WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:02.439
The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are
2
00:00:02.439 --> 00:00:04.080
solely those of the hosts and their guests and not
3
00:00:04.120 --> 00:00:07.000
those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We
4
00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:10.160
make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,
5
00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:12.560
or products mentioned on air or on our web. No
6
00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:15.839
liability explicitor implies shall be extended to W FOURCY Radio
7
00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:18.640
or its employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments should
8
00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:21.000
be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing
9
00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:25.600
W FOURCY Radio.
10
00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:31.039
Welcome to Powerful Business Strategies, where you will find out
11
00:00:31.079 --> 00:00:34.399
that everything you have ever learned about growing your business
12
00:00:34.679 --> 00:00:38.439
is wrong. Finally, a show where you'll learn the right
13
00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:41.799
way to grow your business by learning business and financial
14
00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:46.479
strategies that your competition isn't doing. And now here is
15
00:00:46.520 --> 00:00:51.679
your host. President of Next Step CFO Michael Barbarita and
16
00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:55.840
joining Michael for today's show as an executive moderator is
17
00:00:56.039 --> 00:00:58.799
chooky obia.
18
00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:04.519
Yes, this is cheek in I believe that gratitude is
19
00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:08.079
undefeated and growth is about the next step. It is
20
00:01:08.120 --> 00:01:10.799
an honor for me to moderate today's discussion with my
21
00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:13.879
good friend Michael. Michael, how are you good.
22
00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:14.480
How are you two?
23
00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:18.079
Key doom Wall And as Tricky said, my name is
24
00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:21.079
Michael barbera president of Next Step CFO, and next Step
25
00:01:21.159 --> 00:01:26.439
CFO is a fractional CFO and strategic implementation firm. Business
26
00:01:26.439 --> 00:01:29.159
owners hire us to double and triple their profit using
27
00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:33.879
business and financial strategies that their competition isn't doing. And
28
00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:37.799
our vision is to ensure that overwhelmed business owners achieve
29
00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:42.319
consistent profits that lead to the time, freedom to build
30
00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:45.359
a legacy and the life they desire. And our mission
31
00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:49.599
is dedicated guiding small business owners to leveraging their time,
32
00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:55.200
exploding their profits, and building that meaningful legacy. This show,
33
00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:57.879
Powerful Business Strategies in our book of the same name,
34
00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:01.400
is a step toward accomplished that vision and mission. So
35
00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:04.200
with that, I'd like to hand it back to my
36
00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:06.760
co author and moderator for the show, Chicky Obio.
37
00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:11.479
Absolutely so, Michael, Look, I'm particularly energized by today's episode.
38
00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:14.080
I actually have my calculator out just so you know.
39
00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:18.919
By the way, so episode is financial intelligence for non
40
00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:24.719
financial business owners, making numbers your secret weapons. So really enthused.
41
00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:28.000
Quick disclaimer, folks, Look, Michael and I are both affiliated
42
00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:30.560
with a number of different organizations, and I currently serve
43
00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:34.360
as the managing director of business development for Better Price,
44
00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:37.360
a global business focused law firm. In addition to that,
45
00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:41.879
it's truly an honor to collaborate with Michael to moderate
46
00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:46.680
business roundtables really Coast to Coast to document insights from
47
00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:50.960
those roundtables as part of our book, Powerful Business Strategies.
48
00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:54.840
But please note that the views expressed on this show
49
00:02:54.919 --> 00:02:58.439
are personal views based on those successful experiences, and my
50
00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:02.360
mission is a fearless moderates to ask the right questions
51
00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:06.120
to help you, the listener, learn the best strategies that
52
00:03:06.199 --> 00:03:07.639
the competition isn't doing.
53
00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:10.120
Michael, thank you, Thank you. Chicky.
54
00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:15.599
So, business owners, I've seen a pattern. It might sound familiar.
55
00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:19.159
You started your business because you're passionate about what you do.
56
00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:24.680
Maybe maybe it's creating beautiful designs, or building quality homes,
57
00:03:24.759 --> 00:03:29.159
or delivering exceptional service or even developing innovative products. You
58
00:03:29.560 --> 00:03:33.479
didn't start your business because you love staring at spreadsheets
59
00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:39.759
or analyzing financial statements. Yeah, here's what I know to
60
00:03:39.800 --> 00:03:44.400
be true. The most successful business owners aren't necessarily financial experts.
61
00:03:44.439 --> 00:03:49.039
They're probably not, but they've mastered what I call financial intelligence,
62
00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:52.560
the ability to understand and use their numbers to make
63
00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:53.360
better decisions.
64
00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:55.800
And today I want you to I want to.
65
00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:59.120
I want to show you that financial mastery isn't about
66
00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:03.599
becoming an countant. It's about taking numbers from something you
67
00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:08.120
avoid into a secret weapon that guides your business towards
68
00:04:08.199 --> 00:04:15.199
greater profits, greater stability, and growth. The gap between where
69
00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:18.680
you are and where you want to be financially isn't
70
00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:24.079
about working harder. It's about understanding the story that your
71
00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:27.920
financial numbers are telling you. So let's decode that story
72
00:04:27.959 --> 00:04:32.920
together and unleash the financial hidden, the financial power that's
73
00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:37.079
hidden in your business right now. So let me start
74
00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:41.160
with a confession. I met a successful CEO of a
75
00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:48.079
multimillion dollar company who actually break into a cold sweat
76
00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:51.839
when presented with a balance sheet. I've worked with brilliant
77
00:04:52.199 --> 00:04:56.360
entrepreneurs who can innovate game changing products but struggle to
78
00:04:56.439 --> 00:04:59.759
explain the difference between cash flow and.
79
00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:01.439
Well.
80
00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:04.879
If you've ever been embarrassed or overwhelmed by financial matters
81
00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:07.959
in your business, I want you to know two things. First,
82
00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:13.240
you're clearly not alone. Second, this isn't about some inherent deficiency.
83
00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:16.720
It's just about a skills upgrade a skills gap that
84
00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:19.240
could be bridged more easily than you think.
85
00:05:20.279 --> 00:05:21.680
And I believe that these.
86
00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:24.959
There are three myths that keep business owners from developing
87
00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:28.519
that financial intelligence, and I want to dispel those three
88
00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:32.000
myths right away, right up front. The first myth is
89
00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:34.079
that you need to be good with numbers to understand
90
00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:38.639
business finances. Well, that's simply not the case. Financial intelligence
91
00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:43.480
is it more. Is it about complex calculations. It's about
92
00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:47.839
understanding relationships between numbers and what they tell you about
93
00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:52.519
your business. And if you can understand that spending more
94
00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:57.639
than you earn creates problems, then you already have the
95
00:05:57.720 --> 00:06:02.600
foundational thinking required for financial intelligence. And the second myth
96
00:06:02.759 --> 00:06:07.000
is that financial management is primarily about cutting costs. Too
97
00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:11.399
many business owners view financial oversight as the equivalent of
98
00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:16.240
a strict diet, all restriction, no enjoyment, and in reality,
99
00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:23.319
strong financial intelligence often reveals opportunities for strategic investment and growth.
100
00:06:23.480 --> 00:06:25.199
That wouldn't be apparent otherwise.
101
00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:30.480
And the third and most damaging myth is that you
102
00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:35.680
can delegate financial understanding entirely to others like your bookkeeper,
103
00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:40.720
your accountant, or even your CFO. While these professionals are invaluable.
104
00:06:41.319 --> 00:06:46.800
Outsourcing your financial knowledge one hundred percent creates vulnerability. I've
105
00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:50.639
seen too many business owners blindsided by cash crunches or
106
00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:55.439
missed opportunities because they relied entirely on others for financial side.
107
00:06:56.600 --> 00:07:00.279
I'm just looking for a basis of understanding here. So
108
00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:05.879
when I learned to read these signals myself, I discovered
109
00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:10.800
problems and opportunities months before they would have become obvious otherwise,
110
00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:16.480
And this experience improved how I approach business. I realized
111
00:07:16.519 --> 00:07:20.079
that financial intelligence is a specialized skill for accountants, although
112
00:07:20.120 --> 00:07:24.240
I am one. It's a fundamental leadership capacity that every
113
00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:28.399
business owner needs to develop, regardless of their background or
114
00:07:28.519 --> 00:07:33.120
natural inclinations. So today I'm going to share the approach
115
00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:37.519
I've developed working with hundreds of businesses across dozens of industries,
116
00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:42.240
and I call it the financial Intelligence Framework. Will help
117
00:07:42.279 --> 00:07:46.439
you improve your relationship with your business numbers from of
118
00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:52.160
the one of confusion or avoidance to clarity and confidence.
119
00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:58.360
And this framework has three components. Number one is understanding
120
00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:01.680
the vital five metas that tell you the most of
121
00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:06.879
what you need to know. Second, mastering the financial narrative,
122
00:08:06.920 --> 00:08:11.839
the story your numbers are telling you. About your business. Third,
123
00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:18.000
developing financial force. This is using financial intelligence to anticipate
124
00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:23.079
and prepare for the future. So throughout today's show, we'll
125
00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:27.439
explore each component and provide practical steps to implement them
126
00:08:27.480 --> 00:08:32.039
in your business, regardless regardless of your current level of
127
00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:35.879
financial comfort. One lesson I learned is that you need
128
00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:39.279
to monitor both profit and cash flow simultaneously. So profit
129
00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:41.720
tells you whether your business model is viable in the
130
00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:45.639
long term, while cash flow tells you whether you'll survive.
131
00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:46.759
In the short term.
132
00:08:47.799 --> 00:08:52.600
But many business owners focus exclusively on profit until a
133
00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:57.440
cash crisis forces them to learn this distinction the hard way.
134
00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:02.039
Understanding this relationlationship between profit and cash is one of
135
00:09:02.039 --> 00:09:05.519
the cornerstones of financial intelligence, and it's not about complex
136
00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:10.960
accounting rules, but rather about developing a practical understanding of
137
00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:15.759
how money actually moves through your business. So let's dive
138
00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:19.240
deeper into the first component of the financial intelligence framework,
139
00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:23.679
and that's understanding the vital five metrics. In my experience
140
00:09:23.720 --> 00:09:27.200
working with hundreds of business owners, I found that most
141
00:09:27.240 --> 00:09:31.679
financial overwhelmed comes from trying to track too many numbers
142
00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:35.480
without understanding which ones truly matter for decision making.
143
00:09:36.519 --> 00:09:40.039
And the truth is While a comprehensive.
144
00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:43.759
Financial analysis might involve dozens of metrics, most business owners
145
00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:47.759
can dramatically improve their financial outcomes by focusing on just
146
00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:52.279
five five, five critical numbers. I call these the vital
147
00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:57.559
five and these are the financial equivalent of vital science
148
00:09:57.639 --> 00:10:01.039
in healthcare. Just as a doctor checks you palls blood
149
00:10:01.080 --> 00:10:06.080
pressure and temperature to quickly assession for overall health, these
150
00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:11.799
five metrics give you a rapid assessment of your business's
151
00:10:11.799 --> 00:10:12.679
financial condition.
152
00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:16.559
Now, the first vital sign is sales or revenue.
153
00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:19.919
This seems obvious, but I'm always surprised by how many
154
00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:23.600
business owners don't know their exact sales figures on a daily, weekly,
155
00:10:23.679 --> 00:10:24.840
or even monthly basis.
156
00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:27.759
Revenue isn't just a vanity metric.
157
00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:32.679
It's the fundamental input that drives all the other financial outcomes.
158
00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:36.360
So you should not you should know not only your
159
00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:40.200
total revenue, but also how it's trending up, down, sideways,
160
00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:44.120
how it's distributed across products to services as well, and
161
00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:45.120
how it compares to.
162
00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:47.840
Your projections if you have them, which you should.
163
00:10:48.759 --> 00:10:52.399
A landscaping company, for example, implemented a simple daily sales
164
00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:55.120
tracking system and discovered that eighty percent of the revenue
165
00:10:55.159 --> 00:10:57.960
came from just two services, while that was spending most
166
00:10:57.960 --> 00:11:02.600
of their marketing budget promoting over performing offerings. This basic
167
00:11:02.679 --> 00:11:05.080
revenue insight led to a thirty five percent increase of
168
00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:10.039
profit within three months. So the second vital sign is
169
00:11:10.120 --> 00:11:13.679
gross profit dollars. This is this is the money remaining
170
00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:18.120
after subtracting the direct costs of delivering your products or services.
171
00:11:18.120 --> 00:11:23.679
That direct clasts include things like materials, direct labor, subcontracted labor,
172
00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:28.399
and any other expense is freight that increased directly with
173
00:11:28.519 --> 00:11:32.120
sales volume. And gross profit matters because it tells you
174
00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:35.159
how much money you have available to cover your fixed
175
00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:39.559
costs and generate a net profit. See Many businesses focus
176
00:11:39.639 --> 00:11:45.440
on sales growth without realizing that gross profit is that's
177
00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:49.320
sufficient to sustain their operations. You've got to understand the
178
00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:53.759
gross profit component. So a retail store owner was excited
179
00:11:53.799 --> 00:11:57.440
about growing sales until she realized or analyzed her gross
180
00:11:57.440 --> 00:12:01.480
profit and discovered that her newest that's this growing product
181
00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:07.159
line actually had the lowest gross profit. So by reallocating
182
00:12:07.159 --> 00:12:10.240
her focus to higher margin products, she increased her overall
183
00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:14.120
grows profit by twenty two percent, even though total sales
184
00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:21.000
remain relatively stable. That's about profit. That's about understanding your
185
00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:25.159
profit versus just the top line. The third vital sign
186
00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:29.240
is gross profit percentage. This is really really important. This
187
00:12:29.320 --> 00:12:33.240
is your gross profit divided by your revenue, expressed as
188
00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:37.559
a percentage. So while gross profit dollars help you tell
189
00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:41.519
you the absolute amount available to cover your fixed costs,
190
00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:47.159
gross profit percent tells you how efficiently you're generating that profit.
191
00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:51.919
Industry benchmarks for gross profit, by the way, they very,
192
00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:53.960
They really do, they very They're all over the place,
193
00:12:54.440 --> 00:12:57.919
you know, from as low as ten to fifteen percent
194
00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:03.519
in some retail category to seventy to eighty percent in
195
00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:07.960
certain professional services. But what matters most is not comparing
196
00:13:07.960 --> 00:13:12.000
yourself to an abstract standard, but tracking your own trends
197
00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:16.840
and understanding what drives changes in your gross profit margin.
198
00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:22.240
So a restaurant owner notices gross profit percentage declining despite
199
00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:27.320
stable food costs. Investigation revealed that staff was over proportioning
200
00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:31.639
certain high cost ingredients. So a simple portion control system
201
00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:39.279
restored as margins without changing menu prices or quality. And
202
00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:41.759
the fourth vital sign is net profit. This is what
203
00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:47.639
remains after all expenses, both direct and overhead, are subtracted
204
00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:52.960
from revenue, so it's essentially your bottom line, and it
205
00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:57.840
represents the return all your effort and investment. Net profit
206
00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:02.600
matters not just for current income, but for business sustainability
207
00:14:02.600 --> 00:14:06.480
and growth, because without adequate net profit, you can't weather
208
00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:11.960
the downturns, or invest in opportunities, or build a business
209
00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:17.279
value for eventual exit with secession. So a manufacturing company
210
00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:21.559
who had focused exclusively on revenue growth was shocked to
211
00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:25.200
discover that is net profit had been declining for three
212
00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:30.279
consecutive years despite sales increases. So by analyzing which products
213
00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:34.480
and which customers were most profitable, he restructured his offering
214
00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:38.360
to emphasize higher margin business, doubling his debt profit within
215
00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:43.600
eighteen months. And the fifth byte sign is cash position.
216
00:14:44.679 --> 00:14:48.679
Simply how much money you have available right now includes
217
00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:52.919
cash in all of your bank accounts. While the other
218
00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:56.519
metrics tell you about business performance, cash position tells you
219
00:14:56.600 --> 00:15:03.039
about business survival capacity. You see, many profitable businesses failed
220
00:15:03.080 --> 00:15:06.639
because they write out of cash. Your cash position isn't
221
00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:10.279
just about current balances, but about the relationship between cash
222
00:15:10.360 --> 00:15:14.879
inflows and outflows over time. This is why cash flow
223
00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:17.840
forecasting is so critical, and we've had a couple of
224
00:15:17.879 --> 00:15:21.080
shows on that because it helps you anticipate and prepare
225
00:15:21.240 --> 00:15:26.960
for periods when outflows might exceed inflows, and our service
226
00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:31.080
business owner maintained that may tell you what she thought
227
00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:34.200
was a healthy cash reserve of two months operating expenses,
228
00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:38.320
but by implementing a proper cash flow forecast, she realized
229
00:15:38.360 --> 00:15:42.519
that seasonal variations and client payment patterns created a three
230
00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:48.120
month gap between service delivery and payment collection. She adjusted
231
00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:52.039
her cash reserves accordingly, avoiding what would have been a
232
00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:59.039
severe crunch during her growth phase. Now might be wondering
233
00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:01.960
how do I act these vital five How do I
234
00:16:02.039 --> 00:16:06.320
drag these vital five metrics effectively? And the key is
235
00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:11.080
creating a dashboard that gives you visibility without overwhelming you
236
00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:15.320
with details you know for most business. For most businesses,
237
00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:18.720
I usually recommend a single page dashboard that shows each
238
00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:23.120
metric and three time frames period that's this week or month,
239
00:16:24.200 --> 00:16:28.759
the trend comparing to previous periods, and the target comparing
240
00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:32.120
to your goals. And this provides context that makes the
241
00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:36.960
numbers more meaningful for decision making, and the dashboard should
242
00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:40.879
be updated at least weekly daily. For businesses with high
243
00:16:40.879 --> 00:16:45.720
transaction volumes or type cash positions. The process of reviewing