Some arrangements involving challenges logistics, taxation and taxation can make the mission to undertake something bureaucratic and difficult.
However, some practical actions can facilitate the daily lives of businesspeople who, despite little knowledge, become capable of navigating complex and uncertain scenarios, starting with financial organization.
According to research carried out by Fundação Dom Cabral (FDC) in partnership with Estímulo, a social impact fund supporting small entrepreneurs, financial management is currently the main challenge for owners of micro and small businesses in Brazil.
The study, entitled “Entrepreneurial Maturity Matrix”, reveals that the difficulty in preparing financial and tax planning is currently one of the main pain points for the entrepreneurial public.
Other complaints highlighted are the difficulty in attracting new customers and the lack of specific knowledge in the marketing area.
According to Elisângela Furtado, professor at Fundação Dom Cabral and specialist in business management, some behaviors justify the lack of preparation of entrepreneurs in relation to the financial control of their companies. Among them is the lack of separation between business expenses and personal expensesespecially among nano and micro entrepreneurs.
“This factor alone is enough to prevent entrepreneurs from being able to analyze the viability of their activity, identify waste and increase productivity”, he assesses.
Another common mistake, she says, is the lack of investment in tools for financial control. As a result, manual management becomes a villain in this scenario, making financial organization an archaic and error-prone task.
In the case of small and medium-sized companies, the problem becomes the exclusive emphasis on the short term. “When financial management planning is not capable of going beyond the short term, businesspeople tend to operate ‘putting out fires’”, he says.
To change this scenario, the expert lists six essential tips so that entrepreneurs can break with the paradigm of financial management as a problem and achieve success in 2025. See below:
Five tips for successful financial management
1. Revisit your planning
A constant assessment of the market in which the business operates is vital. The statement opposes a logic common to the entrepreneurial universe: the belief that a market analysis is only necessary in the initial stages that precede the opening of the company.
The topic, it seems, is urgent: the same survey by Fundação Dom Cabral e Estímulo, in turn, shows that a lack of interest in carrying out market analysis is present in more than half (57.6%) of Brazilian entrepreneurs.
2. Prioritize qualification
Characteristics common to most Brazilian entrepreneurs, creativity and improvisation can actually be harmful to small businesses.
According to Elisângela, these attributes cannot take the place of the continuous need for training, something that should be on the radar of small business owners permanently.
“The use of valid knowledge removes entrepreneurs from the game of trial and error, which in the medium term means financial unviability. Changing this key is not easy, as it is a cultural characteristic. However, those who manage to change mentality drastically increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the business”, he states.
Institutions such as Estímulo and Fundação Dom Cabral work on this front, offering courses and training to entrepreneurs on relevant topics such as finance, technology and marketing. FDC, for example, has Pra>Frente Play, a kind of Netflix for nano and micro entrepreneurs.
3. Assess the macro scenario
Some expected movements in the macroeconomic scenario, especially in 2025, may influence the way SMEs manage their businesses.
Therefore, it is essential that entrepreneurs are always aware of the main ongoing trends. Among them, the incorporation of technology into business and the incursion of sustainability as a decisive factor in the management matrix — on the rise for 2025.
For entrepreneurs, knowing and understanding these changes can be an interesting way of formulating strategies capable of combining trends in an advantageous way for the business, argues the expert.
“The more planned, the greater the entrepreneur’s ability to anticipate and learn to identify opportunities to expand positive results given the social and economic context in the country and the world”, he states.
4. Discipline is the key to success
Discipline is a watchword for managers of small and medium-sized companies. Whether paying taxes, taxes or even loan and credit card installments, meeting deadlines is essential and avoids getting out of control.
The professor also highlights budgetary control appropriate to the reality of the business, that is, one and the correct pricing of products and services as factors.
“In simpler terms, we talk about cost awareness, payment discipline and budget consistency”, he summarizes.
5. Have technology as your main ally
Technology is the main ally of entrepreneurs, as it shortens the learning curve, optimizes time, cross-references information and enables quick analysis, says Elisângela.
Therefore, the variety of tools available on the market, from the simplest to the most sophisticated, can help SMEs make more strategic, agile and data-based decisions.
The secret to successful use of these tools, says Elisângela, is the correct choice based on cost-benefit. “With so many options, the strategy to avoid making mistakes is to adapt the level of investment in a solution to the business budget”, he states.
Text by Maria Clara Dias
