I was reviewing quarterly reports with a client recently and they couldn’t figure out why their cash was so tight despite growing revenue. When we dug in, we found they’d made three major decisions in 90 days — hired two people, expanded into a new product line, and increased ad spend — without forecasting the cash impact of any of them.

Before you make a major decision, run the numbers. Forecast what it’ll do to your revenue, profit, operations, and cash flow. Make sure you can actually afford the decision you’re about to make. Gut feel has its place — but not when it comes to decisions that affect your cash position.