There was a time when I was in college that I had a part time job tutoring math at the community college. I tutored everything from basic mathematics skills to calculus although calculus wasn’t my strongest subject to tutor. I have always been good at math since I was young, but it wasn’t until I got to college and met the most incredible professor I have ever known. His name was Omar, and he just had this special ability to make mathematics crystal clear. During my tutoring sessions, specifically the students who came to me seeking aide in the developmental math classes had this aversion to math. I can’t say that I didn’t understand. Even though for me, growing up, math was my best subject, in my entire life math was only presented fun a few times…for arguments sake, let’s say I could probably count the times it was presented fun on one hand… math was taught to us nearly every day we attended school all through grade school and then sometimes there was patterns to curriculum in middle school and high school, so you may not see it every day…but ultimately that is a lot of math that is rarely approached from any angle other than technical. I am aware that math is very technical and knowing how it functions is important. I am also aware that there are effective ways to approach as I have seen them in action.
Omar was an exceptional professor on so many levels. He put the students at ease when going through the developmental courses by letting them know he struggled all through high school but went on to get his Masters in Mathematics. “If I can do that, you can get through this course,” he said. He always had these fun stories of how formulas were created…when, where, why…under what circumstances was the mathematician when he discovered something new. It was really great because he made math more interactive and allowed a little history to be involved which made the material more relatable than just memorizing formulas…which to be honest is a truthful thing sometimes. Sometimes, you must just memorize, and it will piece together later.
I utilized many stories and tricks for memorization that Omar taught me in my tutoring as well as my own personal life. Even when you are killed at math implementing formulas can be tricky sometime and you forget little things; we all do.
I recall one day at the end of a College Algebra class, a student who was notorious for questioning everything and always took opportunities to express how this was all a waste of his precious time, decided to ask Omar, when will we ever use this… Omar, knowing who this student was and knew he would quickly shoot down any logical answer provide, simply stated, “the state of Texas requires this course for your particular degree; if you wish to get your degree, you will use this to pass this class.” ‘Nuff said.
Some people are so determined that they do not need math, or they are convinced of their lack of ability in this area, that they are closed off to the idea that they can indeed do math. It is a little-known fact and frequently argued concept that math is involved in all things we do. I live in Austin, Tx which is a very musical city to all of you who are unfamiliar… I know many musicians, several of which believe they are no good at math although they write music. I have had many discussions expressing that if they are writing music, they are using math even if they do not realize it.
The key for many of you out there building your business are growing as an entrepreneur is that math is so critically vital to a business owner. You must know the logistics of what you are building and be able to spout the numbers of your business off with little thought. You must be that involved in the development and growth of your business that you ‘KNOW’ those numbers… but knowing is much more than being able to recite them. Anyone can memorize numbers and list them off; you must be able to understand what they mean and how to apply them. You must know the ins and outs of your finances. The eb and flow of your cash flow is so vital to your success. There are so many people with incredible skills that fell short and their business crumbled because of lack of mathematics in their efforts. They trusted someone else to know or just believed that money was coming in so no need to analyze the details… this is so far from true. Money is coming and yes, your business may be growing, but do you know what your next step is? Do you know where it should be going from here. Maybe you have ideas but without proper analytics of your finances, you can’t make accurate decisions. This can make the difference between your success and your failure.
You need to understand your taxes and make sure you are keeping yourself protected and within the bounds of the law. You can, of course, hire an accountant to crunch the numbers for you especially as your company grows…that is a lot of time that ultimately shouldn’t be spent by you if you are needed elsewhere, but you need to understand how it works and be able to go over what they have done and know your money is in the right place and well attended to.
You need to be able to formulate a budget for maintaining your company as well as the growth of your business and the potential expansion into new business ventures. If you aren’t careful and managing your funds properly, new business ventures can destroy the viable business you already have. These are things you must know and understand.
This is a lot to take in and much of it will be gotten into later in more extensive details… Be sure to stay tuned.
Math is so critically vital and not at all scary. Do not allow math to be your downfall. Utilize it to the greater good of your future success. Math is your friend if you let it be.
beingcoreybayless 