This is a six blog series on Why Review Financial Statements? Catalyst Cohorts has re-invented Peer 2 Peer CEO groups with the novel concept that to get the best results from the time we spend helping each other with issues and opportunities we need to know each other’s business or organization better. Because we review Financial Information and Key Performance Indicators each month we get to know each other’s businesses more intimately and in return we know our own business better too! Here is Why, What and How we do this

Why We Review Financial Results in Cohort Meetings?

Our Cohort Teammates have hectic lives. The Whirlwind of daily activity demands constant attention and it is very easy to get lost in all the details of life. A monthly financial review helps pack all that transactional activity into a TREE TOP view to help make sense in where the organization has been and where it is headed. This view helps us understand the business and choose to make changes as needed to stay on track with our strategies to reach our Heroic Hopes!

Great Enterprisers know their numbers and they know what they mean and the rhythm of the rate of change. They use this as a key element in making good decisions in managing and growing their business.

Enterprises have a Board of Directors who are very knowledgeable about business in general and often about the business they serve on the BOD for. The BOD helps map out strategy and hold leadership accountable for results. They approve major changes for the business. Leadership is responsible to the BOD and the BOD are responsible to the Shareholders.

In smaller organizations some of this accountability and resource is lost. Often the same person(s) hold multiple of these positions. Catalyst Cohorts (CC) helps to bridge the gap.

Small business (under 500 employees per the US Census Bureau) fails and does not grow at an alarming rate. The reason per research is 1) lack of know-how, and 2) lack of experience.

Review of the financial performance in the Cohorts helps to bridge the gap of Know-How and our teammates helps bridge the gap of Experience.

So we review financials and KPIs in Cohort meetings to learn our own business better; to learn business in general better; and to help each other succeed in reaching our Heroic Hopes.

We do this in an objective way to both encourage creativity but also to solicit specific help in areas that will give the best pay back for attention/ focus (Levers).