This episode of Planning Aces sheds light on the critical role financial leadership and strategic planning plays in guiding companies through turbulent times and the importance of balancing short-term opportunities with long-term strategic planning. Each of the featured finance chiefs faced unique challenges related to the pandemic’s impact on their businesses, and their responses offer valuable insights into effective financial leadership during times of crisis and change.
In each case, the CFOs demonstrated strategic foresight and adaptability in their planning, ensuring their companies could navigate through and beyond the pandemic’s challenges.
Resident thought leader Brett Knowles provide insights throughout the discussion, emphasizing the role of CFOs as the “voice of reason” in navigating short-term gains and long-term strategies. He highlighted the need for agility and adaptability in financial planning, acknowledging the complexity and unpredictability of market conditions.
- Situation: Bowflex saw increased demand for home fitness equipment during the pandemic. Konold managed this surge and the subsequent market normalization.
- Planning Emphasis: Konold’s strategy involved utilizing the pandemic-driven demand to clear old inventory and launch new AI-driven products. She highlighted the importance of long-term planning, foreseeing a two-year rise and fall in market demand. The planning involved cautious growth in headcount, choosing to rent instead of buy, and focusing on developing products for a specifically defined customer persona (named ‘Remi’). This strategic planning aimed to ensure the company’s stability and growth beyond the temporary pandemic-driven demand.
- Situation: Moderna experienced a significant revenue surge from its COVID-19 vaccine, transitioning from a research company to having a commercial product.
- Planning Emphasis: Mock’s focus is on navigating the post-vaccine era, where the company anticipates lower revenue but continues substantial investment in R&D. He emphasizes the importance of careful financial planning and risk assessment to support the development of new drugs, aiming to reach a break-even point by 2026. Planning here involves balancing significant R&D investments against expected revenues and maintaining financial stability.
- Situation: Olo, a restaurant SaaS company, experienced changes in the industry due to shifts in consumer behavior during the pandemic.
- Planning Emphasis: Benevides stressed the importance of understanding macroeconomic trends and consumer behaviors, especially in response to economic uncertainty. He discussed how Olo’s revenue model, based on the number of orders processed, had to adapt to these shifts. Planning in this context involved anticipating changes in dining habits, such as increased digital ordering and consumers trading down to lower-priced food options during economic downturns. This planning approach aimed at ensuring Olo’s resilience and continued relevance in a changing market environment.
Support for CFO Thought Leader comes from Planful, the pioneer of financial performance management cloud software. The Planful platform is used worldwide to streamline business-wide planning, budgeting, consolidations, reporting, and analytics. www.planful.com