The Ledger

REMOTE WORK, THE NEW NORM

In 2020, remote work was introduced for a majority of businesses as a response to stay-at-home orders due to COVID-19. A staggering 70% of businesses went fully remote almost immediately. As we enter 2022, remote work is slowly become a new norm. Still, only 16% of businesses globally are full-time remote while a surprising 44% of business will not entertain the idea.

While most businesses would prefer on-site workers, employees are saying different things. After experiencing either fully remote or hybrid work-from-home models, 49% of workers would prefer to stay remote with 45% preferring a hybrid arrangement and only 6% ready to return to the office full-time.

Introducing full-time or hybrid work models can be tricky if they are not done right. It is important for businesses to ensure employees have the proper equipment, training, security, communication, and collaboration tools so that work does not suffer, and daily work-related frustrations are kept at a minimum. Before implementing a new model, businesses should have procedures in place that can be easily communicated to all remote workers to help manage workloads and expectations.

CFO Systems – Why?

Entrepreneurs & company founders often field questions like, “What did you do before this venture?” or “How and why did you start your company?” One of my favorite authors, an “electronic mentor”’ Simon Sinek, teaches us to look at this moment of change as “Why? How, and What?” in his Golden Circle.

Why did I start CFO Systems? In the words of James J. Braddock (Cinderella Man), I was “fighting for milk.” I was a 42-year-old dad of four with 20 years of corporate ladder-climbing under his belt. I was doing well by all standards until a cold October day in 2004 when my CFO role was eliminated. I immediately reached out to a dear friend and mentor who quickly pointed out that I had talked about starting my own firm for years. “Now it’s time to get started,” he added. When I protested that I had four young kids, six weeks to Christmas, and only four weeks’ of severance, he repeated, “I heard you, you’d better get started.”

So I started. I composed a simple, three-paragraph email, thanking people for their help, and introduced a new service called “timeshare CFO.” I sent the email to sixty professional contacts that included bankers, lawyers, CPAs, former colleagues, and others. It was truly a leap of faith, not just in myself but also a unique business model.

And then I waited for the calls to come rolling in. Two weeks later, I acquired my first client. After another 3 weeks passed, I won a second client. Fast forward to February 2005, I landed a third client. By the summer 2005, we had a team of three who were serving six clients.

I started CFO Systems because I was “fighting for milk.” I wanted to ensure my kids not only had food and shelter, but an excellent Christmas. I started CFO Systems because I believed there was a need for the unique business model and trusted my instincts that there would be a demand for our services.

Today, we remain focused on growing CFO Systems (now ninety strong with over 100 clients) as we continue to meet great leaders who enjoy our model of CFOs, Controllers, and HR executives as well as great advisors who entrust their clients to us.

My “fight for milk” is what created a company, a mission, and a path forward to provide the kind of expertise that helps leaders grow their businesses and surpass their goals.

-Brett Frevert, Managing Director