March 3, 2023
Read time: 3:47 minutes
Unlock More Fulfillment From Your Firm
In this edition, I'm going to explain how to get more fulfillment and avoid burnout as a firm owner.
I had 2 coaching calls with firm owners in my mastermind last week. Both of them were on edge and not loving their work.
👉 Fulfillment was absent.
👉 And burnout was rampant.
To diagnose the culprit, I referred to this Venn diagram:
I helped them think through each of the components of the diagram. They were able to identify what was missing in their firms and then put an action plan in place to fix it!
Let's explore each of the 3 components 👇
Revenue
We all gotta get paid.
But the truth is that the vast majority of fractional and virtual CFOs are undercharging!
Too many CFOs are mentally stuck on some version of hourly billing.
"In order to justify charging $x, I need to work y hours."
-You, maybe.
But the value you bring to clients isn't a function of how many hours you put in.
💥Your value is a function of the results and outcomes you can help your clients realize.
When our pricing is a function of hours worked,
1 of 2 things ends up happening:
1️⃣ We work 80 hours a week so we can hit our revenue goals or
2️⃣ We don't work 40 hours a week and don't hit the revenue goals
Both of those are a recipe for burnout and resentment.
👉 To avoid burnout and maximize fulfillment...
You'll need to get your revenues aligned with the value you bring.
Impact
Every single high-quality fractional CFO I have talked to has one thing in common:
They are deeply passionate about making an impact with their clients.
We get into this field because we want to make a difference.
We want to move the needle.
We want to have impact.
Impact is in our blood and we need to see the impact we're making.
When we don't see that impact, it can be extremely demoralizing.
There are a handful of culprits that can limit our impact:
• Clients that don't take our advice
• Working with businesses that don't need a CFO
• Working in an industry that we don't have the skillsets to serve
Look out for these. Any of them can wear you down and burn you out.
👉 To avoid burnout and maximize fulfillment...
You'll need to make sure you're having impact with your clients.
Challenge
If you're anything like me, you need to feel challenged by your work.
When I remain unchallenged long enough, I end up getting bored. I don't even want to show up anymore! And this is a bad thing.
I learned years ago that I have to step out of my comfort zone from time to time so that I can maintain my edge!
For me, that can mean:
✅ Working with larger clients
✅ Working with clients that have bigger problems
✅ Working in industries that I had previously shied away from
In order to be able to step into these challenges, I normally find that I have to level up my skills in one or more areas. That can be a challenge in and of itself!
I know that, for me, the fastest way to boredom and burnout is to feel unchallenged.
👉 To avoid burnout and maximize fulfillment...
You'll need to make sure you're challenging yourself.
What should you do when you're feeling burnt out? Or maybe if you're just not getting the fulfillment you'd hoped to get as a firm owner?
Come back to the Venn diagram above and ask yourself what's missing.
Don't allow yourself to burnout.
We need you in the game.
Your coach,
Michael King
Whenever you are ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:
1. The Inner Circle - every month my team and I go live and share the most impactful lessons we've learned in our journey to start, scale, and optimize our own CFO firm (including live Q&A). Plus you'll get access to our private community of nearly 150 fractional CFOs.
2. The CFO Academy - This is a 7 week deep dive into the exact playbooks that I use to run my firm, KFE Solutions.
3. If you'd like more amazing (and free!) content about starting, scaling, or optimizing your Fractional CFO firm check out:
→ The CFO Report on YouTube (if you love video)
→ The CFO Report on Apple Podcast (if you prefer audio)
