Financial Roadmap VIP Day
Give me one day, and I’ll have you on your way to knowing (and understanding) your numbers like Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting so you can: (i) price for maximum profit, (ii) get buy-in from investors and (iii) reach your profit goals faster.
"Diane built and taught us how to understand and use our financial model."
“We needed a financial consultant with real startup experience. Diane built and taught us how to understand and use a sophisticated startup financial projection model. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the whole collaborative experience!”
Let’s cut to the chase: The single biggest reason most startups fail is they run out of cash.
The culprit? Poor (or zero) financial planning.
Before you pitch investors or start to even think about growing and scaling your business, it’s mission critical that you know how much money you need to launch and run your business until you reach profitability.
Whether you’re “a numbers person” or not, as a startup founder, you want to be in control of your financial destiny. That doesn’t mean you need to become an expert… but you DO need to have a working knowledge of the financial side of your business (yep, even if you have a bookkeeper or accountant).
In the words of Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary…
“If you don’t know your numbers, you’re toast.”
And YOU don’t plan to be toast.
YOU plan to bring home the bacon. Lots of it.
That’s why I created…
The Financial Roadmap VIP Day
Give me a few hours, and I’ll give you the financial know-how and roadmap you need to build and understand the 3 core spreadsheets you need for financial projections that help you make strategic, profitable decisions as a CEO (and attract investors).
(Whether you hate numbers, you’re a financial whiz or somewhere in-between.)
"Diane is the startup consultant you didn’t know you needed."
Diane is the startup consultant you didn’t know you need. She’s been like a therapist for my inner entrepreneur. I am so grateful for her guidance.”
This 1-Day experience was tailor-made for you if…
Your business is 0-5 yrs old — in any industry.
Yes, I’ve worked with distilleries, as my name suggests. I’ve also worked with tech startups, consumer products, retail, food & beverage, entertainment and more.
You want to be in control of your financial destiny.
You know you need financial projections, but you don’t even really know what they are or where to begin. And you want to know exactly how much money you need to launch and run your business (whether you’re bootstrapping or raising funds).
You want to plan for growth.
You’re working toward growing or scaling your business, and you want to make sure you know exactly what it will take financially to get there.
You need investor funding.
The bottom line is, if you don’t know your numbers, investors will simply write you off — instead of writing you checks.
You want to price for maximum profit.
You want to feel confident that you’re pricing your products & services for maximum profit.
You don’t want run out of cash.
You know that running out of cash is the kiss of death. (No cash = game over.)
If any of these apply to you… you’re in the right place.
The bottom line is this… no matter where you are in your startup journey, you don’t need to become a financial expert, but you DO need to have a working knowledge of the financial side of your business.
Buckle Up
Here’s Your VIP Day Roadmap
Regardless of how much or how little you know about financials, I’ll meet you where you are.
1
Demystify
If this is all new to you, we’ll start with fundamentals like (i) explaining financial terms (in plain English) and (ii) walking you through the 3 core financial spreadsheets every startup needs.
2
Demonstrate
During your VIP Day, we’ll work together live via Zoom and Google Sheets as I show you how to use each individual spreadsheet and how they work together — in real time.
3
Distill
After distilling your financial picture, we’ll begin building your projections. You’ll learn key methods for getting the realistic numbers you need. (No, you can’t pull them out of thin air — investors will know instantly.)
4
Deliver
After our day together, I’ll go behind the curtain and distill things even further. Then I’ll deliver your custom financial roadmap, a transcript of our VIP Day and your next-steps action plan.
After our VIP Day,
here’s what you’ll walk away with…
Confidence
Clarity
Investor Insight
A clear understanding of exactly what investors are looking for so you can get funded.
Direction
A Draft
A head start on your financial projections, including the information you need to gather to complete them.
Momentum
What you’ll get.
Accountants and bookkeepers don’t speak “entrepreneur,” but I do. I differentiate my work with a hands-on collaborative approach — I don’t do it for you, I do it with you. Regardless of how much or little you know about financials, I meet you where you are to ensure that you not only understand your projections, but can use them (without having to rely on me or anyone else if you want to change something).
You will receive your own copy of the 3 core spreadsheets we worked on together: (i) Cash Flow Projections, (ii) Forecasted Profit & Loss and (iii) Sources & Uses of Funds. In addition, I’ll deliver a custom roadmap that guides you toward conpleting your financial projections.
SPECIAL ACCESS TO MY VELOCITY PLAN
*within reason
“Diane is a brilliant consultant. I hired her when my business faced some very tough challenges, and she really exceeded my expectations.
I highly recommend her for anyone needing guidance around business strategy or financials.”
Chris Campbell
ReviewTrackers
Charlie Smith
Master Distillery
I cannot say enough about how skilled, intelligent and fun to work with she is.”
Dan Szor
Cotswolds Distillery
Ready to fast-track your success?
Let’s talk cost.
Big-name consulting firms charge upwards of $15,000 for full-day consulting sessions (and the deliverable may not be 100% clear).
You can get my brain on your business, plus a tailored Financial Roadmap and clear action plan.
YOUR INVESTMENT: $3,500
Ready to talk numbers?
Just looking for someone to build your financial projections for you? I can do that.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Do you only work with distilleries?
No! I work with businesses of all kinds, ranging from clean energy to life sciences, retail to consumer products, entertainment, food & beverage, health and wellness, tech of all kinds and more. Together, we combine your industry expertise with my expertise in building companies that grow and get funded.
I named my company Startup Distillery because I take all of the ideas, dreams, plans and goals swirling in your head, synthesize them, and then distill them into a coherent roadmap that gets you from here to there. (I also happen to enjoy distilled spirits.)
2. How, exactly, does a VIP Day work?
Here’s how our day will go:
(1) PREP WORK. Before our day together I will send you a detailed questionnaire to gather information about: (i) your business and (ii) how familiar (or not) you are with financial spreadsheets. This will enable us to hit the ground running on your VIP Day.
(2) TWO HOURS. We’ll start our day on Zoom using a shared Google Sheets workbook. Assuming this is all new to you, we’ll focus on Phase 1: Demystify and Phase 2: Demonstrate. If financials are familiar to you, we’ll likely get to (or perhaps even start with) Phase 3: Distill.
(3) LUNCH BREAK. Two hours tends to be the limit for brains to process and retain information. So by this time we’ll be ready to refuel, recharge and refresh.
(4) ONE HOUR. For the next hour we will continue our work together by building (or continuing to build) your financial projections. The numbers you have available or that we can access together will determine how deep we can dive into building your projections. We will primarily focus on your Cash Flow Projections and Sources & Uses of Funds. If you don’t have realistic numbers available, we’ll go through the spreadsheets in a very detailed way as I guide you on how to get the numbers you need, how to estimate and how to forecast. Depending on timing, we may wrap up here.
(5) WRAP-UP. Depending on where things stand, we’ll use the last 15 minutes to address any remaining issues and answer any questions you may have.
3. Will my financial projections be done by the end of my VIP Day?
No. It takes far more than 1 day if you want to build a business that lasts. But you WILL be well on your way since you’ll walk away with:
- Clarity on the 3 core spreadsheets needed for your financial projections — specifically, what they are, what they tell you and how the spreadsheets work together.
- Direction. You will have specific guidance on how to get the real numbers you need for your estimated revenues and expenses.
- A solid foundation on which to continue building the projections we began working on together in real time.
All of these details are what will fast-track your success and help you get funding (if you need it).
4. What if I want YOU to finish my financial projections?
If you want me to finish building your financial projections, I offer a personal 1:1 consulting package (I like to call it my Velocity Plan) to keep you on the fast track.
5. What is a Velocity Plan?
A Velocity Plan is a 90-day, personal 1:1 consulting package available to clients who have completed a VIP Day with me. During this time, we’ll finish what we started on your VIP Day. By the end, you will be so comfortable with your numbers, you’ll be able to explain them to investors, partners — even your accountant ;-)
During this time we’ll have regularly scheduled calls, plus you’ll get unlimited access to me* via email, Voxer (a cool texting/voice messaging app) and phone. You will wake up each morning knowing exactly where to focus your time and energy, because I’ll be guiding you every step of the way… you’ll have clear, actionable steps to get you where you want to go better, stronger and faster.
*within reason
6. Diane, can I skip the VIP Day and have you build my financial projections for me?!
YES, you can. But you have to have at least some understanding of financial statements — otherwise, it’s best to start with the VIP Day. Book a call and let’s see what makes sense for you.
7. Do you help with pitches?
Yes. I’ve spent years developing pitch deck content — specifically slide -and- script content (your script DOES NOT belong on the slides!). I’ve even been known to provide guidance on presentation skills. If you’re interested, we can hop on a call to discuss pricing.
You had me at “maximum profits”