Your tech start-up has blossomed from a seed of an idea into the thriving enterprise it is now. You’ve been operating and your systems have been in place for a while, your business is generating solid profit and now you’re ready to take the next step to scale things up.

Whether it’s rolling out a new product, expanding to more locations, growing your team or a combination of the above, one thing’s for sure: before you make any jumps, it’s imperative you’ve got the right systems in place to sustain significant growth.

 

Visualise your cash flow so you know exactly what’s around the corner. 

You’re no stranger to rigorous planning to hit your targets. You’ve got a defined, clear-cut vision of what you want to achieve in the next few years, and you know the amount of cash you have access to will ultimately decide whether you meet those goals. 

Forecasting your cash flow will tell you exactly where tweaks need to be made to achieve the most sustainable growth. Once you’ve mapped out exactly when and where you’ll need cash, you can plan fundraising and investments accordingly.

 

  1. Build a cash flow forecasting tool. 

Log all recurring revenue and recurring costs. This could be on a spreadsheet or using one of the many cashflow tools on the market. Then add in your best estimate of one-off inflows and outflows. Dive into every nook and cranny of your expenses, paying close attention to how much headroom you’ve got after costs. Try to map it out as far into the future as you can.

Think of this tool as a financial radar. By seeing a clear landscape of the money you have access to at any point in time, you’ll be able to identify upcoming danger spots where you’ll need to source more cash.

 

  2. Use your forecasting tool to determine where to invest.

Now you’re able to see the expected trajectory of your cash flow, you can use this information to decide where the money is best spent to scale up your business.

If your forecast predicts an upcoming boom in cash flow, you might be able to pivot strategy and expand your sales team on top of your original plan to invest in R&D to develop a new product.

Alternatively, if the forecast shows you’re 6 months away from a dip in cash flow, you may need to press pause on your plans to expand to a new location and look at another round of VC funding.

 

Take learnings from previous projects.

Having built your startup from scratch to get to where it is now, you’ve seen it all – including how things don’t always go as planned. The beauty is, you’re now armed with learnings from those situations to use to your advantage.

When predicting how much you’ll need to invest in order to scale, are you confident you’ve calculated the exact cost of the project, or have you had to use guesswork to estimate costs? Looking back at similar projects you’ve been involved in will help here. 

Compare your predicted investment figure against the prediction you made for any similar investments in the past – and against the figure it actually turned out to be. This is where some of the cashflow tools edge a spreadsheet. These tools are made to integrate with your cloud based accounting system, so can easily show the differences between actual and forecast without a lot of data re-entry.  Are there improvements you can put in place this time to make the process smoother and ensure the final investment cost is closer to your prediction?

 

What got you here may not necessarily get you to the next stage.

You’ve got your business to where it is now by wearing a lot of different hats. Perhaps you’ve been doubling up your CEO duties to also act as CFO. Maybe you’ve been spending a big chunk of your time managing the marketing team around overseeing the day-to-day operations and systems.

While this has served your business well so far, sustained high-level growth is impossible without delegation. As you scale, those increasingly important strategic decisions will be the driving force behind further growth. 

Think about ways you can get more support in your business so you have more time to focus on strategy. Who can you bring in to offload your management responsibility? Can you train existing team members to take on some of the work you’re currently doing? Whether it’s by recruiting new staff or investing in the people you’ve got, your business will scale far more sustainably with you in the driver’s seat.

 

Translate your vision of scaling up into an achievable plan.

At Fractional Finance, we work closely with tech founders to take their venture from start-up to serious scale-up. We’re highly skilled in forecasting and financial management, putting in place the systems you need to cultivate sustained growth.

 

If you want to learn more about how your business could benefit from a team of financial experts in your corner, get in touch with us.