A financial model, a revised business plan and a data room for a horticultural business working with 2,000 smallholder farmers
TAC-MAZ Sustainable Ventures produces and processes horticultural products in Malawi, working with some 2,000 smallholder out-growers. The social enterprise has been growing fast, and had run into the constraint that almost always comes with it: financial management systems that had not kept pace, and therefore a limited ability to convince an outside financier. COLEAD, under Phase II of the Commercial Capacity-Building Programme (PRCC), financed by the French Development Agency (AFD), delivered technical assistance targeted at exactly that.
Getting a clear view of the accounts
The work began with a review of sales records, production data, cost schedules and financial statements, carried out with the company's finance and management teams. It produced a full financial model and a cash-flow projection tool, giving the company visibility over its position and its short-term outlook. The team was coached on updating and using them independently, which is what allows the tools to outlast the assignment. The business plan was then restructured: a clearer statement of the business model, better alignment between the out-grower model, value-added activities, market development and growth strategy, and priority investments identified and built into the revised plan.
From plan to investors
The second part of the assignment dealt with the approach to investors itself. An investor-ready pitch deck was built from the revised business plan, and the management team was coached on presenting the company. A data room was set up with the documents financiers typically ask for, and a list of relevant funding opportunities was handed over. TAC-MAZ plans to apply to one of them, FCI4Africa.
This sequence, running from the financial model through to a specific funding window, drew on joint work by COLEAD's Technical Assistance and Access to Finance departments.
The next steps are the company's own
The assignment's recommendations map out what remains: putting the revised business plan into practice, tightening financial record-keeping, structuring engagement with investors, further formalising the out-grower model and diversifying markets, with future export readiness in mind.
This activity is supported by the PRCC (Trade Capacity Building Programme), implemented by COLEAD, with financial support from the French Republic through the French Development Agency (AFD). This communication has been produced with the financial support of AFD. Its content is the sole responsibility of COLEAD and can in no way be taken to reflect the position of AFD.