Are you ready for exponential growth - Russell Colbourne

Russell Colbourne - "Your Money Machine"

Profit Radio - IBGR.Network. Everything a business owner needs to start, grow or exit a business. Grow With Us.

Introduction
Your business is Your Money Machine.  In this Show – I’ll take you under the hood of your enterprise and show you how to fine tune your business.  Get ready for lift off as we add rocket fuel to your profitability!  This show is focused on businesses that have launched and are preparing for exponential growth.

Are you sure you’re ready for exponential growth?  Getting your mindset right to transition from business owner to CEO.  Are you prepared to give up some control and trust others to help you build?  As well as ensuring all your systems and standard operating procedures have been documented and are in place, you will need to ensure your financial reporting provides you with the feedback you need to run your business.  

Many years ago before I qualified as an accountant, I trained to fly Helicopters in the Royal Navy.  One of the training exercises my instructor put me through was to fly into a cloud so we lost all external references, get me to pull my helmet visor down with the cover on, so I couldn’t see the instruments, and then have me to tell him what I thought he was doing with the aircraft!  Even though I know the laws of physics prevented the helicopter we were flying from going upside down, I could have sworn from the feeling inside the cabin, that’s exactly what he was doing.  In fact he was flying the aircraft so well that he could simulate the feeling of being inverted and without the visual inputs or access to the flight instruments I was completely taken in.  Similarly with your business, if you’re not seeing the outside world and not reading the dials from your financial reports you won’t be able to tell if your business is going in the right direction.  

You could be flying upside down for all you know!


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Show Objectives - The Why
The Profits Plan is where you anticipate financial demands based on past performance plus your targeted growth rate.

Historically business growth falls into 3 categories: Normal, Fast, and Hyper. There is no way of knowing what will happen but given your metrics from your financial reports, you should be able to project starting relationships - $1000 in marketing = $X in closed sales = $Y of Gross Profit and $Z of net profit.

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

1. Targeted Growth?
   1. Normal Growth under 20% per year.
   2. Fast Growth @25% per year.
   3. Hyper Growth @40%+ per year.
2. Where are we in the Product(Service) Lifecycle?
3. What are the limits of self-financed growth?
4. What is the amount and frequency of Marketing Spend?
5. Past performance as future predictor - what are our starting numbers?

 
What you need to know – The What?

1. Understanding your growth rate.
2. Performing a PESTLER Analysis of your market
3. Has your marketing analysis identified unmet Client needs? 
4. What is your product development pipeline like?
5. Can my organization survive without me?
6. What constraints are there to our predicted growth rate?

What You Need to Do​​ - The How

1. Build a spreadsheet for each potential scenario.
   1. Marketing to Sales - Normal, Fast, Hyper
   2. Sales to Production - Normal, Fast, Hyper
   3. Production to Delivery - Normal, Fast, Hyper
   4. Cash Flow Management - Normal, Fast, Hyper
2. Ensure your knowns (information that is verified) is isolated from the assumptions (unknowns with educated guesses or SWAG's).
3. Run the numbers for each scenario to identify potential ROI and Risks.
4. Identify how and whom is going to track the known information and update the spreadsheet
5. Identify how and whom is going to track the assumptions and update the spreadsheet.
6. What mechanism will be used to advise of information updates to the spreadsheet.
7. Whenever information is updated - rerun the numbers for each scenario.

Shows

• Previous:F3.008. Preparing for lift off - understanding your Income Ratios (23 Nov)

Only 3 shows left until Christmas:

• F3.010. Scenario Planning for the moon or the stars? (7 Dec)
• F3.011. Funding your Mission (14 Dec)
• F3.012. Season 3 recap  (21 Dec)

 
Written by Russell Colbourne, FCCA, GAICD
Your Money Machine

Russell is a CFO and Entrepreneur who has worked across a diverse range of industries over the past 25 years.  After a short service commission as a pilot flying Seaking Helicopters in the British Royal Navy, Russell studied business and qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) in the UK. Since then he has been integral with the start-up of many successful companies and operations within larger organisations.  He has bought, sold and spun off business operations in the UK, Australia and the US. 

​In 1994 Russell joined Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic Airlines where he was responsible for a number of innovative services that were, at the time, ground breaking and helped revolutionise air transport.  From launching the world’s first limo boat on the River Thames to developing the world’s first handheld check-in device and implementing drive through check-in booths around the world, Russell has helped the Virgin Group deliver unparalleled customer service. In 2000 Russell was the first of the Virgin team to arrive in Australia to start a new low cost Airline, and within 8 months had built a team operating flights between Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
 

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