"I remember a friend once told me in his first year of accounting, on his first day, the lecturer asked the class:
"What does 1 + 1 equal?". First student said "2". Wrong. Next student sheepishly suggested "4" who was also told he was wrong. Turns out the answer (for this degree) was, "What do you want it to be?".
Sorry to labour the point, but I think this point is worth emphasising, particularly with the garbage coming from this company. The numbers the company provides you with is not something to ever be taken at face value. You need to interrogate:
- the basis for those numbers
- what other numbers you need to make sense of it (e.g. what use is revenue growth if the company is loss leading and hidden a bunch of expenses and liabilities somewhere else with the help of creative accounting? What did it cost the company to get that revenue growth and can it be sustained in the years to come? Can competitors with much deeper pockets respond?)
- how do those numbers relate to reality - the actual business? e.g. If someone is telling you they can sell do something at a much cheaper, more efficient price than well established companies many many many many times its size... your bullshyt detector should be screaming loud and clear.
By the way, if you ever email the company with a bunch of questions, questions you should expect straightforward answers to but their responses is not to give you anything in writing and would prefer a meeting... well, be careful.
