When you’re starting a business, it’s a default action to try and do all the heavy lifting to get your ideas off the ground. Many entrepreneurs are often guilty of overburdening themselves with tasks they can hardly accomplish.
Aside from the stress and distraction that shifts your focus away from things that truly matter, there are some areas that, given your lack of expertise, could damage your business rather than benefit it.
A case in point is financial modelling. Financial models are a set of assumptions regarding the future financial conditions of a business, including its earnings, revenue, and cash flow, allowing them to reduce the risks and make better, informed decisions.
Hiring a financial modelling consultant provides you with access to their expertise, filling gaps in your own skill sets. In this article, we are discussing the reasons to bring in outside help.
The 5 Benefits of Hiring a Financial Modelling Consultant
Financial modelling consultants are hired to assist businesses with their budgeting, forecasting, capital raising, and other crucial business decisions such as mergers and acquisitions. Smaller businesses, particularly start-ups, usually outsource this service instead of hiring an in-house consultant. Regardless of the way you hire this professional, you can get access to their following skills:
Expertise
You may have a profitable business idea and the resources to get it started, but you may struggle to conduct market research and translate data to a comprehensive financial model and a succinct marketable plan. An expert consultant fills these functional gaps, helping you construct a model that provides immediate answers to things that may take a while to actually take place. This allows you to plan accordingly and make certain decisions.
Constant Monitoring
As you launch your business, your financial modelling consultant will also monitor the performance of your business—compare the actuals to the budget. This is a crucial factor that will allow you to make adjustments to realign your plans and ensure that you will complete a particular task or achieve a milestone at the end of the day.
Domain Experience
When venturing into new markets or launching a new product/service offering, you can benefit from seeking advice from a consultant who has experience in that particular domain. They can use their past consulting experience and familiarity to get the project done more efficiently by saving you from the need to conduct years of industry research.
Different Perspective
Because they are not engaged in your day-to-day operations, financial modelling consultants can analyse your situation with greater objectivity. It also makes them more apt to identify possible issues and opportunities. They’re also more likely to be updated with the latest solutions, thus are more versed in using them.
Time
Perhaps the greatest value of hiring a consultant is the fact that they are sharing a part of your burden. They will handle strategic responsibilities while you remain focused on the day-to-day operations that drive ongoing revenue and sustain your business operations. From an economic point of view, outsourcing this service is often more cost-effective than allocating resources to hire additional in-house staff to fulfil the need.
Aside from these direct benefits, hiring a consultant can provide other advantages. Because of their existing relationships with their clients, you can connect to an entirely new network of potential customers, investors, suppliers, and more.
If you have any more benefits to add to the list, let us know by leaving a comment below.
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A crippled economy leaves few financial options for anybody to explore, which is not too good for investors and businessfolk.
Obviously, the economy in the US has been less than stellar in recent times. In July 2020, CNN reported that the US economy experienced its worst drop on record, and the situation is hardly an enviable paradise today. There are some real issues deeply imbedded across the country now, and some of these problems may persist for a longer while yet.
Still, life needs to go on and find a way somehow. Keep reading for tips on mitigating the financial impact of a turbulent economy.
All Weather Investing Opportunities
While a turbulent economy can seem greatly restrictive, there are still opportunities for investing and success.
For example, the Ray Dalio All Weather Portfolio is an investing portfolio designed to thrive in all economic conditions. Optimized Portfolio provide an in-depth breakdown of everything it entails, detailing how it was modeled after the risk-parity-based All Weather Fund. With their insight, you should be able to keep your finances lucid in tough times as a low risk tolerant type of investor.
The All Weather Portfolio uses different types of asset classes that perform best during varying degrees of inflation and economic growth. Assets include 30% U.S. stocks, 40% long-term treasuries, 15% intermediate-term treasuries, and a combined total of 15% for gold and various other tangible, diversified commodities. In the end, the All Weather Portfolio possess more dependable realistic returns and less crippling downside volatility more conventional portfolios.
Intensive Audits
The amount of money coming in and out of your home or business needs to be acutely assessed regularly.
A turbulent economy is largely unpredictable, analyzed in ever-changing broad strokes. Still, that is no excuse for stumbling completely blindly through your finances. Audit yourself and try and gain a foothold on at least some insight. The chaotic economy may be hard to ascertain, but your own personal situation should not be as tough to understand.
Access help wherever possible too if you need it. Last year, states like Connecticut offered help to small businesses to help them manage their cashflow problems, so it might be that such or similar services are available for use in your area. If government support is lacking, it might be financial advisors or charities could step in to assist. It is important to remember that you are not alone, and that support is out there if you need it.
Impressive Credit Scores
Having a high credit score greatly boosts your chances of receiving financial help.
Applications for loans, grants, mortgages, and credit cards only really get approved if you have a proven track record of financial stability. Everyone takes a bit of a hit in a turbulent economy, but if you cannot show that you were responsible with your money before the nation was engulfed, then why should lenders think things will change when times are tougher?
Because of this, the best thing you can do is practice good financial behavior. Pay bills on time, square away your debts rhythmically, and keep your oldest credit cards open. That way, you are painting the picture of a reliable spender, and receiving financial help from official bodies becomes more likely.
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Starting a small business is a fun and exciting, but an overwhelming, task. It takes a lot of patience and practice to get the business right. From the get-go, you will encounter some mistakes or delays due to lack of understanding or not enough time. For those setting up a new business, one thing that will be on your mind is how to make a profit. In this guide, you will discover the best ways to ensure your small business can make a profit.
Ask For Help
Asking for help as a small business is key to ensure you do not do everything by yourself. You will need the advice to expand your knowledge and facilitate further development of your business. Without help, you may suffer a loss by not being able to meet customer needs or know how to market your business correctly.
There are several businesses out there that focus on helping small businesses accelerate and create revenue, such as Stephen Hourigan of Elevate Ventures. Asking for help and advice is not something to be ashamed of. There are experts out there whose job it is to offer support in order to help businesses secure a financial profit.
Make A Business Plan
Market research is the core of a business plan and a business plan is your best protection against business heartbreak.
Of the many reasons to work through a business plan, the main one is this; when you’re done, you’ll know whether or not your proposed business idea can be turned into a profitable small business. When you get your business idea right and know you can stick to the plan, you will more likely stick to targets and be on track for making a profit.
Track Your Finances Regularly
Once you have systems in place for tracking things like time, expenses, and earnings, you need to keep an eye on those things regularly. Analyzing any changes can help you determine what’s working for your business and what isn’t.
Finance tracking is a startup essential that shouldn’t be overlooked. Without accounting for your incomings and outgoings, you will not know how much your business has made or spent. You will also lose track of how much more you need to earn to make a profit.
Ensure You Offer Good Service
A small business can gain a lot from spending time serving customers and meeting their needs. No matter what type of product or service you offer, providing a great experience to customers should always be a top priority. Doing so can help you build repeat business and even gain referrals, which essentially serve as free marketing.
Do everything in your power to absolutely delight your customer. Going above and beyond to deliver an amazing customer experience increases the chance of repeat bookings, and might inspire your customer to recommend your business. These are both positive levers on the unit economic model of a business.
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Managing your small business finance is crucial to maintaining stability and growing your business over the long run. From setting a budget to regularly monitoring your books, you should be proactive when it comes to managing your finances. Here is everything you need to know about managing your small business’ finance.
If you want to ensure long term growth for your company, then managing your small business’ finances is a top prerogative. From paying your employees to purchasing supplies, cash flow management is crucial to business success. Small business owners often make mistakes that, such as not separating personal and business accounts, or not paying taxes in time. Some small business owners avoid taking loans, out of fear that they’ll only be an additional financial burden.
Many of these ideas affect sustainability as well as scalability for your business. Here are ten financial management tips that will help you grow your small business:
1. Keep Your Business and Personal Account Separate
As a small business owner, starting a business bank account should be your priority. There are several benefits you gain from a business account, such as incentives, interest rates etc. that are not made available to personal bank accounts. You also ensure that financial matters related to your business is conducted through your business account only – this includes business taxes, overhead costs and paying employees.
2. Pay Yourself
Small business owners also make the mistake of not paying themselves, thinking that the extra capital can help the business. However, despite being a business owner, you also need to take care of your own expenses. Remember that you are also an employee of your business, and that means that you should be paid accordingly.
3. Loans Can Help You
Don’t be afraid of business loans. Loans can help you scale your business. Not every business owner has the capital to purchase expensive equipment, or purchase surplus supplies during a time of high demand. A business loan can help you grow your business. When done right, the return on investment is more than enough to compensate your loan as well as the interest on that loan.
4. Maintain Good Credit
This means that you need to pay your credit card bills on time, pay off any loans by the time they are due, and file your taxes on time. Good credit can help you down the line when you need to get approval for business expansions. Say you want to purchase more property, or take out a business loan. In these situations, good credit can help you get what you need to grow your business.
5. Invest in Business Growth
Your small business might benefit from better equipment, more employees, or an additional store at a good location. Investing in such opportunities helps your business to grow. At the same time, partners, lenders and even employees are more likely to see you in a positive light. This is as they see that you understand the potential of your small business, and are willing to invest in its growth.
6. Create a Budget
A budget is the easiest way to ensure that you don’t spend more than you can afford to. Every business has three costs – one time costs, recurring costs and variable costs. One time costs include equipment purchases, property purchases etc. Recurring expenses are bills, taxes, payroll, overhead costs etc. Variable expenses can come out of anywhere – such as business travel costs. Keeping these in your budget prepares you against any business disruptions.
7. Monitor Your Books
Even if you have a bookkeeper, you should also be aware of your income and expenditure. Look at your books every month so that you’re aware of your business’ cash flow.
8. Negotiate With Vendors
If your small business purchases supplies from vendors, then don’t sign any contracts immediately. Negotiate with them and see if you can bring the cost down. Ask them about grace periods and penalties in case you’re late on payments. Ensure you’ve met multiple vendors so that you know you’re getting the best deal.
9. Inspire On-time Payments for Clients
Some clients and customers don’t pay on time. If this happens to your small business, then you could find that your cash flow is being affected. Introducing incentives in the form of discounts can help you mitigate these issues. Tell customers tat if they pay on-time, they can get a 5% discount, or else they have to pay the full amount. Introduce penalties for payments that are overdue past a grace period.
10. Think Ahead
Sustainable business growth depends on a long term strategy. You need to think ahead, invest in the future and continuously grow your business in order to succeed over the long run.
It is also important for your small business to have the best business insurance. To know more, click here.
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Many entrepreneurs become so invested in their struggle for success that they forget a crucial reality which is business failure. Startups tend to collapse, and only a minor portion of them manage to stay afloat after a few years. But business owners – thanks to their enthusiasm for innovation – ignore the fact that cash-flow can make or break a business. If your business encounters money problems, you’ll find yourself in a financial crunch. That’s when you need to make some tough decisions about your company’s commercial future for protecting your sinking business. Are you considering packing up due to monetary complications? Don’t! Just follow these simple checks and save your brainchild.
Cash-flow leaks you should fix
A failing business is every entrepreneur’s nightmare. Many business owners incline to surrender when faced with the possibility of a near-failure. Though some accept monetary impediments as another challenge to examine the effectiveness of their business strategy. These courageous individuals manage to anticipate when the next iceberg’s coming and save the Titanic with their careful calculations. How to become one of such individuals? Here are some simple tricks that’ll help you avoid sinking:
1. Review your finances
A quarterly review of your company’s cash flow can help you apprehend any financial threat in advance. It’ll also allow you to consider your income, net profit, and expenditures. Reviewing your expenses is probably the single most important technique that may prevent bankruptcy. Moreover, avoid reaching a decision impulsively. The intuition is unreliable; hence trust data-driven decision-making. Craft your budget carefully, and then faithfully stick to it.
2. Curb needless spending
Your marketing department is the lifeblood of the whole organization. Though spending money excessively on advertisements may lead to financial downfall. Failure to arrange promotional campaigns strategically is a money-leaking tactic. If you aren’t marketing to your niche, the money’s just going down the gutter! Also, don’t waste funds designing a custom website without premature marketing research. In short, there’s no need to spend on stuff your company doesn’t need.
3. Try online tools
Modern digital tools help business managers, freelancers, and even homeowners organize their finances effectively. It’s better to purchase cost-effective online accounting software with unlimited support and expert advice. It saves your time so you can focus on other important business matters. These tech tools also make communication and collaboration among colleagues easier. You can share documents and information to enhance productivity and diminish time-wastage.
4. Focus on what’s important
Building on the previous point, spend only on projects that are making your company profitable. When Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he discontinued the Project Newton that drained $100 million from the company. And that’s just one of the failed products canceled by him besides the Pippin and the Cube. On the other hand, your company must focus only on money-making products/services. Don’t try to bring innovation when the project lacks interest among your target audience.
5. Cut extra costs
Eliminating all discretionary expenditures must be your topmost priority. Reduce anything that seems unnecessary or mere wastage of an almost-bankrupt company’s funds. No more summer holidays or birthday parties! But that’s just an easy decision. The most challenging choice is laying off hardened employees. But, if there’s no alternative available, firing your folks can be a cruel but inevitable policy. Also, consider lowering costs on office supplies or shipping expenditures.
6. Prioritize what to pay
Your payment options vary according to their respective importance. That’s why it’s necessary to prioritize which payment must be issued first and which can be delayed. Pay the vital obligations first, not clearing, which can collapse your business. For instance, paying your employees’ salary is essential because you can’t afford their departure from the company. Paying your vendors and suppliers is your next priority. Similarly, paying taxes should be on the top of your list of expenses.
7. Reshape your fiscal plan
Rethinking your entire cash-flow management can help you avoid bankruptcy and find methods to enhance your productivity. How to perform this action? Try SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. It’ll provide you information required for strategic planning and identifying undisclosed holes you haven’t plugged in yet. You also discover marketable opportunities – internal/external – which you’ve failed to use for maximizing the company’s profitability.
8. Strengthen your networking
Networking shouldn’t be underestimated! It’s the life-support your company sometimes needs to survive obvious failure. Your connections come to your assistance and bail you out when the ship’s sinking. Your associates help enhance business awareness and finding better clients for your organization. Make friends not just with shareholders but also with your customers. Utilize promotional gifts (pens, purses, or air fresheners) to raise your company’s profile.
9. Your customers do matter
Receive utmost feedback from your customers. Their opinions are important, and you must continue creating products that solve their problems. That’s why you need to collect information from consumers and analyze this data to modify your services. Surveys are beneficial tools for gathering information. Focus on what your consumers want, not what you wish to sell. If your services don’t resonate with the customers’ requirements, you might lose these people to your competitor.
10. Safeguard your assets
Your assets might be your last hope when your company encountered unavoidable collapse. Protect these assets since these are the lifelines you might need to save a failing business. This stuff you own can generate cash flow in the future and improve your organization’s financial situation. For instance, you can sell the machinery owned by the company or rent office space temporarily. These assets can become your much-needed backup for the business.
11. Trust your team
Your employees are your most precious asset. But it’s your responsibility to ensure their correct utilization. Employees who’re working just for the paycheck might not be the right choice for your company. You need to connect with them and ascertain that they understand your business model. Your workers must be dedicated individuals who’ve committed themselves to success. Train them to become more efficient and listen to their recommendations to promote communication.
12. Cherish the risk
Entrepreneurship thrives on risks and challenges. Some business owners prefer playing it safe during a time of crisis. In reality, avoiding risks may diminish your productivity and tamper with your innovative essence. Making brave decisions is often the route to save your failing company. When Private White decided to release branded products, they faced the responsibility of handling inventory and marketing. But this decision ultimately contributed to their growth and popularity.
Conclusion
As an entrepreneur, you might’ve speculated the most dominant reason for business failure. Here’s what the experts agreed upon after a careful investigation. According to the U.S. Bank, 82% of small businesses collapse due to poor cash-flow mismanagement! No wonder there’s an 80% chance that your company’s toast after two decades of service. Moreover, startups crumple since around 80% of them begin with insufficient funds or haven’t created a well-established business strategy. In short, money problems can rupture your smooth-sailing vessel and leave you a veteran of financial bankruptcy. So, avoid financial losses and develop a fiscal awakening. Follow our suggestions and avoid failure.
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When you’re starting a business, it’s a default action to try and do all the heavy lifting to get your ideas off the ground. Many entrepreneurs are often guilty of overburdening themselves with tasks they can hardly accomplish.
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