Picture this:
You run an agency or service biz doing $50K to $1M p/m, and—
→ You sleep like a baby at night
→ Your profits are at an all-time-high
→ Your business could be sold for millions
Sounds like a dream? Doesn't have to be.
Read on 👇🏻
Fact: you're dealing with
Do you know how the Financial Statements are connected?
Understanding this can help you analyse a business's financial performance better.
This visual shows these connections- hope it helps:
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are great:
• Easily track performance
• Make better decisions
• Spot problems before they come up
Here are some suggestions– hope it's useful:
Starting to notice a trend: the more boring the cover, the more in-depth the book is.
Halfway through this one now and definitely one of the better finance books I've read so far.
My family turned a small farm in 1988 into one of the largest tulip businesses in the world.
I asked them the biggest lessons they’d learned on the way to selling 120 million tulips a year.
Here are 10 lessons for every (aspiring) entrepreneur:
Most businesses have no Pricing Strategy.
As a result, they're leaving money on the table.
I put this guide together to help you think about it- hope it helps:
Accounting is the language of business.
It pays to learn how to speak it:
• How money flows
• How transactions are recorded
• How financial statements are made
Use this guide as a start- hope it helps:
Business valuation is an art.
And while a business is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it, there's still some science to it.
Hope this helps:
Most businesses have no Pricing Strategy.
As a result, they're leaving money on the table.
I put this guide together to help you think about it- hope it helps:
Most Business Plans are useless:
• They are written once and never used again
• They are way too long
• They only focus on the upside
But if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.
I hope this helps:
There are many reasons to learn about Financial Analysis:
• Understand the performance of your/any business
• Make better investment decisions
• Figure out how your competitors are doing
It's not rocket science, but knowing where to start can be difficult.
Hope this helps:
Risk Management 101:
1. Identify potential risks
2. Assess the likelihood and impact
3. Prioritise key risks
4. Develop a strategy to prevent or accept the risks
5. Implement the strategy
6. Review regularly
7. Communicate to stakeholders
RM 201: put it in a fancy heatmap
Most Business Plans are useless:
• They are written once and never used again
• They only focus on the upside
• They are way too long
But if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.
Use this to stay on track:
Financial Ratios are key to analysing a business.
And even better, they can help you:
• Make better financial decisions
• Compare results to competitors
• Spot important trends over time
This sheet covers what you need to know- hope it helps:
Financial Ratios are key to analysing a business.
And even better, they can help you:
• Make better financial decisions
• Compare results to competitors
• Spot important trends over time
This sheet covers what you need to know- hope it helps:
Return on Equity is a key metric to watch in business.
But this number alone lacks context:
• No insight into your cost structure
• No details about asset efficiency
• No mention of the capital structure
The DuPont formula breaks this all down- hope it's useful:
Reading is waaay more fun when you can apply it.
Used to hate textbooks like this when I was in uni or banking.
But now its a source of inspiration for better processes, KPIs and best practises.
Being in business is the best 😎
Poor cash flow management is the
#1
reason businesses fail.
But what can you do about it?
Answer: creating a Cash Forecast.
This is how I create one– hope it helps:
Business isn't done in isolation.
No matter what you do, you'll always deal with:
• Competitors
• Customers and suppliers
• Changing market environments
It'll pay off to understand these dynamics.
This is how we looked at it in banking- hope it's useful:
Do you know how to analyse a business?
A common mistake is to only focus on "the numbers".
But if you want to:
• Be an investor
• Start your own business
• Know how any business operates
Then you must also learn about the "qualitative" side.
Hope this helps:
Checking your bank account ≠ managing cash flow.
Don't be that business that goes bust because they mismanaged their cash flow.
Here are some best practices- hope it helps:
You can't build a strong business on weak foundations.
But knowing what to improve can be difficult.
That's why I put this checklist together- hope it helps:
Learning Finance is like eating vegetables.
It's not always fun, but you know it pays off.
Luckily, these 20 accounts make it much more digestible (follow them!):
There are many reasons to learn about Financial Analysis:
• Understand how your business is performing
• Make better investment decisions
• Study your competitors
It's not rocket science, but knowing where to start can be difficult.
Hope this helps:
Business isn't done in isolation.
No matter what you do, you'll always deal with:
• Competitors
• Customers and suppliers
• Changing market environments
It pays to understand these dynamics.
This is how we looked at it in banking:
Agency owners—
Picking the best price for your service is hard.
So I made a Complete Pricing Tool for you guys.
Use it to find the Pricing Model with the highest Lifetime Value 🚀.
Like + Comment “PRICING” and I’ll DM you a copy.
(Must be following)
BIG UPDATE: I've quit my banking job and am going all-in on building my "fractional CFO" service for agricultural businesses! 👨🏻🌾
I'm convinced this is a great opportunity where I can add a lot of value.
This is the what, how and why:
Running a business without a financial budget:
• No clue where all your money goes
• No predictability in your results
• No accountability for targets
You're playing the game on hard mode.
The best part?
It's not hard to create a good budget:
Return on Equity is a key metric to watch in business.
But this number alone lacks context:
• No insight into your cost structure
• No details about asset efficiency
• No mention of the capital structure
The DuPont formula breaks this all down- hope it's useful:
Bookkeeping is boring, being profitable isn't.
Unfortunately, they go hand-in-hand.
And it all starts with your "Chart of Accounts".
So if you don't know what that is, then this is for you:
The financial side can be the most confusing part of growing a business.
But when it comes to finance, ignorance isn't bliss.
I made this roadmap to give you some structure- hope it helps:
Hope you enjoyed a different type of thread today.
The tulip business is tough but beautiful 🌷.
Let me know if you want to see more of this.
And if you did enjoy it, I'd appreciate a like and share!
My family turned a small farm in 1988 into one of the largest tulip businesses in the world.
I asked them the biggest lessons they’d learned on the way to selling 120 million tulips a year.
Here are 10 lessons for every (aspiring) entrepreneur:
I'm a Credit Analyst who's written 50+ business plans for clients like Mercedes and Coca-Cola.
I see many people struggle to write quickly and powerfully in a business context.
If you want your writing to get results, use this simple framework:
The 'billable hour' service model makes no sense to me.
The incentives seem completely misaligned for both parties. Seems way more effective to price based on the outcome/value.
Or am I missing something?
Fact: every business deals with Finance.
All the decisions you make eventually show up in your bottom line.
But most owners I speak with don't know where to even begin.
That's why I put this checklist together:
Most businesses lack a solid finance setup.
This results in all sorts of issues:
• Offering unprofitable services/products
• Wasting money without them realising
• Never sure how to re-invest profits
That is exactly why I started my Fractional CFO service- hope this helps:
Twitter is insane 🤯
Two days ago I launched my Fractional CFO service, now I:
- Got my 1st client
- Got 2 inbound leads that are a perfect fit
- Met 4 people to potentially partner with
And not even to mention the 50+ encouraging messages!
Appreciate you all! 🙏🏻
Tulip Mania: the tulip craze that led to the world's first financial bubble.
Yet almost nobody knows what really happened or how relevant this still is today.
My family’s been in the tulip business for 35 years– this is my take:
95% of Self-Help books → Cliché
95% of Personal Finance books → Unrealistic
95% of Business Books → Repetitive
If you want to learn from exceptional people, read Biographies instead.
Here are 13 of the best ones + why they are great (
#3
might be my favourite):
4 | Your life and business become one;
People will associate you with your business. You become ‘the tulip guy’.
Build something that you are proud of.
Agency Owners — your Team makes or break your agency.
But knowing when to make that next hire is hard.
And deciding how much to pay them is even harder...
That's why I created a simple Hiring Calculator for you.
Comment "Hiring" and I'll DM you the link (must follow).
2022 was the worst year for stocks since the financial crisis.
Now could be the best time to invest again, if you know what to look for.
Here are 7 often-overlooked red flags so you don't get caught in a bad investment:
Overdrafts (Lines of Credit) are used by most businesses.
1. It lets you temporarily spend more than you have
2. It's often quick and easy to arrange
3. It is like a safety net
If you are unfamiliar with them, save this:
Agency folks–
If you want to scale profitably, you need to know this:
→ LFTG : CAC
This is the most important relation in your agency.
So I made an easy tool for you to calculate this.
Comment "KPI" and I'll DM it!
(Must follow)
Many people still associate farming with pitchforks and overalls.
What they don’t know is that AI and Self-Flying Drones have already arrived.
Get ready to be surprised by these 6 companies and trends revolutionizing your food and life:
Agencies — Cash is King as you scale up.
So you can’t just pray that your bank balance will go up.
If you want to be strategic about it — you need to track it.
So I made a simple template to get you started.
Comment “Forecast” and I’ll DM it (Must follow)
10 | Bad times will come;
Covid nearly put the business under.
Yet the following year we had a record-breaking year.
Survive the downturn and thrive in the recovery.
1 | Delegating work is bloody difficult;
Gurus love promoting the 4-hour workweek.
But handing over the keys to your business feels like giving your baby to the babysitter for the first time.
Do you know how to analyse a balance sheet?
If not, you're missing out on the key tool to understanding a business's financial health.
To fix that, use this "Bankers Checklist" instead:
7 | You must differentiate;
For my family, this was focusing on automation.
And automation leads to efficiency. This allowed them to become one of the largest growers.
@UpSkillYourLife
Thanks for this! I've seen Blink come up a few times now, have to add it to the list.
Another favorite of mine is The Art of Logic. Describes simple yet effective ways to help us think and make sense of the world
Bookkeeping is boring, but being profitable isn't.
Unfortunately, they go hand-in-hand.
And it all starts with your "Chart of Accounts".
If you don't know what that is, then this is for you:
8 | Yet diversification is easier said than done;
My family tried to diversify with different flowers and services, but this also diversifies your focus.
You can succeed with concentrated effort.
Inflation will keep killing businesses in 2023.
My job is to figure out which companies will survive– and I've started to notice some trends.
These are the strategies used by the top 1%:
Exciting update (again!):
I partnered up with
@ConnorAbene
to help grow the UK/EU side of Scalable CFO!
Why I joined them (+ reason for not doing everything alone):
Nobody likes bookkeeping.
But your biz can't do without it:
• Vital for decision making
• Required by the banks
• Needed to sell
Unfortunately, many don't even cover the basics (even the so-called 'pros').
This checklist might help:
To improve profitability, you can’t only rely on your financial statements.
That's why I always make a breakdown like this for my clients.
This is the reason and how to set it up:
Finance can be tricky, but your business can't do without it.
That's why I've made 5 guides to help you:
• Create a business plan
• Manage cash flow
• Plan for long-term success
If you want them all as a PDF: comment "Guides"
(must follow)
Another big move: my wife handed in her notice last week!
Will officially be joining the business to help with models & hiring.
Also has a couple years experience in investment banking.
Plus will bring the team size to 4 now.
Loving this! 🚀
@theantonioreza
Great thread! It always amazes me how few people actually research the company properly.
I found that saying some non-obvious fact about the company usually takes the hiring manager by surprise.
Exercising for 60 minutes is 4% of your day.
Reading for 45 minutes is 3% of your day.
Writing for 30 minutes is 2% of your day.
Calling family for 15 minutes is 1% of your day.
Self-care doesn’t take much time.
5 | Your business doesn't take holidays;
Tulips keep growing during Christmas and when you are sunbathing in Italy.
There is always something going on– and things will break at the worst time.
@growthhub_
Love point 6. Need to see more collaboration and less competition.
I'd add
10) learn about finance. I'm biased but this will add value no matter what you do in life!
Last day in London today.
Moved here 4 years ago to work in banking.
Then quit and build my biz to 10+ clients and a multi six figure run rate.
Many good memories here.
But can't compete with what's to come 🇺🇲🇮🇹🇦🇪
Why we must "niche down" (Alex Hormozi):
- Marketing course: $19
- Marketing course for farmers $99
- Marketing course for dairy farmers: $500
- Marketing course for Direct-to-Consumer dairy farmers: $2500
High relevance = High value
Watch Warren Buffett brilliantly explain what it means to be a "long-term investor" by making a compelling comparison: owning a farm 🧑🏻🌾.
"It doesn't grow faster if I go and stare at it".
Problem most businesses face:
They're making money, but never keep as much as they expect.
In other words: they're leaking cash. Not good.
If that describes your business, try this:
A Dollar Saved is A Dollar Earned.
Starting a business is hard enough, don't make it even harder by wasting money.
These 12 tools will let you start and grow your business for FREE (not your typical list):
1) Score – Free Mentor Calls
Agency owners — do you know your Revenue per Employee?
This is a key benchmark to estimate if you:
• Have over or under-hired
• Are charging enough
• Have a capacity problem
So I made a SIMPLE template to calculate this.
Comment “RPE” and I’ll DM it (must follow).
Amazing to have reached 2,000 followers!
I created this account to share what I've learned from a career in banking and the family business 🌷
But what truly surprised me is how many great people I've met along the way.
Big thanks to you all!
Very bullish on the future of "fractional" roles (CFO/CTO/COO/CMO):
1. Cost-effective
2. No payroll requirements
3. Aligned incentives and interests
Essentially expert support at a fraction of the cost. No-brainer.
If cash flow is not at the top of your priority list,
you risk becoming one of the millions of businesses that fail.
Know these 7 points to never mismanage your cash again:
My family's business sells just one product: tulips 🌷
This goes against all traditional rules of diversification.
Even worse, tulips are extremely seasonal.
I asked them why they keep all this risk. Dads reply:
We tried to diversify in the past:
- Starting a labour company
-
I launched a digital product!
If you want to learn:
• The Fundamentals of Finance
• How to create a "Financially Healthy" business
• How to manage financials like a Fractional CFO
And much more... then this will be for you.
More details here:
Never expected yesterdays thread to do as well as it did!
Will definitely start talking more about the family business on here 🌷
And big thanks for all the great comments and new insights!
Warren Buffett described FTX well before it happened…
“It draws in a lot of CHARLATANS…who are trying to create various sorts of exchanges, where people who are of less-than-stellar character…clip people who are trying to get rich because their neighbour’s getting rich.”
Want to build a $10 million business?
I’ve studied hundreds of businesses for 4+ years,
but learned more about building one in 4 months on Twitter...
10 threads that prove Business-Twitter is a gold mine: