Planning for the Future
develop dynamic models
Leverage robust business models that integrate business plans, operating budgets, sales forecasts, and pricing strategies for enhanced performance.
Next Level Business Modeling
Data is important – but oftentimes you’re looking to see what kind of impact a specific change may make on your business. TBM creates dynamic business models that allow you to easily update variables or assumptions to see the impact those changes would have on your business.
Our Approach to Dynamic Modeling
Dynamic models can provide a significant advantage when it comes to planning, forecasting, and comparing what actually occurred to what you expected. TBM has the experience to create many different models, from department specific to the entire business plan. We will work with you to create the right dynamic model – but to keep costs low and ensure you have the most relevant report, we recommend starting with a simple tool that we then iterate and develop into a dynamic model.
Ultimately, these dynamic models can combine historical data with a future forecast to provide an actuals vs. plan comparison, assumptions update to provide a rolling forecast, and a comparison to expected, updated, and actual values.
Making Our Case
A company was looking to identify which products they should receive a larger budget – and how that spend would impact their bottom line. With further discussion, TBM was able to identify the different variables and assumptions that would change – and create a dynamic model to allow specific cost centers to increase or decrease – while adjusting the revenue generated by both new and existing customers. This allowed the company to review different products and feature-sets and forecast conservative and aggressive 3-year product development plans.
A General Project Overview
what to expect
0. (Optional) Dynamic Model Walkthrough
We’ll schedule a 15-minute video call and walk you through one of our dynamic models. While these models have been created in a variety of software suites, we’ll walk through an example that fits your situation and is built on either Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets so we can use sample data and our branding.
1. Initial Consultations
We’ll schedule a 60-minute Google video call to discuss your project. Upon scheduling, you’ll receive a checklist with some questions to consider before our call.
If the Dynamic Model is not building onto an existing tool or report, you can expect at least 2 consultations to ensure we have time to review and think through any other options and considerations.
2. Statement of Work
We will send you a Statement of Work (SOW) if you’re already a customer, or our agreement, if you’re new to working with us. The SOW will include all milestones, estimated schedule, payment, and final deliverables.
3. Whiteboard Session(s)
Once the agreement or SOW is signed, we will schedule at least two whiteboard sessions, based on the scope outlined in the initial consultation. We will map out the data, the display (UI/UX), and functionality of the tool. The final session will include a detailed review of the calculations done based on specific variables and assumptions. These sessions will continue until you are confident that the Dynamic Model will meet your goals.
4. Model Development
Our team will work on the tool, integrating everything that we discussed in the whiteboard sessions. Dynamic Model timelines are typically longer than our reporting tools – we commit to progress updates twice a week for the duration of the project to ensure you understand where we are in the process and ensure questions are answered.
5. Testing & Approval
Dynamic Models are made up of multiple spreadsheets, integrations, and tools. We will work toward the development of each milestone – once we achieve a milestone of the Dynamic Model, we will hand it over to your team to test. We’re looking for the following:
- Does it function as expected?
- Are the calculations as expected? Are the default variables and assumptions correct?
- Is anything unclear?
Once your team has approved the milestone, we will “publish” it to your team for use. This publishing includes documentation for how to update, assumptions, calculations, scripts, and any other specifics for the Dynamic Model at that milestone. We will continue the Model Development and Testing & Approval stages until we have completed all milestones.
6. Continued Iteration
Oftentimes, once we have delivered the final Dynamic Model, we have recommendations for additional iterations. Even more often, teams will identify new assumptions, variables, or calculations they want to include to create a more accurate or impactful model. TBM will work with you to identify the iterations, develop new milestones, and continue iterating until you are fully satisfied with your Dynamic Model.