Advertise on podcast: Strategy Meets Finance

Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Schedule a call with us. Ask one of your direct reports to name the three to five things that define success in their role. If the answer is vague, you have a clarity problem, and it is costing you more than you think. In this episode Steve shares the moment as a CFO that showed him how broken the typical review process is, and why job descriptions alone leave your team guessing. He walks through how to turn responsibilities into specific success measures, how to use them in one-on-ones, and how to tie every role back to the one metric that tells you whether your strategy is working. If your team is busy but you still feel frustrated with the results, this one is for you. ______________________________________ 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. LinkedIn | YouTube  coltivar.com

Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Schedule a call with us.  Most business owners look at the bottom of their income statement, see a profit, and assume the business is doing well. That number ignores one of the biggest costs in the business: invested capital. In this episode Steve breaks down the difference between accounting profit and economic profit, why invested capital changes the whole picture, and how looking only at the P&L can lead you to reward the wrong things. He also shares what showed up when he mapped economic profit across hundreds of construction companies, and what that means if you're in the majority. If your bonuses, growth decisions, and KPIs only look at the P&L, this one will change what you measure. ______________________________________ 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. LinkedIn | YouTube  coltivar.com

Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Schedule a call with us.  Most business owners focus all their attention on profit. But some of the biggest cash flow problems in a business have nothing to do with profit at all. In this episode Steve covers the second half of the eight levers of cash flow, the four that impact invested capital. Accounts receivable, work in progress, accounts payable, and capital expenditures. These are the levers that explain why a business can be profitable and still run out of cash. If you have not listened to part one yet, start there first. ______________________________________ 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. LinkedIn | YouTube  coltivar.com

Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Schedule a free call with us.  Most business owners know cash flow matters. Very few know the specific levers that actually control it. In this episode Steve kicks off a two-part series on the 8 levers of cash flow, starting with the 4 that drive profit. He walks through each one, why the order matters, and why the lever most owners reach for first is usually the one with the least upside. Part two covers the four invested capital levers that most business owners overlook entirely. _______________________________________ 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. LinkedIn | YouTube  coltivar.com

Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Schedule a free call with us.  Most businesses are so busy chasing work that they never stop to ask whether they are competing in the right market in the first place. In this episode Steve digs into one of the four boxes in his strategy framework: market focus and position. He breaks down the three things you need to nail to get it right, your offer, your ideal customer, and your playing field, and why getting the analytics behind each of them matters just as much as the gut feeling you have been going off of. It is one of the most important strategic decisions a business can make and most owners have never done it deliberately. _______________________________________ 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. LinkedIn | YouTube  coltivar.com

Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Schedule a free call with us.  Steve was in a wrestling class recently when the coach said something that stuck with him. Just do stuff that works. In this episode, he takes that idea into business and makes the case that most owners already know what works. They just keep getting pulled toward everything else. The new brand, the shiny tool, the flavor of the day. Meanwhile the real constraint sits there unsolved and the business stays stuck. So what does doing stuff that works actually look like? Steve breaks it down. _______________________________________ 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. LinkedIn | YouTube  coltivar.com

Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar.  Most business owners think they have a strategy, but most of them do not... In this episode Steve gives you three quick ways to find out if your strategy is actually working, breaks down what strategy really means beyond the vision days and planning sessions, and walks through the framework he has spent decades developing and just put into a book. If your team cannot agree on what your strategy is in two sentences, this one is worth your attention. _______________________________________ 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. LinkedIn | YouTube  coltivar.com

Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar.  Most business owners think financial visibility means getting an income statement every month. It does not. In this episode Steve breaks down what real financial visibility actually looks like, why the gap between what most owners see and what they need to see is costing them money every single day, and why running a business without it is not just risky but a genuine disability. If you have ever felt like you are making decisions in the dark, this one will show you exactly what you are missing. _______________________________________ 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. LinkedIn | YouTube  coltivar.com

Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar.  Most business owners track revenue. Some track profit. But there are three numbers that actually tell you whether your business is healthy, building value, and set up to last. In this episode Steve walks through exactly what those three numbers are, how to calculate each one, and what they are telling you about the state of your business right now. If you have never calculated any of them, this is a good place to start. _______________________________________ 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. LinkedIn | YouTube  coltivar.com

Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar.  Most businesses have a strategy. They have done the offsite, built the plan, and know where they want to go. Then you look at the financials and the strategy is nowhere in the numbers. In this episode Steve breaks down exactly what is happening in that gap, why strategy without a financial connection is just a list of good intentions, and what it actually takes to build a strategy that shows up in your margins, your cash flow, and your return on invested capital. _______________________________________ 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. LinkedIn | YouTube  coltivar.com

Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar.  There is a specific moment Steve has seen over and over again inside businesses. Revenue becomes more predictable, cash flow steadies out, and the owner goes from reactive to proactive. In this episode he breaks down exactly what that moment looks like in financial terms and the five conditions that have to be in place before it happens. If you are still in survival mode, this one will show you what you are actually working toward. _______________________________________ 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 LinkedIn | YouTube  coltivar.com

Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar. Most business owners look at profit on their income statement and assume the business is doing well. But profit and value are not the same thing. In this episode Steve breaks down why the majority of businesses are not generating returns above their cost of capital, what that actually means for the health of your company, and the one question every business owner should be able to answer about their strategy right now. If you have been measuring success by the bottom line alone, this one is going to change how you look at your numbers. _______________________________________ 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. LinkedIn | YouTube  coltivar.com

Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar.  Every year business owners build a budget. They set targets, present the numbers, tie bonuses to it, and by March it is already wrong. In this episode Steve makes the case that a static annual budget is one of the most limiting financial tools a business can use and walks through exactly what to do instead. Not a tweak to the process. A fundamentally different way of thinking about your numbers and your future. If you have ever sat in a budget meeting that felt more like a negotiation than a plan, this will resonate. _______________________________________ 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. LinkedIn | YouTube  coltivar.com

Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar. Most business owners know their best customers by name. Longest relationships, biggest contracts, most consistent work. But in this episode Steve shows why looking at revenue per customer and profitability per customer are two completely different things and why the gap between them might be the most important number you are not tracking. He walks through exactly how to run a customer profitability analysis, what most accounting systems miss, and what the numbers usually reveal when you actually do the work. _______________________________________ 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. LinkedIn | YouTube  coltivar.com

Know your numbers, grow your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar.  Two businesses, same revenue, same profit. One sells for three times EBITDA. The other sells for eight times. On a $2 million EBITDA business that gap is $10 million. In this episode Steve breaks down exactly what creates that difference and why sophisticated buyers are not just looking at the size of your earnings but the quality and the risk underneath them. Whether you ever plan to sell or not, understanding this will change how you run your business right now. _______________________________________ 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. LinkedIn | YouTube  coltivar.com