This is a good point.

But do you think this is caused by a lack of tools or just a lack of time/managing capabilities by business owners?

Genuinely asking

I think it's caused by lack of knowledge, as you said, lack of managing capabilities, most of them doesn't know accounting, say reading a balance, cash flows, asn something worst, I've seen, that in retail where cash is abundant, some people do not understand that this money is not theirs, is borrowed money by the suppliers.

I’ve seen that too. A lot of people think that business is magic. Heck, plenty of publicly traded companies think that too!

Adding my experience as the owner of a small corporation, for me the struggle is _time_. We have taken the time to build things slowly and methodically; intentionally trading fast growth for building a foundation. In a way we’re intentionally operating in a manner that is anti-modern-startup.

No matter how lean our processes, despite the fact that most of our accounting processes are automated in an ERP, and having the benefit of formal college courses in corporate accounting, there are still manual tasks I have to perform _all throughout the business_ (and in finance) that I struggle to balance with other tasks.

One of the most practical things small businesses struggle with is human power. Hiring an employee is expensive, and for us, we’re in the middle ground where we don’t have enough work or income to justify bringing on someone else.

I refuse to sacrifice my work/life balance and I’d rather spend my career building a business that can pay off in the long run rather than next year. Lately I’ve needed to spend more on the “life” side so I have. That’s a luxury I have, which I acknowledge. Not all have that.