Can Your CFOs Financial Agility Provide You an Edge?

How creative is your CFO? What are the keys to creating a successful financial capability in your growing organization? What skills does a great CFO bring to the table? I’m reading an interesting book called Think Agile: How Smart Entrepreneurs Adapt in Order to Succeed by Taffy Williams.  You can read more about the book at our sister blog, Market Leadership Journal.

Today, I share several key ideas that Taffy discusses in his new book for business leaders and  executives.  Chapter 5 starts out with a simple statement; complexity demands agility. Serving entrepreneurs are a very creative group of leaders. If we lack one skill, it might be that we are less innovative in developing our financial growth strategies.

If you want to seize the greatest opportunities to grow your business, you might want work with your CFO to better develop your options. If any role in the organization has changed over the past five years, it’s that of CFO. I believe your CFO can help you build an extraordinary organization.

Taffy shares several keys on what you should expect from your CFO. For example, a great CFO must know what funding options are available to your growing organization. Depending on the stage of your business, these options can change. In the past several years, there have been an increasing number of financial options available for your organization. Taffy shares two that most CFOs don’t know, but can help you increase your bottom line.

An effective CFO can help you structure better financial relationships with your customers, competitors, and partners by licensing your technologies and systems to other organizations. A good CFO can help you identify intangible assets that your organization possesses that can increase your revenue generating capabilities. Depending on your business, this can increase your business size and scope very quickly. In today’s fast changing business environment, it is critical to know how to maximize your revenue through all stages of your business growth.

A CFO can also play a pivotal role in your organization by helping to put together financial syndicates that can provide needed capital for your organization. A strong CFO can cultivate relationships with a number of potential investors during the lifetime of your business. Does your CFO know individuals that would be interesting in investing in your organization?  These investors can form alternative investing vehicles that help you keep your organization growing during challenging times. In the past, banks have played these pivotal roles, but with increasing regulation and statutory requirements many banks moved out of these investment opportunities.

Taffy shares several more ideas that you might want to take advantage of over the next several years. CFOs must remain agile when creating funding systems for your business. One of the challenges I find when working with financial leaders is they stick with tried and true methods to finance their business growth. Many of these methods worked in the past when credit was easier to get, but in this changing business environment your funding options are changing.  A strong CFO is willing to evaluate the many options available more quickly. A CFO must be able to create a sense of urgency around their financial decisions while working with partners. Taffy shares a great example of what’s possible when working with a great financial leader in his book.  He also discusses many different tools for accomplishing your business financial goals.  If you’re looking to become a more agile thinker, you’re going to love this book.

You can learn more about his book Think Agile: How Smart Entrepreneurs Adapt in Order to Succeed at http://www.thinkagilebook.com.

Next week, we talk about how social media can help you connect with your community. I share a resource that can take the mystery out of social media and give you several ideas to build a great community around your favorite cause. See you next Tuesday.