Whilst much uncertainty still remains after the craziness of 2020, our Chairman Colin Mills talks about his process on how to significantly grow your business.
“The best advice I ever received for ‘doubling’ the size of our business, was to list down the Top 20 things we could do to increase the revenue by 10 times. You can then identify the Top 3 activities to concentrate on for the following year” says Colin.
A client recently said to me: “I want to grow our business and stop the cash burn – how do we do this? When is it the right time to invest and grow?”
What a tough question to answer. Each business is at a different stage.
We spent a day examining his business and determining what the growing pains were. He had started the business a few years ago and it grew from scratch to R15 million turnover last financial year.
Many people think that risk management is only for large corporations. This is not correct! Risk management is a NECESSITY FOR EVERY BUSINESS. The hard part is to properly align risk management processes to each unique individual organisation.
The world is undeniably riskier. Change was increasingly ever more rapidly, and this is accelerated by COVID. Increasing digitisation of business processes will inevitably increase cybersecurity risk. The world is still highly connected, and McKinsey estimate that supply chain shocks will reduce profits by 42% of annual EBITDA profits every 10 years.
A business is often a significant asset in an Entrepreneur’s life, and its value can be the culmination of a life’s work. For this reason, when considering selling your business, planning your future exit strategy, bringing on board a strategic partner/investor, or even raising finance it is essential to have a realistic understanding of your business’s value to make the deal work optimally. This is best achieved through getting an independent valuation.
The downside to getting your valuation wrong is underselling your business or more likely,
There can be no doubt the Covid 19 pandemic has led to unprecedented change for most businesses. Revenue levels have plunged for some firms while others are experiencing unexpected increases in new customers and unforecasted demand levels. Supply Chains have been disrupted. Optimising employee productivity and satisfaction have become more art than science. Short-term cash availability and longer term capital requirements are highly uncertain. Even the most confident experts are reluctant to make a call on the economic climate we are likely to experience a year from now or even six months from now.
I bet you noticed a renewed surge of South Africans looking to emigrate, just as Covid hit. It was early 2020. In response, the hashtag #Iamstaying started trending but it would be another five months before Jarette Petzer saw the need to change the slogan and start the Move1Million movement. As it happened #everyonewasstaying, whether they wanted to or not.
It’s ironic then, that with all the disruption and loss caused by the virus,
The quicker you want your company to achieve its goals, the sooner you should consider hiring a part-time FD or CFO.
That’s because a part-time FD or CFO will provide your company with the high-level financial expertise necessary to scale up (things you and your team may not even be aware you need), for a fraction of the cost of a full-time FD/CFO.
Hiring a part-time FD or CFO provides your company with many advantages that really help it to grow and stand out in any marketplace.
As you emerge from the ‘government life support’ phase of this COVID crisis and look to plan your future in an uncertain world, preparation is essential.
As we attempt to return to business as usual during what some commentators are forecasting to be the worst economic collapse in our lifetimes, businesses will need a clear strategy to help them emerge into what will, for many, be a very different landscape.
South African SMEs with a turnovers’ between R25Mil – R500Mil will be crucial in driving an “economic renaissance” and helping South African Entrepreneurs move forward with renewed vigor and resilience.
Recently, I read a thought provoking article from a few years back, highlighting a key message for entrepreneurs and CEOs – Why organizations need a good CFO for their business? Especially now during these trying times, a CFO provides sound stewardship and guidance, helping restructure to create sustainable financial viability and long term success for business.
Critical to success, the CFO needs to understand the core business model, economic drivers and cashflow cycle.
As part of the lockdown implemented by our government in March, they announced the Covid-19 Loan Guarantee Scheme amounting to R200bn. The Scheme was to be managed by the commercial banks on behalf of the government. The initial take-up of the scheme was poor, commercial banks only advanced R12bn of the allotted R200bn. Government acknowledged that some of the conditions applied were too restrictive and loosened some of the criteria during July 2020.
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