Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart, writes Louw Barnardt, founder of Cape Town-based financial management company Outsourced CFO.
Building a successful company is incredibly tough. The odds are ever against you. It’s likely that not everyone in your life supports your venture. The long hours, the glaring risks, the massive sacrifice…
But you have a purpose and a vision that’s bigger than the obstacles. Your passion and perseverance drive you to overcome everything that life and business can throw at you. And in the context of this moment in our country’s history, it’s of utmost importance that you succeed.
When an entrepreneur is successful, their company contributes to the economic growth our country so desperately needs. They create jobs for our people and impact in our communities.
It’s wonderful to see entrepreneurs succeed! Especially in this climate because you know that companies that can grow in spite of difficult external circumstances will undoubtedly flourish when simpler times come around. We’re blessed to be seeing world class innovation and perseverance among our entrepreneurs:
- With unemployment figures at all-time highs, our client base has posted a 58 per cent increase in fixed employment figures for the year to date. And the year’s not over yet.
- With economic growth hovering around the zero per cent mark, our client base has posted annual revenue growth in excess of 100 per cent for the year. And the year’s not over yet.
- It’s incredibly tough to raise capital in a young entrepreneurial eco-system. Our client base has raised more than ZAR350 million (US$24.3 million) in seed and growth finance over the past three years.
You don’t have to be an accountant to get excited about these figures! After many hours of studying the success of these companies, certain golden threads are noticeable across the majority of the most successful companies. Here are seven of the lessons that resonate:
Hedging country and currency risk safeguards earnings in tough times
South Africa has the most liquid emerging market currency in the world. This makes doing business quite tricky if you have both clients and major suppliers outside of the country. A ten per cent move in the Rand against major currencies can happen in a very short space of time.
On top of that, the long-term trend is firmly negative, with the Rand weakening over time against major currencies. This can be quite distressing if you import products or use international software because your costs keep going up. It can however also be an exciting driver of profitability if you can engineer your business model to predominantly pay expenses locally and to predominantly earn income from abroad. If the Rand goes down, your margins tend to go up. Many of our most successful entrepreneurs capitalise on this mechanism.
What gets measured, improves
Setting goals and working towards them is naturally very important when building a company. Goals like revenue growth or employment figures are easy to set and track. But it’s not so easy to set and monitor goals if you do not have the right information on what and how to track it when starting out.
I’m talking about things like utilising the cost per employee per hour as well as their charge-outs to track and improve profitability per staff member and per department. I’m talking about shortening your working capital cycle by tracking and improving each detailed flow of cash. I’m talking about engineering profitability upwards through many small tweaks to pricing strategy and delivery.
Having the right information helps you to make calls on the spot that move the company forward. Cloud accounting tools like Xero and many of its plug-ins help put live information into the hands of the entrepreneur to serve them when a decision needs to be made.
Cash flow is key
Cash in the bank is the lifeblood of any company. Our most successful entrepreneurs understand their working capital cycle and cash flow requirements. Realising that you have a funding gap five days from now is a bigger problem than realising that you have one in five months. Proactive management of daily and monthly cash flow puts entrepreneurs in control of their companies and allows them to make better decisions faster. Keep tight controls on cash in and cash out to make sure that you optimise and plan for your cash requirements.
Culture is at the heart of the business
Every company consists of people. Having a cohesive and impact-driven culture in your company creates the platform for employees to live themselves out in their roles. Fulfilled staff that are taken care of translates into better client relations and a better impression of the business from everyone who comes into contact with you people. Companies that manage to keep growing at a high rate almost always understand the critical role of company culture in the achievement of success.
Networks are powerful
The role of a strong and growing network should not be underestimated in a scaling company. People do business with people. Having the right market access and connections can mean the difference between failure and success. We’ve seen how local and global networks enable companies to land unbelievable new deals.
An entrepreneur that is an alumnus of a top international accelerator, part of the World Economic Forum’s Global Young Leaders and who cultivates a strong network of professional connections locally and abroad has a lot more options in the expansion of their company as compared to someone who is on their own.
Raising capital can drastically unlock growth
Raising capital takes time and effort from founders. It also poses the risk of selling a part of the company that you have built to an external party, which comes with less autonomy and control. In some instances, it can be avoided by growing organically from sales to clients – a great way to grow. But in most cases, accessing growth capital at the right time can significantly speed up the process of scaling a company. We have seen entrepreneurs post growth figures well upwards of 300 per cent in the year after they raised capital. Owning 100 per cent of your current company needs to be weighed up against owning say 80 per cent of a much different, much stronger business. Taking on investment has many different considerations, but the right investor at the right time could make for a giant leap forward.
There is no substitute for grit
Grit refers to the passion and perseverance that is required to keep on pushing ahead until you succeed. The entrepreneurial journey is scattered with unforeseen obstacles, devastating let-downs and hard knocks. Across the board, our top performing entrepreneurs are the ones who can keep on following a definite course until they succeed. There will be many pivots along the way, but never do they give up on their core vision. It’s important not to mistake temporary defeat for failure and to keep on keeping on until you reach the next milestone on your journey.
The budget forecast paints a bleak picture for the next five years in South Africa. Increasing deficits and increasing debt with very little forecasted growth in GDP means that our entrepreneurs will need to be even more resilient than before. But there is a definite map that leads to success and many inspiring visionaries who are building incredible companies in spite of the surrounding circumstances. Changemakers – stay focused and stay on track. South Africa needs you now more than ever.
