{"id":15692,"date":"2022-07-22T07:00:40","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T12:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/?p=15692"},"modified":"2022-09-12T17:39:04","modified_gmt":"2022-09-12T22:39:04","slug":"symptoms-vs-problemswhats-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/computer-systems\/symptoms-vs-problemswhats-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Symptoms vs. Problems: What&#8217;s the Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe can\u2019t print packing slips, but let\u2019s not worry about that now, just get that skid into the truck!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/part-time-cfo\/business-metrics\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bus<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">iness owner<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">s are constantly putting out fires. They know the underlying issues and understand that they haven\u2019t resolved them for a variety of reasons. Does any of the following sound familiar?<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere\u2019s no money to throw at the problem.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe don\u2019t have the knowledgeable staff to resolve the issue.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019ll take too much time to fix it. We need to keep the business moving.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOK, I really don\u2019t know HOW to resolve it. Just keep working.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, here\u2019s the question: <\/span><b>Are you trying to solve a symptom or the root of the problem?<\/b><\/p>\n<h2>Symptoms vs. Problems<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s easy to know whether you\u2019re facing a symptom or a problem when it\u2019s a personal matter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, when your nose runs, it\u2019s a symptom of your problem\u2014a cold. When you open your fridge and there\u2019s nothing inside, it\u2019s a symptom of your problem\u2014you haven\u2019t gone shopping.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But when your business is facing issues, how do you know if you need a piece of tissue or an antibiotic? The question is this, does the issue keep repeating itself?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s list a few business symptoms vs. problems.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22477 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Symptoms-vs.-Problems-1024x1024.png\" alt=\"Infographic Symptoms vs. Problems\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Symptoms-vs.-Problems-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Symptoms-vs.-Problems-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Symptoms-vs.-Problems-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Symptoms-vs.-Problems-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Symptoms-vs.-Problems-600x600.png 600w, https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Symptoms-vs.-Problems.png 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Final Word<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When an issue keeps repeating itself, that\u2019s a symptom. It keeps repeating because there\u2019s a problem that needs to be resolved. If you decide to ignore the symptom, you ARE paying a price <\/span><b>every time it occurs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The correct solution is to dive in and get the help you need to resolve the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your company will <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/part-time-cfo\/operational-efficiency\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">operate<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> more smoothly, and you will save money each time the problem doesn\u2019t repeat itself (not to say anything about your not having to deal with putting out that fire ever again!)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22478 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Symptoms-vs.-Problems-Whats-the-Difference-1-1-451x1024.png\" alt=\"Infographic for &quot;Symptoms vs. Problems: What's the Difference?&quot;\" width=\"451\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Symptoms-vs.-Problems-Whats-the-Difference-1-1-451x1024.png 451w, https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Symptoms-vs.-Problems-Whats-the-Difference-1-1-132x300.png 132w, https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Symptoms-vs.-Problems-Whats-the-Difference-1-1-768x1745.png 768w, https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Symptoms-vs.-Problems-Whats-the-Difference-1-1-676x1536.png 676w, https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Symptoms-vs.-Problems-Whats-the-Difference-1-1.png 880w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 451px) 100vw, 451px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read on to find out if your business is in need of a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cfosimplified.com\/cash-flow-forecast\/cfo-controller-whats-difference\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CFO or controller<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWe can\u2019t print packing slips, but let\u2019s not worry about that now, just get that skid into the truck!\u201d Business owners are constantly putting out fires. They know the underlying issues and understand that they haven\u2019t resolved them for a variety of reasons. Does any of the following sound familiar? \u201cThere\u2019s no money to throw [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,43,44,47],"tags":[12,1847,1872,2074],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Symptoms vs. Problems: What&#039;s the Difference? - CFO Simplified<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When a business issue keeps repeating itself, that\u2019s a symptom. 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