The CVO and Strategic Value
Knowing your Role
Maximizing value
As CEO of your business your most important role is to serve as the Chief Value Officer (CVO) and maximize the value of the company. Your goal should be to create what we refer to as a “Gotta Have” business. The first step in getting there is to change your perspective and the perspective of other ownership and leadership from a total focus on profit today to a focus of building value for tomorrow.
Chief Value Officers, through its proprietary Strategic Value programs provides you with the strategies, tools, and leadership to maximize your company’s Strategic Value and reap all the benefits that come with strong Strategic Value.
No matter what stage of growth your company is in, no matter what your plans for retention or sale, no matter your ownership structure, no matter the economic situation, it is always the right time to be accelerating your Strategic Value.
I am not alone in my contention that there is much more to creating value in a company than simply the bottom line. The most valuable companies are great companies. They are well run, efficient, innovative, growing, fun, and profitable. They stand out amongst their rivals. They are “Gotta Have” companies.
The Strategic Value concept was developed to give CVO’s a straightforward tool and process to create extraordinary, valuable companies out of ordinary businesses. Utilizing four pillars of value Strategic Value defines what drives value in a company. The Strategic Value Acceleration process provides you in your role as CVO with a methodology to engage the entire company in creating great companies.
4 PILLARS OF STRATEGIC VALUE
Financial
Strategic
Strategic
Value
Industry
Operational
Within each of those Pillars are specific components that can be used to identify and correct what is holding back a company’s value. Everything that is done in strengthening the four Pillars builds on Strategic Value. And everything that builds on Strategic Value gets a company closer to becoming a “Gotta Have”. In addition to providing you as the Chief Value Officer with tools that can be used as the basis of maximizing company value, it provides an easily understood explanation to company leadership and employees of what needs to be done and why.
It’s Always the Right Time
Accelerate strategic value
It is a proven fact that businesses that have strong Strategic Value can sell for much higher multiples than other businesses. They often attract strategic buyers willing to pay sometimes 2 to 3 times the multiple that financial buyers would consider for the same business.
Waiting until you are ready to sell your business is not the right answer. Now is the time since creating strong Strategic Value provides more than just a higher price tag.
Why create strong Strategic Value now? Because Strong Strategic Value = A Strong Company. Specifically, besides creating the opportunity to attract the best buyers and dramatically increase the price of a business, creating strong Strategic Value increases current income as the company operates more effectively. Because it is operating in a sustainable manner, a company with strong strategic value provides ownership with the luxury of options.
Owners of company’s that have accelerated their strategic value have the option to sell their businesses at higher multiples if they desire, keep them and have others run them, or choose from a number of other options. Finally, building Strategic Value provides the owner and their family with value insurance. Should the owner/leader of the business become incapacitated or otherwise unable to run the business, a company with strong Strategic Value will continue to effectively operate and maintain its value until the family decides what to do with the business.
Joel Strom
Chief value officer
Don’t wait to start adding value to your company