1) Need for a steady cash flow?

It’s simple! Cash is the lifeblood of your business. If you fail to ensure you have a steady cash flow
your business is at risk of failing. And, contrary to popular belief, it is possible for your business to be
making a profit, but still fail if there’s not enough cash available to pay the bills, staff wages, suppliers
and the like. It’s also a fact that the single biggest reason for companies failing in the first year is due
to a lack of capital.

Assessment is important!

Assessing the predicted cash flow in and out of the business allows you to:

 identify when there might be possible cash shortages allowing you to plan for them
 decide when you may have a surplus of cash so you can use it wisely
 ensure you always have cash available for paying suppliers, bills, wages etc
 use of the cash available efficiently
 make sound decisions about the company based on solid evidence

What to include in a cash flow forecast?

It’s important to be accurate when you predict your cash flow. Don’t go overboard and use wildly
exaggerated predictions of the number of sales you’re likely to make and do make sure that you add
in everything you will need to pay. It may help to be a little cautious at this stage and be a little
generous with your estimates of what things will cost as it’s better to have a surplus rather than a
deficit, which will leave you in a vulnerable position.

As well as major costs, such as rent, wages, suppliers and the like, you shouldn’t forget smaller
payments, so include, where appropriate:

bank charges wage bills motor expenses stationery

insurance premiums rent telephone electricity
water charges local taxes company registrations other sundries

Plus, anything else you need for your specific business. Once you know exactly how much money
you need to keep the business running, you can make sure you have it available, or make plans to
find it.

What can you do to help your cash flow?

There are three things you can do to improve your cash flow, which are to raise more money,
increase sales and reduce costs – or a combination of all three. Doing this should free up money to
ease your cash flow issues, whilst you work on a long-term solution.

2) How to handle risks in project/company evaluation? (answer wrt M&A)

The risk identification and assessment process is a critical part of effectively managing risks
at a project level. Risks are identified, and then classified by risk category (financial,
operational, strategic, compliance). Each risk is then assessed based on its impact and
likelihood, and prioritized in order to direct management focus toward the most important

Our Risk Identification and Assessment - Merger/Acquisition model follows the steps below:
 1. Identify potential risks that could impact your merger/acquisition and classify each
risk into categories.
2. Combine to eliminate duplicates and move forward with only unique risks.
3. Rate each risk based on impact and likelihood.
4. Prioritize to ensure the right risks are managed going forward.
5. Develop a specific action plan to address the high-priority risks.

HOW

1) NOODLE & TAG: Identify and categorize the key risks that could impact your project.

2) COMBINE to eliminate duplicates and move forward with only unique risks

3) MULTI-CRITERIA RATE each risk based on Impact and Likelihood. In the comments
section, provide rationale for why each risk was rated the way it was.

4) PRIORITIZE: Identify high priority risks for management attention.

5) ACTION PLAN: Develop an action plan to address high priority risks.

RESULTS

 Prioritized list of risks to receive management attention

 Critical thinking skills developed that enable a risk culture
 Valuable insight into why risks were rated the way they were
 Shared understanding and alignment on risks in the merger/acquisition

BENEFITS & IMPACT

This exercise will enable:

Quality - Gain critical insight into your organization and proactively manage the risks that
impact achievement of strategic goals – no surprises. Increased perspectives will reduce risk.

Efficiency - Engage busy stakeholders when it’s convenient for them to contribute – 24/7,
reducing meetings and bringing the right people to the table.

Engagement - Conversation analytics allow individual stakeholders to know how they rated
risks versus how others did, igniting rich discussion and deeper alignment. Provide a safe
space for stakeholders to evaluate and provide candid thoughts and rationale.

Agility - Develop a shared understanding about the organizations or departments key

risks. Evaluate and focus management attention and resources on the most important risks.