Do you need a financial advisor or a finance coach?
Are you ready to find out more about the story behind what your business’s numbers are telling you? Having worked for over two decades controlling the finances of businesses in several different industries, as your financial advisor I will help you understand what your numbers are saying – and what you can do to improve that story’s next chapter.
Exploring your income statement, balance sheets and cash flow statement – and statement of shareholders’ equity, depending on your business type – will tell us everything we need to know about your business’s current financial state.
Using some specially chosen KPIs – Key Performance Indicators – and metrics, we will be able to analyse your company’s past performance and use that data to predict its future.
Because understanding your services, products and the large-scale events which affect it is one thing. The next level is understanding your industry and the market you operate in. Beyond that is a close comparison of financial ratios, indicators and more to create highly visual reports and data which you can use to predict how those events and markets will change in the future. I can work as your financial advisor, or – as I have done with numerous companies across Europe – as a financial coach teaching you or your key employees everything you need to know to develop your own financial expertise.
Learn how to read financial statements
Your company financial statements will come in four main varieties:
- Balance sheets – your balance sheets are current documents. They outline your assets (what you own), liabilities (what you owe) and your net worth (the balance between the two, sometimes referred to as your book value). Typically, these are very dense documents. This can make it difficult to read. But it is that very density which makes them such a great source of information to examine your company’s financial story and identify its financial structure.
- Income statement – your income statement shows your revenue (money coming in), expenses (money going out) and profit (the balance between the two, often called your income). These documents are also sometimes called P&L (Profit and Loss) statements.
- Cash flow statement – cash flow statements show how much money your company exchanged with the outside world over a given period of time. Many people overlook them, but they are a fantastic source of data. No financial statement analysis should be complete without one.
- Statement of shareholders equity – if you have shareholders, this document will show changes in their interest levels.
Analysing your company financial statements – calculating all of the ratios and evaluating them – is really the only way to figure out where you and your company are at, financially speaking.
I can help you learn the art and science of financial statement analysis or simply handle the evaluation of your company’s finances on your behalf and then walk you through them.
Get help understanding pricing strategies
You might already know a great deal about pricing analysis. But a little extra expertise never hurts. Understanding pricing strategies is vital if you want to make sure that you are getting the maximum profit from your products and services.
It can be a difficult balance to strike. After all, you can always price higher. But might that lead to an overall loss of sales and reduced overall profit?
I will help you analyse your pricing properly so you know the answers to those questions. I will examine every part of your product’s lifecycle and your associated activities, including:
- Your product itself
- Product positioning
- Distribution methods
- Promotion strategies
- Marketing strategies
I can carry out price-volume analysis to ensure you are perfectly positioned – and analyse your positioning and offering in comparison with your competitors’. I can do this for existing products and services or help you establish pricing policies for new ones.
Get in touch today. Let me know about your products and current pricing strategies. I have already helped companies in markets as diverse as Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, the UK, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden Germany and elsewhere in Northern Europe set the most competitive possible pricing.
Making financial planning and analysis simple
The financial planning process can be a complicated one. Particularly if you do not have much experience in the finance field. I always ensure that I can communicate what your numbers are telling me about your business to you in clear, non-technical language – even if you are a financial guru yourself. I also provide financial planning coaching if you want to start down the road to becoming your own expert.
This avoidance of technical jargon where necessary is only sensible. If you take a look at as many financial statements as I do, you will soon see that there is a huge amount of variety in the way people refer to certain elements. There is no real standardized terminology. But, as always, a great deal of experience in financial planning and analysis will shine a light on your path.
Equipped with this experience, I can help you work through all of the phases of the financial planning and analysis process:
- Analysis of your current finances
- Determining your financial objectives
- Creating multiple courses of action
- Analysing those courses to determine the best choice
- Measuring, iterating and revising your business plan in the future
My overall goals will be twofold. First, I will help you make sure you are maximizing profit and getting the very most from what you are putting into your business.
Secondly, I want to help you obtain a feeling of freedom from your financial concerns. The more you know about the present and what to expect in future, the more you can anticipate what is going to happen, the more you can relax and work towards achieving your goals.
Choosing the best financial metrics for you
Truly understanding your company’s financial performance comes from determining and analysing the correct financial metrics and ratios. Examples of these might include your price-to-cash-flow ratio, price-to-earnings ratio or asset turnover ratio.
Your financial performance is something which potential investors and banks might want to examine, of course. But it is also something you need to be deeply familiar with you if you want your business to perform as well as it possibly can.
Financial ratio analysis involves comparing various sets of numbers within your financial statements. I can talk you through the stories those numbers are telling you about your business.
Working as your financial consultant
I work as a financial consultant for companies in almost any industry you care to name. From retail shops to supermarkets. Diners to restaurants. Beauty services to beauty product manufacturing. IT to legal services.
I do so in a variety of different ways depending on how my clients like to operate. For instance, you might need someone to focus on one particular project and carry out a project management analysis to ensure it is worth your time. You might need me to do the same for all your products and services.
Alternatively, you might need someone to walk through all of your financial statements with you. Or to handle the comprehensive financial planning and analysis needed to take your business into the next decade.
You may require an on-demand expert. You may also be looking for a Virtual CFO who can also coach you and your key team members in how to perform any or all of these tasks yourself.
Let me know what your business needs today. I work with companies in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, the UK, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden and Germany. So, wherever you are based, feel free to get in touch.