Death is one of those inevitable life occurrences that affect everyone yet still catches one off guard. In the event of the passing of a loved one, having a will in place provides certainty, security, and clarity of who should be the beneficiaries of your estate. It could be so that you already have a will, but when last was it revised? It is critical to update it regularly, especially after a significant life event such as a birth, death, marriage,divorce, or any major asset purchases. Furthermore, who have you entrusted with the power of fulfilling your last wishes? The administration of an ..read more

Cape Town, South Africa Business advisory firm Creative CFO has recently launched Creative Growth Capital, its very own investment vehicle to meet the high demand for flexible funding solutions that are better geared toward SME business models. Creative CFO has coupled its longstanding expertise in working with SMEs with making flexible investment capital available to SMEs to unlock sustainable growth opportunities and consequently create a positive and measurable impact in more communities in South Africa.  Creative Growth Capital will offer growth capital to SMEs by way of tailored deal ..read more

For South African business owners, the economic stability of Europe coupled with business-friendly legislation makes the continent a desirable place for expansion. While these factors are attractive, access to financing and the potential for lucrative upside when exiting a business are the real drawcards. We recently performed a valuation exercise for a client who intends to swap shares in a successful South African application software company for those of a similar company in the Netherlands. While these companies operate in the same industry, we found the comparative valuations to be vastly ..read more

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  When the ground starts to shake around Cape Canaveral, it is a matter of seconds before a rocket is launched and begins its journey into space. But leading up to this moment there have been months, if not years, of preparation and planning for every eventuality. Countless inputs are considered and risks mitigated by modelling various potential scenarios. Without these meticulous processes, a mission is destined for failure. Like launching a rocket into space, a business needs a thought-out and refined plan to have any hope of lifting off. A key step in assessing the viability of a busin ..read more

In the world today, a cautious sense of relief is beginning to take hold as vaccines are increasingly being rolled out and the scourge of Covid-19 starts to take a back seat in the international news media.The world we are starting to imagine for the future can justifiably be dubbed, ‘post-Covid’.  As anyone in the professional world will be able to attest, the pandemic has fundamentally changed the environment in which we do business. This, in turn, has altered our investment decisions and the necessary checks and audits that need to be performed.   What is Financial Due Diligence D ..read more

Since this series is primarily concerned with the question "What is money?" it’s necessary that we at least have a general historical perspective of humanity’s relationship with money. What money have we used in the past, and how has it changed as humanity came into contact with successively superior forms of money? We weren't always using rands and dollars. Money, just like technology, language and life itself, evolves. In fact, the most recent form of money, fiat, will only be 50 years old in 2021. More on this topic in a moment.   The traits of sound money  Examples of primitive f ..read more

In an office-based work environment, smart shoes are essential. However, as the recent pandemic has shifted meetings from board rooms to video calls the need for formal attire has become limited to clothing seen from the waist up. This, in turn, has caused the demand for comfortable shoes to climb through the roof, while the need for formal footwear, like stiletto heels, has dropped sharply - pun intended.  The German footwear brand, Birkenstock, was ready for this transition with their famously comfortable sandal. Birkenstocks are adored for their arch support and hipster appeal – hardly ..read more

Two young fish are swimming along when they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says "Morning, boys. How's the water?" The two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and says, "What on earth is water?” The moral of the story is that we do not always understand the fundamental nature of things that surround us every day. Just as the younger fish did not have any concept of water, many people today do not fully appreciate the nature of that thing that is so ubiquitous to us humans - money. Here, at the dawn of a ..read more

Key Performance Indicators do just what they say on the box; they indicate how well your business is performing in key areas. If we liken a business to a vehicle, KPIs are the dashboard. They can answer questions such as: How fast are we going? How much fuel is in the tank? Should we change gears?  Just as you would check your car’s dashboard while you drive, so you should also keep an eye on your KPIs as a business. “Key Performance Indicators indicate how well your business is performing in key areas.”  Although KPIs are not compulsory, they should be included in a management rep ..read more