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."
Finance For Everyone
Duration: 8 hours
Format: In-person
Finance is the Language of Business—give your team the confidence and tools they need to collaborate effectively and drive results.
Key Learning Objectives
This workshop simplifies complex financial concepts and builds confidence through engaging, hands-on learning. Participants gain practical tools to understand financial statements, connect decisions to outcomes, and collaborate more effectively using a shared financial language.
Your teams will:
Gain confidence in interpreting financial statements in a clear, engaging way.
Learn key financial concepts like cash flow, cost structures, and profitability.
See how market conditions and internal decisions shape company performance.
Understand how their roles contribute to financial outcomes across the organization.
Use financial tools to guide decision-making and measure results.
Outcomes for Your Organization
This workshop equips teams with practical financial skills that translate into immediate operational improvements. By focusing on cost management and efficiency, your organization benefits from better-informed decisions across all departments.
Your organization will:
Build a financially savvy workforce that makes smarter, informed decisions.
Foster respect and collaboration across departments with a shared financial language.
Strengthen communication and alignment around financial priorities.
Boost morale as employees see how their work drives company success.
Improve decision-making in areas like inventory, cash flow, and cost control.
Prepare teams to adapt to market changes with a focus on profitability and growth
Ready to Bring These Results to Your Organization?
Take the first step toward boosting your team’s business acumen.
Hands-On Finance
Teams will jump right into a financial simulation—learning how financial statements reflect the business's health. “Jargon” is replaced with clear, simple terms.
They’ll make smart decisions about inventory, spending, and cash flow, seeing how those choices impact profitability and growth.
Participants will compete in a lively market simulation, navigating real-world challenges that make finance engaging, fun, and collaborative.
... And they’ll learn how finance connects everyone’s role to the company’s financial success.
Better Business Acumen
→ Better Business Results
Turning Waste into Revenue at Michelin
Financial acumen transforms a missed opportunity into new income.
At Michelin North America, one employee had been raising concerns for years about a waste stream in his plant. His idea? The waste could be managed differently and sold for profit.
The problem was no one understood his point — until he attended an Income|Outcome workshop.
With his new financial language skills, he was able to present a clear business case to leadership. The result? Within a week, the waste stream transformed from a cost into a revenue source.
This was just one of many examples of how Michelin employees turned workshop insights into real business impact.
What Happened Here?
Insight: The employee identified an overlooked opportunity to turn waste into revenue.
Action: They applied financial language to make a clear business case.
Result:
- Waste stream transformed into a new income source.
- Immediate impact within a week of the workshop.
→ Turning Cost into Revenue is a Better Business Result!
The Program
Even a ½-day workshop for frontline workers can lead to significant financial benefits. They do not need high-level strategic planning or sophisticated ratios in order to see opportunities for increased operational efficiency.
Better Business Decisions at Michelin
In 1996, Michelin North America began using Income|Outcome across the organization to build financial acumen and improve strategic decision-making among its employees. The program was integrated into various business units, helping teams align financial goals with operational strategies and identify opportunities for cost savings and revenue growth.
Almost 30 years later Michelin North America continues to run the simulation, and continues to generate ongoing tales of 'business bravado'.
Finance That Makes Sense
Finance doesn’t have to be daunting, and it certainly doesn’t have to be boring. Finance for Everyone is an 8-hour workshop that breaks down the barriers to financial literacy, making finance accessible, engaging, and—dare we say it—fun.
Sales, operations, or management–this program gives everyone the tools to understand how their actions influence the financial health of the company.
This 8-hour workshop gives teams the tools to understand how their actions influence the financial health of the company—without the jargon or boring lectures.
Teams run a business, making decisions that directly impact financial results—without being overwhelmed by incomprehensible jargon, equations, or tedious lectures.
What to Expect
Forget the spreadsheets and number-crunching. In this workshop, teams will jump into a lively simulation that presents real-world challenges. From managing inventory to making smart spending decisions, participants will navigate scenarios that make finance relatable. The best part? People are so caught up in the game, they don’t realize they are learning (we call it ‘stealth learning’.) Teams work together to tackle business problems while keeping an eye on the company’s financial health—and when they play, they learn!
Income|Outcome Aha! Moments
Case Studies in Learning
“I Used to Hate Budgets. Now I Love Them!”
Income|Outcome demystifies the budget process and clarifies its value.
Acumen is a global organization of entrepreneurs and social innovators focused on breaking the cycle of poverty. As part of their fellowship program for social entrepreneurs in East Africa, we provide the finance module.
At the start of one Income|Outcome workshop, a participant shared her frustration:
“I hate the budget process. I don’t see the purpose of it, but I hope to learn enough to do it better.”
Our facilitator, Eliza, replied:
“I can’t change how you feel about budgets, but by the end of this workshop, you’ll understand their value.”
Eight hours later, at the end of the workshop, the same woman stood up and said:
“Eliza was wrong. She said I would still hate budgets — but now I love them!”
Insight in Action:
Income|Outcome helps demystify the budgeting process, making it easier to understand, apply, and appreciate.
Audience
This workshop is for everyone—from frontline workers to team leaders, and yes, even managers. It’s perfect for teams who may not think about finance every day but need a better understanding of how their work contributes to the company’s success.
Personal Development
Each workshop delivers outcomes that matter to your team.
Participants will leave:
Build confidence in understanding financial statements and key metrics.
Strengthen their ability to connect decisions to measurable outcomes.
Enhance collaboration and communication using a shared financial language.
Develop skills to adapt to market changes and align with company goals.
Customization Options
Want to make it even more relevant for your team? We can tailor the simulation to address important challenges specific to your industry or company. Examples include:
- Recalls
- Supply Chain Disruptions
- Competition for New Hires
Ready to see your team embrace finance with enthusiasm? Let’s make it happen!
Take the first step toward building financial confidence and driving better business decisions across your organization. Contact us to learn more, or book a demo to see experiential learning in action!
What was your greatest "Aha! I got it" moment?
"Need to listen to other team members, as my ideas are sometimes not the best."