Financial Modeling for Entrepreneurs 401: Build Your Own Financial Model
Build a financial model for your own business or technology with this practical step-by-step guide.
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About this course
You need to build a financial model to make decisions or assess an opportunity, but you don't know where to start.
What type of model? Where do I find market information? How do I estimate sales revenue and expenses? How do I generate different scenarios?
This practical, step-by-step course guides you all the way in building a financial model for your own business, technology or idea.
By the end, you will have a working financial model for your own business, technology, product, service or invention.
Full Financial Model Spreadsheet Template
Included in this course is a full financial model spreadsheet template that you can download and use to model your own business or technology's finances.
You complete the required information, and it automatically generates a full set of financial statements (income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement), several graphs, a financial summary as well as a company or technology valuation.
Here are example screenshots from the template:
What will I gain? What will I be able to do?
- Be able to do market research and data sourcing for modeling a business or technology’s finances
- Build a spreadsheet financial model for a business or technology, including production of financial statements based on sales projections and other inputs and assumptions
- Use the spreadsheet model to assess the financial viability of a business or technology
- Do scenarios and sensitivity analysis using the spreadsheet model
Your Instructor
Dr. Sean Moolman has a broad range of experience stretching across chemical plant design and cost engineering, R&D (research and development), management of innovation, technology transfer, intellectual property management and entrepreneurship. He is an inventor on several international patent families.
Sean is a co-founder of PowerOptimal (Pty) Ltd, a renewable energy technology company, and has served on the boards of several other early-stage companies. Before his first start-up, Sean was the head of technology transfer (licensing & ventures) at the largest R&D institute in Africa, the CSIR in South Africa.
He has a PhD in Chemical Engineering, is a Registered Technology Transfer Professional (RTTP) with the ATTP, is a member of the Licensing Executives Society of South Africa (LES) and has completed the Management Advancement Programme at Wits Business School.
Sean regularly presents courses in financial modeling and technology & startup valuation, including for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Licensing Executives Society of South Africa (LES) and the Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA).
Sean is passionate about innovation, entrepreneurship, reason and science, life-long learning and inspiring people!
Course Curriculum
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Start2a. Key Principles, Accuracy vs Complexity (6:52)
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Start2b. The 10 Steps in Building a Financial Model Spreadsheet (5:34)
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StartReference Sheet: 10 Steps in Building a Financial Model Spreadsheet
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StartQuiz on Steps in Building a Financial Model
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StartAnswers to Quiz on Steps in Building a Financial Model
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Preview3a. The Target Market (11:28)
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StartReference Sheet: Market & Industry Analysis Tools
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Start3b. Online Search Basics (6:22)
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StartReference Guide: Online Search Basics
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Start3c. Where to Find Market Information (15:30)
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StartReference Guide: Data Sources
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Start3d. How to Estimate Market Size (10:08)
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StartReference Guide: How to Estimate Total Addressable Market (TAM)
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Start3e. How to Do Sales Projections I - Price (8:53)
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Start3f. How to Do Sales Projections II - Volume (10:19)
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StartReference Sheet: Sales Projections Methodologies
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Start3g. How to Estimate COGS, Capital and Other Expenses I (11:06)
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StartChecklist: Expenses
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Start3h. How to Estimate COGS, Capital and Other Expenses II (11:38)
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StartReference Guide: Cost Estimation Methodologies
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StartQuiz on Market Research and Data Collection
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StartAnswers to Quiz on Market Research and Data Collection
Course duration, difficulty and background required
- Basic background in financial concepts like time value of money (Course 101)
- Ability to build spreadsheets (Course 201)
- Ability to read, interpret and analyze financial statements (Course 301)
For an explanation of all course gradings, click here.
❓ FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
- ask the right questions of others' financial models
- interpret and use financial models
- spot errors or deliberate deception in others' models
- understand the value and limitations of financial models
- Video lectures
- Graded quizzes
- Course completion certificate
- Downloads:
- Example spreadsheets: Financial models at 3 levels of detail
- Guidelines: Online search basics; Data sources; How to estimate total addressable market; Cost estimation methodologies; Three levels of financial model detail
- Reference sheets: Ten steps in building a financial model; Market & industry analysis tools; Sales projections methodologies
- Checklist: Expenses
- Template: Full financial model spreadsheet template
- Access to student discussions on lectures & lecturer answers to questions
- For the Coaching package: One-on-one consultation with lecturer
- 2-year access to the course materials
- Work at your own pace
- Review or redo any part whenever you want to
- Pause and pick up again at any point
- Downloadable materials, quizzes and exercises reinforce the learning and provide practical tools that you can apply in your own business or activities immediately
- Assessing commercial potential of products, processes, services and business models;
- Company valuation;
- R&D and other investment decisions;
- Building budgets;
- Valuing IP (intellectual property);
- Monitoring & evaluating project or business performance.