You’re an ambitious SME going from strength to strength, building your business at a fast pace, the world is your oyster! But as sweet as your business may be, everyone has their weaknesses.
You may not like talking about them but every business has them and recognising them is the first step to overcoming them. For SMEs many of these weaknesses will involve their finances be that raising capital, cash constraints or managing working capital. This is where an interim CFO can help.
If you’re still growing, it won’t make financial sense to employ a full-time CFO but having one at hand that can advise you as and when you need them will be worth its weight in gold. So, what exactly can they help you with?
An interim CFO is likely to have experience in other sectors to your own, which can be hugely beneficial in providing a fresh perspective and helping your business grow. Yes, please!
Struggling to implement proper processes? An interim CFO can help with that too. From helping with financial clarity by refining financial reporting, to reviewing your KPIs to ensure they’re in line with your business goals.
Managing cash flow is also a real bugbear of many SMEs. In 2017, a report by JP Morgan Chase Institute found that less than 25% of small businesses have enough cash buffer to last 62 days, while the recommended buffer would cover them for three to six months. Your super duper interim CFO to the rescue! They’ll help you:
- Establish a cash management tool
- Identify and present options for generating money
- Repeat actions daily/weekly depending on the severity of the crisis
- Establish reporting to provide an advanced warning mechanism so that you can adjust quickly enough to avoid another crisis, once the company is back on its feet.
They really are multi-talented and once you bring one into your business, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it before.
