Get the opportunity to grow your influence by giving your products or services prime exposure with Performance Magazine.

If you are interested in advertising with Performance Magazine, leave your address below.

Advertise with us
Free Webinar

Posts Tagged ‘Finance performance’

Building Blocks for Launching a Successful Business

FacebooktwitterlinkedinFacebooktwitterlinkedin

Startups have become the lifeblood of many nations and the cornerstone of many economies. In fact, startups are a source of new jobs across the globe and bring the markets new innovative ideas and solutions. Moreover, they boost competition in markets by developing new and similar products which benefit the consumers. Despite the increasing trend of self-employment in many countries, many fail to stay in business as it is not an easy process to develop a successful one. Consequently, this article aims to give a brief of the key building blocks for starting a successful business.

  1. Self-Assessment

    The first thing an entrepreneur should start with is self-assessment. Before launching your business, you need to realize whether you have what is needed for your business. Start by listing the advantages and disadvantages of having your own business. And you need to compare between being an entrepreneur and full-time/part-time employed (in case this is your current situation) given your current circumstances (ie. marital status, financial situation). There are a lot of personality tests that could help you in assessing and knowing yourself. Answering the below questions accurately and honestly may help in making your decision:

    – Why do I want to launch a business?

    – Specifically, what type of business do I want to launch?

    – Why do I believe I can make this kind of business work?

    – Why do I believe this kind of business is sustainable?

    – Do I have the needed educational level, skills, and experience to succeed in this field? If not, can I attain these skills and competencies before starting my business? How?

    – What is my true aim and/or the objective I hope to attain with this business?

    – What is the financial objective I am pursuing to attain?

    – If I will need financing, do I have enough resources and credit for the startup?

    – What are my strengths and weaknesses?

    – What is the state of my physical, mental and emotional health, and stamina?

    – Do I have the required skills and knowledge to manage the daily operations of a business?

    – Am I up to date with the latest technology necessary to be competitive in this industry?

    – What sacrifices and risks am I willing to take to be successful?

    – Will I be able to maintain a work-life balance? How?

    Figure 1 below shows some advantages and disadvantages that you could consider as suggested by Gregory and Patricia Kishel in their 2005 study, How to start, run and stay in business:

    Figure 1: Source: ResearchGate

  2. Market Understanding

    This stage does not refer to extensive market research but rather to the start of exploring the industry/market in which you want to launch your business, especially if you don’t have a clear and solid business idea. This phase suggests networking and connecting with different people or stakeholders to have a clear view of how things are going in the industry. At the same time, this will give you a chance to build on your current network as well as gain tips and recommendations for getting your business started. This could be done through several means such as scheduling meetings with owners in the same field or attending conferences and events.

  3. The Start-up Canvas

    This canvas is one of the techniques that entrepreneurs could use to sketch their initial ideas for their business idea. The start-up canvas includes the components shown below.

    Figure 2: Source: Upmetrics

  4. Extensive Market Research

    When you reach this stage, it means that you have decided to go on with your business and do more extensive research to better understand your business. There are two types of research: secondary or desk research, and primary research.

    You might want to start first by doing desk research and checking documents such as reports, articles, and press releases to give you some insights into your industry. Then, you can conduct a market research study or focus group to get more specific insights from the market. In this case, you can consult a market research agency to conduct the study.

    In Figure 3 below, Michigan Small Business Development Center suggests a checklist  of market research information:

  5. Cost/Financial Analysis

    This part is concerned with estimating your costs to launch your business. According to the Michigan Small Business Development Center, the following contribute to the reason as to why many startups fail before they launch their business or soon after launching it:

    – An inadequate estimate of the real cost of starting what you are planning to

    – Unrealistic anticipation about resources you might hit into; grants, tax incentives, and startup loans are uncommon, competitive, and difficult to acquire

    – Miscalculations about how quickly you will start making money; for instance, some businesses may take a few years to start making a profit, so you need to make sure that you will be able to cover your company costs during those years.

    Consequently, it is necessary to consider some of the financial analysis tools which many entrepreneurs miss, such as the payback period (refers to the amount of time it takes to recover the cost of investment), internal rate of return, cash flow, profit margin, gross margin, and markup and breakeven analysis. These techniques will permit entrepreneurs to plan their financials ahead of launching their business and avoid financial failure.

  6. Sources of Finance

    In this phase, you will have to consider the means for financing your business. There are several sources of finance such as your personal investment (ie. your own money and assets), bank loans, venture capital, business incubators, angels, or grants. You need to take into consideration several factors when deciding on the sources of finance, such as the nature of your business and business size. Some entrepreneurs may decide to continue their full-time/part-time job and work on their businesses slowly to finance themselves while launching their businesses.

  7. Human Resources

    This stage helps you to estimate how many employees you need to hire when you launch your business. Which departments do you need to start with? You do not want to hire less or more than what you need. Moreover, you need to consider several factors before hiring your employees, such as the employment labor law, taxes and social insurance exempted from employees’ salaries, and health and safety measures.

  8. Business Plan

    The previous stages will allow you to have enough data to conduct an accurate business plan which describes the objectives and goals of your business. This also studies your business idea from financial, operational, and marketing perspectives. In your business plan, you have to fill in the following components: general business information, market analysis (competitive analysis, industry analysis, segmentation analysis, marketing/sales plan), management and operations matters (human resources, operations plan, research, and development plan), cost structure, and financials.

  9. Legal Formation of a Business

    When deciding to launch your business, it is important to know the procedures and regulations to legally form your business. First, you need to choose the type of business you are going for. This is based on the country you are establishing your startup in. Based on this, you will be able to identify your tax implications and company registration procedures. It is advisable to do this with a specialized lawyer to guide you through the process.

In conclusion, launching your business is a hectic and risky process that you need to think of very carefully. Take your time whenever you work on any of the building blocks and decide whether you are capable of moving on to the next stage or not. Remember you do not have to start big; you can start small and expand over time. Several startups have started small and now they are some of the most successful startups such as Khan Academy, Udemy, and Slack.

Employee of the Month: Carmen Jisa, Financial Specialist

FacebooktwitterlinkedinFacebooktwitterlinkedin
jisa  

Join us in our journey to interview some of the most extraordinary individuals that continue to make The KPI Institute a role-model for others to follow. In today’s edition, we will be featuring April’s Employee of the Month, Carmen Jisa.

1. What is your role at The KPI Institute and what makes it special?

My role within TKI revolves around collecting and recording data on everything related to the financial, accounting, and HR aspects of the company’s business with both international and domestic clients.

My duties are to ensure that all of The KPI Institute’s finances and monetary affairs are handled in an orderly, streamlined, and clear-cut fashion.

2. What do you find most challenging at The KPI Institute?

To complete all of the tasks I have in one day.

Working at TKI entails having to split up into multiple individuals, even more so now that we’ve transferred our teachings altogether in the e-format.

Due to our courses being mostly online now, demand has skyrocketed, and there are certain months where matters can get quite hectic from a financial administration point of view.

However, that’s all for the better, since more attendees mean more courses, which in turn means higher revenue. So overall, things are looking on the up and up.

3. What would be the three main career lessons that you have learnt thus far?

I wouldn’t say there are main career lessons that I’ve learnt, however, there are a few traits that I have developed, as a result of my work at The KPI Institute.

If I were to list the top 3, these would probably be perseverance, involvement, and the diligence to complete everything that needs to be done.

Like I mentioned previously, with the amount of work that’s been pouring in, one has to be very focused on their tasks, and luckily for me, I have had ample time to work on & develop these traits.

Now, I find myself in a position where I always find it easy to become 100% concentrated on what I have to achieve day in ‘n’ day out.

4. If you could interview one person, either from the past or present, who would it be and why?

One person which I’ve always found interesting, with a very compelling personality, is Michelle Obama. If I’d have the option, I’d very much enjoy having a personal conversation with her.

Financial KPIs – How To Detect The Truly Key Ones?

FacebooktwitterlinkedinFacebooktwitterlinkedin

financial kpis

Whether a business is considered a success or not is largely determined by its financial performance which is measured via a number of financial KPIs.

So knowing that, how can we detect which are the truly “Key” indicators, i.e. those Critical Factors or Key Value Drivers that, if they change (for whatever reasons) they produce a chain reaction that leads to a material change in earnings, returns and ultimately the value of the company.

Let me suggest the two ways in which you should look at KPIs, and if you’re still confused, you can look at how Visa measures its key value drivers.

  1. The “view” of management/owners or stakeholders on whether a business is making money, what is the net profit margin or the leverage, captured in table I – here all these KPIs are analyzed on a historical and forecast basis.

financial KPIs

What are the EBITDA margins, operating profit (or EBIT) margin or net profit margin and the top line growth? Cash Conversion Cycle, Working Capital ratio, Current Ratio, etc. As long as the benchmarks are met, management is usually content; this is mostly looking at historical data aka in the “review mirror”.

  1. The investors’ “view” is always forward looking and it questions whether the company is currently undervalued and by how much, ROE, ROI, etc. Table II shows whether the company is under or overvalued.

financial KPIs

Which potential triggers, aka KPIs or Key Value Drivers – if they change, could make an impact on the stock price?

If we look at Table III – through scenarios and sensitivity analysis, one can detect those key factors that are critical to the overall value of the company, i.e. if they change, they produce a material effect on the value.

financial KPIs

In Table I, besides the data shown in historical, we can see the current and forecast form. As when driving a car, one does not look in the review mirror but seldom, similarly when analyzing data and trends, one looks in the past to better grasp the capability of the company and be able to forecast. As the road ahead is never as the one behind, other parameters have to be considered for a more accurate forecast.

In financial terminology, Business Intelligence (BI) is using and looking at historical data while Business Analytics (BA) is looking forward. BI is important to improve one’s understanding of business based on past results, while BA tools assist one better understand what might be going to happen.

Through trial and error, using sensitivity analysis (as shown in Table III), one detects the critical factors/key value drivers for a company. Table IIIa, or even IIIb, IIIc and so forth, is shown empty since it could be filled with data that results from the variation of any two other parameters.

Identifying materiality is often a complicated and time-consuming process, but it is imperative for an analyst to narrow down the list of factors to those that may be critical and which are worth monitoring. I suggest that materiality can be identified by common sense and quantified by performing various scenarios and sensitivity analyses.

The analyst should develop an accurate financial model, with a correct interrelation of the elements in worksheets, i.e. inputs, balance sheet items, income statement components, depreciation and investment, debt, working capital assumptions and cash flow. Only by having implemented a reliable financial model can one correctly capture when a slight variation in KPIs produces an impact on company value.

Image sources:

THE KPI INSTITUTE

The KPI Institute’s 2024 Agenda is now available! |  The latest updates from The KPI Institute |  Thriving testimonials from our clients |