The Three Ts – and How They Help Move Your Business Forward
Published on by Jill Prendergast in Client Accounting & Advisory
From the day you opened your doors, the 3 Ts – talent, technology, and techniques have been cornerstones of your success. And while you may have moved well beyond your startup days, they still matter – just in different ways.
Changing perspective and practices on talent, technology, and techniques – at an earlier stage and in an ongoing approach – is how the fastest-growing businesses and non-profits are ensuring transformation. Every day, senior leadership faces a fresh round of unforeseen challenges, on top of routine tasks and day-to-day business operations. Managing both is critical, but what if the routine and the unforeseen could be addressed by an executive without the hefty annual salary and comprehensive benefit packages they command?
Enter the fractional model
The innovative fractional accounting services model provides fractional (part-time), or outsourced, advisory resources within the accounting and finance sector, deploying dedicated professionals whose expertise mirrors that of full-time industry resources with titles including Chief Financial Officer, Vice President of Accounting, Controller, and Accounting Manager.
Whether you’re starting up, expanding, or changing direction, the fractional model provides business and accounting knowledge and problem-solving power to keep you competitive – and transformative in terms of finance and accounting matters.
The 3 Ts in your past – and your future
How the 3 Ts mattered earlier in your organization is different than how they matter now – and in the next stage of growth.
Talent
How talent matters early on
In the early stages of a company’s evolution, business leaders often hire people they directly know or from their networks, which can work for a while, especially when you’re a start-up and need fewer hands to do the work. Hiring the right talent for your organization is just as crucial as having a great product or service offering – and defining roles and deploying resources to fulfill them builds a strong foundation for growth.
How talent matters to future growth
When you reach the point in your growth trajectory where you’re ready to scale, mastering the talent lifecycle is critical for building a truly thriving organization. Workforce planning is an ongoing challenge, especially in today’s tight labor market. How do you anticipate the shift between the roles you need today and those you’ll need tomorrow? And how can you become more strategic while remaining profitable?
Many organizations find their growth needs outstrip their available talent budget – maybe they need a CFO, but can’t afford one – yet. That’s where the fractional model really adds value – because they’re getting the same advice, insight, and direction they’d get from an internal resource – but without the overhead.
Technology
How technology matters early on
Technology enables many startup organizations to get up and running (and may even be the central premise of their business). You may build a raft of readily available resources that fulfill different functions, even though they don’t necessarily connect to one another.
Early on, that’s less of an issue. When you’re ready to move to the next level of your organization’s growth, it can become a major challenge, as inefficient use of time, higher costs from manual processes, data accuracy, and inability to scale hold back your potential.
How technology matters to future growth
Getting the right technology – with the right interconnectivity and reporting functionality in place, the handcuffs come off, and your vision for growth moves closer to reality.
Better customer experience and business reputation, better workplace morale, stronger recruiting and retention, and a competitive edge over those who aren’t leveraging technology effectively can all help you realize your vision and fulfill the organization’s potential.
Techniques
How techniques matter early on
Techniques – how you approach management, processes, and best practices, and how you apply them, are often less formal as you’re starting up – but like the first Two Ts (talent and technology), scaling can quickly become a challenge.
Planning, organizing, coordination, command, and control can be simpler as an organization finds its footing (although it likely doesn’t feel simple) – but when you’re ready to scale and your techniques aren’t, you may be missing out on potential advantages in accountability and transparency, problem-solving and decision making, collaboration, motivation, and morale.
How techniques matter to future growth
Having the right techniques in place not only helps your organization scale successfully – it also helps ensure you’re ready for the next level of growth. It improves customer experience, strengthens your brand in the marketplace, and provides a competitive advantage.
This excellent visual from McKinsey & Company shows how the 3Ts interconnect, and how you can use them to scale your organization. (The accompanying article is great, too!)
Where to go from here
When you’re ready to scale, expand operations, or determine your next best step, our top team of fractional accounting pros is here to help. Maybe you’d like a little more insight into the fractional model, or want to learn more about the big picture of strategic financial outsourcing. Whatever it is, we’re here to help. Contact us for a conversation.
