Short Term Business Planning and Financial Forecasting
Exclusive Business Advisory Firm
We focus on the medium to large SMEs and provide professional support at a fraction of the cost of an in-house resource or the use of a big consultancy firm.
How we can help you...
We can provide a focused business advisory service that delivers your short term business plan and financial forecasting and, for an additional fee, on-going management support of its implementation and monitoring.
We know there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution. Every business is different. Your business is unique so we can adapt our plans to one that best meets your needs.
We don’t charge hourly rates, because it leads to uncertainty in your cost management. Instead we give you a fixed price right up front so you can plan and forecast your expenditure.
Short term Business Planning & Financial Forecasting
Company’s need to plan to give their staff direction, set goals and map a path of how to get there. To be effective these plans need to be implemented, managed and performance tracked against the plan.
The world is moving fast and business is forever changing. Five year plans now become obsolete within 18 to 36 months because of the rapid changes in technology and competitor and consumer behavior. Our belief is to have shorter term plans that are reviewed and adapted on a regular basis or as needs demand.
Business owners are, however, often stretched just dealing with the day-to-day management of the business and do not have the capacity and time to complete these critical tasks. This is where we can assist.
Our involvement can be in all or some of the short term business planning process (i.e. SWOT analysis, competitor analysis, technology trends, sales and marketing strategies, customer service review, product procurement or production plans, project plans etc.) and the financial forecasting aspect of the plan. The planning process can be done relatively quickly but this is dependent on the availability of the owner and/or management team and the necessary information.
Why is business planning so important for business owners?
Business management is complex as all the different disciplines within the organisation have to be carefully coordinated to ensure the business operates effectively. One of the best ways to achieve this is to invest time and effort in a short term business plan and financial forecast. If done correctly, all that key individuals throughout the organisation will understand and share a common vision of where the business needs to go and how it is going to get there.
Once the plan is in place, performance needs to be monitored against it. Deviations from the plan need to be corrected (if behind the curve) or enhanced or maintained (if ahead of the curve).
The plan should comprise a number of important elements, namely:
- It should be based on clear and specific goals and objectives that the business owner wants to achieve, such as turnover and profit targets, new sales and marketing strategies, new product launches, new geographical areas or target markets to be opened etc.
- The goals and objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable and realistic and have targeted start and completion dates.
- Each goal should specify what additional resources will be required to achieve it (e.g. new equipment, additional staff, additional funding requirements, additional or new operational requirements etc.)
- The financial forecasting must include an income statement, a balance sheet and, most importantly, a cash flow statement in order to identify how the plans will impact the cash resources of the business.
- The plan should be in sufficient detail that actual performance can be compared against it. The causes of variances should be identified at a level of detail that will facilitate corrective action to be formulated and actioned. An example of this is turnover broken down by product, by quantity and price, staff costs by number of staff per position and salary, project costs by individual input cost etc.
- Business owners should monitor their actual performance against the plan (both at the operational and financial levels) in order to identify where corrective action is required in order to meet or exceed the goals and objectives of the plan,
Some quotes of business thought leaders on strategic, operational and financial planning:
- “Business is a game, played for fantastic stakes, and you’re in competition with experts. If you want to win, you have to learn to be a master of the game.” – Sidney Sheldon, Master of the Game
- “Committing your goals to paper increases the likelihood of you achieving them by one thousand percent.” – Brian Tracy
- “Learn from the past, prepare for the future, and perform in the moment. – “Moments: Making Your Life Count For What Matters Most” – Mike Van Hoozer
Your options at a glance to
drive profits and growth
Whatever your business, you will find one of our business advisory bundles to suit your needs. If not, we can tailor a plan for you.
To help you identify the best option for you here is a quick overview of each:
Platinum Bundle
Gold Bundle
This is for you if you believe having a formal vision and short term strategic plan is important and the growth of profits and your business imperative, but you lack the capacity to generate and drive the successful implementation and execution of these plans. This bundle involves:
- building a short term business plan, comprising amongst others, a market analysis, a review of the 9 drivers of profit, a marketing and sales strategy, an operational plan and financial forecasts.
- producing a detailed financial forecast to help you predict the financial impact of the short term business plan;
- preparing a detailed sales forecast for the period;
- generating a monthly rolling financial forecast that updates the forecast with actual performance and revises the forecast for the remaining period;
- presenting regular (i.e. monthly or quarterly) financial analyses that interpret the financials and compare performance against the operational plans and forecast with suggested corrective action to address variances; and
- providing an “accountability” oversight role to ensure that the actions that need to be taken in terms of the plans are completed timeously.
- providing other value-added services as reflected in the table below which will provide the business owner with peace of mind regarding the financial management and well-being of his business.
With this option you get the benefit of a detailed business plan and a short term financial forecast that helps you plan and predict the period ahead. You will also get many more value-add services, based on decades of business experience and advanced financial acumen that will help you manage your business and understand your numbers in order make the best decisions
Bundle Overview Comparison
| Advisory Services Provided | Platinum Bundle | Gold Bundle |
|---|---|---|
| Discuss and plan the planning process with business owner and management team | ||
| Short term business plan with vision, goals and objectives and key forecasting assumptions | ||
| Various "what-if" scenarios and analyses to formulate the best plan | ||
| Full detailed review of the 9 drivers of profit and prioritisation of actions | ||
| Short term financial forecast - income statement, balance sheet & cash flow | ||
| Assistance in the implementation of the strategic and operational plans | ||
| Full periodical management and financial reporting with face to face or Zoom feedback and advisory session | ||
| Financial dashboard | ||
| Rolling cash flow and profit forecasts | ||
| Measuring the things that really matter (this is very important) – this is dependent on the financial system in place | ||
| Review and, if necessary, assist in upgrading cloud accounting software | ||
| Review of critical, accounting sensitive accounts e.g. accounts receivable, bank etc. | ||
| Regular health checks in terms of taxation and cash flow sensitive accounts | ||
| Assistance with legal and tax issues that involve experts and authorities |
Complete peace of mind
In the case of an ongoing advisory service, we will meet at the end of 3 months from the start date of the service level chosen to make sure that the chosen package is right for you and, if necessary, change the scope of the service and the price to something that best meets your needs. Not only that, you may terminate our agreement at any time after the initial 3 months, for any reason, by giving 10 days written notice.
In other words, you are in complete control and if any of our service are not fully meeting your needs let us know and we’ll either change it or you can stop. It’s that simple.
