Knowledge: The Off-Balance Sheet Asset  

Knowledge is the one intangible asset that makes a business unique.  Why? Because knowledge is the type of asset that no one else can duplicate. Your processes, procedures, and expertise make up who you are and what you do. They are in essence the “value add” differentiator that separates you from your competitors.

So, how do you begin to understand this intangible asset? Barron’s Dictionary of Accounting Terms begins to define an asset as “An economic resource that is expected to provide benefits to a business.” Does knowledge provide economic benefit? Absolutely! Think about a positive experience you’ve had as a customer. Did it involve knowledge in any way? Consider this example:

While calling customer support line, I was pleasantly surprised to find someone on my first call that actually could fix my problem. The representative knew just what questions to ask and was able to tell me what I needed to do.

How valuable was that knowledge asset? This positive customer experience could lead to additional sales, a better customer reputation, reduced future calls, etc. Tangible value from an intangible asset!

So what can you do to grow, protect, and enhance this asset across your organization? Three things:

1.    Capture it (Gather)

2.    Evaluate it (Analyze)

3.    Deliver it (Refine)

This edition of the newsletter covers the first: Capture. Evaluation and Delivery will be discussed in following editions.

Capture it (Gather)

Your company has knowledge: knowledge from your employees, partners, customers, and so forth. Write it down! Let’s play “what if” for a minute. What if something happened and all of your employees didn’t show up to work tomorrow. Or, what if your “go to” person took another job. What would happen? Is your company’s knowledge only inside your employees’ heads? Or is it documented somewhere allowing someone to pick it up, run with it, and your business not miss a beat?