each line item
Accountability is distributed. Everyone knows who owns what financially and responsibility becomes shared, not centralised.
8. One or two KPIs are reported on weekly for each role/person
The team is financially literate and focused. Every person knows what success looks like, and how their work, as outlined in their role scorecard, directly contributes to achieving those KPIs on a weekly basis.
9. There is an accurate 3-year cash-based rolling forecast.
Planning is long-range and dynamic. They don’t just plan for next quarter; they engineer the next three years.
10. All spending and revenue budgets are consistently achieved
This is the platform for freedom. When budgets perform like clockwork, leaders can focus on strategy, not survival and use profit as a resource, not a reward.
Each of these levels builds discipline intentionally, creating financial systems that support growth rather than undermine it. Financial drift is real, but it isn’t inevitable. With financial discipline, you can transform not just your business performance, but the role your business plays in your life. That’s why building better financials is more than accounting, it’s the foundation for the freedom every entrepreneur set out to find.
About the Author
Brad Giles is a leading leadership team coaches and the author of Bigger Isn’t Better, Better Is Better: Avoiding the pressure for endless growth to build a better business (and life). With 25 years’ experience as both an entrepreneur and coach, Brad helps leaders escape the growth-for-growth’s-sake trap and build enduring, great businesses.
