Forecasting is one of those things that is required as part of your business plan and one of the many things you are advised to do by your accountant and/or advisor. But why?
Make better decisions
This is the single biggest reason why you should think about your business's numbers. Not for the bank, not for investors, or because someone told you you should. It's so you can make better decisions, based on information that's specific to you and easy to interpret.
Reduce failure rates
At Finanscapes we created our forecasting tool specifically with the start-up and entrepreneur market in mind because, following a background in the financial sector, we realised there is a need for a simple and easy-to-use tool to reduce the failure rate of start-up businesses.
Establish your confidence
You've had a great idea, you know there is room in the market for it and you believe in your idea. But where's the proof? How can you be certain your idea is going to be successful and make money?
The answer is research. You'll have done your market research to show; who and what the competition is, what the pricing structure of the market is and what the best routes to market are. In fact, research extends into every part of your business planning including the marketing and financials.
This is where forecasting comes in. It takes all of the research you have done and puts numbers to it. It is these numbers, arranged in your forecast, which will tell you what your business will look like.
A forecast can tell you how much money you could make, when you could make it by and what elements you could change to increase your profits.
This will ultimately give you confidence in your idea and the confidence to make strong business decisions that will ultimately grow your business.
Meet growth targets
As part of your cashflow and profit forecasting, you will quickly be able to see if you are going to meet your targets, when you will meet them and if they are realistic.
There are no certainties in life and things can change quickly for start-ups but if you have a forecast to fall back on you can quickly and easily forecast the outcome of these changes and manage them to ensure you meet your targets, regardless of what the future has in store for you and your business.
Demonstrate your capabilities
As a start-up you will be asking people to believe in you, to put their faith in you, whether it be a bank manager, a supplier, a customer or a business partner. This is where forecasting can increase your chances of success.
You can demonstrate to all of your stakeholders that you understand the money within your business to a level that means you will always have a health cashflow and a positive profit projection. Having a regularly updated forecast for your business will show your stakeholders that you are taking the future of your business seriously.
Instil confidence in investors
Bank managers and other investors are at the top of the list of people who will want to see evidence of financial return on investment. It is more than confidence in you personally they will be looking for. They will want to see the numbers for themselves before they entrust money to you and your idea.
The Finanscapes forecasting tool allows you to create your forecasts from anywhere and then, when you are happy with them, you can publish them to specific people. This will not only demonstrate your fiscal management ability but also look more professional (and be more reliable) than a spreadsheet!
Pyschology
There is also psychological reasoning behind the development of our tool. Here comes the science: specific parts of our brains are adapted to handle specific types of task, but in each person one particular area will be up to 100 times more efficient at processing information than the others.
Only 12.5% of the population has the personality of analysis, and only 20% of us studies maths beyond age 16 meaning you are more likely to avoid cashflow forecasting and financial matters as much as possible.
Try it now, for FREE
At Finanscapes, we have taken all of our financial services experience and created a cashflow and profit forecasting tool. It is cloud-based giving you access from anywhere with an internet connection meaning there is no excuse!
We created our forecasting tool specifically with the start-up and entrepreneur market in mind because we realised there was a need for a simple and easy-to-use tool which could reduce the failure rate of start-up businesses.
Try it now, for FREE, and start seeing the future of your business in terms of cashflow, profit and growth opportunities. The possibilities are endless, but do you know what they are?
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