I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what my very first blog post should be. I toyed with the idea of explaining what a virtual CFO is or the kind of businesses that could benefit from a virtual CFO. The truth is, you wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t have some frame of reference for what a virtual CFO (or maybe just a traditional CFO) does. You know they figure out the financial stuff. Defining the term virtual CFO felt more like writing a job description for a resume rather than an article that could help other entrepreneurs and business owners. Writing that description also felt very rigid, form fitting, and like I was trying to fit this business into a box. A virtual CFO shouldn’t fit in a box, they help business owners think outside the box.
Ironically, all this overthinking and questioning what to write happened the same week I joined the Jon Acuff ‘Overcoming Overthinking Challenge’. If you aren’t familiar with Jon Acuff, he writes some amazing books on starting, finishing, and working through mindset issues. I realized my overthinking was completely derailing and procrastinating my attempt to create valuable content and get it out there. I had analysis paralysis and I bet many of you do too!
- Maybe you need to open a bank account and spend all your time researching where, how, and what kind. In the meantime, you’re using your personal bank account or personal credit card to pay for business expenses.
- Maybe you barely hung on through the pandemic. You know you need to pivot or maybe look into that PPP stuff you’ve seen on the news but the details are daunting…so you haven’t.
- Maybe your business thrived in 2020 but you spent so much time building the business and taking care of your customers that you forgot all about keeping up with the numbers. The mere thought of impending tax filings makes your head hurt.
- Maybe your business is ready to go but you aren’t sure how to get there. You’ve tried to read up on business plans, budgets, forecasting, and profit margins. The information out there is voluminous, technical, and wordy. You keep reading and researching…but you aren’t growing.
Do you know the best cure for analysis paralysis or information overwhelm? Action. One of the biggest reasons you need a virtual CFO is to help you get out of the details that are paralyzing you and get just the information you need to make sound business decisions. In addition, having regularly scheduled meetings and discussions will hold you accountable to taking that action and making the decisions you’ve been putting off.
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