We want to share with you our thoughts on business projections, cash management, small business, entrepreneurship, finance, startups, and business planning.



I met with a small business owner this week. He’s in the apparel business. His business is just a couple of years old, and it has yet to turn a profit. While there has been some organic growth, the growth hasn’t been fast enough. He has been forced to put lots of money into the business this year, and he feels it’s time to make a decision. He says his options are: (1) make the additional effort to add customers to get to the point where it’s breaking even, (2) add new products that will increase sales to... [continue reading]

Over the last eight years I have presented over 550 times a free seminar at Workforce Centers called “How to Start a Successful Small Business.” In these seminars I always ask what the participants think the failure rate is for businesses in their first 12 months of operation. Usually the answers range from a high of 90% to a low of 20%.  So what is the real answer? First off, if you Google “failure rates of new businesses” there are over 67 million responses. When looking at the first ten pages you f... [continue reading]

I'm working with a small, family-owned manufacturing company. For a number of years they had been suffering from declining sales, and like a lot of companies, they just didn't do anything about it. They just assumed that the situation would get better all by itself. Then they began to see that they were running out of cash. Still they didn't do anything right away. Finally, when they were at the end of their rope, they reached out to me for help. I went in and assessed the situation and realized that ... [continue reading]

A business projection is not an accounting tool. It's a management tool. Whether you're starting a business or your business has been around for a while, understanding the numbers of your business is critical to your success. I've asked many entrepreneurs how they know it's the right time to expand their business or whether they can afford to hire a new employee. Their answer worries me because it's usually a shoulder shrug followed by, "I just go with my gut." You've got too much riding on your busin... [continue reading]

In 2018 CB Insights published the top 20 reasons why startups fail. They said there is rarely just one reason for startup failure, but they found the 20 most common reasons that startups don't make it. At ProjectionSmart we reviewed that list to determine how many of these reasons are addressed when the entrepreneur uses the Startup financial model and the Proof Plan. What we found was that the top nine most common reasons why startups fail are all addressed in the the Startup financial model and the ... [continue reading]


Tag Cloud

[ ProjectionSmart ] [ startup ] [ numbers ] [ succeed ] [ fail ] [ Planning ] [ Plans ] [ Budget ] [ Projection ] [ Number ] [ Plan ] [ Balance Sheet ] [ Cash Flow ] [ control ] [ failure ] [ crystal ball ] [ financial picture ] [ future ] [ options ] [ risk ] [ model ] [ income statement ] [ P&L ] [ equity ] [ bizowner ] [ micro-business ] [ entrepreneur ] [ Proof Plan ] [ banker ] [ investor ] [ mistakes ] [ profit ] [ cash ] [ mistake ] [ sales ] [ margin ] [ markup ] [ margin percentage ] [ business plan ] [ business planning ] [ bootstrap ] [ bootstrapping ] [ debt ] [ bank ] [ investors ] [ success ] [ turnaround ] [ Growth ] [ financial statements ] [ fear of finance ] [ see the future ] [ confront your concerns ] [ proof ] [ forecast ] [ look ahead ] [ financial model ] [ financial projection ] [ failure rate ] [ first year ] [ decision making ] [ sales forecast ] [ expenses ] [ insights ] [ SCORE ] [ The Blueprint ] [ projections ] [ templates ] [ spreadsheets ] [ loan ] [ accounting ] [ Gross margin ] [ gross profit ] [ net income ] [ better business decisions ] [ financial projections ] [ overhead ] [ accounts receivable ] [ accounts payable ] [ revenue per employee ] [ business plans ] [ Finances First ] [ crisis ] [ scenario ] [ Predict ] [ CPA ] [ accountant ] [ spreadsheet ] [ Cuban ] [ manage ] [ companies ] [ subscriptions ] [ start ] [ business ] [ entrepreneurs ] [ create ] [ confidence ] [ Startups ] [ small business ] [ cash flow statement ] [ entrepreneurship ] [ cash basis ] [ accrual basis ] [ podcast ] [ see ] [ pandemic ] [ banking ] [ regulatory ] [ decisions ] [ finances ] [ accrual ] [ taxes ] [ RAAP ] [ cash management ] [ financial impact ] [ troubled ] [ strategy ] [ peace ] [ struggling ] [ reasons ] [ banks ] [ FranNet ] [ franchise ] [ information ] [ intuition ] [ proactive ] [ reacting ] [ tactics ] [ survey ] [ tool ] [ statement of cash flows ] [ vision ] [ goals ] [ subscription ] [ Excel ] [ QuickBooks ] [ understand numbers ] [ costs ] [ scale ]

Five stars

"ProjectionSmart Growth is very easy to use for the small business owner who wants to assess his finances and know where his cash is going. It is extremely helpful to me in making more informed business decisions. It gives me peace of mind."
~ Justin, CEO of professional services firm

Five stars

"ProjectionSmart Startup made it very easy to come up with two years' worth of projections without needing an accounting background. It saves a lot of time and headaches."
~ Jeni, startup entrepreneur

Five stars

"As someone with little business experience, ProjectionSmart took the fear out of creating a business plan. It helped make the numbers easy to understand and surprisingly fun!"
~ Elizabeth, entrepreneur

Read more reviews