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Early
stage companies are very exciting! Something new is being
created. Unmet needs in the marketplace can be filled.
It is also a very
demanding time. You want to move quickly, yet there may
not be a lot of resources. So much to do, so little time.
Capital, headcount, systems and expertise may be very tight.
You want to use your resources carefully, so you are there for
the next stage. Now is a great opportunity to do things
well, without the burden of the past infrastructure. You
also want to make the right moves- mistakes at this stage get
much more costly later.
Here are many reasons
why we fit the early stage firm:
- We have been there
before. It can be a challenging transition going from
a larger firm to a smaller firm. It is a very different
style of operating.
- We can be as hands-on
as needed. At the early stage, you need worker bees,
not conductors.
- Speed. We
move quickly, as you need to do at this stage.
- Pre-built financial
model template. We have a powerful, integrated financial
model that can be customized to fit your business. No
need to reinvent the wheel and start from scratch. The
integration provides quality- you get a tool that works.
- Cash is king.
We can bring in templates to help you keep a handle on your
current cash balance and upcoming cash needs. For example,
a popular one is for tracking your cash. Another one
is for projecting your cash needs.
- Other templates.
We have lots of other templates that we can bring in, depending
upon your needs.
- Financial systems.
We can help you get the most out of the system you have selected.
We have worked with a variety of PC based small business programs
ranging from entry level consumer programs to more integrated
modular business packages. We can draw upon our experience
with this variety of programs. We also help you look
ahead to find the next package you need as your business gets
up and running at a higher level.
- Financial reporting.
We get you set up with financial reports you can understand
and develop a quick reporting process so you know your numbers
very soon after month end. We also can tie these to
the financial plans that you have set up using the models
we built for you or other plans you have developed.
- Custom development.
Our Excel programming skills allow us to quickly program applications
for you to help you at your early stage. One tool that
has been used is a pricing tool, which allows you to estimate
costs of products or services and develop selling prices.
- Analytical tools.
We can build powerful analytical tools that allow you to slice
and dice your data and get insights quickly into your business.
We can even program standard reports and charts that you can
use on a weekly, monthly or other repetitive basis and generate
this information almost automatically. For a telecom
company that was growing rapidly, we help uncover that their
bad debt problem was several times the level they thought
it was. We then built a monthly reporting tool with
powerful charts to show them where the main problem areas
were and how they were doing in solving the problem.
This helped them bring this under control.
- Customer value.
We can help you understand the true value of acquiring and
maintaining your customers, to help you shape your marketing
strategy. You need not just customers, but the right
customers, at the right price. We help you get there.
- Staffing and training.
We can be the mentor you need for your office people, even
for part time help. We allow you to get more done with
less. You might find you do not as strong of a person
in a role or need them for as a much time, thanks to the setup
and training we provide. We can also help you find and
recruit your staff.
- Interim management.
We can also be the interim CFO on a part time basis to get
you going. We can also operate on a broader role as
your Mr. Inside, allowing you to focus on your core strengths.
Get full time expertise but only use it on a part time basis
as needed. Get more bang for your buck.
- Managing resources.
We can help you get by with fewer resources, especially working
capital. We do this while still helping you keep very
good relationships with your customers and suppliers, so that
your firm is one that is on their short list of companies
they prefer to work with.
- Raising capital.
We can raise the bar for your organization and get your materials
ready for the road show. We can't guarantee that we
can raise you capital - nobody can. However, we can
get you in better shape and increase your odds of success
or open up the possibility of better terms.
- Scaling up.
Running an early stage company can be a juggling act.
We give you the best of both worlds, being able to operate
very effectively with minimal resources at your initial stage,
while also giving you the flexibility to be able to scale
up. You don't get locked in to something that costs
a lot upfront and has too short a shelf life. We have
taken companies from early stage to over $100 million in revenues.
We can help you manage the now will guiding you towards the
future.
- Network.
You can't have it all in house at this stage. Tap into
our network of contacts for the outside expertise you need
in other areas.
Among our early stage
company successes are:
- As head of finance
and operations for a toy company, we revamped their entire
finance and operations area. This laid the foundation
to help them grow from $2 million to $30 million in just three
years!
- For a pharmaceutical
firm that was just one year old under the new ownership and
structure, we came in and totally turned around their finance
and IT areas, once again laying a framework where they could
then grow from $8 million to $52 million in just four years!
- At a fitness hardware/software
company, we helped them source and produce the product to
launch their firm. We then worked with their major customer
to get the product placed on the shelf and salespeople trained.
We also set up their financial systems.
- For a health care
supply firm, we developed their financial model so they could
be ready to raise bank financing. We also help them
get more out of the financial system they had chosen to finally
get useful reports. We also revamped their financial
reporting so they could have a better picture of how the company
was doing.
- For a startup
health care client, we built a powerful financial model that
allowed them to raise capital and spin-off from a corporate
parent. We then helped them work with data from major
customers and determine the savings they were generating,
which helped them solicit additional customers.
- With a startup
telecom company, we did a variety of projects to help them
go from pre-launch to over $200 million in revenues in just
three years time. Projects involved different areas
of the company - finance, marketing and revenue assurance.
We helped them analyze and establish rate plans. We
developed tools to analyze the competition. We programmed
and Excel based quoted and competitive analysis tool to allow
salespeople to determine customer needs and close on business
and consumer accounts.
Tap into our wealth
of experiences with many early stage firms. Call us to discuss
how we can help you!
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