If you are considering starting your own business or have already started, then you should read the 7 incites below: (1) Growth will not be a straight line. The only place where it's a straight line is in your business plan. "Growth" is not just measured solely in revenue. Nor is it growth in profit. In fact, sometimes growth in revenue wipes out all your profit. And sometimes focusing too much on profit wipes out your growth. It's definitely NOT growth in employees. Balance all these things. (2) No one will like change as much as you do. The bigger you get, the more people that work for you, the harder change gets. The idea of an agile business constantly pivoting around opportunity, only happens in small teams who have nothing to fear. Otherwise the only people who embrace change are new employees, for them, it levels the playing field. For everyone else, change = risk. So, take the risk away and they might lean into it. (3) Cash (the lack of it) will kill you. If your business model is not cash-positive, you had better have a huge potential upside, plus a pot of investment cash. For the remaining 99.99% of businesses, look at your model and figure out how to bring in cash in the most predictable, and easiest way possible. Chasing invoices is not the best use of your time. (4) Staff will be your biggest asset - and your greatest liability. Look after them, feed them, nurture them. But guaranteed, one day they will leave you (usually at the worst possible time). When you’ve assembled your best team ever, your clients will quit. Just when client demand goes stratospheric, your staff will quit. That’s just the way it is. (5) Your best ideas will come from customers. I am not saying to spend money on focus groups and market research companies. Do keep talking, keep meeting, keep asking customers, constantly. I can have 100 ideas a day, but they’re worthless if a customer doesn’t buy one of them. But a customer telling you what would be of real value to them… that’s gold dust. (6) Accept that you are only human. I don’t mean “be humble”, I mean accept that you don’t have all the answers, you will make mistakes and most important of all, you will not have the physical or mental energy to work flat out forever. Delegate, delegate, delegate. (7) Success will take longer than you think. And the journey will be harder than you think. That shouldn’t put you off. But bear in mind that overnight successes are years in the making.

The role of the CFO has undergone a profound change in the past twenty years. The historical tasks of the finance function such as maintaining books and records, financial reporting, and statutory compliance continue to be important and mission critical but are now seen as minimum requirements by CEOs. Today's CFOs drive the direction and success of their organisations by using their knowledge and understanding of the financial position of the company. The Key skills for the modern CFO: · Leadership – To be an effective business partner, today's CFO must have the necessary leadership and communication skills. They must give advice and counsel as well as provide a voice of reason. · Operations – They should possess a strong understanding of the company's business model and industry and be able to use this knowledge to constructively challenge the commercial and operations teams. · Controls – In an increasingly volatile global environment, the CFO needs to ensure adequate assessment and mitigation of risk as well as compliance with regulatory and legal requirements. · Strategy – Supporting strategic development and execution by prioritising and ensuring the strategy can be funded. A CFO needs to be a visible leader in the business, an excellent communicator, and an influencer. A "seat at the table" must be earned by the CFO. They are business partners to the CEO and help guide and influence decisions by using their financial knowledge. Forward thinking companies realise that Finance needs to be embedded throughout the business to allow effective decision support to key functions such as commercial, operations, and manufacturing. Having access to timely and accurate data enables finance productivity and decision support. Automated reporting and analytics allow more time to be dedicated to forecasting analysis. Technology will play an increasingly important role for the CFO, but its effectiveness depends on the accuracy, availability, and consistency of data. CEOs want "'more for less" from their finance function. The finance function is now increasingly being assessed in terms of its effectiveness rather than a narrower focus on its efficiency.

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