Business Strategy and Finance
Welcome to the Business Strategy and Finance Podcast, hosted by entrepreneur, founder, investor, CFO, and content creator Steve Coughran. In each episode, you'll discover strategies for attracting more customers, boosting profitability, and increasing your company's value, all drawn from Steve’s extensive experience in turning around and growing companies from millions to billions in revenue. By blending strategic principles with essential financial fundamentals, Steve provides actionable insights to help you optimize and maximize the value of your business.
Business Strategy and Finance
84: If Your Strategy Isn’t Working, Check These Things First
In this episode, we dive into the hidden dangers of business growth and why not every path leads to success. Steve breaks down the core elements of strategy vs. planning and shares insights from his experience generating over a billion dollars in value by pinpointing what truly drives success.
Learn why defining your "strategic problem" is critical, how to identify your ideal customer profile, and the powerful link between strategy and finance that can make or break your business.
Whether you're navigating growth or looking to strengthen your foundation, this episode offers practical steps to avoid common pitfalls and steer your company toward lasting profitability.
Tune in to discover how a well-crafted strategy can transform your business from the inside out!
Disclaimer:
The views expressed here are those of the individual Coltivar Group, LLC (“Coltivar”) personnel quoted and are not the views of Coltivar or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, Coltivar has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.
This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendations. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. Please see https://www.coltivar.com/privacy-policy-and-terms-of-use for additional important information.
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(0:00) If you grow your company and don't understand your working capital and what's required to support that growth, you could grow yourself right into bankruptcy. (0:10) Welcome to Business Strategy, where we talk about crafting winning strategies, implementing them, and building highly profitable and iconic companies. (0:18) I hope you enjoy and subscribe.
(0:22) If you're struggling with strategy in your business, or feel like you need a strategy to drive better performance, you're not alone. (0:31) I'll share key things to check within your business strategy to avoid crisis mode. (0:39) After years of turning around and growing businesses, I've helped generate over a billion dollars in value through a strategy system.
(0:52) I'll highlight steps you can take to make sure the right structures are in place. (0:59) First, understand that strategy and planning are different. (1:06) Strategy is an interrelated set of choices about where and how you'll compete to win.
(1:15) Strategy focuses on the most crucial factors that deliver the biggest upside, not only for your company but also for your customers and stakeholders. (1:34) A plan, however, helps you execute that strategy. They're not the same.
(1:51) So, define your strategic problem—the main obstacle limiting your company’s growth potential. (2:25) Too often, companies lack a clear strategic problem. Defining this is critical.
(2:36) Recently, a CEO asked to skip defining his company's strategic problem to jump to initiatives. I said, no way! Initiatives must solve a specific problem.
(2:59) Like the scientific method, you start by defining a problem, make a hypothesis, test it, and adjust as needed. (3:12) The same goes for strategy.
(3:14) Identifying constraints is crucial; companies can't grow past their constraints. Solving these enables customer acquisition, cost structure reduction, or talent recruitment.
(4:03) Next, clarify your ideal customer profile—your target audience should be central to your strategy. (4:41) Many startups try too much too soon with various customers; focus on one ideal customer profile to start.
(5:31) Even with one customer type, you can scale effectively. Identify their motivations, pain points, triggers, and desired outcomes, then understand the obstacles they face.
(6:19) With a solid customer profile, you can create a strategy centered on customer value. This helps increase revenue, differentiate your business, and accelerate growth.
(6:39) Many strategies overlook the customer. Often, business strategies focus only on company goals, ignoring the customer’s needs and how to deliver distinctive value.
(7:11) Finally, evaluate the financial upside of your strategy. Strategy and finance must be aligned—projecting growth based solely on a budget often fails.
(7:57) For instance, my construction company pivoted to Australia when U.S. tariffs impacted solar projects. We ran this strategy through a feasibility framework and found it viable.
(9:42) Many companies have strategies that don’t consider financial implications. This results in impractical goals and potential business damage.
(10:06) If your strategy isn’t working, evaluate these key factors. Strategy isn’t a one-time event; it requires regular adjustments as real-world feedback shapes it.
(11:05) When working with companies, we build a strategy blueprint and meet regularly to test assumptions, assess results, and make adjustments for maximum value.
(11:24) If this resonates, connect with us at Coltivar.com. Strategy combined with finance, supported by a system, can lead to significant business success. (11:46) That's all for now—until next time, take care. Cheers.
