Profits are low.
Revenue is flat.
Cash flow is not consistent.
Customer satisfaction is sometimes questionable.
Business has become increasingly reactive.
Your network has given you the advice to hire a consultant to assist you with one or more elements:
– Management consultants can give you advice on aspects pertaining to your operations.
– Digital marketing consultants are able to assist with revenue.
– Your tax accountant or CPA can give you advice on your cash flow.
When you start discussing the challenges you are facing with different management consultants it may become apparent that acting on this advice could be piecemeal. This may put your business at risk of creating issues in several other areas of your company. Furthermore, it may also become apparent that the capabilities to carry out advice that was provided might be beyond the majority of your team.
Your alternative to this situation is to extract one of the leaves from big corporate which will involve having a Chief Financial Officer help you with creating a strategy that is holistic that will account for all the elements that are specific when it comes to your company and then work alongside you to implement a chosen strategy. When it comes to businesses, this ability is made possible by using a part-time CFO. To improve this further, as requirements start to increase as the business expands, you can gradually increase how many hours the CFO is working until you reach the stage that you are ready to hire a full-time CFO.
While management consultants usually conduct a review of the business and then offer a recommendation or implement a recommendation separately from your team, a part-time CFO will work alongside your team in order to come up with a strategy.
Holistic strategies usually take place over a number of years. They typically include:
– Customers, what is needed to grow in an organic manner
– Internal efficiencies and operations
– The capabilities to innovate and learn
– Performance of your team
– Financial performance which includes profit improvement
Once a strategic plan is set in motion, the part-time CFO turns into a coach and educator as a Chief Execution Officer in order to implement all the elements involved in your strategic plan. After gaining an in-depth understanding of your team and the background of the business, they can then establish meaningful metrics and measures that will be reviewed over time to arrive at a holistic and fundamental improvement across your business.
