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    • Fiscal Focus Financial Statement AnalysisUnlock the hidden numbers in your P&L and balance sheet to see how you’re performing in 11 vital metrics.
    • Should We? / Can We?View, in real time, the actual financial impact of the hundreds of business decisions your team makes every month.
    • 24 Month Rolling ForecastingBlend your trailing twelve months with a rolling 12-month forecast to get a complete financial picture of your business.
    • J Curve ManagementTrack the number of investments you’re undertaking, the 3 phases of each, and the 5 rules for managing them.
    • Return on Operations – ROOView your return on operations percentage — your ROO % — the most powerful number to measure business success.
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  • About Us
    • Nick Setchell – RealTime CEO
    • Vistage & TEC WorkshopsNick Setchell has been working with Vistage, the world’s largest CEO organization, since 2001.
    • NewsSee what’s happening with RealTime CEO.
    • Economic Update Report
    • Contact UsReach out to us. If you’re interested in booking Nick to give a keynote address or workshop at your conference, please include the date and location.
  • Concepts
    • Fiscal Focus Financial Statement AnalysisUnlock the hidden numbers in your P&L and balance sheet to see how you’re performing in 11 vital metrics.
    • Should We? / Can We?View, in real time, the actual financial impact of the hundreds of business decisions your team makes every month.
    • 24 Month Rolling ForecastingBlend your trailing twelve months with a rolling 12-month forecast to get a complete financial picture of your business.
    • J Curve ManagementTrack the number of investments you’re undertaking, the 3 phases of each, and the 5 rules for managing them.
    • Return on Operations – ROOView your return on operations percentage — your ROO % — the most powerful number to measure business success.
    • CEO Performance AnalysisBenchmark your performance as a private-company CEO against others in your industry.
  • Resource Center
  • Blog
  • Login
  • SUBSCRIBE

Information You Need

  • Financial Forecasting
  • Financial Scenarios Planning
  • Investment Performance Tracking
  • Financial Benchmarking
  • CEO Performance Rating

Investment Performance Tracking

The most successful businesses understand how to implement, track and measure their strategic investments. They’re the most important determinant of entrepreneurial success.


Strategic Investment Tracking & Measurement

Who is in charge of your strategic investments? Do you have a protocol for managing their performance, for tracking their phases and their progress, and for measuring results and ensuring that they don’t damage the company?

In many mid-market companies, no single person owns this responsibility. In other companies, it may be a group of executives. And, in most cases, the majority of businesses do not have a formal process for evaluating and managing strategic investments.

Investment Details to Manage

Every business has strategic investments. They’re simply decisions to invest money today in hopes for a return in the future. Here are some examples:

  • Adding a new product line
  • Accessing a new market
  • Making a new staff hire
  • Purchasing new equipment
  • Opening a new location
  • Moving manufacturing overseas
  • Investing in R&D
  • Acquiring competitors

Strategic investments are like water: too much or too little can end up being fatal. To manage them and determine the viability of each, focus on these four areas:

  1. How many you’re undertaking
  2. How each is progressing
  3. If an investment should be abandoned
  4. How well your core business is performing

The Impact

Mid-market CEOs and their leadership teams intuitively understand the high-level details of their strategic investments. But it’s rare for a mid-market company to measure and track either the performance of the investment as an independent entity, or its impact on the business as a whole. Should they, you ask?

The process of identifying, prioritizing, and managing strategic investments is the most important determinant of entrepreneurial success.

We have a specialized tool and management procedure for managing these investments, called J Curve Management.


"Moretrench has been working with Nick Setchell since 2005. We have found the outsider’s view of our financial information extremely helpful. Many times they have pointed out things we have either missed or didn’t think we should consider. There is no question they have helped us successfully navigate the great recession. We believe we get tremendous value from their service and plan to continue to use them well into the future."

- Art Corwin, P.E., President & CEO, Moretrench


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