The numbers matter
It is crucial that your numbers make sense and that you understand them.
Kipyegon Bett
8/5/20252 min read


I have been part of the commercial side of my work for the most part of my professional life. This means I have been on the team that ensures we get more contracts or sales translating to more revenue for the company. Whether it is B2B or B2C, the basic issue is that the numbers have to make sense economically for the company.
If you are a pure B2C company, you sell products directly to individuals ideally and so your selling price will mainly depend on your service/product unit costs and the market i.e. your competitors. In the beginning, your unit costs will be higher since you are a smaller and so you don’t enjoy economies of scale. Your competitors may also be bigger and more established than you and so they can offer better prices. As a young company, you have the advantage of being agile and creative which will help in driving your unit costs down. If you cannot drive your unit costs further but you offer more than your competitors, then you can choose to focus on a smaller niche who will not have a problem with higher prices since they are getting premium.
If you are a B2B company, your main clients are corporations and governments who mostly source suppliers through open tenders or competitive bids. Here you need to understand your business very well to pass the initial evaluation based on the criteria set out by the client to gauge your suitability. At the tail end is the financial evaluation where pricing is evaluated. It takes an experienced person to fill in this part of the process. Being the lowest bidder doesn’t guarantee you the win while being the highest will most likely knock you out of the process. I have to point out that while B2B contracts are lucrative, the process is not always straight forward with a lot of cases of vetting committees being compromised. The most prepared doesn’t always win in this case.
If you are in the development world and you regularly get grant funding to ensure your programs continue, you have realized just how important it is to get the budget right. The write up will get you over the line but if you are awarded a grant but your budget wasn’t allocated in the most efficient way then that award will be the single biggest headache for you that year. You have to understand how this works and if you don’t, you will need to hire someone who does or get a consultant. This is crucial.
If you are in the startup ecosystem and you are on the fundraising path, having your figures at your fingertips is everything. Potential investors will ask specific questions around your finances and projections looking to poke holes in your pitch to them. Away from you getting an offer, it pays if you can be able to evaluate the offer which is only possible if you understand your numbers.
I have been lucky to be in the teams working on all these aspects of getting money into the business for different company stages and industries. One thing is for sure, the numbers always matter.