Managing Currency Risk: A Founder’s Playbook for Smarter Global Growth

For founders making international payments, this guide explores how currency risk, cash flow, and systems can drive - or derail - your growth strategy.

Katie Bragoli

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Making international payments might seem like a simple operational task.

But behind every cross-border transaction lies a set of decisions - about timing, currency exposure, risk appetite, your wider business systems, and cash flow.

Whether you're importing goods, paying overseas teams, or collecting revenues in a foreign currency, your approach to payments can directly shape and affect your business’ margins, operations, and growth trajectory.

In this guide, we’ll explore why payments aren’t just transactions, but strategic tools, and how founders can approach them with clarity and confidence, through the lens of risk, information, and opportunity.

Not all payments are created equal

Founders often assume that all FX or payment providers offer similar solutions, but the truth is, their models differ dramatically. Not all providers cater to businesses with growth-stage complexity. Some primarily cater to private clients, some serve institutional investors, whilst others cater to SMEs or corporates with large treasury teams.

Their systems, service models and priorities reflect that, because the needs, challenges and pain points are different. But some partners are built with flexibility in mind, supporting multiple business types, and adapting to different strategic contexts. This will be evident through their suite of FX products, solutions and services they can offer.

If your provider doesn’t understand the pace and risk profile of an early-stage or scaling company, you may find yourself under or over-served. That’s why it’s worth asking: Do they speak your language? Do they offer alternatives beyond just “spot conversions”? Do they offer simple tools to operate multi-currency bank accounts? Can they help you forecast, model, and structure payments that support your goals, not just simply process them?

As a founder, your needs sit at the intersection of growth, cash flow, and operational resilience. What you need isn’t just to “make a payment” but to understand what kind of payment strategy supports your individual business goals, whether that’s cost certainty, speed, integration, or long-term visibility.

“It's not just about moving money - it's about aligning your payment strategy with your business model.”

The real cost of currency movements

Let’s take GBP/USD as an example. In the first half of 2025 alone, we’ve seen swings of over 12.5% - enough to meaningfully impact pricing, supplier terms, and margin. That volatility has the potential to lead to:

A shift in the cost of goods
Pressure on profit margins and operational budgets
Difficulties forecasting accurately
Lower profitability on overseas revenues
An impact on capital and investment spend
Competitive disadvantages

In isolation, these changes can look like one-off problems. However, these aren’t isolated headaches, they’re signs of unmanaged FX exposure. Many founders remain completely unaware and only realise this once it starts impacting cash flow. From our experience, this is especially apparent with start-ups, as they focus on growing their brand and increasing their market share in their space, without realising what currency exposure could be doing to their bottom lines.

What’s your FX exposure telling you?

Currency risk isn’t just about big market movements; it’s about how your payments and business systems interact. Here are a few key questions to ask:

Are your international payments increasing? That’s a sign of rising FX exposure. It may signal growing reliance on your overseas suppliers or customers. Another consideration is whether you are generating foreign income that now impacts GBP cash flow. Remember, FX exposure often grows invisibly, until it starts affecting cash reserves or pricing.
How predictable is your future? If you have recurring costs or revenues, you can build a strategy around them. If your pipeline fluctuates, your FX approach should flex too.
What’s your risk appetite? Some founders are fine with swings. Others, especially those managing investor expectations, need tighter controls in place.
Are your systems giving you visibility or creating blind spots? Manual processes and siloed tools can obscure risk and delay decisions. They can cause delays, errors, or missed risk management opportunities. You don’t need to automate everything, but you do need visibility. Knowing where you stand is half the battle.

What founders often get wrong about FX risk

Founders are decision-makers, problem-solvers, and risk-takers. But when it comes to FX exposure, a few common misconceptions can quietly build blind spots:

“We’re too early for this” - FX impact can start with your very first overseas invoice. Waiting until “we’re bigger” often means reacting too late.
“We don’t move that much money” - Even relatively small transfers, if frequent enough, can compound into the loss of thousands due to poor timing, execution or FX rates.
“My bank handles that” - Traditional banks often don’t offer the tools, flexibility, or risk insight that high-growth businesses need.

“Getting smarter about FX means knowing where risk lives in your operations. Clarity is the first step. Strategy follows.”

Four questions every founder should ask about FX

When it comes to managing currency exposure, there’s no plug-and-play answer, simply because no two businesses have the same operational rhythm, funding cycle, or growth trajectory. Instead of jumping straight to tools, first start by understanding the dynamics that matter most to your business. At a starting point, here are four foundational finance and operational questions that you can use to help you build visibility into your currency strategy:

Frequency - Are international payments ad hoc, regular, or growing? Frequency can create exposure even when volumes are modest.
Predictability - Can you forecast costs or revenue in other currencies with confidence? If not, FX volatility can catch you off guard.
Impact - If FX moves 5% next month, what happens to your margin or budget? High impact suggests the need for an FX strategy and appropriate risk management.
Visibility - Can your current systems show you upcoming FX exposure clearly, or are you flying blind?

Case study: devising an FX strategy for a UK-based e-commerce brand

We work with hundreds of both growth-stage and established businesses navigating global expansion and operational complexity. That includes:

Helping teams identify FX exposure
Building payment strategies aligned with cash flow and growth
Offering tools and insights to improve forecasting and control

Strategy means asking better questions, and managing risk isn’t about avoiding every shock and wave financial markets throw your way. Currency risk isn’t about being cautious, it’s about being informed. The goal isn’t to eliminate risk, it’s to be intentional about how and when you take it.

It’s easy to think of FX as something you “set and forget”, but a smart approach evolves with your business. An FX strategy doesn’t have to be complex, but it should reflect your exposure, goals, and operational reality. This may include setting internal triggers - e.g. “If monthly FX payments exceed £X, we hedge 50% of next quarter’s outflows”. Others might include utilising using forecast visibility to shape when and how you convert, or batch payments solutions.

Let’s look at a real-life example so you can understand how all of this translates into reality: A UK-based e-commerce brand we worked with was scaling quickly and paying overseas suppliers weekly in USD. With no FX strategy in place, they were exposed to every market swing, and it was costing them. Over two quarters, they lost over 6% in purchasing power. Once we understood their needs and the nuances of their business, we helped them lock in forward rates for recurring orders and introduce basic “batch payments” and visibility tools. This helped them stabilise their budgets and reclaim headroom for growth.

“Aside from cost and time efficiencies, this real-life scenario emphasises how being “proactive” doesn’t have to mean making things overcomplicated. It just means being in control before volatility makes the decision for you.”

Conclusion

As a founder, your FX and payments strategy can either become a silent liability or a silent strength. The difference lies in visibility, alignment, and asking better questions - understanding the variables, and partnering with people who understand how currency risk and operational realities intersect. If that’s a conversation you want to start - Monex is here to help. We’re an FX expert that helps businesses turn currency risk into clarity, so they can focus on growth. Email corporate@monexeurope.com to find out more.

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