Step 1: Identify Your WHY

• Why are you in business?
• What are you trying to accomplish with your business?
• What is your business model?

Step 2: Assess Current Finances

• How well capitalized is your business?
• Is revenue growing or shrinking, and at what rate?
• What percent of revenue is dropped to the bottom line as net profit or loss? Is that trending up or down?
• Is the business producing positive cash flow commensurate with reported net profit?

Step 3: Define Metrics and Targets

• Which metrics best indicate achievement of your company’s financial objectives and successful execution of your strategy over the next 1 month to 3 years?
• This will be a mix of leading and lagging indicators.

Step 4: Upgrade Accounting Operations 

• Determine required Finance Stack functions and who will perform those functions
• Define accounting policies and procedures to produce required financial reporting

Step 5: Manage The Business

• Use a framework to track metrics
• Operationalize metrics, including accountabilities for your managers and other employees for weekly activity-based metrics that lead to your target financial results.
• Use a monthly forecast to predict future performance.

Step 6: Learn, Iterate, and Improve

• Follow the Operate-Report-Manage loop with an Agile mindset