Gaining confidence through financial insights and data-led growth strategies
Gaining confidence through financial insights and data-led growth strategies
About Draw & Code
Draw & Code use cutting-edge technology to create awe-inspiring experiences for the world’s most renowned brands, including the likes of Sony Music, Mercedes-Benz, Philips and John Lewis & Partners. Given the global audience of its clients, Draw & Code’s experiences reach millions of people worldwide. The company currently holds two patents focused on XR (extended reality), which covers virtual reality and augmented reality.
The Challenge
Prior to 2020, Draw & Code had consistently grown its revenue year after year. But when COVID-19 struck in 2020, multiple lockdowns and social distancing requirements put an end to in-person events. As a result, the company’s revenue growth slowed considerably.
For a company that was built predominantly around producing immersive, engaging physical events for some of the world’s most influential brands, a ‘business as usual’ mindset was not only impossible, but also dangerous for the company’s long-term growth goals. Digitalisation was a critical first step in getting back on track. And Draw & Code’s clientele appreciated its nimble and agile approach in adapting to the circumstances. However, digitalisation alone wouldn’t suffice.
The company still needed support and guidance in a few key areas if it wanted to navigate 2021 and into 2022 with strong customer acquisition and revenue growth. So, the company enlisted BDO’s Business Services & Outsourcing team to help them tackle the following challenges:
- Lacking financial expertise and confidence: While the company was passionate and motivated to produce exceptional work for clients, it struggled to translate its value proposition into a cohesive, compelling narrative that would draw the attention of investors. And although the company had a vast amount of financial data at its fingertips, it lacked the knowledge and confidence to identify, capture, analyse and report on business performance, while also projecting future growth opportunities.
- Lacking visibility into the organisational structure: The company struggled to get a clear picture of its organisational structure. This made it difficult to identify all stakeholders – from senior management to board members to angel investors to core teams. If the organisational structure wasn’t optimal, or worse yet confusing to outsiders, the company would struggle to retain customers, grow its revenue and attract investors.
- Lacking proactive, strategic planning: The company was admittedly reactive and short-sighted in its planning. It also tended to jump from job to job without any thought to how each client aligns with the company mission, vision and strategy.
Our Focus
Given the challenges that Draw & Code faced, BDO came in as a strategic growth partner and advised the business on various matters, including:
- Understanding how to structure the organisation and teams for long-term success
- Mitigating risks, both internally and externally, to ensure consistent growth
- Identifying, capturing, analysing and reporting on financial insights to create a compelling financial narrative that would attract investors
- Gaining confidence in making strategic business decisions
Following the support from BDO, Draw & Code is now back on track with its revenue growth and 2021-2022 is set to be the company’s most successful year ever.
To that end, the company has set ambitious goals for itself - to become the best immersive technology studio in the world, produce end-to-end products and platforms for similar studios and release its own consumer products down the road.
Why Draw & Code Chose BDO
Draw & Code selected BDO as its business advisor for three key reasons:
- BDO’s teams are intelligent, professional, relatable and didn’t try to confuse the company with a lot of jargon and buzzwords. They gave Draw & Code the confidence to call on them about issues they were facing.
- BDO acted as a natural extension of the Draw & Code team and fit in well with the company’s values and culture. This was a major selling point as culture is a top priority for the business. Draw & Code appreciated that BDO not only understood and anticipated its needs, but also genuinely cared about the business.
- BDO’s teams have been instrumental in helping Draw & Code refine their business strategy to a place where it takes a holistic view of the businesses, builds in long-term planning past 12 months and is now more confident in telling their financial story to the outside world.
"BDO has ingrained in us the need to take day-to-day data and relate it to big picture strategies and targets to gain a really deep understanding of what we do as a business. Previously, we had jumped from project to project and not revisited data to review profitability or to help predict what the next project may cost.
This use of data and clarity in our overall business goals was something that BDO has really helped us to improve and are key areas that investors look to when choosing businesses for their portfolio.”
- Andy Cooper, Co-Founder & Creative Director, Draw & Code
The Results
| Result 1 | Result 2 | Result 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Increased confidence in financial storytelling to attract funding | Revenue growth increased post-pandemic | Stronger visibility into organisational structure |
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