Here's how you can effectively manage the financial aspects of your business.

For any fast growing organization to maintain the pace of growth and sustain it's profitability/minimize the burn level, it's very important to have a Long term as well as a short term business plan. Build an Annual Operating Plan (AOP) that sets the organization in the right direction which is extensive and detailed to a certain extent. In parallel, prepare a short term plan for every quarter which is a double click on the AOP with the most granular projection of each line item. Track the quarterly plan every month against the actuals and fix your strategies real-time to make sure you don't breach the quarterly targets!

Long Term Strategic Plan and Annual Operating Plan - Key to robust financial management is aligning the Financial planning to your mission, vision and strategic goals of the organisation. This could be done by drawing long term strategic plan eg 5 - 10 year strategic plan considering the growth drivers, opportunities, risks - internal and external, people and sustainable practices. The Annual operating plan should be aligned with the login term strategic plan Apart from Profitability, another key financial aspect is cash flow and working capital management. It is pivotal aspect of financial management, as bad cash flow management can halt your entire operations.

Firstly, establish a comprehensive budget to align expenses with revenue projections. This provides clarity and guidance for financial decision-making. Secondly, maintain meticulous records of all business expenditures. Accurate expense tracking ensures better control over spending and adherence to budgets. Furthermore, regularly monitor your cash flow to anticipate fluctuations and address potential issues promptly. This proactive approach helps maintain adequate liquidity for smooth operations. Finally, consistently review financial reports such as profit and loss statements and balance sheets.

"Charting Your Course to Financial ?? Fitness" In business, a well-crafted budget is your financial compass. It guides resource allocation, identifies spending patterns, and empowers informed decision-making. Beyond basic categorization, consider implementing zero-based budgeting, where you justify every expense from scratch each period. This approach fosters a culture of cost-consciousness and ensures every rupee is strategically allocated. Remember, flexibility is key. As market dynamics shift, adapt your budget to seize opportunities and navigate challenges. With a dynamic spending plan, you'll be prepared to weather any financial storm.

The better management of your finance in business involves the following: 1. Align your spents with your objectives, missions 2. Review your spending habits 3. Find ways to save from your return 4. Check on your Insurance policies 5.try to be debt free( reduce debt) 6.use budgeting app. Every single money spent must be budgeted for

To maximize the benefits of tracking your spending, consider setting up customized alerts in your financial apps to notify you when you're approaching your budget limits. This can prevent overspending and help maintain financial discipline. Additionally, regularly reviewing your spending patterns with a financial advisor or a trusted friend can provide new insights and help you adjust your budgeting strategies to better meet your financial goals. Integrating your financial tracking tools with other financial services like your bank accounts and credit cards can also streamline the process and provide a more comprehensive view of your financial health.

It is important to budget GL code wise and break it up into monthly figures considering seasonality, in order to track spendings meaningfully. It is a lengthy exercise but really helps to track through any ERP. Maintaining strict financial discipline is critical and should be the intent of higher management. An organisation needs to plan like a voyage. Not having enough towards the end of the journey, will pull everyone down. Thus, a mindful decision is very important.

To stay a float, managing cash is key regardless of how much sales have made because if sales cannot turn into cash inflow that will have significant impact on the entire operation

Track daily expenses is the key area for ongoing business. Tracking exp gives visibility on exp alignment with budget whether we are crossing budget or with in the budget. it helps to curb unnecessary expesnes. it gives visibility on future profit percentage that going to be achieved. it helps to spent fund wisely so that avoid misuse of funds.

Forecast revenue is important to make future budgets and production plans. it is required to take expansion plans or change in the organisation goals based on the market volatility and technologinal advances.

What I can contribute on this topic is that in the cases of countries or regions -such as Latam-, werw economies and governments add certain amount of uncertainty, that forescast must often be adapted to horizons werw the instability of the country or region can be analyzed with some probability of accuracy. Many times the mistake is trying to make 5-year projections in economies where that horizon can't be analyze so forecast tends to be "science fiction." In these cases is best to determine a "manageable" time horizon (for example 2 years) and work with shorter projections and with more frequent adjustments and/or validations.

In my experience forecast revenue cannot be predicted, especially in a highly volatile economy like Nigeria couples with customers sensitivity to pricing . It becomes crucial that business owners need to partner with financial institutions to accurately manage their business finances.

I agree that Debt can be a useful tool for growing your business, but I would like you to consider other ways to get financing, like applying for grant, going into partnership, shares, investments and the likes ….. because with debt as a business owner you carry business expenses and risk alone, yet you pay profit to your borrower with fund you never made profit from. Leaving you in a situation where you are practically working for your borrower

Debt fund is low cost fund compared to equity fund discipline is required in spending debt fund. one should monitor closely that the debt funds are not used for the purpose other than that they are intended. for example short term should not be used for long term projects. etc.,