Is preparedness the most underrated growth strategy?

At M2 Advisory, we believe it is. Our founder, Marleen Somohardjo, has dedicated her career to showing founders and business owners how preparedness can become their true competitive edge.
During the financial crisis of 2008, while many were cutting back, Marleen left corporate life to establish her own consultancy, also building stability and vision in uncertain times. Her approach blends financial resilience, strategic risk-taking, and a strong sense of purpose.

In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, she shares:
– Why preparedness is a daily discipline, not a panic button
– How financial stability creates freedom to innovate
– Why passion must connect to a viable business model
Together with host Dirkjan Hupkes, Marleen also explores how letting go of perfectionism, embracing diversity, and building value-driven systems create businesses that deliver freedom today and not just at retirement.

Listen to Episode 115: How to Build a Resilient and Purpose-Driven Business with Marleen Somohardjo on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

Women’s right and Financial Independence

As we embrace the festive holiday season, I want to acknowledge the whirlwind of emotions it often brings—financial concerns, societal pressures, family dynamics, and discrimination that can weigh heavy on our hearts. That is why I felt most honored to be part of to the panel discussion that highlights the theme women’s right organised by Amnesty Rotterdam and Wenneker Cinema and Movies That Matter. I feel that now we should focus even more on the unfortunate and unspoken themes around women, finance and resilience.

In my personal journey as an ethnic female entrepreneur navigating the challenging terrain of a male-dominated environment, I’ve had the privilege of shedding light on how financial independence and astute risk management can be formidable tools in the arsenal for building resilience, especially for oppressed women. My main message is the following:

The Key to Empowerment: I firmly believe that independence is the key—financial independence and the unwavering focus on building your own network and self-esteem. When we take charge of our financial stability, we gain the power to influence our surroundings positively.

Building Resilience: Financial independence isn’t just about wealth; it’s about freedom and security. It’s about knowing that you have the strength to face life’s challenges head-on. By nurturing your own ecosystem, you create a safety net that allows you not only to survive but to thrive.
I am immensely grateful to Amnesty Rotterdam for the invitation and the opportunity to engage in thought-provoking discussions about politics, racism/discrimination, violence, and patriarchal societies. Being part of such an esteemed panel of experts, visionaries, and change-makers has been an honor.

Let’s continue to stand together, support one another, and work towards a world where financial independence is within reach for all, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or background.

Thank you!

Marleen Somohardjo

Guest on Brilliance Business TV Show Conversations With Leading Experts In Business

Join us on Brilliance Business TV where the host and myself discuss M2 Advisory’s mission and vision to enhance the entrepreneurial mindset within the boardroom by changing complex matters into simple and systemized information to:

1) better serve your client and

2) safeguard your business value streams.

We also discuss the methodology we developed for the platform, benefits when working with our platform, trends and developments within the market that impact business performance.

If you need more information or assistance, don’t hesitate to contact us 

I look forward to your comments,

Marleen Somohardjo

In this MSP News Global article, I elaborate on the idea, benefits and outlook of our platform profit solution. We designed this platform to cater to our mission, supporting entrepreneurs with their financial health.

It’s is my mission to elevate businesses with their financial health and experience financial freedom. For that reason I created the platform, as a response to utilise momentum for faster and more informed decision making thus understand the availability on business data and that this provides a level of financial freedom.
When I started my career at KPMG I enjoyed servicing the client, however I missed the element of speed, independence for the client and an end to end value proposition.
Due to the advisory standards and focus on outstanding issues we bypass the entire dynamics of the business and how the business performs over a longer period.
The platform I designed empower financial viability over a longer period, supported by measurements and improvements both strategically and operationally.
The advantages of working alongside the platform are that it’s much more affordable, more sustainable and targeted to the company’s growth, internal knowledge and capital needs.

In line with my mission the platform empowers entrepreneurs with their financial health and building their wealth. That’s one goal, second goal is:
Education and contributing to mastering their financial literacy.
And the third: Possibilities to innovate and create their own ecosystem.
The platform gives possibilities to work strategically at your financial goals and not being dependent on hiring expensive external consultants. With an assessment on the pillars financial and risk management your able to measure your progress and embedded business optimisation within your core business processes. By mitigating risks and financial losses you will be more profitable.
Over a longer period your cost and cost structures decreases and you have a catered strategy to sustain over a longer period.

Read the entire article on MSP News Global:

M2 Advisory Launches Groundbreaking Platform to Enhance Financial Health and Empower Business Owners

Contact us for more information, we are here to serve you and master your business!

11 women to watch in 2023

I want to take this moment to honour the incredible women who have shaped our lives and celebrate the universal and unconditional aspect of love and transforming energy into motherhood, solutions, business or lifestyle.

I started my entrepreneurial journey by creating a vision on what to transform within the financial industry. Over the years I used my knowledge gained from working with influential large corporates to build a framework that mitigates risks ensuring optimisation excellence. With this mindset and inspirations I have been addressed alongside 10 other amazing, powerful and trailblazing women to watch out for in 2023, women who are transforming the world this year!
Thank you Global Woman Magazine for the publication, honoured and appreciative for this recognition.

So let us remember to express gratitude to those who share love and vision to transform the world. Join me in reading the inspiring stories from women to watch in 2023!

In the Business Woman Today april’s edition I’m sharing my story on how my entrepreneurial journey started in 2008.

I started my journey in entrepreneurialism in 2008. This was, as you may recall, amidst the financial crisis that the sector experienced. The freedom of having my own choices was second to none and allowed me to continue my path in building a business and innovative solutions.

When I was approached to share my story I felt most inspired by the questions on how to pave the way as female entrepreneurs for other women and future generations. I think it important to take the leadership role and position ourself as role models. We as female entrepreneurs and business leaders have the opportunity to build more divers and inclusive businesses in addition we’re able to honor the women that battled for our equal rights, and legislations.

In honor of Women’s History Month London Business Magazine, featured 10 female business leaders.

I have been selected for this item and shared my secrets on how to successfully navigate within your corporate career or entrepreneurial journey.

Read the entire article in the London Business Magazine edition March 2023

In the article published by Executive-women.me, I describe the 5 pillars strategies that elevates your profitability.

Executive-women.me is a platform that portrays inspiring and innovative women entrepreneurs, who are changing the face of business by fearlessly daring to pursue their dreams.
Throughout the years, Executive Women has developed into a multi-cultural Business Hub that encompasses journeys and expertise, while bridging existing businesses, and activating new ones.

For this reason I feel only most honoured and humbled to be featured on their platform and contributing to their powerful network.

The article describes the 5 pillars to profits, strategies to maximise your cash flows and outlines that financial literacy requires both the understanding of financial data alongside strategising, prioritizing, and incorporating the company’s strategies. The 5 pillars within the Framework Intelligence represent the holistic approach that balances and optimizes the importance of financial and risk management, and therefore propels your financial understandings.

I hope you enjoy the reading and would love to learn more about your thoughts on this. For more information you can also download the summary of the Ebook Maximise Your Cash Flow, 5 pillars to profit: Download Ebook or contact us

Speak Up! Light Up! Time to share…

A wonderful experience to be invited to the Podcast Speak Up! Light Up! hosted by Valerie Prasetyo, world champion atlete, dancer, international speaker and wonderful mother of 2 children.
In this episode we speak up about the mistakes entrepreneurs make when it comes to finances, cash flow maximisation strategies, criteria to focus on in case you are going to sell your business, risk management and other important financial aspects. We concluded that passion and vision are important as they serve as fuel for your business.
Nevertheless, when building a profitable business, elements such as financial literacy, understanding of spreadsheets and constant measurements of your business performance are required to sustain and thrive.

The main question is: how often do you evaluate the financial health of your business?

Thank you wonderful and inspiring Valerie Prasetyo for your invite to appear as your guest on your amazing podcast Speak Up! Light Up!