When I first started working with early-stage businesses, I was struck by something sobering: despite passion, innovation, and long hours, a huge number of start-ups still don’t make it. The stats don’t lie, according to PwC, the failure rate among start-ups is at its “lowest level for more than a decade,” but it’s still worryingly high for many.
So, why is financial clarity such a rare superpower? Well, data from a recent report shows that of the 325,811 UK start-ups registered in 2020,
only 47% survived to 2023. Enterprise Research Centre, even more stark:
only 2% of those surviving firms reached £1 million turnover in that time.
Ouch.
Here’s my take: too many founders treat financial planning like overhead, something to be tucked away in Excel and revisited only when the bank account starts screaming. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
How Smart, Early Financial Leadership Helps
- Cash runway clarity: Knowing exactly how long your cash lasts isn’t sexy, but it’s the single most important question you need to answer as a founder.
- Scenario planning: Rather than crossing your fingers, we run “what ifs”, what if sales are slower? What if costs go up? How do we manage?
- Investor trust: When your investors see that you have detailed, realistic models and a CFO-level partner, they take you more seriously.
I’ve been there, working with founders staring at the ceiling at 2 am, wondering if they’ll make payroll. And I’ve also been there when, together, we built a forecast that showed not just “can we survive?” but “how do we thrive?”
If you’re building something and you’ve not yet brought in a financial strategy, you might be unintentionally betting on blind luck. And while luck is a valid strategy in Vegas, it’s not a strategy for business sustainability.
