SMEs, you have a go-to financial guru

dubai - Christiane Schloderer's firm offers low-cost financial consulting to start-ups in the UAE

Owners of start-ups or SMEs need to spend more time with customers, set strategic direction and build the business. That is why the most crucial part of the business - financial affairs - often takes a backseat.

Christiane Schloderer, with her experience of more than a decade as a corporate CFO, finance specialist and turnaround expert, has created a solution by establishing Athena CFO to supports SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and start-ups with their strategic financial needs.

Christiane and her partner Heather Henyon, an investment guru and microfinance expert, offer three services: financial boutique consulting, part-time CFO resources and CFO Circles.

"We noticed that many companies, especially when growing their business or when raising funding, need increasingly complex financial insights, but cannot afford a full-time CFO or senior finance manager - and often they don't even need one except for a short while," she said.

Christiane said that big auditing or consulting firms traditionally fulfill these short-term needs. However, they are often too expensive for SMEs, let alone start-ups.

"Our customers are too big to be small, but too small to be big. We jump into this gap by offering a defined scope at affordable rates," she said. "We target growth and scale-oriented SMEs and start-ups, and also work on behalf of investors."

Objective
"Our objective is to improve the financial situation of the companies we work with. We help to generate funds through investments, banks, alternative funding sources or receivable collection and align the company's financial situation with its strategy. For example, we have designed a financial model for a complete business revamp or structured an employee stock option plan," she explained.

Christiane said her company has successfully completed financial consulting projects in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia and is now actively marketing its part-time CFO service and the CFO Circles.

"I believe the CFO Circles can be a real value addition for our target group. We engage on a strategic financial level with the founder or CEO to improve the company's financial situation at very affordable rates - a low-cost financial consulting if you will," she said.

Christiane knew that it was a challenge to offer services in an affordable manner. "We have to build a service which reduces costs, but offers high quality. Our package 'Athena CFO Circle' addresses this: we interact on a minimal, but continuous timeframe with the CEO on a very strategic level," she said.

"Our packages give SMEs and start-ups access to highly professional financial insights, thus allowing them to better manage their businesses. Therewith, we hope to become an important player in the ecosystem, enabling scaling companies," she said.

Christiane recalled how she and her partner started their firm with small funding. "We were two founding partners and now we build a team of a large number of senior financial experts. Since we offer part-time engagements, we can work with part-time team members - a great opportunity for working mums, for example," she said.

She said she might consider fundraising at a later stage. However, she believes that the simplest form of funding is to generate revenue and plan the initial expansion strategy accordingly.

SME eco-system
Compared to about five years ago, when she first considered setting up a business, the UAE start-up ecosystem has developed on all fronts: more companies, more qualified networking opportunities, more investors and more support.

"There is still room for development, but life certainly got easier as an entrepreneur at an early stage," Christiane said. "The UAE is great in its dynamism. So much is going on and there are many opportunities for founders and businesspeople. I find this fascinating."

However, she said there is a big gap in the market for companies that develop beyond the initial start-up phase and try to scale up into larger firms.

She said the UAE's greatest strength is its international flavour. "I've experienced that not only in the UAE's business environment but also while attending the INSEAD International Directors Programme in Abu Dhabi, which was a great place for meeting a very international pool of people. During my dissertation many years ago, one key finding was that creativity needs diversity. And the UAE has a very diverse talent pool," Christiane said.

She urged entrepreneurs to focus on proper financial planning, and especially be prepared for the teething period of the business.

"My first advice would be to get the financials right: proper financial planning, setting up the invoicing capabilities, solid customers who can pay, enough cash to last for a few months, etc.

"Of course, any start-up needs to focus on customers and product, but if it cannot generate cash because, for example, the invoicing process is not set up, it will eventually end. This is where Athena CFO can help," she concluded.

- riaz@khaleejtimes.com