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

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:00:59

Well, hello everybody and welcome to another edition and episode of the Unstoppable Leadership Spotlight podcast. I am your host, Jaclyn Strominger. Our goal here is to make sure that leaders are thriving and we're creating great leaders.

Great leaders make great businesses and great companies. And today we have an amazing guest leaders.

If you want efficiency and growth in your business, you need to hear this because Mike Straza is your guy to help you get that efficiency and growth. So who is he and why is he going to be an amazing guest?

Mike has decades of experience scaling businesses that advise CEOs and businesses and leaders across the country. Businesses seek Mike out for that CEO and CFO level insight to identify pathways to growth and profitability. He has over 25 years experiences.

Experience. It's not experiences, but 25 years of experience.

And he knows what it takes to help CEOs and other business leaders resolve the blind spots that keep their businesses from growing strong. Mike, welcome to the Unstoppable Leadership Spotlight podcast. I'm so glad to have you on.

Mike Straza: 00:02:13

Well, thanks for inviting me, Jacqueline. I'm excited to talk about the things that are important to. For a business.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:02:19

Yeah, so, so tell me, you know that. That opening like efficiency and growth. Yeah. Why, like, why do you like where. What's the blind spot and, and how. And I'm gonna.

That's a two part question, but which I hopefully will answer in two different ways. I know I should not stack, but what made you see this? Like what got you.

Mike Straza: 00:02:42

Yeah, I'm really where it goes back to is kind of go back in time. So you know, you said 25 plus years of experience.

Well, I go back to, you know, going through college and getting my first job to learning the business world, being in marketing and working with some Fortune 50 and 500 companies and learn from that.

And then also too starting to basically operate a company, a physician company earlier in my career where There was over 200 physicians, over 12 hospitals I was working with and learning that. And what you learn is efficiency. There's a lot of inefficiencies in different things. Healthcare is not immune to that.

And that was something I learned. It was like, how do I make this job? How do I make things more efficient?

Not just for me, not for the organization I was running, but also too for the hospitals, for the people that are coming in to see the doctors, the doctors themselves. So there's a lot of things that can break down. So that was something that was, I learned right away that like, well, this is important. How do We.

How do we see people give them the right care? How are they not there for their whole day? So there are several steps that has taken me to this point now in my career.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:04:02

Wow. Okay. So I have so many different things because I. I could go down the path of physicians.

So maybe we'll have to talk about that off a different topic because my husband's a physician and inefficiencies in hospital is. Drives me crazy. Crazy. And leadership, that's a whole other thing. So tell me, you know, you know, you're helping people find us.

And you, as a fractional CEO and cfo, you know, I. You said something before the show that almost kind of like baffles me.

Like, I always think that every company automatically has a cfo, but that's not.

Mike Straza: 00:04:41

That is not the case because, you know, as. As companies grow, when you first start one, and it's. You have an individual founder or several founders, and they're growing, and they're all.

What happens. This is talk goes back to the efficiency thing. They're doing everything.

They have a couple of employees, possibly, and they're just doing everything possible because one, it's in their minds, it's cheaper. They're the ones that know about the company. They're running it.

They're constantly looking for, if they're getting, you know, if they're looking for clients or customers or whatever the term you want to use, they're just gathering, gathering, gathering. And at that same time, which I've had experience dealing with too, is you don't set things up. You don't put things in place, efficiencies in place.

You don't put, you know, metrics and all the things that people hear. The terms, the buzzwords you hear over the years of business are not put in place. And all of a sudden, years go by, you're like, well, how come.

How come our expenses are going up so high, but our revenue is going up even higher, but our expenses are passing our revenue? And that's where it's like, okay, what are you doing? How are you setting yourself for success? And no one. You never.

It's harder to go back in time and saying, okay, we've been doing this for five to 10 years. Let's go back and fix all the problems. And then they realize, oh, we need to hire people. Well, if I hire someone, 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's never. They don't bring a cfo, and they're like, I can do numbers.

You know, there's a lot of people feel like, well, if I do this, I can do this, and yeah, you can. But you're not efficient 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 versus what it is today. And that's, I think, something that CEOs kind of miss at times. The opportunities they lost. And they thought they were controlling everything.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:06:31

Right. So where do you think a company is? Like, you know, is there like a timeline where you say, you know what you need when you hit this mark?

Yeah, you definitely need to make sure that you have somebody like a COO or a cfo, because it's true. Like, you know, we all have our expertise, and I. And what you just said is that we are blind to the things that we don't know well. Right.

Like I can't know every part of the business.

Mike Straza: 00:07:03

Right.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:07:03

You know, you almost like, stick in your lane to. And hire somebody else to do the thing that you might be okay at it, but you're not great at it.

Mike Straza: 00:07:12

Right. And that's the thing is the pain point is where that is. Because people have asked me in the past, when should I hire you? When should I come in?

Is it this amount of revenue, this many millions of dollars? Is it this many employees? And it all depends. And I always go back to the basics, like, okay, why are you doing what you're doing? What are you.

What is your business trying to accomplish? What is your mission and vision of your business?

And in understanding that and then saying, and one of the simple things is, are you growing a business because you want to make money? You're growing a business because you want to sell it. Are you growing a business because you want to provide people jobs in your community?

What is it? So at first, you have to pick that one out.

For me, it's like, I need to know that so I can understand your why and where you'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 need a finance person, this is when you need to bring them in. And that's where it is.

Because as you get grow and go, your company is growing in revenue, and also other things are coming into play. There's a lot of numbers, and it's like, yes, you can add and subtract. That is. It's more complicated than that. You can have amortization.

You can have all these other things that you're, you know, your reoccurring revenue, your, your, your. There's so many things that you have to look at and you can't just, just do that any like you did before because you're busy.

Maybe you're the salesperson too. So you're busy doing sales. But it's like. But I don't have time for the finance part. And you can get a bookkeeper can do those steps.

But sooner or later, you're gonna need someone that really understands how something operationally works and also too that financial person be able to see what the CEO is wanting and desiring and helping them seek out and accomplish their vision and mission of their business. And I think that's where they realize they have to do that.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:09:08

So you just said something that I think is really key and it's a huge insight. And I want to make sure that we get this, get this spelled out clearly. A COO or CFO or fractional CFO versus a bookkeeper.

Mike Straza: 00:09:22

Right.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:09:23

And the CFO is as you shared, really hones in and carries what that vision and mission of the company is. Where your bookkeeper is just tracking the books.

Mike Straza: 00:09:38

Yeah. And you have to make sure they're. I mean, in the bookkeeper still has to sound. Tracking the books is understanding what the books mean and what it's.

What it states. The cfo, the fractional CFO is looking at a. They're. They're being very strategic. Strategic.

They're looking at your finances, they're looking at what your resources are and they're strategically saying this is what you need to do and when. And helping guiding that CEO to the place where they're like, okay, you can do this. Now. This is a way you can do this.

And here are your options to get you to the next. Next place, next step in what you're trying to accomplish. And that's why you have that person that, that's.

They think numbers, but they also think vision. They also think execution. And like, I can do more than this because, yes, you can get an accountant, which accountants are great.

I always have an accountant too. On top of, even though I'm a cfo. They have a place, but they're not going to be that strategic thinker. They're just looking at numbers.

They're making sure you're safe, make sure you don't get yourself in trouble by the government. You know, those type of things. So they're focused in one area. For me, I'm looking at the broader picture and saying, how do I get you to there?

And then here are the solutions and here's. And then also too, I can help execute those solutions for you.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:10:54

Okay, so what I want to hear is because this is, this is really great. So give us a story about somebody you've helped and, and, and the difference it made in their business.

Mike Straza: 00:11:06

Well, there's. Give a couple. I'll give you first story.

One of the things I had done when I was working, when I first was operating this physician group is they were growing, they were doing fine on their own, but they needed. They're like, something's missing, we just can't get it.

We're physicians and they do a great job, but they're just like understanding the business aspect of it and also working with administrations and things like that. There's a balance and we. Everyone's trying to do the same thing is take care of people.

But there's that middle ground where it's like there's a lot that's going on and confusion. So I come into that. So there are a couple times with this.

The organization I worked with is that they came in some financial crisis, meaning their, their insurance was going up by 300%. So I had to look how do we do that?

How do we find another insurance company that's going to insure this organization and what's that going to look like and how do we do that? And interviewing people and trying to make sure. And in the hospitals like, where's do you have insurance?

And so that was a problem solving thing I had to do is like, look at is what is our numbers, how do we make these work? Because there's no budget for that.

Where all of a sudden it came out of middle of the year and you're like, Well, I got 300% I got to come up with for a 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 of the things I have done.

And I'll give you a real quick. Another one is coming into an organization and they are doing fine.

They've been around forever, but their finance department was struggling and it's like, okay, how can I help? So they came in for being as a process person, efficiency.

So they hired me to come in as a fractional CFO and say, look at our, look at our process and our procedures and things like that. So as I'M digging into it. I'm just like, oh, wow. There really are not those process and procedures in here. And they're doing things.

No one's doing anything incorrectly or inappropriately. So that's good. That's the first thing. But then there was like.

But there was things that were errors and mistakes and things that were being missed, and it's because they didn't have things in place. Great people, knowledgeable in their field, but they just. Nothing was cohesive to where it was.

Like, they're pointing in the right direction to where the team was working as one.

So I've gone in there and basically reworked the team, help them with their processes and continue to put them in the right place so they can continue to be successful as they are and providing a service that they been doing for, you know, over 50 years. So that's what you're thinking, okay, A company is over 50 years old. They should have this figured out. And like, nope, it happens. It's.

It's like sometimes people can really just get through it and somehow they are able to make it, manage it.

Other people, like, they're doing everything they can possibly do, check anything off the list and it doesn't work for them and they have to close up.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:14:09

So, yeah, so that's really interesting.

The company's 50 years old and again, doing things and going, going along, but obviously realized that there was, there's inefficiencies that were happening. And so curious. Did they have a cfo and they. And the CFO brought you in or was it.

Mike Straza: 00:14:27

Yeah, they had a, you know, a cfo. So the. Really.

The CEO brought me in to this because they had been talking and concerned about things and someone had mentioned 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 of give a report of what is the overall structure.

And that's what they like, okay, that's what I need. And it had, you know, there was new management and things like that. So that's why they're like, yeah, this is. Try this out.

Because there was a pain point. The person recognized a pain point. And it's like, we have to change. We don't change. This isn't good for our group.

And that's where sometimes it's new leadership, new new perspective. And. Or to a point where it's like, it's getting to a point where it's like, yeah, we gotta do something.

And Sometimes it takes CEOs a while to really, you Know, say, okay, I need help.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:15:20

Right. Well, that's, it's, you know, it is. It's hard to get to that point where it says I need help.

And so do you almost like have like a checklist or something that says, like if you check these boxes, this is the time that you might, you might need the help almost to help people recognize that?

Mike Straza: 00:15:37

Yeah, I kind of walk through like an intake packet with them.

Basically I just sit down with them 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 to accomplish.

So I walk through those with them and the next step is like, okay, tell me about what's been going well, what's not been going from your perception or your, what you've seen or experienced. And I walk through those things and as I walk through those, then I start, you know, taking notes. I interview.

If it's a department, I interview the department. I just individually. And it's like, I'm here just to help. I'm help. I'm here to empower you to be better at your job. And this is what I'm trying to do.

It's not me trying to. You're not going to lose your job. You're not, you know, these are not things I'm trying to accomplish.

I'm just trying to figure out how can we, you be a better team and how we can be more efficient so you enjoy your job.

Because sometimes people maybe the things are happening because it's just they're overworked or they just don't know they're taking too much of the time and something they shouldn't be, and they should be doing it differently. And it's like helping them have that work life balance.

So that's a little bit also to what I try to help accomplish for them, which is maybe as an extra added bonus for them. It's not just for the CEO, it's for the person who I'm working with too.

The other people on the staff trying to make sure it's like, yeah, we got to make your life a little bit better here and outside of here. So there's a separation of both.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:17:06

Right. You know, it's actually kind of interesting from a leadership standpoint.

It's really important for people to recognize, you know, as a leader to recognize when your team is working, you know, where they're working too hard just to almost band aid something to make it work and what that leader can do when they could bring somebody in to create Those efficiencies.

And then I'm, I'm assuming once you do that, I'm, you know, I'm curious, like, you know, what's been the percentage increase to that again, bottom line?

Mike Straza: 00:17:37

Yeah, well, no, it's definitely. I've seen that with several of my groups I've worked with in the past, in the recent, you know, this past year.

And currently is like, they're seeing a huge shift where the revenue coming in and their expenses, everything is adjusting the way it needs to and then also too expanding because, like, now you can now bring in other employees to help this area because you can afford it. Before, you couldn't afford it because they were so inefficient. You were losing money in an area that you shouldn't have been losing money.

And I think that's where it's like, wow, this is actually going to help you again go to the next level that you're looking for or the thing you've been trying to get to for so long. And you're like, why can't I get there? And it's like, oh, now I freeze up.

This person's time, their resources in trying to get, you know, back to where they're not trying to stay their head above water, basically, they're not drowning every day and wishing they didn't have to come to work. So.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:18:39

Right. And that's actually a huge thing. So to me, like one of those, this is a huge insight and game changer. I want leaders to really understand this.

And I could probably talk till I'm blue in the face about this, but, you know, the creating systems and putting, you know, standard operating procedures in place, you know, on the financial side and actually throughout your business to help create those systems so that your people can be more effective and efficient will actually raise the bar so that they're liking to come and work. Happy employees, happy company, greater growth.

And sometimes when you get that, when you get that greater growth, what ends up happening is you don't necessarily have to hire more people for the growth. Just happens naturally because people are happy to be at work.

Mike Straza: 00:19:27

Yeah. And you keep retention. Your, your employee retention is so much better because everyone talks about the cost of not retaining.

If you lose people and you continue to retrain, retrain, retrain, you're losing money. That amount of money, it's hard to even quantify at times, but yeah, you are losing a fair amount of money.

If you're constantly having a rotation of people coming in and out of your organization and you have to start all over again. And then they're trying to learn from somebody that's not there anymore. And it's a really bad cycle to be in.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:19:57

Yep. It's so true. Having turnover, turnover costs America.

And this is like, I know it's American companies and I, I'm not going to quote the number, but I remember reading something where it was like somewhere around like $4.5 billion just in inefficiencies. When, you know, and that's just US companies, not. We're not talking worldwide.

Mike Straza: 00:20:18

Yeah.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:20:19

But it's a huge, huge cost.

So, you know, so leaders and CEOs, if you want to create more efficiencies and you want to grow your business, make sure you'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 is really important because creating those efficiencies will drive your growth and create, create better, happy employees. Mike, how can people find you and connect with you?

Mike Straza: 00:20:46

Yes, the two ways you can find me, of course, on LinkedIn, you can find me under Michael Straza on LinkedIn and I post a lot of stuff out there.

I have my blog posts written and then I have other content I put on LinkedIn but also to my website at consultstrasa or strazaconsulting.com youm can go to there and I have all my information about how to get ahold of me. What questions do you have? And again, all my articles I have posted out there about these particular topics about how to be more efficient.

Why is it important to have a fractional cfo, coo? Why is it important to really have the efficiencies in your organization to succeed?

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:21:29

Yeah. Well, I so appreciate having you on as a guest. This is the Unstoppable Leadership Spotlight podcast.

If you enjoyed this and found some useful information, which I hope you have, please hit subscribe and also share it with someone that you know who might need that growth and efficiency in their business and who could use Mike. Everybody needs a mic in their back pocket.

So again, I'm Jacqueline Strominger, your host and thank you so much for listening and thank you, Mike, for being a guest.

Mike Straza: 00:21:56

Thank you.