What is Business Acumen?
"Business acumen is… a good understanding of how all the pieces of a business fit together to produce a coherent set of actions and a financial result."
Better Business Decisions
Duration: 4-6 hours
Format: In-person & Online
Finance is the Language of Business—help your team grasp the essentials for confident, everyday decisions.
Key Learning Objectives
This simulation introduces participants to foundational financial concepts and practical decision-making skills. It emphasizes managing costs, improving working capital, and understanding how everyday actions impact business performance.
Teams will:
Understand the big picture: how different parts of the business work together to create value.
Gain confidence in using financial statements—no prior experience required.
Build confidence in managing costs, quality, and working capital.
Learn how everyday decisions influence profitability and cash flow
See how their decisions directly contribute to achieving corporate goals.
Outcomes for Your Organization
With a focus on collaboration and financial fluency, this workshop ensures that teams across departments align their decisions with business objectives. Your organization gains from more cohesive and results-driven teams.
Your organization will:
Reduce inefficiencies and improve cost management.
Enhance alignment between day-to-day decisions and business outcomes.
Foster accountability and a culture of informed decision-making.
Benefit from teams with greater respect and support for cross-departmental contributions.
Ready to Bring These Results to Your Organization?
Take the first step toward transforming your team’s decision-making skills.
Experiential Learning
Employees take control of a simulated business, making real-time financial decisions on cash flow, working capital, and profitability.
They navigate financial statements hands-on—learning to treat them as tools for better decision-making, rather than intimidating reports.
In a competitive, high-stakes simulation, teams analyze results, adjust strategies, and experience the financial consequences of their choices.
They see the interconnectedness of business decisions—how a move in one area ripples across the entire company.
Income|Outcome Aha! Learning
The Lightbulb Turns On
“I Didn’t Need a New Truck. I Needed Less Inventory.”
(A conversation with a local electrician, one year after he attended a 1-day Income|Outcome workshop.)
Electrician:
“It did make a difference. I was trying to figure out whether I should be getting a new truck or not. I closed my eyes so I could imagine the board and moved the chips around — like I was buying a truck. Then I moved the chips around like I wasn’t buying a truck.
“I kind of looked at it all, and you know what I figured? I didn’t actually need a new truck, but I had way too much money tied up in supplies, parts, and equipment.”
Andromeda:
“What did you decide to do?”
Electrician:
“I decided to reduce the inventory and think about it again in six months.”
Takeaway:
He didn’t just see the chips — he saw the bigger financial picture.
Getting the Big Picture
In just 4-6 hours, your team will dive into the essentials of business acumen. But don't be fooled by the brevity—Better Business Decisions is a dynamic, hands-on experience that shows how all parts of a business come together to generate value.
Teams run a simulated business, making decisions around production, marketing, and finance—without the high stakes of real-world operations. Whether new to business acumen or just in need of a refresher, participants will see firsthand how their decisions impact the company's financial results.
What to Expect
This is not your typical finance training—it’s a serious game. Participants work in teams, making decisions around production, marketing, and finance, and then see how those choices affect their company’s performance. By the end of the workshop, they’ll have a clearer understanding of how businesses operate and how their role fits into the bigger picture. Because finance training isn’t just about numbers—it’s about understanding the story those numbers tell.
Audience
Designed for everyone in the organization, this workshop is ideal for team members who need a solid foundation in business acumen. It’s great for corporate events, cross-functional teams, and academic settings.
This simulation is customizable to reflect your industry and business challenges. Whether your focus is sales, operations, R&D, or leadership, we tailor discussions and game mechanics to make the learning relevant to your team.
This simulation is customizable to reflect your industry and business challenges. Whether your focus is sales, operations, R&D, or leadership, we tailor discussions and game mechanics to make the learning relevant to your team.
How will this program affect your relationship with others?
"Press for more timely payments, discuss financials with our CFO etc."
Personal Development
Participants will leave the workshop with:
A solid grasp of key financial concepts, even if numbers aren’t their first love.
Confidence to make informed financial decisions, thanks to a big-picture understanding of how everything connects.
Practical skills to manage costs, working capital, and their role in the company’s success.
Ready to strengthen your team’s financial literacy?
Give employees a big picture understanding—they can make smarter choices that drive business success.
How will this program affect your relationship with others?
"I will be more considerate of client costs/bottom lines and how investment they make into our brand can positively or negatively impact their books."