Service
Strategy & Planning
Budgets, forecasts, cash-flow models and business plans built for an economy where currency, pricing and liquidity conditions move faster than an annual plan can absorb.
Planning models imported from stable economies fail here for a predictable reason: they assume the currency you price in, the currency you cost in and the currency you report in behave consistently. In Zimbabwe they frequently do not, and a plan that cannot separate those movements from operating performance will mislead you about both.
We build planning models that hold currency, pricing and volume as separate drivers, so that when results diverge from plan you can see which of them moved. That is the difference between a forecast that informs a decision and one that simply records a variance.
What the engagement covers
- Annual budgets built from drivers rather than from last year plus a percentage
- Rolling cash-flow forecasts, weekly or monthly, with sensitivity to collection performance
- Multi-currency models that separate volume, price and currency effects
- Business plans and financial projections for lenders, investors and funders
- Costing and pricing reviews, including margin analysis by product, contract or branch
- Working capital analysis — debtor days, creditor days, inventory holding and the funding gap between them
- Scenario and stress testing against the conditions that would actually threaten the business
- Board and management reporting packs that support a decision rather than describing the past
How we approach it
Find the binding constraint
Most plans optimise something that is not the problem. We start by identifying what actually limits the business — cash, capacity, a single customer, foreign currency access — because everything else is secondary to it.
Model the drivers, not the totals
A model built on volume, price, cost and currency as separate inputs can answer questions. One built on growth percentages cannot.
Test what breaks it
We run the plan against adverse scenarios: collections slipping, a currency move, the loss of a major contract. The point is to know in advance which of these you could absorb and which you could not.
Hand over a model you can operate
The model is yours, documented, with assumptions visible and changeable. A forecast you have to come back to us to update is not much use.
Context we plan against
- Zimbabwe’s multi-currency operating environment (ZWG and USD)
- Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe exchange control considerations affecting foreign-currency access
- Sector and regional conditions across the SADC market where clients trade across borders
- Lender and funder requirements where the plan supports a funding application
Common questions
Yes, and we will be direct about what lenders actually assess — the cash-flow forecast, the security position and the credibility of the assumptions, rather than the narrative sections. A plan that reads well but does not survive the lender’s stress test wastes everyone’s time.
Cash-flow forecasts monthly at minimum, and weekly where liquidity is tight. Budgets annually with a formal mid-year reforecast. A model that is not maintained stops being a plan and becomes a document.
Both, depending on what you engage us for. Some clients want the model and the review discipline; others want us to run the reporting cycle as well. We will scope whichever you need in writing.
Need help with strategy & planning?
Tell us where you currently stand. We will come back with a scope, a fee basis and an honest view of whether we are the right firm for it.