One of the most gifted and creative consultants I’ve ever met is Mike Schrader who is based in Columbia, Missouri. Mike once said the first thing he asks a new client/owner is how they spend their time. He’s even had them track it for a week or two allowing him to be a better coach to them. When…
Starting a business is hard. Growing a business is harder. Staying the course following a growth plan that could fail is scary impossible at times. What if there was a way that we could quantify the growing pains of any company that we serve? What if we could use the results of this assessment to…
Several years ago, I served a client who appeared to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. This CEO was running a business passed down from his father. While the company was stable, his personal life was not. I was more than his part-time CFO. I was more his priest. A 2012 survey…
I never argue with clients unless of course, it’s about baseball, plus I have to know I’m right beforehand. Yes, it’s a given we’re not in the business of verbally sparring with our clients. There is one time I want to–I mean really want to. But I never do. I just bite my tongue and…
I’ve been working with business owners and founders since 2001. I started helping these entrepreneurs first as an outsourced controller and then as an as-needed CFO. Along the way, I noticed the climb every entrepreneur is scaling with no exception. Some started, then gave up. Others made some progress, and then they stopped. Several are still…
“Karen, could you step into my office?” What could Bill want? Karen was just promoted to Senior Audit Manager three months earlier at the large firm of PricingDryHomeLoopers. Karen knew the firm had a tough quarter. Plus, IBM Watson was doing more and more of the attestation work. But Karen, a single mother of two, had no fears of…
Every CFO in the business of serving small biz CEOs should be fully aware of a 2005 study performed by Gallup. Their research revealed small business owners work 52 hours a week on average across a median of 5.6 days. I’m surprised. Those numbers look low, and I bet you have clients where the numbers are…
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