📊 FROM IDEAS TO FINANCIALS 💰

Today in CEO, we had the opportunity to learn from Cherrish McCoy, Commercial Lender at Banterra Bank, about an important part of building a successful business: understanding the financials. 📈

We learned that the financial side of a business is more than just putting numbers on paper — the numbers tell the story of your business.

We focused on the 3 pillars of financials:

💵 Start-Up Costs — What do we need to get our business off the ground?
📈 Projections — How much do we realistically expect to bring in?
🏢 Ongoing Expenses — What will it cost to keep our business running?

We also learned how important it is to:

🔹 Make realistic assumptions
🔹 Know our break-even point
🔹 Account for insurance, marketing, and replacement costs
🔹 Be able to explain where our numbers come from
🔹 Plan for the future

One thing that really stuck with me was the idea that we should know our business better than anyone else. If we can’t explain our numbers, it becomes difficult to explain why our business deserves funding or support.

As CEO students, we’re learning that having a great idea is just the beginning. We have to understand the strategy, numbers, and decisions behind that idea to turn it into something real. 🚀

Thank you, Cherrish, for helping us better understand the financial side of entrepreneurship!

✍🏻 Post content written by CEO student Addi McMillen

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