Transforming Leadership: The Role of a Fractional CFO with Mike Straza

Efficiency and growth within businesses are paramount to achieving sustainable success, and in this enlightening episode, we engage with Mike Straza, a seasoned expert in guiding organizations towards these vital objectives. With over 25 years of experience, Mike elucidates the common blind spots that hinder business leaders from realizing their full potential and profitability. He emphasizes the necessity of strategic financial oversight, particularly through the roles of fractional CFOs and COOs, as opposed to merely relying on bookkeepers. Throughout our discussion, we explore the intricate balance between operational efficiency and financial acumen necessary for fostering a thriving corporate environment. Ultimately, this conversation serves as a clarion call for leaders to acknowledge their limitations and seek the expertise that can propel their organizations forward.

The discussion centers on the vital importance of leadership in business growth and efficiency, highlighting the premise that effective leaders are the cornerstone of successful organizations. Jaclyn Strominger, the host, introduces Mike Straza, an expert with over 25 years of experience in scaling businesses and providing strategic insights to CEOs and executives. Straza elucidates the concept of 'blind spots' in business operations that often hinder growth. He emphasizes the necessity for leaders to adopt a proactive approach in recognizing inefficiencies and implementing solutions to foster a conducive environment for both employees and the organization as a whole. The episode serves as a clarion call for leaders to be vigilant and strategic, aligning their vision with operational execution to enhance profitability and productivity. Through his extensive experience, Straza shares anecdotes and insights that reinforce the idea that operational efficiency is not merely a goal but a fundamental requirement for sustainable business success.

Takeaways:

• The podcast emphasizes the significance of fostering thriving leaders to create successful businesses.
• Mike Straza's extensive experience aids businesses in identifying blind spots that hinder growth.
• A fractional CFO can provide essential strategic insights that ultimately drive a company's success.
• Understanding the mission and vision of a business is crucial for determining when to hire a CFO.
• Creating efficient systems within an organization enhances employee satisfaction and retention.
• Companies often overlook the financial implications of inefficiencies, which can lead to significant losses.

Links referenced in this episode:

• strazaconsulting.com
• linkedin.com/in/michael-straza

Mentioned in this episode:

Thank you for listening

Thank you for listening. If you have enjoyed this episode please give it a 5 star review.We would love to have you be a subscriber, don't miss an episode!

Unstoppable Leadership Spotlight - Welcome

Welcome to the podcast

Episode Transcript

(00:59):
Well, hello everybody andwelcome to another edition and episode
of the Unstoppable LeadershipSpotlight podcast. I am your host,
Jaclyn Strominger. Our goalhere is to make sure that leaders
are thriving and we'recreating great leaders. Great leaders
make great businesses andgreat companies. And today we have
an amazing guest leaders. Ifyou want efficiency and growth in

(01:22):
your business, you need tohear this because Mike Straza is
your guy to help you get thatefficiency and growth. So who is
he and why is he going to bean amazing guest? Mike has decades
of experience scalingbusinesses that advise CEOs and businesses
and leaders across thecountry. Businesses seek Mike out

(01:44):
for that CEO and CFO levelinsight to identify pathways to growth
and profitability. He has over25 years experiences. Experience.
It's not experiences, but 25years of experience. And he knows
what it takes to help CEOs andother business leaders resolve the
blind spots that keep theirbusinesses from growing strong. Mike,

(02:08):
welcome to the UnstoppableLeadership Spotlight podcast. I'm
so glad to have you on.
Well, thanks for inviting me,Jacqueline. I'm excited to talk about
the things that are importantto. For a business.
Yeah, so, so tell me, you knowthat. That opening like efficiency
and growth. Yeah. Why, like,why do you like where. What's the

(02:29):
blind spot and, and how. AndI'm gonna. That's a two part question,
but which I hopefully willanswer in two different ways. I know
I should not stack, but whatmade you see this? Like what got
you.
Yeah, I'm really where it goesback to is kind of go back in time.
So you know, you said 25 plusyears of experience. Well, I go back

(02:50):
to, you know, going throughcollege and getting my first job
to learning the businessworld, being in marketing and working
with some Fortune 50 and 500companies and learn from that. And
then also too starting tobasically operate a company, a physician

(03:10):
company earlier in my careerwhere There was over 200 physicians,
over 12 hospitals I wasworking with and learning that. And
what you learn is efficiency.There's a lot of inefficiencies in
different things. Healthcareis not immune to that. And that was
something I learned. It waslike, how do I make this job? How

(03:35):
do I make things moreefficient? Not just for me, not for
the organization I wasrunning, but also too for the hospitals,
for the people that are comingin to see the doctors, the doctors
themselves. So there's a lotof things that can break down. So
that was something that was, Ilearned right away that like, well,
this is important. How do We.How do we see people give them the
right care? How are they notthere for their whole day? So there

(03:57):
are several steps that hastaken me to this point now in my
career.
Wow. Okay. So I have so manydifferent things because I. I could
go down the path ofphysicians. So maybe we'll have to
talk about that off adifferent topic because my husband's
a physician and inefficienciesin hospital is. Drives me crazy.
Crazy. And leadership, that'sa whole other thing. So tell me,

(04:20):
you know, you know, you'rehelping people find us. And you,
as a fractional CEO and cfo,you know, I. You said something before
the show that almost kind oflike baffles me. Like, I always think
that every companyautomatically has a cfo, but that's

(04:41):
not.
That is not the case because,you know, as. As companies grow,
when you first start one, andit's. You have an individual founder
or several founders, andthey're growing, and they're all.
What happens. This is talkgoes back to the efficiency thing.
They're doing everything. Theyhave a couple of employees, possibly,
and they're just doingeverything possible because one,
it's in their minds, it'scheaper. They're the ones that know

(05:04):
about the company. They'rerunning it. They're constantly looking
for, if they're getting, youknow, if they're looking for clients
or customers or whatever theterm you want to use, they're just
gathering, gathering,gathering. And at that same time,
which I've had experiencedealing with too, is you don't set
things up. You don't putthings in place, efficiencies in
place. You don't put, youknow, metrics and all the things

(05:25):
that people hear. The terms,the buzzwords you hear over the years
of business are not put inplace. And all of a sudden, years
go by, you're like, well, howcome. How come our expenses are going
up so high, but our revenue isgoing up even higher, but our expenses
are passing our revenue? Andthat's where it's like, okay, what
are you doing? How are yousetting yourself for success? And

(05:46):
no one. You never. It's harderto go back in time and saying, okay,
we've been doing this for fiveto 10 years. Let's go back and fix
all the problems. And thenthey realize, oh, we need to hire
people. Well, if I hiresomeone, then that's less money for
me. I can't pay my debt off.So it snowballs into a bigger problem.
So then that's why there'snever. They don't bring a cfo, and

(06:07):
they're like, I can donumbers. You know, there's a lot
of people feel like, well, ifI do this, I can do this, and yeah,
you can. But you're notefficient at it. You're not good
at it, and you're missing.You're. You're losing the sight of
what could it really be versuswhat it is today. And that's, I think,
something that CEOs kind ofmiss at times. The opportunities

(06:28):
they lost. And they thoughtthey were controlling everything.
Right. So where do you think acompany is? Like, you know, is there
like a timeline where you say,you know what you need when you hit
this mark? Yeah, youdefinitely need to make sure that
you have somebody like a COOor a cfo, because it's true. Like,

(06:52):
you know, we all have ourexpertise, and I. And what you just
said is that we are blind tothe things that we don't know well.
Right. Like I can't know everypart of the business.
Right.
You know, you almost like,stick in your lane to. And hire somebody
else to do the thing that youmight be okay at it, but you're not

(07:12):
great at it.
Right. And that's the thing isthe pain point is where that is.
Because people have asked mein the past, when should I hire you?
When should I come in? Is itthis amount of revenue, this many
millions of dollars? Is itthis many employees? And it all depends.
And I always go back to thebasics, like, okay, why are you doing
what you're doing? What areyou. What is your business trying

(07:32):
to accomplish? What is yourmission and vision of your business?
And in understanding that andthen saying, and one of the simple
things is, are you growing abusiness because you want to make
money? You're growing abusiness because you want to sell
it. Are you growing a businessbecause you want to provide people
jobs in your community? Whatis it? So at first, you have to pick
that one out. For me, it'slike, I need to know that so I can

(07:53):
understand your why and whereyou're wanting to go from there.
Then I can tell them, okay,this is where you. This is when you
need to bring a CEO in or cfo.So if you need more operational people,
then that's good. If you needa finance person, this is when you
need to bring them in. Andthat's where it is. Because as you
get grow and go, your companyis growing in revenue, and also other

(08:14):
things are coming into play.There's a lot of numbers, and it's
like, yes, you can add andsubtract. That is. It's more complicated
than that. You can haveamortization. You can have all these
other things that you're, youknow, your reoccurring revenue, your,
your, your. There's so manythings that you have to look at and

(08:35):
you can't just, just do thatany like you did before because you're
busy. Maybe you're thesalesperson too. So you're busy doing
sales. But it's like. But Idon't have time for the finance part.
And you can get a bookkeepercan do those steps. But sooner or
later, you're gonna needsomeone that really understands how
something operationally worksand also too that financial person

(08:57):
be able to see what the CEO iswanting and desiring and helping
them seek out and accomplishtheir vision and mission of their
business. And I think that'swhere they realize they have to do
that.
So you just said somethingthat I think is really key and it's
a huge insight. And I want tomake sure that we get this, get this
spelled out clearly. A COO orCFO or fractional CFO versus a bookkeeper.

(09:22):
Right.
And the CFO is as you shared,really hones in and carries what
that vision and mission of thecompany is. Where your bookkeeper
is just tracking the books.
Yeah. And you have to makesure they're. I mean, in the bookkeeper

(09:43):
still has to sound. Trackingthe books is understanding what the
books mean and what it's. Whatit states. The cfo, the fractional
CFO is looking at a. They're.They're being very strategic. Strategic.
They're looking at yourfinances, they're looking at what
your resources are and they'restrategically saying this is what
you need to do and when. Andhelping guiding that CEO to the place

(10:05):
where they're like, okay, youcan do this. Now. This is a way you
can do this. And here are youroptions to get you to the next. Next
place, next step in whatyou're trying to accomplish. And
that's why you have thatperson that, that's. They think numbers,
but they also think vision.They also think execution. And like,
I can do more than thisbecause, yes, you can get an accountant,
which accountants are great. Ialways have an accountant too. On

(10:28):
top of, even though I'm a cfo.They have a place, but they're not
going to be that strategicthinker. They're just looking at
numbers. They're making sureyou're safe, make sure you don't
get yourself in trouble by thegovernment. You know, those type
of things. So they're focusedin one area. For me, I'm looking
at the broader picture andsaying, how do I get you to there?
And then here are thesolutions and here's. And then also

(10:51):
too, I can help execute thosesolutions for you.
Okay, so what I want to hearis because this is, this is really
great. So give us a storyabout somebody you've helped and,
and, and the difference itmade in their business.
Well, there's. Give a couple.I'll give you first story. One of
the things I had done when Iwas working, when I first was operating

(11:13):
this physician group is theywere growing, they were doing fine
on their own, but they needed.They're like, something's missing,
we just can't get it. We'rephysicians and they do a great job,
but they're just likeunderstanding the business aspect
of it and also working withadministrations and things like that.
There's a balance and we.Everyone's trying to do the same

(11:34):
thing is take care of people.But there's that middle ground where
it's like there's a lot that'sgoing on and confusion. So I come
into that. So there are acouple times with this. The organization
I worked with is that theycame in some financial crisis, meaning
their, their insurance wasgoing up by 300%. So I had to look

(11:55):
how do we do that? How do wefind another insurance company that's
going to insure thisorganization and what's that going
to look like and how do we dothat? And interviewing people and
trying to make sure. And inthe hospitals like, where's do you
have insurance? And so thatwas a problem solving thing I had
to do is like, look at is whatis our numbers, how do we make these
work? Because there's nobudget for that. Where all of a sudden

(12:18):
it came out of middle of theyear and you're like, Well, I got
300% I got to come up with fora premium to pay. So those are solutions
where I look at and say, okay,how do we navigate this and make
this work? So that is one ofthe things I have done. And I'll
give you a real quick. Anotherone is coming into an organization
and they are doing fine.They've been around forever, but

(12:42):
their finance department wasstruggling and it's like, okay, how
can I help? So they came infor being as a process person, efficiency.
So they hired me to come in asa fractional CFO and say, look at
our, look at our process andour procedures and things like that.
So as I'M digging into it. I'mjust like, oh, wow. There really

(13:03):
are not those process andprocedures in here. And they're doing
things. No one's doinganything incorrectly or inappropriately.
So that's good. That's thefirst thing. But then there was like.
But there was things that wereerrors and mistakes and things that
were being missed, and it'sbecause they didn't have things in
place. Great people,knowledgeable in their field, but

(13:24):
they just. Nothing wascohesive to where it was. Like, they're
pointing in the rightdirection to where the team was working
as one. So I've gone in thereand basically reworked the team,
help them with their processesand continue to put them in the right
place so they can continue tobe successful as they are and providing
a service that they been doingfor, you know, over 50 years. So

(13:48):
that's what you're thinking,okay, A company is over 50 years
old. They should have thisfigured out. And like, nope, it happens.
It's. It's like sometimespeople can really just get through
it and somehow they are ableto make it, manage it. Other people,
like, they're doing everythingthey can possibly do, check anything
off the list and it doesn'twork for them and they have to close

(14:08):
up.
So, yeah, so that's reallyinteresting. The company's 50 years
old and again, doing thingsand going, going along, but obviously
realized that there was,there's inefficiencies that were
happening. And so curious. Didthey have a cfo and they. And the
CFO brought you in or was it.
Yeah, they had a, you know, acfo. So the. Really. The CEO brought

(14:32):
me in to this because they hadbeen talking and concerned about
things and someone hadmentioned me and said, oh, this is
what, this is what Mike does.This what. He comes in and looks
at what's going on and kind ofgive a report of what is the overall
structure. And that's whatthey like, okay, that's what I need.
And it had, you know, therewas new management and things like

(14:54):
that. So that's why they'relike, yeah, this is. Try this out.
Because there was a painpoint. The person recognized a pain
point. And it's like, we haveto change. We don't change. This
isn't good for our group. Andthat's where sometimes it's new leadership,
new new perspective. And. Orto a point where it's like, it's
getting to a point where it'slike, yeah, we gotta do something.
And Sometimes it takes CEOs awhile to really, you Know, say, okay,

(15:19):
I need help.
Right. Well, that's, it's, youknow, it is. It's hard to get to
that point where it says Ineed help. And so do you almost like
have like a checklist orsomething that says, like if you
check these boxes, this is thetime that you might, you might need
the help almost to help peoplerecognize that?
Yeah, I kind of walk throughlike an intake packet with them.

(15:41):
Basically I just sit down withthem and I just, first I get to under,
like understand who they are,what they're trying, what is their
goals, what are they trying toaccomplish. So I walk through those
with them and the next step islike, okay, tell me about what's
been going well, what's notbeen going from your perception or
your, what you've seen orexperienced. And I walk through those

(16:01):
things and as I walk throughthose, then I start, you know, taking
notes. I interview. If it's adepartment, I interview the department.
I just individually. And it'slike, I'm here just to help. I'm
help. I'm here to empower youto be better at your job. And this
is what I'm trying to do. It'snot me trying to. You're not going
to lose your job. You're not,you know, these are not things I'm

(16:22):
trying to accomplish. I'm justtrying to figure out how can we,
you be a better team and howwe can be more efficient so you enjoy
your job. Because sometimespeople maybe the things are happening
because it's just they'reoverworked or they just don't know
they're taking too much of thetime and something they shouldn't
be, and they should be doingit differently. And it's like helping

(16:44):
them have that work lifebalance. So that's a little bit also
to what I try to helpaccomplish for them, which is maybe
as an extra added bonus forthem. It's not just for the CEO,
it's for the person who I'mworking with too. The other people
on the staff trying to makesure it's like, yeah, we got to make
your life a little bit betterhere and outside of here. So there's

(17:05):
a separation of both.
Right. You know, it's actuallykind of interesting from a leadership
standpoint. It's reallyimportant for people to recognize,
you know, as a leader torecognize when your team is working,
you know, where they'reworking too hard just to almost band
aid something to make it workand what that leader can do when

(17:25):
they could bring somebody into create Those efficiencies. And
then I'm, I'm assuming onceyou do that, I'm, you know, I'm curious,
like, you know, what's beenthe percentage increase to that again,
bottom line?
Yeah, well, no, it'sdefinitely. I've seen that with several
of my groups I've worked within the past, in the recent, you know,
this past year. And currentlyis like, they're seeing a huge shift

(17:49):
where the revenue coming inand their expenses, everything is
adjusting the way it needs toand then also too expanding because,
like, now you can now bring inother employees to help this area
because you can afford it.Before, you couldn't afford it because
they were so inefficient. Youwere losing money in an area that
you shouldn't have been losingmoney. And I think that's where it's

(18:11):
like, wow, this is actuallygoing to help you again go to the
next level that you're lookingfor or the thing you've been trying
to get to for so long. Andyou're like, why can't I get there?
And it's like, oh, now Ifreeze up. This person's time, their
resources in trying to get,you know, back to where they're not

(18:32):
trying to stay their headabove water, basically, they're not
drowning every day and wishingthey didn't have to come to work.
So.
Right. And that's actually ahuge thing. So to me, like one of
those, this is a huge insightand game changer. I want leaders
to really understand this. AndI could probably talk till I'm blue
in the face about this, but,you know, the creating systems and

(18:54):
putting, you know, standardoperating procedures in place, you
know, on the financial sideand actually throughout your business
to help create those systemsso that your people can be more effective
and efficient will actuallyraise the bar so that they're liking
to come and work. Happyemployees, happy company, greater

(19:16):
growth. And sometimes when youget that, when you get that greater
growth, what ends up happeningis you don't necessarily have to
hire more people for thegrowth. Just happens naturally because
people are happy to be at work.
Yeah. And you keep retention.Your, your employee retention is
so much better becauseeveryone talks about the cost of
not retaining. If you losepeople and you continue to retrain,
retrain, retrain, you'relosing money. That amount of money,

(19:41):
it's hard to even quantify attimes, but yeah, you are losing a
fair amount of money. Ifyou're constantly having a rotation
of people coming in and out ofyour organization and you have to
start all over again. And thenthey're trying to learn from somebody
that's not there anymore. Andit's a really bad cycle to be in.
Yep. It's so true. Havingturnover, turnover costs America.

(20:02):
And this is like, I know it'sAmerican companies and I, I'm not
going to quote the number, butI remember reading something where
it was like somewhere aroundlike $4.5 billion just in inefficiencies.
When, you know, and that'sjust US companies, not. We're not
talking worldwide.
Yeah.
But it's a huge, huge cost.So, you know, so leaders and CEOs,

(20:23):
if you want to create moreefficiencies and you want to grow
your business, make sureyou've got Mike in your back pocket
to help, you know, with that.You know, whether you have a CFO
or not, you know, this isreally important because creating
those efficiencies will driveyour growth and create, create better,
happy employees. Mike, how canpeople find you and connect with

(20:45):
you?
Yes, the two ways you can findme, of course, on LinkedIn, you can
find me under Michael Strazaon LinkedIn and I post a lot of stuff
out there. I have my blogposts written and then I have other
content I put on LinkedIn butalso to my website at consultstrasa
or strazaconsulting.com youmcan go to there and I have all my

(21:08):
information about how to getahold of me. What questions do you
have? And again, all myarticles I have posted out there
about these particular topicsabout how to be more efficient. Why
is it important to have afractional cfo, coo? Why is it important
to really have theefficiencies in your organization
to succeed?

(21:29):
Yeah. Well, I so appreciatehaving you on as a guest. This is
the Unstoppable LeadershipSpotlight podcast. If you enjoyed
this and found some usefulinformation, which I hope you have,
please hit subscribe and alsoshare it with someone that you know
who might need that growth andefficiency in their business and
who could use Mike. Everybodyneeds a mic in their back pocket.

(21:51):
So again, I'm JacquelineStrominger, your host and thank you
so much for listening andthank you, Mike, for being a guest.
Thank you.