Les chiffres ont une importance capitale.

 

Notre univers mathématique est composé de chiffres.

 

Nous pouvons en voir certains, mais pas la plupart d’entre eux.

 

De la vitesse de la lumière à la courbe parabolique d’un coup franc en soccer, les mathématiques représentent les bases des lois de l’univers.

 

Nous pouvons également décomposer toute une vie à l’aide de chiffres.

 

En moyenne, l’être humain vit jusqu’à environ 80 ans, soit 28 385 jours.

 

Au cours de notre vie, la plupart d’entre nous allons passer 33 ans à dormir, c’est-à-dire 12 045 jours. Pour ceux qui appuient sur le bouton de rappel de sonnerie lorsque le réveil sonne le matin, ce chiffre pourrait même atteindre les 34 ans…

 

Vous êtes susceptible de passer environ 13 ans et 2 mois (4 821 jours) au travail, en espérant qu’il s’agisse d’une activité que vous aimez.

 

Puis, 11 ans et 4 mois (4 731 jours) devant un écran.

 

Cela ne laisse pas beaucoup de temps pour les choses qui importent réellement dans la vie…

 

Ce qui est incroyable, mais peut-être pas surprenant, est que passer du bon temps avec sa famille ne représente  qu’une partie infime de notre style de vie moderne. Cela correspond seulement à 38 minutes par semaine, ou encore 104 jours au cours d’une vie entière.

 

C’est là que l’on commence à réfléchir.

 

Pour ce qui est des relations sociales, le totalest un peu meilleur : 1 an et 3 jours. Mais encore une fois, on pourrait faire mieux, n’est-ce pas?

 

Il semble que dans les affaires, on se concentre en permanence sur les chiffres…

 

…Pistes, opportunités, ventes.

 

Croissance d’une année sur l’autre.

 

Flux de trésorerie, profit, estimation.

 

Mais à quelle fréquence plaçons-nous ces chiffres dans leur contexte?

 

Combien de fois nous demandons-nous « quel est le chiffre qui m’importe réellement? »

 

Lorsque l’on pose cette question à des entrepreneurs, ils ont souvent du mal à y répondre.

 

C’est une question inhabituelle qui modifie totalement notre façon de penser.

 

Un entrepreneur a répondu que le chiffre le plus important pour lui était le « 6 » car il représente le nombre de semaines qu’il passe à skier par an. Il a en effet conçu son entreprise de façon à avoir le style de vie qu’il a choisi.

 

Un autre entrepreneur a mentionné le nombre « 13 » pour les 13 millions de livres sterling correspondant au prix de vente de son entreprise, ce qui lui permettrait de  prendre rapidement sa retraite et de ne pas avoir à se soucier des questions financières à l’avenir.

 

Les chiffres qui apparaissent sur votre compte et votre bilan sont importants, mais à quand remonte la dernière fois où vous vous êtes posé la question : « quel est le chiffre qui m’importe réellement? »

 

Il s’agit d’une question primordiale qui modifie inévitablement la dynamique de votre entreprise et qui peut réorienter non seulement votre entreprise, mais aussi votre vie personnelle.

 

Si vous avez du mal à répondre à cette question, nous sommes là pour vous aider : www.cfocentre.com

 

 

Voir la vie à travers un objectif grand angle

L’un des défis les plus difficiles pour les propriétaires de PME est de pouvoir prendre du recul, regarder leur entreprise à travers un objectif grand angle, et évaluer ce qu’ils ont vraiment.

Bien souvent, les distractions et les diversions quotidiennes qui accompagnent inévitablement la gestion d’une entreprise à succès – surtout lors d’une pandémie qui déstabilise le monde entier – empêchent une évaluation objective et raisonnable, ainsi que la prise de décisions stratégiques. Essentiellement, cela peut vouloir dire que certaines opportunités très importantes de croissance et de développement se retrouvent, dans le meilleur des cas, inexploitées et, au pire, passent complètement inaperçues.

C’est là que le rôle du Chef de la direction financière devient indispensable. Et là aussi que les avantages spécifiques à l’utilisation d’un CFO à temps partiel (et souvent virtuel) deviennent évidents.

Permettez-vous de rêver…

Qu’est-ce que votre CFO fait pour vous, propriétaire de PME ? Il ou elle s’assurera sans doute que tout le monde reçoive le salaire adéquat au moment prévu; règlera vos rapports internes, la conformité et la planification fiscales, et s’occupera probablement de vos relations avec votre banque.

Bien que tout cela (accompagné de quelques autres petites choses ici ou là) soit probablement suffisant pour garder une entreprise en marche, cela ne constitue pas une plateforme sur laquelle baser une stratégie de croissance solide.

Bien entendu, les choses sont encore pires si vous n’avez pas de CFO dans votre équipe. Quels que soient vos activités et votre talent particulier, il est presque certain que vous ne vous êtes pas lancé(e) dans les affaires pour passer votre temps à faire des prévisions de flux de trésorerie ou pour vous occuper des impôts ! Le rêve n’existe pas pour vous – en fait, vous vous réveillez probablement à 3 heures du matin avec des sueurs froides.

Un CFO du Centre CFO peut vous aider à réaliser vos rêves

Lorsque vous avez lancé votre entreprise, vous vous êtes certainement permis(e) de rêver – tout entrepreneur à succès nécessite une bonne dose d’ambition. Mais, comme nous l’avons constaté trop souvent, ces aspirations s’enlisent dans les soucis quotidiens de maintenir une entreprise à flot.

L’équipe du Centre CFO fournit une expertise de CFO de très haut calibre – le meilleur talent sur le marché. Ce sont des gens qui connaissent leur métier – tout ce qui concerne les finances opérationnelles qui font tourner l’entreprise, et les finances stratégiques qui donnent vie au rêve.

Dans de nombreux cas, ils peuvent puiser dans leur propre réussite commerciale pour guider les autres.

Un CFO du Centre CFO vous aidera à décoder votre rêve et à le transformer en plan, et sera celui ou celle qui vous soutiendra pour le réaliser. Il ou elle vous dévoilera la cible en vous aidant à l’aborder sous un angle différent. Les grands CFO sont des agents catalyseurs et peuvent vous aider à rompre le schéma de croissance linéaire, et à obtenir ainsi ce que vous désirez vraiment de façon plus rapide. Et ça, c’est essentiel pour que votre rêve puisse encore devenir réalité.

Le parcours de l’entrepreneur » du Centre CFO : notre « sauce secrète

Tous les CFO du Centre CFO opèrent dans un environnement qui fournit une expertise et un soutien complets. The CFO Centre possède un réseau mondial – un moteur d’intelligence collective – de plus de 700 individus, dont chacun a connu la réussite en tant que CFO, et souvent en tant que directeur général eux-mêmes. De plus, eux seuls sont en mesure d’accéder au potentiel illimité que votre modèle d’entreprise renferme, et de le déployer. Et ils se parlent entre eux, partage leur expertise, leurs expériences, et leurs contacts.

En bref, un CFO du Centre CFO guidera l’entrepreneur lors d’un parcours en trois étapes afin de l’éclairer sur ce qu’il désire vraiment pour son entreprise. Pour l’emmener d’où il est maintenant vers là où il veut être.

Et pour être plus précis : « là où il veut être » est le choix individuel de l’entrepreneur. Cela pourrait impliquer de se développer de façon significative; cela pourrait vouloir dire de lancer de nouveaux produits sur de nouveaux marchés à l’échelle mondiale; ou peut-être d’accélérer la cadence pour préparer votre sortie. Quelle que soit la manière de procéder, ce qui importe est invariablement de faire de ce rêve une réalité en refaçonnant le plan et en s’assurant de sa mise en pratique.

La première étape du parcours concerne le processus pour atteindre l’excellence opérationnelle. En d’autres mots, permettre à une organisation de faire ce qu’elle fait le mieux, de la meilleure façon possible.

La deuxième étape, l’opportunité stratégique, concerne la préparation du tremplin. C’est à cette étape que se forge la stratégie pour atteindre ces rêves. Il s’agit peut-être d’accéder à de nouveaux marchés; en évaluant les risques, en obtenant de nouveaux financements. Peu importe la stratégie, elle se base sur une expérience solide et, oui, sur cette « sauce secrète » qui marie la logique à un peu de magie et beaucoup de savoir-faire.

La troisième étape, la performance qui change la donne, est simplement ce qui se produit lorsque les étapes un et deux sont complétées.

Le rêve se réalise en développant une feuille de route concise, basée sur ce que l’entrepreneur veut accomplir. Le rôle du CFO du Centre CFO est d’identifier et de débloquer ce potentiel – délivrant ainsi le rêve et le transformant en réalité.

Voler comme un oiseau

Bien entendu, cela ne suggère pas que la réussite vient facilement. Les défis auxquels les entreprises font face sont souvent compliqués et risqués. C’est une des raisons pour lesquelles le potentiel n’est pas toujours exploité; et pour lesquelles de nombreux entrepreneurs finissent par travailler de longues heures sur des tâches banales.

Par conséquent, l’une des premières conversations qu’un CFO du Centre CFO aura avec un client, servira à comprendre ce qui l’a motivé à créer une entreprise, et ce qu’il veut réaliser. Ce qui est vraiment important à ses yeux. Il y a des chiffres, beaucoup de chiffres, dans la vie d’un CFO, mais l’essentiel, c’est l’identification et la compréhension des chiffres qui importent vraiment dans la vie du client.

Un CFO du Centre CFO vise à débloquer ce potentiel et à donner des ailes au rêve.

Scaling your business depends on two factors: your company’s capability and its capacity to deal with growth.

To scale up your business, your company must be capable of dealing with a growing amount of work or sales and of doing it cost-effectively.

You need to know that your company can achieve exponential growth without costs rising as a result. It’s vital too, that performance doesn’t suffer as your company scales up.

You also need to be sure that your business systems, employees, and infrastructure can accommodate growth. For instance, if you get a sudden surge in orders, will your company be able to cope? Will you be still able to manufacture and deliver products or services on time? Do you have enough employees to deal with a surge in work or sales?

Scaling a business requires careful planning and some funding. To be successful, you’ll need to have the right systems, processes, technology, staff, finance, and even partners in place.

Identify process gaps

Audit your business processes (core processes, support processes, and management processes) to find their strengths and weaknesses. Find the process gaps and address them before you start to scale up.

Keep the processes simple and straightforward. Complex processes slow things down and hinder progress.

Boost sales

Decide what your company needs to do to increase sales. How many new customers will you need to meet your scaled-up goals?

Create a sales growth forecast that details the number of new clients you need, the orders, and the revenue you want to generate.

Examine your existing sales structure and decide if it can generate more sales. Can you increase your flow of leads? Do you need to offer different products or services? Is there an untapped market? Do you have a marketing system to track and manage leads? Is your sales team capable of following up and closing more leads?

Make sure you have enough staff to cope with an increase in sales. If you don’t have enough staff, consider hiring new employees, outsourcing tasks, or finding partners that may be able to handle functions more efficiently than your company.

Forecast costs

Once you’ve done the sales growth forecast, create an expense forecast that includes the new technology, employees, infrastructure and systems you’ll need to be able to handle the new sales orders. The more detailed your cost estimates, the more realistic your plan will be.

Get funding

If you need to hire more staff, install new technology, add facilities or equipment, and create new reporting systems, you’ll need funds. Consider how you will fund the company’s growth.

Make delighting customers a priority

To reach your sales forecasts, your company will need loyal customers. You’ll win their loyalty by delivering outstanding products or services and customer service every time you interact with them.

Invest in technology

Invest in technology that will automate tasks. Automation will bring costs down and make production more efficient.

Ensure that your systems are integrated and work smoothly together.

Ask for help

Don’t be afraid to ask for help from experts who have experience in scaling up companies. In an interview, Apple’s co-founder, Steve Jobs, said, “I’ve never found anybody who didn’t want to help me when I’ve asked them for help.

“I’ve never found anyone who’s said no or hung up the phone when I called – I just asked.

“Most people never pick up the phone and call; most people never ask. And that’s what separates, sometimes, the people that do things from the people that just dream about them. You gotta act. And you’ve gotta be willing to fail; you gotta be ready to crash and burn, with people on the phone, with starting a company, with whatever. If you’re afraid of failing, you won’t get very far.”

Find out more.

Cash flow problems put your company at risk.

Unless your company manages cash flow effectively and uses regular cash flow forecasts, your company is in jeopardy. Cash flow shortfalls mean:

• You can’t pay suppliers on time
• You can’t make debt repayments on time or at all
• You can’t buy new inventory to meet customer demand
• You can’t pay staff wages
• You can’t compete for new contracts
• You can’t advertise to attract new clients
• You can’t hire new staff.

This will have a knock-on effect on your company’s profits, market share, and brand reputation. It could even result in your company going into liquidation.

One US bank study found that 82% of business failures are due to poor cash management.

How to Fix Your Cash Flow Shortfalls

Fortunately, most cash flow problems can be resolved with help from the right people. They will help you to identify the causes of cash flow problems in your business and advise the best way to fix them.

Causes of Cash Flow Problems

Conditions that can impact your cash flow include:

• A fall in sales or a decline in gross profit margins. This could be a result of changing economic conditions (such as the most recent global financial crisis), increased competition, or a drop in demand for your product or service.
• An unprofitable business model
• Using a negative cash flow business model. You offer customers or clients credit terms of anywhere from 30 days to 90 days (or longer).
• Having excessive debt
• Having inadequate stock or credit and debtor management.

Your cash flow problems can be due to any of the following:

Late paying customers When a customer doesn’t pay on time, your business can experience cash shortfalls.

Poor debt collection processes Not issuing or chasing up invoices in a timely fashion can result in reduced cash flow.

Low prices If your prices are too low, but your expenses are rising, your company is almost certain to experience cash flow problems.

Low sales Too often business owners try to resolve poor sales by looking for new clients. But this incurs more costs in areas like advertising and marketing to attract those new clients.

Too generous payment terms Allowing customers to pay in arrears for goods or services received is a bit like giving those companies short-term, interest-free unsecured loans.

Overtrading Rapid growth means your company will have to invest in more stock, equipment, or hiring staff to meet demand. If you don’t have sufficient working capital, the company will experience cash flow problems.

Too much stock Every dollar or pound you have in inventory is a dollar or pound you don’t have in cash.

Too much debt If you’re overleveraged (when you’ve borrowed too much and can’t pay interest payments or principal repayments or meet operating expenses), you’re likely to experience cash flow problems.

Cash Management

Cash is vital to your business. Without it, your business won’t be able to pay suppliers and creditors and to meet its payroll obligations.

Finding and fixing the cause of your cash flow problems in your business and putting systems in place to manage cash effectively is vital for your company’s survival.

In our free “Cash Flow” report, you’ll discover how to identify cash flow challenges and fix them. You’ll also see how the FD Centre experts help business owners like you to manage cash flow now and in the future.

Find out more.

Plan Your Perfect Exit Strategy

Selling your business to the right buyer for the right price at the right time depends on the health of your business, having the right advisors, and your timing.

Get these factors right, and you can sell your business quickly.

Before putting your business up for sale, you’ll need to clarify:

• Why you want to sell the company and what you hope to achieve.
• Your ideal buyers and what their plans for the business would be.
• Your goals for the sale. Do you want an earn-out clause or a cash sale?
• How you’ll improve the current value of your business to get the best price.
• How to market your business to sellers. You need to decide whether to use business brokers to do this or do it yourself.
• The timing of the sale. You need to sell before patents, licenses, leases, etc. expire.
• Due diligence. You’ll need accountants, legal advisors, along with specialists in tax, sales, and IT to perform vendor due diligence and make that information available in a virtual or real data room for potential buyers.
• Who will negotiate the deal?

The following checklist will help you to achieve the best deal for your company.

Your Exit Plan Checklist

• Clarify why you want to sell your business

You need to decide why you want to sell the business. It’s something prospective buyers will ask you, and it will have an impact on the business sale.

For instance, do you want to retire because you’re fed up with the stress of running a business or suffering from ill-health? Or is it because you want to start a new business, or allow someone with more expertise to take it to the next level?

Your reasons for selling the business could have an impact on the timing and outcome of the sale. For instance, if you decide you must find a buyer as soon as possible, you might have to accept a lower price or less attractive deal.

• Decide what you’re selling

You need to decide if you’ll going to sell some or all of your company’s assets or the legal entity of your business as a share sale.

• Focus on areas of improvement

Identify the issues and areas of improvement in your business and develop a plan for dealing with them.

For example, how can your company become less reliant on one or two major customers or suppliers? Are there areas that will benefit from cost-cutting? Is there a potential for rapid growth in the business? Can you improve productivity?

• Prepare your accounts

You need to show how well the company has performed in the past few years.

Prospective buyers will expect to see at least three years of trading accounts. Buyers will be put off if they discover reports are missing or inaccurate. It will make them doubt your claims about the company’s health.

• Get your paperwork in order

Your paperwork needs to be up to date and available to prospective buyers.

They’ll want to see supplier/buyer arrangements, licenses, maintenance agreements, lease or hire purchase agreements, business rates, insurance policies, list of employees, and their contracts, along with your company incorporation documents.

• Resolve disputes

If you have problems with suppliers, customers, other companies, or employees, you need to document them and, if possible, resolve them before you put the business on the market.

• Decide who will sell your business

Business brokers (or business transfer agents) can market your business for you, or you could do it on your own.

Brokers will demand a percentage of the sale if they sell on your behalf.

You also need to clarify what brokers will do to sell your business and whether you will be involved in picking and interviewing candidates.

Check for details such as extra fees or costs, termination rights, and cooling-off periods.

Look for business brokers that have experience in selling companies in your industry, in your markets, and similar size businesses.

• Get a business valuation

Prospective buyers will want to know the true worth of your company. Hire a business valuation expert to do this for you.

• Get expert advice

Put together a team of trusted legal and financial advisors who have expertise in selling companies. Get their help to identify areas of the business that need attention and on how best to proceed with a sale.

• Create a confidentiality agreement

https://www.cfocentre.com/fr-ca/checklist-how-to-sell-your-business-fast/

You won’t want sensitive details about your company or its sale leaked to employees, competitors, suppliers, creditors, and customers, so make sure prospective buyers sign a confidentiality agreement.

• Perform Due Diligence

You need a team of specialists to produce a documented business strategy, healthy financials, along with information about your employees, and plant and IT systems.

That information must be made available in a real or virtual data room for prospective buyers to view and check.

Find out more.

Your Guide to Business Financing

Getting external financing to fund your company’s growth will depend on your plans, how willing you are to give away a stake, and, therefore, control in the business, your eligibility, and the short-term or long-term funding you need.

How to finance your business growth

Bank finance

Banks can offer you:

• Unsecured business loans. These will have fixed repayments (including interest) over a set time frame. The amount and the interest rates will depend on the bank and your circumstances.
• Secured business loans. To obtain a business equity loan, you’ll need to offer your company collateral or assets as security (for example, property, inventory, or equipment). The amount you can borrow will depend on the value of the assets.
• Buy-to-let loans and commercial mortgages. These are suitable if you’re looking to buy or remortgage business premises.
• These are more suitable for short-term financial support when your company has a cash shortfall.
• Business credit cards. Again, these are probably best for short-term support.
• Invoice finance. It will mean you can access cash that is otherwise tied up in outstanding invoices. It’s ideal if your company offers long payment terms to customers or if you need to grab growth opportunities.
• Asset finance. This allows you to make small regular payments for an asset rather than a large, one-off payment. It is ideal If you want to preserve your working capital and generate income from an asset as you pay for it.

Angel investors and venture capitalists

If you’re willing to offer a share of your company or equity, you could approach third party investors such as angel investors or venture capitalists (VCs).

You might not have to repay their investment, but the share they will want in return is likely to be high.

Alternative investment markets

You could also consider alternative finance options. These include crowdfunding and peer-to-peer funding.

• Crowdfunding. In return for early access to your products/services, discounts, or an equity stake in your company, you can raise the money you need from a crowd of small investors.
• Peer-to-peer lending. You can borrow from individual small investors. If your application is successful, you’ll probably be able to borrow more than you would through a bank and access the funds quicker.

The criteria for the loan might not be as stringent as a bank, but the costs might be similar.

Is your company eligible for funding?

Banks and investors often use what’s known as the CAMPARI method to decide if your company is eligible for funding. That is:

• C This incorporates everything from your professionalism and brand reputation to your company’s record in repaying loans.
• A This is about you and your team’s knowledge and expertise and how successful you’re likely to be to generate growth from the financing that investors are being asked to provide.
• M This is about how well your business is equipped to meet your growth plans. Investors will want to see your Return on Equity (ROE), growth projections, your competitive advantage, detailed financial reports, performance record, and a comprehensive expenditure report.
• P Investors will want to know how you will use the funds and how they will help to boost the company’s financial situation or generate a profit.

For example,  if you have no liquidity in the business but need it to fulfil an order or if you need a type of machinery to be able to increase your product or service range.

• A This is about showing investors how you came to decide on the level of funding you’re applying for.
• R Investors need to be convinced you can afford any repayments. They’ll look in particular at your cash flow and profit margins.
• I This is all about showing investors you have a fallback position if things go wrong. They’ll need to be convinced you have another source of repayment should you need it.

Get expert help

To make it more likely your company is considered eligible for funding, it is advisable to get expert help.

For example, the FD Centre has part-time FDs with experience in approaching banks and major financial institutions, angel investors, VCs, and alternative lending markets for funding on behalf of their clients.

We can help and guide you through every step of the funding preparation and application process.

Find out more.

In the light of events over the past weeks, we are very conscious of the heightened levels of concern facing businesses at the moment. The CFO Centre is also an SME and it’s very much a time where we are all in this together.

The purpose in writing was to let you know that we are here to help and have set aside some time to talk to companies in need of urgent advice, on a pro bono basis. We are very well positioned to help and would like to give something back.

As it stands today, the greatest concern for SMEs is cash/liquidity. As Chief Financial Officers, navigating these issues is what we do. Admittedly this is a particularly unusual situation, but there are measures you can take to put yourself into the strongest possible position for the weeks and months ahead – and fast action will of course pay dividends.

Even if it’s just to have a 3^rd party perspective and potentially put forward some options you may not have known were available, we’d love to help if we can.

If you know someone who would value a conversation to review their current situation and look at their options to increase liquidity and mitigate risk, please contact us on 1-800-918-1906 or at [email protected] so that we can set up a video conference call to review with one of our virtual CFOs.