Why we started the journey
Early in November 2012 MyCFO Africa, opened its doors with a question.
With all the facts, information, and opinions consistently pointing to Small and Medium Enterprises as powerhouses capable of generating substantial wealth, work and economic growth, it’s clear that these businesses are not living up to their earning potential. Decade after decade, indices have constantly identified the potential of Small, and Medium businesses to create an economic sonic boom, yet all too often, all we hear about is the failure rate.
We dug deep to find out what was hampering performance.
Many small and medium businesses misunderstood the benefits of disciplined financial practices – and how expertise in this core area could quickly bump a business up on a success trajectory. Entrepreneurs seem to find accounting, taxation and financial matters daunting and out of their grasp – so they would only do what they had to; instead of what they can do. Very often only doing just enough to be compliant.
Many CEOs or business managers are too focused on day-to-day operations to consider the difference that real financial expertise could make – and the crucial role that financial credibility plays in being funding ready.
We discovered that although SMEs often ticked all the boxes, they were lacking financial credibility, which resulted in funders, investors and other decision makers perceiving them as RISK. Often, they struggled with securing contracts or Enterprise and Supplier Development opportunities – because their numbers didn’t add up or their business proposal could not provide enough evidence of financial competency and discipline to support the decision to sign them on. They didn’t know how many opportunities they were missing.
Our insights from our questioning revealed one crucial missing link.
A telling gap in human capital – more specifically, the lack of expertise in financial operations, organisation and management.
Thus, MyCFO was born.
The Chief Financial Officer of your business. The Organiser of your Finance Operations. The Optimiser of Value and Wealth Creation.
Our founder and Group CEO, Mamoroke Lehobye CA (SA) always had an appreciation and an understanding of the pivotal role that an SME ecosystem plays in African economies. However, many of these enterprises continue to lack the financial know-how and skillset needed to scale and thrive.
The African continent is booming with entrepreneurial spirit, but without the knowledge needed to source, secure and manage funding, many of these businesses continue to collapse without ever having the chance to become an integral part of the African success story.
More than 10 years since inception, MyCFO is continuing on an inspiring journey in assisting entrepreneurs to achieve their intent to create value, build wealth and establish business legacies for generations to come.
Our goal is to inspire and motivate entrepreneurs to build profitable businesses to scale.
We are a boutique CFO advisory firm that provides bespoke, fit-for-purpose finance solutions to help Emerging and Growing Enterprises sustainably grow and scale their businesses to create wealth.
