As we near year-end, it’s a perfect time to revisit your business strategy. Be proactive about assessing what’s working and what’s not.

Don’t wait for an extraneous event to force you to make a pivot.

For Cate Luzio, the pandemic was a wake-up call to shift her business strategy quickly. Ever since then she does a quarterly or semi-annual review of her business plan, changing it as the company morphs and grows.

I recently spoke to Cate, the founder of Luminary in NYC, on my LinkedIn Live series, Dancing with Numbers (IRL) and asked her….

When you re-assess your business strategy quarterly or semi-annually, where do you start?

She focused closely on two things first—her numbers and what her customers wanted.

Stabilization

The first thing Cate did was examine her numbers to determine what needed to be done to stabilize the business.

This required making tough decisions to cut expenses, especially in the area of people costs, software, rent and utilities, to stabilize cash flow.

At the time, like many, she anticipated the pandemic would only last a few weeks and initially planned to have enough cash on hand for two weeks.

Of course, as we all know, the pandemic lasted over a year, and she had to figure out how to offer programming to Luminary’s community when the world was shut down.

Customers Focus

Cate tuned into what her corporate and small business clients needed at that moment—connection through virtual programming.

By finding a digital platform, she not only helped Luminary stay afloat but also created new service offerings and a broader community.

The pivot wasn’t just about finding a way to make more money, it was about recognizing and responding to her clients’ immediate needs.

Offering programs virtually became a cornerstone of her evolving business model.

Now, in her frequent business bootcamps at Luminary, Cate reminds attendees that a business isn’t static; it’s a living organism that shifts and grows as the environment demands. So your business plan must shift too.

Investing

Since the pandemic, Cate remains conscious about controlling expenses and actively managing cashflow.

But she is continuously focused on investing in the company and community’s growth, which takes capital. When she acquired two businesses, she was intentional about making the strategic move while understanding that investing in growth will suck profits and cash.

Planning for such moves in advance is critical. She had her fractional CFO to thank for guiding her through the process.

Cate could have used O.P.M. (other people’s money or debt) to finance the acquisitions but she did not. She is not opposed to taking on debt, it was a conscious choice.

Not all debt is bad—good debt fuels growth, while poor debt management can hinder progress.

As I see it, “bad debt” is any debt you don’t have a plan to repay. Without a strategy, debt can quickly spiral, so use it with care.

After many years in business, it’s easy to let the business plan gather dust, yet it remains a powerful tool for growth.

Cate’s strategy? Review your business plan annually to adjust for changes—ideally during budgeting season which is typically in the 4th quarter of the year.

A S.W.O.T analysis can also be invaluable;  do it quarterly with your team to bring in diverse insights that help you see your business from multiple perspectives.

Engaging your team not only brings diverse perspectives into the decision-making process but also fosters a culture of resilience and adaptability. When your employees feel connected to the bigger picture and empowered to contribute, they become invested in the success of the shift.

I admit, since starting my business, I hadn’t done a full refresh of my business plan until I joined the Goldman Sachs 10K Small Business Program, where we created growth plans for the next 5 years.

If you are shifting your business strategy, thinking about a new offering OR planning to take on investor capital for scale next year, I’d love to help you work through it. Schedule a Financial Strategy Call.

-Tricia

Tricia Taitt is the CEO and Chief Financial Choreographer of FinCore. She holds an M.B.A from The Fuqua School of Business of Duke University, and a BS in Economics with a Finance concentration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. For over 20 years, she’s been a finance professional. Half of the time was spent working on Wall Street while the other half was spent in the trenches side by side with small business owners. As a result of working with FinCore, clients have been able to take control of their numbers and feel more confident in their ability to make decisions, while increasing profits by 10% and building a cash stash to invest in growth. Follow Tricia on LinkedIn and Instagram.

If you’re ready to see what our team of CFOs can do for your small business, Schedule a Financial Strategy Session.