Insights
Practical finance for owners deciding when to distribute cash, take on debt, sell or buy. Written by a fractional CFO.
Business growth: fund the next stage without losing control
Connect higher sales, hiring and delegation to contribution, delivery capacity and cash timing.
ReadProfitability by business activity: where should you commit resources?
Compare contribution, specific costs and cash requirements before expanding or closing a business activity.
ReadCustomer profitability: which contracts actually support your business?
Connect revenue, delivery time, direct costs and collections to understand each customer’s contribution.
ReadSeasonal cash flow: getting through the low season without fear
Hospitality, retail, tourism: many SMEs and startups earn their year in a few months and put it at risk during all the others. Here is how to size the low season trough, build the high season reserve and run a 12 month seasonal cash plan, with a worked example.
ReadLate client payments: reduce delays and forecast receipts
Identify invoices tying up cash, organise collection actions and distinguish payment promises from available money. Guidance for France and Switzerland.
ReadRestaurant and hotel finance: the KPIs that actually steer your business
In restaurants and hotels, the bank account looks healthy in high season, yet the year can still end in a loss. Here are the financial KPIs that truly steer a restaurant or hotel: food cost, staff ratio, RevPAR, seasonality, and the monthly rhythm to read them.
ReadAccountant, executive coach or CFO: what support is actually missing?
If you need more advice, compare scope, data and the frequency of financial reviews before changing advisers.
ReadA monthly dashboard example for SMEs and startups: the complete template
An example of a monthly dashboard for SMEs and startups beats any theory: one page, five sections, four columns. Here is the complete template, filled in with the numbers of a fictional company, and the method for reading it in five minutes.
ReadFractional, full time or interim CFO: which model fits your SME or startup
A fractional CFO, a full time CFO and an interim CFO do the same job in three very different formats. Here is what each model really costs, a decision grid by company size and situation for SMEs and startups, and the choice mistakes that cost the most.
ReadFractional CFO fees for SMEs and startups: Mercova packages and scope
Mercova publishes indicative monthly retainers of EUR 1,500, EUR 3,000 and EUR 5,000. Compare monthly financial support, broader mandates and what your proposal should specify.
ReadFixed vs variable costs: the split that drives your pricing and your break even
Separating fixed and variable costs is not an accounting exercise, it is the key to your pricing decisions, your break even point and your resilience in a downturn. Here are the definitions that matter, a full worked example with round numbers, and the semi variable traps that distort most spreadsheets.
ReadHow to calculate your break even point: formula, worked example and how to lower it
Your break even point is the revenue level at which the business stops losing money. Here is how to calculate the break even point with one simple formula and a worked example in round numbers, and why the threshold moves every time you hire or invest.
ReadThe letter of intent (LOI), explained
The letter of intent sets the framework for your acquisition long before the purchase agreement. For a buyer of SMEs and startups, it is the document that locks in the price, protects your exclusivity and decides what stays negotiable. Here is what it contains, what binds you, and how to write it to keep the upper hand.
ReadGross and net margin: formulas and a worked example
Calculate profit amounts and margin percentages, define which costs to include and identify contracts, prices or spending to review.
ReadThe financial clauses that matter in a shareholders’ agreement
The shareholders’ agreement decides who gets what, and when, the day there is money to split. For the owner of an SME or startup, the financial clauses are the difference between a sale you control and one you are pushed into. Here are the ones to read line by line, with worked numbers.
ReadQuality of earnings, explained for buyers and sellers
Two companies report the same profit and are not worth the same price. A quality of earnings analysis separates recurring, collectible profit from decorative profit. Here is how it is run, what it reveals, and how it moves the price of an SME or startup.
ReadHow to negotiate with your bank from a position of strength
A bank does not lend to a story, it lends to numbers and to a trajectory it can defend internally. Here is how to build a file that sells itself, understand the ratios it computes on you, put banks in competition and win better terms, with a worked example for an SME or startup.
ReadLBO basics explained simply for buying an SME or a startup
An LBO is not just for funds. It is the mechanism that lets a buyer acquire an SME or a startup by having the target itself carry the debt. How a holding structure works, what makes a target financeable, a worked example of the return it produces, and the traps that turn a good LBO into a cash trap.
ReadWhen to hire a CFO, and why fractional comes first
Many SME and startup owners hire a CFO too early, or too late, and almost always full time when the real need is partial. Here are the concrete signals that call for a senior finance function, the grid to separate the need for steering from the need for execution, and why a fractional CFO is almost always the right first step.
ReadDebt capacity: how much debt your company can really support
Too much debt and the first downturn leaves you exposed; too little and you leave growth and returns on the table. Here is the framework we use to calibrate the debt capacity of a Swiss SME or startup, with concrete numbers and clear thresholds.
ReadHow valuation multiples really work by sector
People quote "5 times EBITDA" as if it were a law of nature. It rarely is. Here is how valuation multiples actually read, why they differ so much from one sector to the next, and what pushes yours up or down for an SME or startup.
ReadHow to analyze a small business acquisition
Before you sign a letter of intent, know whether the business is worth its price, or what is hiding behind it. Here is the SME due diligence method experienced acquirers use to analyze a target in four layers, from normalized earnings to the maximum price you can pay.
ReadCapex vs opex: making the spend decision
Buy or lease, build or rent, capitalize or expense: behind the capex versus opex debate sits a real decision about cash, returns and value. Here is the framework we use with SME and startup owners to make the call, with concrete numbers and a decision grid.
ReadBuying a business with limited equity: the structure that holds
Buying an SME or a startup does not mean holding the full price in cash. The real question is not how much you have, but how you stack senior debt, a vendor loan, an earn out and equity into a deal the target can genuinely carry. Concrete levers, where each one stops working, a worked example, and the debt capacity test to pass before any letter of intent.
ReadSeven mistakes that destroy value before a sale
Most SME and startup owners lose value not at the negotiating table but months earlier, through avoidable mistakes. Here are the seven most expensive ones, and how to fix them before a buyer charges you for them.
ReadEarly warning signs of financial distress, and how to read them in time
A company almost never collapses overnight. The signals appear months ahead, in cash, on the balance sheet and in the owner’s own behavior. Here is the complete framework, the alert thresholds and an action plan by severity level, for an SME or startup.
ReadHow to finance a business acquisition
Financing the purchase of an SME or a startup is not just asking your bank for a loan. It is a case you build, several sources of capital you assemble, and a target that must prove it can repay. The financing sources available, what a banker really looks at, a realistic timeline, and the checklist for an application that gets funded the first time.
ReadSelling a founder led business: the 5 cracks buyers attack first
A buyer does not read your brochure. They hunt for the cracks that justify a discount. Here are the five lines of attack they open in the first hours of due diligence on SMEs and startups, and how to close each one to protect your valuation before they find it.
ReadThe financial KPIs every SME and startup should track
An owner does not need fifty metrics, they need eight, read every month. Here are the financial KPIs that actually steer an SME or startup, how to calculate each with round numbers, and the order in which to read them.
ReadWhen is the right time to sell your company: the signals that say the window is open
Most SME and startup owners sell either too late, under pressure, or too early, out of fatigue. The right moment is not a gut feeling. It shows up where four curves line up. Here is how to tell whether your window is open.
ReadHow to reduce your working capital and free up cash
Working capital ties up more cash than most owners realize. Here is how to measure it in days, work the three levers (receivables, inventory, payables) and calculate how much each move actually frees, with a worked example for an SME or startup.
ReadBusiness acquisition: 6 red flags in the accounts of a founder led company
Before any due diligence on an SME or startup run by its founder, the accounts rarely tell the whole story. Here are the six red flags a seasoned buyer reads in a balance sheet and an income statement, and what each one really hides about the quality of earnings, the valuation and the risk you are taking on.
ReadHow to prepare your company for sale: the 12 month plan that sets the price
Most SME and startup owners start preparing for a sale three months out, and pay for it. Here is the twelve month exit readiness plan that turns an owner dependent business into a transferable asset, and that shows up directly in the price.
ReadHow to read the financial statements of an SME or startup you want to buy
Balance sheet, income statement, notes: three documents, one question for a buyer. What is this business really worth and what hides behind the numbers? Here is a reading method, in order, with a worked example so nothing slips past you.
ReadHow to find a business worth buying
Most buyers spend months searching for a target and end up signing the first one that turns up. Here is how to define an acquisition thesis, build a steady deal flow, and quickly separate sound SMEs and startups from the traps, before you ever talk price.
ReadHow to build a financial forecast investors will believe
An investor does not judge your forecast on the final number, but on the strength of the reasoning that leads to it. Here is how to build a credible forecast for an SME or startup: start from the drivers, not the wishes, link the three statements, and defend every assumption.
ReadEarn outs: how they work and how to protect yourself
An earn out makes part of your sale price depend on the future results of your company, at a point when you no longer run it. For SME and startup owners, it is the clause that decides how much you actually collect. Here is how it works, and how to negotiate it without getting trapped.
ReadSearch funds and ETA, explained
The search fund is a model born in the United States that lets a buyer with little capital acquire a sound SME or startup with investor backing. Here is how ETA works, its two variants, the real economics of a deal, and the pitfalls to know before you start in France.
ReadEBITDA or the owner’s real cash: do not pay for the wrong number
A deal book quotes an EBITDA of 800,000 euros. But how much cash actually reaches the owner’s pocket each year? Here is the due diligence method, built for buyers of SMEs and startups, to bridge from EBITDA to real cash, line by line, and set your top price before you sign an offer.
ReadDebt capacity: how much to borrow to buy an SME or startup
The price of an SME or startup is not set by the multiple. It is set by what the cash flows can repay. Here is how to work out, before you sign, how much debt the target can genuinely carry, and therefore the price you can safely pay.
ReadThe 13 week cash flow forecast every owner needs
The 13 week cash flow forecast is the single most useful steering tool for an SME or startup. Here is how to build it line by line, with a worked example, the classic mistakes, and the weekly rhythm that means you are never surprised by a payment again.
ReadProfitable but short of cash: understand where the money goes
Your business is profitable but its bank balance falls? A worked example explains the gap and helps prepare the next decisions.
ReadMBI vs MBO: which path into ownership fits you
Becoming the owner of a company runs through two main routes: buying in from the outside (MBI) or buying out the business you already run from the inside (MBO). The choice is not just about financing, it sets your level of risk, your learning curve and the premium you pay. Clear definitions, a decision grid, a worked example and the debt capacity test to pass before any letter of intent.
ReadOwner remuneration: what can your business afford to pay you?
Separate desired personal income, total company cost and available cash before setting regular remuneration.
ReadThe monthly reporting pack that earns trust
A good monthly report exists not to inform but to drive decisions and reassure. Here is the one page pack that SME and startup owners send their bank, partners and board every month, with its structure, a worked example and a checklist.
ReadDistributing cash without weakening the business
Before an exceptional payment, check cash after commitments, the downside case and the legal conditions for distribution.
ReadVendor due diligence: prepare before buyers dig
Most SME and startup owners wait for the buyer to start due diligence before they find their own weak spots. Vendor due diligence flips the order: you audit the business before the buyer does, and you keep control of the story and the price.
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