newcubator is a dynamic team of UX designers, project managers, web backend and frontend developers. Always on the lookout for challenges, the team in Dortmund and Hanover develops individual software solutions for a wide range of customer product ideas. The focus is always on working WITH the customer and not just for the customer. As a strong partner at their side, newcubator always strives for a partnership-based collaboration that uses agile methods to create unique added value in various industries. We talk to Jörg Herbst, CEO of newcubator, about cash flow and Cash flow planning.
Jörg, you are the managing director of newcubator. Maybe you would like to tell us briefly what newcubator does?
newcubator is a software service provider for individual solutions in the areas of web and mobile. We develop software on behalf of our customers to help them on their way to digital business.
What is particularly important in your daily work?
For me, it is always important that we do not work for our clients, but with them. This means that we don't just do what our clients want, but work together with them to find out what they need. In concrete terms, this means that we always try to determine the professionalism and the motives for requirements. I am a big fan of Simon Sinnek's "Start with why". When we understand the reason and the context, we can develop solutions that enable our clients to achieve significant advantages in the market.
What challenge does your company development/business model pose to you as CEO?
We have the problem that with our approach we can only inspire our customers through the work we do. Our quality is not measured by the number of lines of code we write or the runtime of the programmes, but by the contribution we make to our clients' business. The market currently tends to compare services by cost per hour or per day. At most, a distinction is made between junior and senior developers according to their experience. However, our aim is to provide our customers with qualified advice so that certain functions are not developed at all or not developed in the way originally envisaged, so that the benefit can be achieved in 20% of the originally planned development time.
And how important is the topic of liquidity for you?
In the scaling-up model, liquidity is one of the four crucial factors for developing the business. In our business model we have almost exclusively fixed costs, which means that we have a very high correlation of liquidity with profitability. At the moment, we do without a daily profitability controlling and manage the operative business purely on the basis of liquidity. In principle, liquidity (1st degree) is the business ratio for our daily business.
What advice would you like to give other entrepreneurs regarding liquidity?
If I had to give one piece of advice, it would be to do liquidity planning. Especially smaller companies often neglect this or think it is too complicated. But with a tool that is directly based on the payment data, it is really no longer a big effort to create a liquidity plan.
I went to my bank last year to negotiate our current credit lines. Our bank advisor was impressed not only because I could present a detailed and realistic liquidity plan, but also because I could immediately provide a variance analysis of the target and actual data of the last three months.
About Jörg Herbst
Coming from a degree in business informatics, Jörg started his career as a classic software developer. Later, he was employed as a project manager and is now a managing partner at newcubator. Before newcubator, Jörg spent a long time looking for the ideal job for himself, which is why he built newcubator the way he imagines his ideal employer. His vision is to develop software that enables other people to make their lives easier and to make better use of the given opportunities. A high willingness to perform paired with strong trust towards all colleagues are just some of the values on which he builds his teams.
Thank you very much for your time!
Credits: Photos by newcubator
