30+ Years Career What Have I Learned?

After 30+ years in business, I’ve learned a few things.

I’ve had the opportunity to look at business from a lot of different seats: CPA, Controller, CFO, consultant, business owner, employee, and a Kellogg MBA with a focus on Marketing and Operations.

Here are 5 lessons that have stuck with me throughout my career:

1. Financial statements tell you WHAT happened. Operations tells you WHY.

Understanding the financial statements is important. But if you don't understand the operations behind those numbers, you're only getting half the story.

That applies whether you're in finance, accounting, marketing, operations, or you're the business owner.

2. Revenue does not fix bad economics.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard a business owner proudly tell me how much they're doing in sales.

My next question is usually: What's your gross margin?

Selling more doesn't necessarily mean making more money. If the economics aren't right, more revenue can actually magnify the problem.

3. Cash tells you something income and sales don't.

As the saying goes, cash is king.

A sale doesn't do you much good if the customer doesn't pay you. And if your margins aren't right, increasing sales doesn't necessarily mean you're increasing your cash balance.

Sometimes taking a loss on a sale absolutely makes sense. Maybe you're clearing old inventory or winning a customer that creates a much larger opportunity.

The important thing is that you're doing it strategically and intentionally, not accidentally.

4. A faster close isn't really about closing faster.

Want a sustainable improvement in your close?

You may need to change processes, invest in people, improve software, upgrade hardware, automate work, or eliminate unnecessary steps.

Sure, I could probably close the books in one day. But how good would that close be?

When I sold wrestling gear, I used the Good, Cheap, Fast framework:

Want it fast and cheap? It probably won't be good.

Want it fast and good? It probably won't be cheap.

Want it good and cheap? It probably won't be fast.

Pick two.

The same concept applies to accounting processes.

5. The Controller/CFO's job isn't to simply say "No."

The better questions are:

Does this move the needle?

Does this get us closer to our goal?

Does this benefit the company and support what we're trying to accomplish?

A blanket "No" is a terrible place to start.

Finance should protect the business, challenge assumptions, and maintain strong controls. But we also need to be a true partner to the business.

As I look back on my career, I'm going to write more about each of these lessons and share some of the experiences that shaped them.

If you work in finance, accounting, operations, marketing, or own a business, what are the one or two lessons your career has taught you?

And what questions would you like me to tackle in future posts?

Follow me for more practical insights on finance, accounting, operations, improving profitability, and occasionally marketing from the perspective of a CPA, Kellogg MBA, business owner, and finance leader with 30+ years of experience.

If one of these lessons resonated with you, save this post, share it with someone who might benefit, and tell me which one in the comments.

AI disclosure: I wrote this post and have been training ChatGPT to better understand my writing style. I used ChatGPT to help polish and organize my original draft.