The weird secret to Walt Disney’s success

One of the secrets to Walt Disney’s success?

While he came up with grand ideas, his lesser-known brother, Roy Disney, managed the company’s finances and kept the business stable.

“If it hadn’t been for my big brother, I swear I’d have been in jail several times for cheques bouncing,” Walt once confessed. “I never knew what was in the bank. He kept me on the straight and narrow.”

It’s a common business dynamic.

In Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman and Marc Winters, they argue that successful companies with under 50 employees typically have a duo at the helm.

The company founder is usually the “visionary” who dreams big, works strategically, is focused on the future, inspires others, closes deals and maintains big relationships.

While this all sounds positive, this person may also be a bit impractical. All their great ideas might exhaust and confuse their team. They might find it hard to stay focused on one thing, or to follow through on their vision. That’s why they employ an “integrator” – a practical right-hand-person who makes their best ideas happen.

They’re responsible for keeping day-to-day operations smooth, keeping everyone in the team focused and aligned, and providing the follow-through that the “visionary” finds difficult.

These two very different personality types are like yin and yang. They’re both necessary for the company to thrive.

My good friend Chris West, author of The Beermat Entrepreneur, has a similar idea. He describes an entrepreneur at the centre of their company, who jumps from one brilliant idea to another at a dizzying pace…

…And who sometimes ‘meddles’ in parts of the business where they are not really expert.

He recommends that they bring on board four “cornerstones” who handle critical tasks like sales, finance, technical innovation and delivery.

These cornerstones “have rock-solid professional expertise, which they use to ground the entrepreneur and keep the business on mission.”

Now, the problem when it comes to the financial side of your business is that when you’re turning over a couple of million pounds, you can’t afford a real “integrator” or financial “cornerstone”.

That level of senior support usually only comes when you’re a bit larger…

…Leaving you, the entrepreneurial “visionary”, to manage far too much of the company’s finances yourself.

Sure, you have an accountant or bookkeeper who keeps the finances ticking over day-to-day. But simply processing invoices and doing the accounts isn’t the same as a financial right-hand person.

There’s no one to help you make good financial decisions for your company’s future. You’re not 100% sure what your company’s financial position is.

And you have no one with the skills to improve your profit margins, predict your cashflow, decide where to invest your profits, create useful budgets and figure out whether you can to afford that new product line you’ve set your heart on….

The financial side of the business feels messy and uncertain. Sometimes your numbers are just plain wrong, and you don’t really understand how well you’re doing or what’s affordable.

Worst of all, it feels like a massive drain on your time, distracting you from the “big picture” things you’d rather do and which are your real strengths…

…like working on the next stage of your company’s evolution, dealing with clients directly and closing more business deals.

You hate dealing with this stuff!!

That’s where our Outsourced Finance Department comes in.

We’re like your financial “integrator” or “cornerstone”, taking the day-to-day financial management completely off your plate…

…and working with you side-by-side, to use your numbers to grow the business much faster.

We make sure that your big ideas make financial sense – and help you make them happen!

And the best part? You can get this competitive advantage when your business is quite young.

It’s designed for entrepreneurs turning over £1 million+ who typically wouldn’t be able to afford their own finance director (or for various reasons don’t want to build their own finance department quite yet)…

…But who already understand that they need a world-class level of financial support.

If that sounds like you, just hit ‘reply’to this email or call us on 01279 647 447 to find out more about how we can help you.

Let us be your Roy Disney!

Warmly,

Garry

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The company owner took responsibility for building an accounting function which they understood very little about.

They had no idea what an efficient, successful finance department that helps propel a company forward looks like.

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