Improved Budget Feature: Complete Profit and Loss Budget on GrowthWheel Online

Last month, we released Revenue Budgets broken down by products and markets. Now, we are taking this to the finish line and launching a complete budgeting feature to be used by advisors and clients on GrowthWheel Online.

On the new Profit and Loss page, you can easily add a total budget for direct and operational costs to automatically calculate the gross margin, operating margin, and net profit before taxes.

This is the simplest and fastest way to make a budget. 

This release will help you:

• Create budgets by specifications for direct and operational costs

• Immediately see the budget charts for direct and operational costs

• See budget charts for all profitability margins

• Add assumptions for any budget line

• Download a 1-page PDF-file for each budget page

We hope that this complete Budget feature will help you – and your clients – to create easy and fast budgets.

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Get an introduction to the new features in this quick video:

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One Page for Each Budget
— Share as 1-page PDF-files

As always, each page can be downloaded as a visual 1-page PDF file – or downloaded as part of the Full Budget Report PDF.

Download Assumptions PDF
— All budget assumptions on one PDF-file

Now you can also choose to add the assumptions page as part of the full budget report.

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New feature: Revenue Budgets. Specified by Products and Markets

We continue to develop and improve the GrowthWheel Online platform in order to help you help your clients cope with the crisis that has affected so many businesses worldwide. 

Last month, we released the new “Budget” menu on GrowthWheel Online and we are now expanding it to include revenue budgets for products and markets. 

On the two new pages “Revenue/Product” and “Revenue/Market” you – and your clients – can in a really simple way budget the revenue per quarter and year.

The new features include:

• Create a revenue budget and break it down by products/services and markets/segments already added in the Business Profile

• Automatically see the Revenue budget charts per product and/or market

• Add assumptions for any budget line

• Download a 1-page PDF-file for each revenue budget

This is our second release under the Budget menu feature. Soon, we will be adding more features.

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In this short video, David Madié will introduce you to the new Revenue Budgets:

View on VidGrid

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One Page for each Budget
—Share as 1-page PDF-files

As always, each page can be downloaded as a visual 1-page PDF file with a cover page – or downloaded as part of the Full Budget Report PDF.

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New feature: Budgeting Investments

We are committed to helping businesses re-think and manage their financials during these unprecedented times. Plan and keep track of current and future investments with our new investment feature.

This month, we are happy to introduce the first version of a new feature called "Investments" on GrowthWheel Online where you — or your clients —  are able to add a list of investments, specify the expenses and returns, and print a one-page PDF page for each investment for a lender or investor.

This release will help you:

• Add different investments of various types (staff, equipment etc.) along with an illustration

• Set status for each investment as “considered”, “planned”, or “executed”

• Indicate scenarios: best case, expected, and worst case

• Automatically see the investment profile chart with expenses, returns, and accumulated cash flow

• See the accumulated Return On Investment automatically calculated

• Add assumptions for all expenses and returns

• Download a page for each investment as a 1-page PDF file.

In this short video, David Madié will introduce you to the new feature:

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An All-New Page for Investments
—Share a catalogue of possible investments as 1-page PDF-files

As always, each Investment can be downloaded as a visual 1-page PDF file. We make them fit by setting a limit of text and by only allowing to specify 5 main categories of expenses for new investments.

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Keeping track of the investment status

For client companies who wish to map out many potential future investments, the feature makes it possible to indicate if an investment is considered, planned, or already executed.

Later, we will add a filter so you or your client can download or print just the investments that are relevant to the conversation.

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Investment budgeting for different scenarios

More than ever the return on an investment very much depends on how things in the economy will play out.

This is why we made a feature so it’s possible to make investment profiles for various scenarios: best case, worst case, and expected case. In this way your clients can create and download a page for each scenario for discussion with lenders and investors.

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Update of the GrowthPlan: Improved Mapping of Ambitions

During the global COVID-19 crisis a large number of companies will need to rethink their business and create new or revised GrowthPlans.

This month, we are releasing new features to our Ambitions page which will support the process of defining and tracking ambitions, milestones, goals, or visions for the future. 

With the updated feature you will now be able to:

• Name various types of Ambitions to your preference (Ambition, Milestone, Target, Objective, Goal, Aim, Vision, or Dream).

• Assign an Ambition to a team member

• Download a page for each Ambition 

• Include each Ambition as a 1-page PDF  in the GrowthPlan. 

• Add all the information to make Ambitions S.M.A.R.T. Goals, which are Specific, Measurable, Actionable, have someone Responsible, and have a Time horizon.

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Define your Ambitions
— Choose the right type

When you are adding or editing an Ambition, you will now see that you can select the type of Ambition that best suits your planning. You get to choose from ambition, milestone, target, objective, goal, aim, vision, and dream.

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One page for Each Ambition
— Print it as PDF

You can now download each Ambition as a single PDF. You can also download all Ambitions as a part of the GrowthPlan PDF report.

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Geomaps: All your clients. On a map!

With our brand new Geomap menu, you can see the exact location of all your clients on GrowthWheel Online.

We are happy to share, that we just released Geomaps, which gives you a visual overview of your clients’ locations and easy access to information about them.

On the Geomap you can see where your clients are located. You can zoom in on the map or search for cities and postal codes in order to find exactly the area you are interested in.

As you zoom in, you can see more details on the map. When you click on a pin, it will show a pop-up with key facts about the client company.

If you are a manager or administrator, you will have a Geomap that shows the location of all the clients in your organization so it’s easy to see where the clients in your entire network are located. This might come in handy when analyzing how your center support local businesses in your area.

This is our very first release of the Geomap feature. Soon, you will also be able to print the map as a nice PDF-report.

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Below you can see a quick video of how Geomaps works.

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Update to Financial Overview: Financial Ratios added

We’re starting off the year with a great improvement to the Financial Overview menu on GrowthWheel Online.  

This month, we are happy to introduce our new Ratios feature where you — or your clients — can now see all the standard financial ratios automatically calculated as soon as basic financial information is entered on other pages, like the Balance Sheet page or Revenue page.

Ratios will now automatically display a certain color by entering the minimum or ideal targets so that you can see the current status of each. This way, you and your clients will get a quick visual overview of the client company's financial situation. 

If a ratio can’t be calculated due to lack of information, you’ll get a warning message showing you exactly on which page you need to add this information in order for it to be calculated.

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Below you can see a quick video of how Ratios works.

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All Ratios Calculated Automatically
— get a quick overview of your client’s financial situation

As always, the Ratios page can be downloaded as a visual PDF file.

You’ll have two options: as a single PDF or as a part of the Full Financial Report.

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Update: Financial Overview now includes Cost Structure

With the new “Cost Structure” page on GrowthWheel Online you can now get a quick visual overview of your client company’s direct and operational costs.

Last month, we released the new Financial Overview menu and PDF — and this month we are making it even better! 

In addition to Revenue, Profit, Balance Sheet, and Funds Received, we have now added a page for Cost Structure. 

The Cost Structure page is “smart” in the sense that it automatically calculates the total costs based on the numbers for revenue and profit on the other pages.

This means that you or your client just have to enter the most important costs and the rest will remain uncategorized. In this way, you can enter and present the most important cost information in a matter of minutes. 

The Cost Structure page does not replace the information clients have in their accounting system. But it’s the fastest way to show the big numbers in a visual way.

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Below you can get a quick introduction to the new Cost Structure page by David Madie, GrowthWheel Founder and CEO.

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An All-new Page for Cost Structure
— Print it as a PDF

As always, you can print the Cost Structure page as a single PDF or as a part of the Financial Overview PDF report.

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Introducing the GrowthPlan: One PDF with all information about how your client plans to grow the company

This month, we are happy to introduce the new GrowthPlan on GrowthWheel Online. A new PDF document to print alongside the Business Profile.

With the GrowthPlan, you can now with one click print a single PDF document with all the information about how your client plans to grow the company:

• A list of Ambitions

• The 30-60-90 Days Plan with decisions and actions

• The latest 360° Screening of what to focus on

• A list of Outcomes

Each page can still be downloaded one page at a time, or you can download a full GrowthPlan with a nice cover page.

As always, your clients can also print this document themselves when you have given them a free account on GrowthWheel Online.

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Below you can get a quick introduction to the GrowthPlan by David Madie, GrowthWheel Founder and CEO.

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Updated and simplified menus

With the introduction of the GrowthPlan, we have simplified the “My Clients” menu to make it easier to navigate and find the tools and features you are looking for.

There are 3 changes:

• The new GrowthPlan menu combines “Decisions and Actions” and “Scoreboard”

• Client Files have been moved to its own menu (from a submenu)

• All Client Analytics have also been moved to its own menu

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This is only our first release of the new GrowthPlan. We will add more pages to the GrowthPlan in upcoming releases. As always your ideas are welcome. Write us at support@growthwheel.com.

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New release: Improved Balance Sheet

Last month, we released the Balance Sheet. Now, we are releasing 3 new features, that will make it work even better for you!

The Balance Sheet is a new page on the Business Profile on GrowthWheel Online that helps you and your clients get a quick overview of the company’s distribution of assets and liabilities.

With the 3 new features, you can now:

Decide if the Balance Sheet should be visible or not when you download the full Business Profile from GrowthWheel Online

Make Balance Sheets for previous years. This is useful when you are in the middle of the year, like 2019, and would like to see the numbers for last year.

Add the date the Balance Sheet was created. The date will show on the printed Balance Sheet as well.

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The Balance Sheet
—Printed as a single-page PDF

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New release: Get the Big Picture of Your Clients' Assets and Liabilities

Forget all about sending Excel templates back-and-forth! This month, we are releasing a new Balance Sheet on GrowthWheel Online, that will help you and your clients get a quick overview of the company’s distribution of assets and liabilities.

The Balance Sheet is the latest add-on to the Business Profile, where you can already enter financial information like revenue, profit, employee count, and funds.

Even clients who lack fluency in accounting can easily pick and choose from pre-made assets like “cash in bank”, “inventory, and “prepaid expenses” and enter the amounts. Or they can add liabilities like “mortgage”, “private loans”, and “credit cards”.

The chart will immediately show the distribution of the client’s assets and liabilities, and the table will show the totals.

The Balance Sheet is 'smart' in the way that “total assets” will always be equal to “total liabilities”. When an asset is added, an uncategorized liability will automatically be added to make the balance sheet stabilize until a liability is added to provide a specification.

This is just the first release of the Balance Sheet — in a few weeks we are releasing even more features!

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Below you can get an introduction to the Balance Sheet by David Madie, GrowthWheel Founder and CEO.

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The Balance Sheet
—get a quick overview of your client’s assets and liabilities

As always, the Balance Sheet can be printed as a visual one-pager, or as a part of the entire Business Profile, so it’s easy to share with stakeholders or bring along to the bank.

Email your clients directly from GrowthWheel Online

Today, we are releasing a new feature on GrowthWheel Online that allow you to quickly send emails to your clients directly from the platform.

It’s really easy! Simply choose one of your clients in the “Client list” on GrowthWheel Online and click on the new email icon. You can now send the email to one or more team members from your client company. You can also add cc or bcc receivers - like a colleague or a CRM-integration.

For your convenience, we have also created some email templates that makes it easy for you to welcome new clients, invite them for a workshop, confirm a meeting, or follow up on your work together.

This is just the first release of this feature. Soon, you will also have the option to edit and save your own personal email templates for every step in the workflow with clients.

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Save time with ready-made email templates
—A fast and easy way to catch up with clients!

New Analytics Report — All Charts in One PDF

Today, we are releasing an update to the Analytics menu, so that you can now print a visual PDF report with all analytics of your clients.

In the “Analytics” menu you can see all analytics for your clients’:

• Demographics

• Financials

• Decisions and Actions

• Ambitions and Outcomes

• Interactions

Before, you had to print one page at a time, but now you can download a full analytics report with a single click.

As an advisor, you can compile a PDF report with all analytics and upload it to any other CRM system you might be using for reporting. This is a great way to visually show the effects of your work.

Your clients can also view analytics of their company and their work on GrowthWheel Online and use the PDF report to showcase their progress to investors, new partners, clients, or the bank. 

If you are a center manager or network manager, you can see analytics for your entire organization or network. This is a fast way to get the big picture of what the advisors and clients are working on. You can run through the numbers with your team, or use it as a weekly or monthly review of how your clients are progressing.

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Print all analytics as a visual PDF-report
—ready to be shared with stakeholders or used for reporting

You can download all the analytics and reports as a visual PDF and upload it to any other CRM system you might be using for reporting.

New release: Create visual team member profiles to support conversations

Today, we are releasing an update to the team page in the Business Profile, which gives you the opportunity to create visual team member profiles for all employees and board members in your client companies.

The new Team Member Profiles will help business advisors get a quick overview of the client company’s management, employees, and board members.

For each team member you can add information like contact details, educational and professional bio, and role in the company. You can also add sections where you describe the team member’s job responsibilities and professional skills, or demographics for reporting.

The Team Member Profiles support the conversations you are already having with your clients. And by turning your notes into a product in the cloud, you make it much easier for your clients to present their team to stakeholders — or show that they have the required skills to grow the company.

All the new team member profiles can be printed as a visual PDF report — ready to be shared with stakeholders or used for reporting at your center.

On GrowthWheel Online you will be able to:

• Create profiles for each team member in the client company

• Add contact information, responsibilities, professional skills, and demographics

• Print the profile as a visual PDF-report

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Create a Team Member Profile in 3 Easy Steps

#1 Add basic information for each team member

Add information like contact details, educational and professional bio, and role in the company.

#2 Add skills and responsibilities

List the team member’s job responsibilities and professional skills.

#3 Add Client demographics

Add client demographics that you can use for reporting.

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Print the profile as a visual PDF-report
—ready to be shared with stakeholders or used for reporting

Amazing Year for GrowthWheel South Africa

2018 is quickly coming to an end, but what a year! For GrowthWheel South Africa 2018 has been a very special year that we couldn’t have anticipated.

GrowthWheel Certification Course

We have run 8 Certification Courses hosted by Alexander Forbes and with the Brian Simelane as instructor and welcomed more than 60 new GrowthWheel Certified Business Advisors.

It’s been 6 years since the first business advisors from the South African entrepreneurship development support eco-system were certified.

Today, more than 250 business development service organizations, accelerators, and incubators use GrowthWheel to create jobs and help small businesses grow.

This year, we have also participated in several key conferences, roundtables, international study trips, pitch competitions, award ceremonies and hundreds of meetings.

Our masterClass at the AfriLabs Annual Gathering was an epic milestone, and it was a huge privilege to be part of the African community.

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Signing of the MOU with IBASA

We could have not anticipated that after the South African Business Conference 2018 we finally would sign a landmark agreement with The Institute of Business Advisors Southern Africa (IBASA)  that aims to enable over 2000 business advisors to enhance their impact with the GrowthWheel Framework and cloud platform.

Or that we would collaboratively join Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) and the YES initiative  that was launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2018 to help SMMEs throughout South Africa to create sustainable jobs.

Also, we would not have anticipated that in 2019 the Seda Incubation eco-system might turn out to be completely paperless due to our co-creation partnership with SEDA and Incubation Partners.

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We are looking forward to what the new year will bring, continue to strengthen and grow our collective impact, partnerships with our stakeholders, empower the business advisors and incubators to support the ecosystem in South Africa.

Assign Decisions and Actions on the 30-60-90 Days Plan

Execute on your ideas by assigning and follow-up

We are happy to release this long wished-for improvement of the 30-60-90 Days Plan that allows advisors and their client companies to assign decisions and actions directly to team members.

With the 30-60-90 Days Plan on GrowthWheel Online it's easy for you and your team to list all the nice-to's and need-to's, sort them as decisions or actions, and produce an actionable timeline. But who makes sure it actually gets done? 

With this release you can:

• Assign tasks to team members and colleagues

• Filter tasks by assignee

• Print a visual PDF that show who is in charge of each task

When everyone knows who is in charge getting things done is somehow much easier. You no longer have to worry about all the tasks on the list, but can focus your time and energy on the tasks that you are actually responsible for. 

If you are an advisor who work with founder teams, this will help you work more efficiently with your clients. Turn talk into action by making sure that all the tasks that come up during your meeting are listed, prioritized, and delegated. 

After your meeting you can print the 30-60-90 Days Plan as a visual PDF-report and send it to your client and other team members. Or you can use it as a follow-up before your next meeting. 

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#1 Assign tasks to team members and colleagues

Decide which team member should be responsible for each decision or action. 

You can filter by focus area, type, who is responsible, and priority. 

#2 Get an overview of all decisions and actions

Print a visual PDF report to get a quick overview of all the tasks and who is responsible for what. 

Share the PDF with your clients and colleagues after a meeting, and use it to follow-up before your next meeting.