Enterprise Growth Services Helping entrepreneurs change lives Case study: DDP Outdoor, Ghana Helping entrepreneurs change lives Enterprise Growth Services (EGS) helps entrepreneurs change lives in low-income countries. It extends EY’s long-standing commitment to championing entrepreneurship as a key to sustainable growth in local economies. As our corporate social enterprise, EGS brings the best of our people, services and expertise to organizations that wouldn’t ordinarily be able to work with us. Our teams help job-creating small businesses, as well as social entrepreneurs who use the power of the market, to improve health, education and access to energy in their communities. We’re building a better working world in areas of real need and giving our people experiences that last a lifetime. Enabling growth and reducing risk for a promising advertising company An inspiring entrepreneurial business, Design Display Placement (DDP) Outdoor Limited, was established in 1973 by local entrepreneur Torgbor Mensah, affectionately known as Mr. T. Mr. T has grown the company to a business with an approximate turnover of US$5m and 100 staff. The company specializes in outdoor advertising in Ghana — fabricating, installing, renting and maintaining billboards, in addition to offering complimentary printing services. Despite being Ghana’s leading outdoor advertising company, DDP had reached an inflection point in its growth — its policies and procedures hadn’t developed in line with the growth of the business. With assets spread across Ghana and a diverse client base that included large multinationals, blue-chip Ghanaian companies, government organizations and small local businesses, the company needed to address its inefficiencies immediately. There was some urgency involved because DDP was managing tight cash flows by prioritizing expenditure on a day-to-day/week-to-week basis. Its growth and the jobs of its staff were at risk. EY was asked to provide an EGS team to help DDP for three-and-a-half months. Given the size of the company, EY deployed one full-time consultant from the EY UK&I practice, with part-time support from the local office in Accra and oversight from an EY director. A structured approach to sustainable business change With EGS consultant Matt Russell on the ground, the overarching objective of the engagement was to improve DDP’s cash position and its ability to track and manage its costs, working capital and performance. The EGS team focused on the following areas: 1 Policies, procedures and internal controls 2 IT infrastructure Through end-to-end process reviews, we completed an assessment of the existing internal controls structure. We held focus sessions with DDP management to corroborate our findings and rolled out presentations and training to DDP employees. We compiled a detailed policy and procedure manual for many sub-processes including: •Bank account and cash management •New supplier selection •Purchasing •Stock control •New customer management •Sales •Customer credit limit •Customer debt collection Working with a local IT consultant, we recommended upgrades to IT software. We completed a capability assessment and provided oversight for the upgrade of the Tally software configuration. 2 | Enterprise Growth Services • Case study: DDP Outdoor, Ghana 3 Management reporting 4 Resourcing 5 Accounting policies Leveraging the new IT software, we helped DDP develop and produce enhanced management reporting. We developed a tailored set of monthly management accounts and ensured that the process of producing monthly reporting was embedded as “business as usual.” We updated the organizational chart, associated job descriptions and KPIs. We also implemented a new recruitment process. We coached DDP’s finance team on preparing accounts that comply with both local and international regulations. “In a dynamic and entrepreneurial context, the EGS team was able both to analyze the situation and also move to implement solutions. I greatly appreciated their pragmatic approach and ability to handle both high-level thinking and basic tasks. You did a great job working collaboratively with the team, internal and external, and we all learned a great deal from each other.” Nnennia Ejebe Adenia Partners, Ghana An Australian in Ghana After successfully applying to EGS, Matt, who is based in London within the Transaction Advisory Services division of EY, had to hit the ground running. This would be a test of how his experience as a valuation and business modeling manager, together with the part-time support from EY’s local office, could help DDP — a very different type of client — in size and nature. With multiple actions to address immediately, the project demanded that Matt work closely with the finance, client service and operational teams at DDP to identify some of their key internal control issues. Matt also was charged with managing recruitment to the finance team. Within the first few weeks, EGS had tailored the job descriptions of the finance team, analyzed aged debtors and identified weaknesses in the current cash collection process. Additionally, EGS ensured an essential upgrade of the company’s accounting software was completed, allowing for more meaningful monthly management reports. Working on both a strategic and tactical level meant that no two days were the same — something all our EGS alumni can attest to. Expect the unexpected Always expect the unexpected is one of the key rules of EGS assignments, and the DDP project was no exception. Halfway through the assignment, Ghana was suffering a power crisis, with multiple electricity outages affecting all businesses. Following the loss of a full day’s work due to a software backup failure, maintaining a sense of humor was essential. EGS is a heavily subsidized and sustainable extension of EY’s core business — working at accessible rates for smaller, socially impactful clients. EGS’s corporate social enterprise model means it is scalable and prevents costs from falling disproportionately on the local teams that contribute participants. • EY absorbs the costs of the program’s management team and participants’ overheads. • EGS participants from mature markets voluntarily reduce their salaries to emerging market levels during their time on EGS. • EGS clients pay fees that are a small fraction of our normal commercial rates in both mature and emerging markets. Enterprise Growth Services • Case study: DDP Outdoor, Ghana | 3 Changing lives and livelihoods A few weeks after returning to London, Matt received an email from Joshua Aryeetey, DDP’s most recent hire. Josh asked Matt whether he would become his career mentor, having been impressed with the training he was provided with during his induction. Celebrating triumphs and the return of electricity As the project came to an end after three-and-a-half months, it was a chance to take stock of progress and to celebrate achievements. DDP was on the way to sustainable growth. The newly standardized set of monthly management reports had improved working capital management procedures and made some significant upgrades to a number of other business processes. Matt was confident that these new structures and processes would continue. And Matt was able to hand over a number of his responsibilities to a new management accountant whom he had helped recruit and integrate into the team. In addition, DDP’s management had a clear goal to take the business to the next level and, in the process, create further employment opportunities for people locally in Ghana and across the region. DDP is on track for a 33% reduction in its debtor days outstanding. With a few Skype mentoring sessions already completed and more scheduled, Josh continues to take a more strategic and proactive approach to his career development. Having passed his second set of exams as part of his chartered accountancy qualifications through the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana, Josh has been able to look at his career in a way that was previously unimaginable. Added to this, the continued growth of DDP means that he can look at a longer-term plan, which includes helping support his family. The chance of a lifetime Matt took a 50% salary cut in order to work through EGS and make EY services affordable to the client. “It was an honor and a privilege to have his opportunity to be a part of the EGS program and to work in Ghana. For anyone thinking about getting involved, I would recommend it — it is an eye-opening and rewarding experience,” explained Matt. For more information on Enterprise Growth Services, please contact: Increased IT and Expansion reporting capabilities opportunities means have led to better creating jobs — next decision-making. stop Senegal. Jon Shepard [email protected] + 44 7919 691 916 Leadership, empathy and collaboration Working with the CEO, CFO and senior leadership so closely was one of the best learning experiences for Matt. “It gave me an enormous sense of responsibility, but also the chance to step up and hone in my leadership skills,” he explained. “We understood that once the problems were identified, we needed to get the DDP team on board and explain how these fundamental changes would help them in the long run. Everyone knew it could be painful, but we had to make sure the DDP team believed the outcome would be worth it.” Abi Smith [email protected] + 44 7768 733 693 EY | Assurance | Tax | Transactions | Advisory About EY EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. 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