relates-to:: 07-Projects/TTSU/Articles/The Periodic Table of Tech Start-Ups/README

This document precedes DBD - Dashboard

This document has a template

The importance of regular communication can be underestimated!

A little background

It's easy to overlook the importance of regular communication in a world where all of your business stakeholders are always-on, always reachable. In business relationships, regular and consistent communication with your key stakeholders (board members, shareholders, management team) is essential to developing and maintaining strong relationships, keeping everyone on the same page. Regular and consistent communication is also a great way to build trust within your community. Other benefits:

• Provide a common background of knowledge about your company's operations, finances, recruiting, major events in your industry.
• Consistent format: Using a template is a good idea to ensure that over time, your readers find what they are looking for in a consistent manner. A template ensures that you don't miss any important elements.
• Reflect on progress: a section that reminds you of your key commitments from the past month and where you can take stock.
• Reflect on challenges faced: regular communication is also about sharing the concerns and issues you face as a business leader. Early identification of these concerns and issues, as well as honest communication about difficult topics, has proven to be an effective way to share bad news and build trust.
• Express gratitude: Showing appreciation for the efforts of a specific person or team in your organization goes a long way toward strengthening the bonds within the team.
• When you step back and reflect on your monthly updates, it helps you step back to what really matters in your business.

Over the years, I have adapted my monthly report template as follows:

> Highlights:

•

> Lowlights:

•

> Issues/Concerns:

•

> Booking/Revenue:

• Booking: €
• Backlog: € including k€ subject to conditions
• Revenue: € vs Budget €, including:
◦
• (Further details can be added)
% of recurring revenue
Number of (marketing) leads
Number of Sales Qualified Opportunities
Number of Sales Qualified Accounts

> Financial:

• Net cash position on XXX: € vs Budget € (w/o debt)
• Cash-in XXX: €, including:
◦ € Revenues
• Cash-out XXX: €, including: 
◦ € staff costs - YTD xx% vs xx€ annual budget
(Further details can be added: split of staff costs between internal vs external employees)
◦ € NRE (Research, development & industrialization) - YTD xx% vs xx€ annual budget 
◦ € COGS – YTD xx% vs xx€ annual budget
◦ € CAPEX - YTD xx% vs xx€ annual budget
◦ € G&A - YTD xx% vs xx€ annual budget
◦ € S&M - YTD xx% vs xx€ annual budget

> HR:

• xx FTE’s
• Gender split (M/F)
• New hires
• Open positions

> Last month objectives:

• – Done/Canceled/Work In Progress

> Next month objectives:

•

The executive summary reflects any major events that have occurred in your company, your competitors or your industry... Any relevant information to help the reader understand the context in which you operate.

Strengths and weaknesses: I try not to exceed 2 or 3 elements for each.

Concerns/Issues: A concern is an event or situation that may cause you to deviate from the path you have committed to follow (business, operational, financial...). An issues has already derailed you and you are doing your best to get back on track.

Booking/Revenue/Backlog - See definitions here 6.1 EXL - Sales Spreadsheet#Some definitions.

Finance is pretty self-explanatory...

HR is pretty self-explanatory...(FTE stands for Full Time Equivalent)

Last month's goals: this is the updated list of "next month's goals" from last month. I usually use the keywords Done/Cancelled/WIP and provide a brief update.

Next Month Goals: a list of 5-10 key goals to accomplish in the next 30 days.

I tend to share this monthly report (usually a few days after the close of the month to get an updated financial status) with all shareholders (the to: list is for board members, while the cc: list is for all other shareholders and the management team).

Taking the time to write a monthly report (I tend to spend a few hours gathering information and preparing the report) is important not only for you, but also because it can lead to better decision-making, building trusting relationships, taking a step back from your ecosystem, identifying and sharing difficult topics, and leading your company more effectively in the long run. So be sure to include it in your monthly routine.