A financial model connects the decisions you plan to the cash they will create or consume. For a growing brand, the core pieces are a revenue build by channel and SKU, unit economics that include returns, ad spend and fulfilment costs, a working-capital view of stock and payables, and a cash forecast that shows how long the runway lasts under different scenarios.

“If the model can’t tell you which assumption matters most, it is a spreadsheet, not a model.”

Keep the assumptions on one page, test the three that move the result most, and update the model every month with actuals. Over time it becomes the place where pricing, hiring and inventory decisions are settled with numbers rather than opinions.