Undercover at Two Feet: Business Finance Fundamentals

Welcome to the fifth instalment of Undercover at Two Feet, where we cover each Two Feet topic as they unfold. From Intent, to Funding and Pitching, to Team and Governance, our Two Feeters are covering a lot of ground this year, and we want to take you inside.

This week covered Business Finance Fundamentals, and was facilitated by Ishani Chattopadhyay, read on to find out what was covered…

Date: 12/7/2017

Location: Donkey Wheel House, Melbourne

Facilitator: Ishani Chattopadhyay

Session: Business Finance Fundamentals

Vibe: There was a little apprehension in the room at first because a lot of people dislike numbers. That said, Ishani quickly got people in the groove with her practical and ‘real life’ view on numbers and finance. She told everyone about her love for numbers and how good numbers actually tell a story that brings light to the effectiveness of your operations.

By the end, people were fist-pumping and high-fiving, having learned how they can choose the right numbers to make decisions and were eager to get going on their own business financials. An incredible transformation really!

Lunch: delicious Japanese-style soups to warm our souls from the Melbourne winter chill.

Playlist: mood-lifters and party starters to keep us rolling through the numbers with excitement

“Don’t interpret numbers, understand them and make decisions using them. Numbers don’t lie, people do!”

Key Takeaways:

Using three simple statements well, you can tell a story about your operational performance, what your business is worth at a particular point in time and how funds flow through your business.

When taking numbers to project or forecast you should always be thinking about “what decisions am I trying to make?” and “how does this connect with my operations?”.

In turn, this should all help you understand risk and figure out how to mitigate it.

Key Moments:

People who had assumed they were terrible at numbers actually proved to know much more than they thought through learning numbers in a more pragmatic way.

Having people leave the session saying they loved it given their initial fears about numbers was a highlight for everyone involved!

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