We’ve hit Session 7 of the DCMS Create Growth programme at The Studio, and it was time to tackle the subject that usually makes creative technologists want to hide under their desks: Money.
The session was aptly titled ‘Let’s talk about money’, and we were joined by Fractional Finance to dig into finance, tax, and investment readiness. I’ll be honest, I’d usually rather be in the lab writing Python wrappers for my robot arm than looking at a spreadsheet, but this session was a necessary wake-up call.
The “Job” Trap
The presentation opened with a quote from Michael R. Gerber’s The E-Myth Revisited that hit a little too close to home:
“The purpose of going into business is to get free of a job so you can create a company that works without you.”
If I’m brutally honest, Octopus Immersive doesn’t completely work without me yet. If I step away, the robot stops painting, and the installations stop getting built. The presenters highlighted that in founder-led businesses like mine, we are highly intentional about things like control, identity, and longevity . However, the actual financial architecture is often “under-designed”. We tend to handle cashflow tactically (i.e., reacting to the bank balance), lack confidence in our pricing, and treat tax as a reactive annoyance .
Looking Back vs. Looking Forward
One of the biggest lightbulb moments for me was the distinction between having an Accountant and having Strategic Finance.
I have an accountant. They give me peace of mind by ensuring compliance, keeping accurate historic records, and calculating tax correctly . They tell me what happened last year.
Strategic Finance, on the other hand, is about the future. It’s about understanding the clear trade-offs in the decisions you make, having real confidence in your pricing, and getting the business ready for funding . Ultimately, it’s the financial strategy that makes a business easier to step back from.
What “I Need Money” Actually Means
Whenever founders get together, you eventually hear the phrase, “We need money”. But what does that actually mean? The workshop broke it down. It usually means one of three things:
- Timing: Cashflow timing can’t support the current rate of growth.
- Scaling: The business model works, but capital is needed to scale it up.
- Capability: Specific equipment or capability is required to actually deliver the work.
Looking at the new industrial robot taking up space in my office, that last point definitely resonates. But buying the gear is only step one. What actually increases the value of a business over time isn’t just cool hardware; it’s repeatability, a solid pricing methodology, and founder independence.
Discipline = Options
The ultimate goal of building a business is to give yourself options — whether that’s the option to pivot, to scale, or eventually to sell.
But Fractional Finance dropped a hard truth to close out the session: Optionality comes from discipline, not flexibility. It comes from making intentional decisions, having a clear commercial story, and building predictable economics .
I walked away realizing that I need to treat my financial forecasting with the exact same rigor and creativity that I apply to my code. It’s time to start building a business worth owning.
I am nearing the end of the Create Growth program, and there are some great take home messages appearing. I am especially aware of making good strategic decisions, especially ones that can help detach me from the business. The business needs to run without me.
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