Having spent years as a CFO in medium-sized companies before moving into fractional CFO work, I’ve now worked with over 100 growing businesses. And here’s something that took me a while to accept this: traditional budgets don’t work for growth companies. Let me explain why. Growth SMEs need an agile and adaptable approach Coming from […]

Last week, I suggested something: Extraordinary organisations don’t happen by accident. They are intentionally built. That naturally led me to another question. If extraordinary organisations are intentionally built… what exactly are leaders building? Most organisations have capable people. They have a strategy. They invest heavily in technology, leadership development, and modern systems. Yet, organisations with […]

This is part of a three-part series on Succession — covering family, boards, and CEOs — and while each part stands on its own, they’re best read in order. The founder who came back — and the CEO who paid for it This example is a start-up company with an owner board. A majority of […]

Part two: Board This is part of a three-part series on succession — covering family, boards, and CEOs — and while each part stands on its own, they’re best read in order. Read Part One here. The seats around the table decide the story Over the years, I’ve sat around a lot of board tables […]

Buying Versus Leasing There are various pros and cons to each option, and much of it comes down to how often you like to change your vehicle, and whether the vehicle you want is within easy reach. If you choose to buy the vehicle, you can claim depreciation. There are no mileage limits, and once […]

I have a deep affection for Thailand—its people, cuisine, and way of life. Meeting my wife in Bangkok, where she worked as a manager for one of the country’s largest accounting firms, only strengthened that connection. I have a deep affection for Thailand—its people, cuisine, and way of life. Meeting my wife in Bangkok, where […]

This three-part series on succession will be a little wider-ranging than usual, because it covers three kinds of succession issues that I have lived through from different seats over the last three years: as a director, a business owner, and a family advisor. Part one is about family – the hardest boardroom of all, because […]

I spend time over school holidays attacking large jigsaws with my nieces — the thousand-piece kind that promises a weekend and delivers a fortnight. Watching us go at it recently, I was struck by how closely it mirrors what I am seeing in the businesses we work with right now. The picture on the box […]