How MCTco’s Clean Numbers Boosted Their Decision & Pitch Confidence
Simple Startup joined Joe in his mission to simplify his finances, so he could have confidence in his numbers, make informed business decisions, and pitch to investors like a pro!
Who Has Time For Non-Revenue Generating Tasks?
In the early days of his startup, Joe Christensen, Founder of MCTco, said his major priority was generating sales and we don’t blame him – boosting sales is a concern for every business owner. So he outsourced non-revenue generating tasks including hiring a bookkeeper. He quickly realized, even with a bookkeeper, QuickBooks was a burden – where financial information went to die (his words) – instead of a usable tool to help him extract insightful information on his business.
This is where Simple Startup entered the picture – on recommendation from another founder – and joined Joe in his mission to simplify his finances, so he could have confidence in his numbers, make informed business decisions, and pitch to investors like a pro!
Healthy Living One Bar At A Time
About The Client
After witnessing the health struggles of far too many family and friends, Joe made it his mission to understand proper nutrition and the benefits of an active lifestyle. With first-hand experience in improving his own health – he set out to make a healthy impact on the greater community by founding MCTco. MCTco’s bars were born from Joe’s passion for making healthy choices accessible and tasty. Partnering with Simple Startup helped him build an accounting foundation he could depend on and use to forecast inventory and financial models giving Joe a boost in confidence to push toward his business goals.Lack of Clarity Leads to Uncertainty
The Problems
When Joe reached out to Simple Startup it was because he felt a sense of uncertainty – foreboding even – when it came to his company’s financials. There may not be a future for MCTco without a better grip on them. So he began onboarding to clean up his accounting and quickly realized the clean up was only the beginning.
1. No Accounting Foundation or Processes
QuickBooks was burdensome and not the reporting tool Joe knew it had the potential to be. MCTco was also struggling with their accounts receivable (AR) and their accounts payable (AP).
2. Flawed Cogs
Joe knew MCTco struggled with warehouse management and this in combination with limited accounting reporting made it all but impossible to make accurate forecasts for his cost of goods sold (COGS). In Joe’s words, “Quite simply, we’ll be out of business if we can’t report on our numbers.”
3. Inhibited Fundraising
Big goals require financing from more than family and friends. But Joe didn’t feel like he could answer the necessary questions well enough to pitch to investors.
Knowing Industry Nuances Makes All the Difference
The Solutions
With a clear understanding of the challenges Joe faced with MCTco’s numbers, Simple Startup began implementing the right solutions for his business.
The Solution To Problem 1:
Simple Startup’s consumer packaged goods knowledge meant they understood MCTco’s industry line items and specifically how to accurately account for trade spend, which was a clear challenge for their former bookkeeper. QuickBooks was now a functional tool and Joe felt more in control with the reporting capabilities he had to inform his decisions.
Clean books meant Joe was finally able to file the prior year’s tax returns, which he could not do without running the risk of incorrectly filing them and accruing penalties. The better data Joe could now access also allowed him to come up with 1- and 5-year pro forma statements. Additionally, Simple Startup integrated Bill.com to aid in their newly developed AR and AP processes. Joe could finally collect on aging AR including an outstanding invoice from Amazon!
The Solution To Problem 2:
The delightful thing about clean numbers is they create the possibility for accurate forecasting! Simple Startup guided MCTco on how to use past data to calculate inventory, forecast COGS (bringing their margin of error down by 60%), and work through warehouse mismanagement issues. Formal inventory management processes were put into place that would make it simple for MCTco to forecast their inventory on an ongoing basis based on past sales data.
The Solution To Problem 3:
Joe’s visionary plans for MCTco were based on his ability to pitch to investors and successfully raise capital. The visibility he now had into his numbers meant Joe could present to investors with conviction and answer their questions based on accurate data. In his own words, “I can go to investors and say this is our burn rate, this is how we came up with it, and this is our path to market. This confidence really helped me reach our fundraising goals.”
Pitching With Confidence
Progress and Results
There’s a theme with many Simple Startup clients where they onboard to clean up their accounting and are floored by the sheer number of options and opportunities that clean books set in motion. Joe had a similar experience – after Simple Startup, he had full clarity and confidence in his accounting and in his ability to pursue financing opportunities that would allow him to expand.
In Joe’s words, “The name implies it all. Simple Startup simplifies your finances. They build much-needed processes and instill my confidence in them, and then from there they help me make decisions on the fly instead of staying up until midnight trying to determine if something is a good decision or not.”
Looking to the future, Joe feels he can confidently reach his goals of creating more jobs, expanding his online low-sugar snacking platform, and distributing nationally with fantastic retail partners like Sprouts, Whole Foods, Kroger, and Albertsons.
Does Your Current Accounting Team Help You Pitch to Investors With Confidence?
If more visibility into your numbers would boost your capital raising confidence, it might be time to choose an accounting and finance partner that will be just that – a partner in your business.
Schedule time on our calendar here and we’ll take care of the rest, including determining the best path forward to reach your BIG business goals.
