READY TO TAKE YOUR BUSINESS TO THE NEXT LEVEL?

How a Virtual CFO can elevate your business.

By Paul Cunningham, SMART Business Solutions

Most business owners would be familiar with the adage, you need to take time to work on your business rather than in it. Whilst we are familiar with the concept and we can appreciate its sentiment, actually implementing the time and work necessary to abide by the sentiment can be difficult for many small to medium business owners.

Award-winning SMART Business Solutions, Mornington Peninsula’s leading accounting and business advisory firm, have a reputation for their strong technical and advisory skills.

As one of the Associates at SMART Business Solutions, Paul Cunningham knows the difference between a good business and a great business is ensuring you take some space to step out of the business on a regular basis to look at everything subjectively.

“When business owners dedicate the appropriate time to work on their business the results can be phenomenal. These results don’t necessarily need to be growth. It’s about taking the time to ensure the business owners are getting what they need from the business. Importantly, this could also mean ending up with more time back to spend on things that SME owners often miss out on, like time with family and friends.” says Paul

So where do you start?

“First you need a business plan. This should entail what you want your business to look like in 12 months, and what you want to get out of it, both in terms of financial gain but also how it can positively impact your personal life, like ensuring there is time allowed for a holiday. In writing down your plan, you are going to come up with a list of goals for your business. These goals can then be extended out into action items.” says Paul.

“Dedicate time each month to work solely on the goals and actions identified in your business plan. Take 2 to 3 hours that are set aside solely for this. This is not a time where you are available to staff, customers or suppliers. Block out the time in your calendar to prioritise it, and make sure you are doing this at a time of the day where you are most productive. For example, if you’re most effective before lunchtime, don’t leave this important time till after the kids are in bed and you’re tired. You must treat yourself as your most important customer.”

“In the time you allocate consider the following items for review and action:

> Start with your goals – Are you on track? Do some goals need more attention to detail? Can you mark some goals as successful and create new goals?

> Have some form of financial reporting – speak with your accountant or bookkeeper to understand basic concepts in terms of turnover, gross profit margin and break-even points.

> Schedule additional time for larger projects when needed. Your monthly meeting with yourself should not be disrupted by day-to-day business or operational commitments.

> Set out your 30-day action list and adjust your goals accordingly every month to ensure you have clear set of actionable items to achieve before the following month.

Arguably, the two of the most difficult parts of the process is accountability and time. As a business owner, who do hold yourself accountable to? And how do you make that time commitment to yourself and your business?

“Most successful entrepreneurs and business owners have an accountability partner who meets with them regularly. No matter who you are, where you’ve come from, or what you have achieved, a good mentor is an invaluable asset to your business.” says Paul. “At SMART Business Solutions, we recommend engaging with a Virtual CFO (vCFO) to really get into the guts of your business. It’s crucial to having full visibility on what's really happening.”

“A vCFO should offer regular mentoring and reporting, either monthly or quarterly, which should give you better visibility on your revenue streams, help you benchmark your performance, set budgets, and improve your business value by identifying and repairing operational leaks.”

“As humans first and foremost, we’re more likely to take action when we’re financially invested in a third party whose sole responsibility is helping you understand your business, create action items, check in with you and make sure you’re staying on track. That’s why having a business coach that’s also an accountant and a financial advisor is the best decision you can make to elevate your business.” says Paul. QR code to scan and read vCFO case studies

More information

Paul Cunningham, Associate SMART Business Solutions www.smartbusinesssolutions.com.au