Strategy Meets Finance
by Steve Coughran
Latest episode
Why Your Estimating System Is Silently Killing Your Business | Ep 267
Why Your Estimating System Is Silently Killing Your Business | Ep 267
About this podcast
Welcome to Strategy Meets Finance, the podcast for business owners and entrepreneurs who want to start, grow, and run a business that lasts.
Most business owners struggle because they treat strategy and finance as separate. But without a clear strategy, your finances won’t support long-term growth. And without strong financial planning, even the best business ideas fall flat.
On this show, we bring both sides together—so you can grow your business with confidence, improve cash flow, increase profit, and make better decisions.
Hosted by Steve Coughran, a former CFO and founder of Coltivar, each episode shares simple tools, real examples, and practical advice from working with companies of all different sizes. You’ll learn how to set smart goals, fix money leaks, build stronger teams, and create lasting value.
Episodes
The newest 50 of 345 episodes
- Why Your Estimating System Is Silently Killing Your Business | Ep 267 · 18 min · Episode 267Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Schedule a call with us. Out of the eight levers that drive profit and cash flow, one has more…
- Reinventing the CFO as the Architect of Your Business | Ep 266 · 15 min · Episode 266Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Schedule a call with us. If your financial operations are not in order, you are probably leaving…
- How to Move Fast and Build a Competitive Advantage | Ep 265 · 23 min · Episode 265Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Schedule a call with us. Margins are getting squeezed from every direction, and most companies are…
- Your Team Doesn't Know What Winning Looks Like. Here's How to Fix It. | Ep 264 · 14 min · Episode 264Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Schedule a call with us. Ask one of your direct reports to name the three to five things that…
- The Difference Between Making a Profit and Making Money | Ep 263 · 15 min · Episode 263Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Schedule a call with us. Most business owners look at the bottom of their income statement, see a…
- 8 Levers of Cash Flow: The Invested Capital Levers | Ep 262 · 17 min · Episode 262Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Schedule a call with us. Most business owners focus all their attention on profit. But some of the…
- 8 Levers of Cash Flow: The Profit Levers | Ep 261 · 30 min · Episode 261Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Schedule a free call with us. Most business owners know cash flow matters. Very few know the…
- Are You Competing in the Right Market? Here Is How to Know | Ep 260 · 11 min · Episode 260Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Schedule a free call with us. Most businesses are so busy chasing work that they never stop to ask…
- The Simplest Business Advice Nobody Actually Follows | Ep 259 · 12 min · Episode 259Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Schedule a free call with us. Steve was in a wrestling class recently when the coach said…
- Everything You Know About Strategy Is Wrong | Ep 258 · 13 min · Episode 258Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar. Most business owners think they have a strategy, but most of them do…
- This Financial Disability Is Killing Your Business | Ep 257 · 22 min · Episode 257Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar. Most business owners think financial visibility means getting an…
- These 3 Numbers Tell You Whether Your Business Will Make It | Ep 256 · 10 min · Episode 256Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar. Most business owners track revenue. Some track profit. But there are…
- The Gap Between Your Strategy and Your Results | Ep 255 · 15 min · Episode 255Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar. Most businesses have a strategy. They have done the offsite, built the…
- The Moment a Good Business Starts Becoming a Great One | Ep 254 · 21 min · Episode 254Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar. There is a specific moment Steve has seen over and over again inside…
- Is Your Business Really Generating Value? | Ep 253 · 9 min · Episode 253Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar. Most business owners look at profit on their income statement and…
- The Problem With Your Annual Budget (And What Actually Works) | Ep 252 · 18 min · Episode 252Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar. Every year business owners build a budget. They set targets, present…
- Your Best Customers Might Be Your Worst Financial Decision | Ep 251 · 16 min · Episode 251Know your numbers, fix your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar. Most business owners know their best customers by name. Longest…
- What Buyers Actually Pay For When They Buy a Business | Ep 250 · 19 min · Episode 250Know your numbers, grow your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar. Two businesses, same revenue, same profit. One sells for three times…
- Why Your Pricing Has Nothing to Do With What You Charge | Ep 249 · 22 min · Episode 249Know your numbers, grow your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar. Most business owners set their prices based on what competitors…
- Business Lessons I Had to Learn the Hard Way | Ep 248 · 15 min · Episode 248Know your numbers, grow your cash flow, and build a business that works for you. Start free with myColtivar. Steve started his first business at 16 out of his sister's garage…
- What Your WIP Schedule Is Trying to Tell You | Ep 247 · 13 min · Episode 247How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Most specialty contractors either do not have a WIP…
- Profitable But No Cash? This Is Why | Ep 246 · 15 min · Episode 246How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Revenue is up. The team is celebrating. And the…
- Listen to This if You're Using AI to Optimize Your Business | Ep 245 · 15 min · Episode 245How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Everyone is talking about AI right now. Which tools…
- Why Most Contractors Price to Win Instead of Price to Profit | Ep 244 · 20 min · Episode 244How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Winning work and profiting from work are two…
- The #1 Thing I Fix First When a Business Is Struggling | Ep 243 · 18 min · Episode 243How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit When Steve walks into a struggling business, people…
- If I Were Running a Construction Business, Here's Exactly What I'd Do | Ep 242 · 15 min · Episode 242How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Steve gets asked this question all the time. If you…
- Why Contractors Run Out of Cash (And the Four Levers That Fix It) | Ep 241 · 17 min · Episode 241How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Most specialty contractors know cash flow is…
- The 3 Biggest Strategy Mistakes Business Owners Make | Ep 240 · 13 min · Episode 240How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Most business owners have sat through a strategy…
- Your Gross Margin Is Probably Wrong. Here's Why. | Ep 239 · 15 min · Episode 239How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Most contractors who track their gross margin are…
- 3 Things I Learned as CFO That Every Contractor Gets Wrong | Ep 238 · 16 min · Episode 238How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit When Steve became CFO of a billion-dollar…
- Your Balance Sheet Is Deceiving You | Ep 237 · 14 min · Episode 237How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Most business owners feel pretty comfortable with…
- Why Your Business Gets Harder to Run as It Grows (And What to Do About It) | Ep 236 · 19 min · Episode 236How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Revenue is up. The team is growing. There is no…
- 5 Warning Signs Your Business is Heading Towards a Crisis | Ep 235 · 16 min · Episode 235How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Businesses almost never collapse without warning…
- The Conversation Most Business Partners Never Have | Ep 234 · 18 min · Episode 234How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Most business partnerships do not fall apart because…
- The Number That Tells You If Your Business Is Worth Buying | Ep 233 · 20 min · Episode 233How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Most business owners have a rough idea of what their…
- 3 Things Every Successful Business Turnaround Has in Common | Ep 232 · 15 min · Episode 232How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Steve has been inside a lot of businesses that were…
- You Can't Scale Your Way Out of a Margin Problem | Ep 231 · 15 min · Episode 231How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit More revenue sounds like the answer when a business…
- The Habits That Separate Growing Businesses From Stuck Ones | Ep 230 · 12 min · Episode 230How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit After working inside the financials of hundreds of…
- Let Me Reintroduce Myself | Ep 229 · 22 min · Episode 229How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Steve does not talk about his personal life much…
- Why Contractors Keep Losing Margin Even When Jobs Go Well | Ep 228 · 25 min · Episode 228How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit The job went well. The crew performed. The client is…
- Cutting Costs Is the Wrong Move (Do This Instead) | Ep 227 · 17 min · Episode 227How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit When the business starts struggling, the first…
- Your Accountant is Not Your CFO (And It's Costing You) | Ep 226 · 23 min · Episode 226How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Your books are clean. Reports come out on time…
- 5 Numbers That Tell You the Truth About Your Business | Ep 225 · 22 min · Episode 225How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Most business owners track revenue. Some track…
- What Nobody Tells You About Scaling Your Business | Ep 224 · 11 min · Episode 224How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Scaling sounds like the goal, but it’s also where a…
- The #1 Struggle Business Leaders Face | Ep 223 · 7 min · Episode 223How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit A lot of business owners think profit is the goal…
- The 3 Phases Every Failing Business Goes Through (And How to Escape) | Ep 222 · 16 min · Episode 222How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Most businesses don’t fail overnight. They go…
- Why Your Business Makes Money But Never Seems to Have Any | Ep 221 · 11 min · Episode 221How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit Your income statement says you made money, but your…
- If You've Been Watching the News, You Better Know Your Numbers | Ep 220 · 18 min · Episode 220How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit There is a lot of noise in the economy right now…
- This is Why Profitable Companies Run Out of Cash | Ep 219 · 24 min · Episode 219How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit A lot of companies are profitable on paper but still…
- The #1 Thing Holding 99% of Businesses Back | Ep 218 · 20 min · Episode 218How much cash is hiding in your business? See if you qualify for a Free Financial Health Check Financial Intelligence Toolkit It’s not cash. It’s not strategy. It’s not training…
