The Prophets of Profit: Delegating Your Weaknesses with Dr. Hector LozadaBrian and Scott were pleased to speak with marketing expert and international author Dr. Héctor R. Lozada. Héctor is an Associate Professor and Fellow of the Institute for International Business in the Department of Marketing at Seton Hall University where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in marketing research, international marketing, and marketing strategies. He has over 40 publications both in the U.S. and internationally and has had many speaking engagements here and abroad.

Click here to listen to Brian and Scott’s entire conversation with Dr. Héctor R. Lozada.

Dr. Héctor R. Lozada was introduced to Brian and Scott long before this interview. Héctor’s team of students help businesses to conduct market research—and Brian and Scott participated when they were building AcceleratingCFO. As a result of this experience with Héctor, Brian and Scott gained tools to grow their business. They were provided with suggestions on how to approach the market, what industries to enter and types of companies that were open to hiring AcceleratingCFO, as well as how to make the website more appealing to emerging companies.

There Are Some Things Best Left for the Experts

Héctor identifies the preparation of a company’s financial statements as the most common pain point for growing companies. Many companies do their own financials despite not having the expertise to accurately and efficiently maintain their books and records. As your company grows, you’re going to be faced with financial issues that require significant manpower. Héctor advises that companies are better off outsourcing the financials early on even though many companies are hesitant to do so, especially right off the bat.  

Héctor also identifies sales and marketing as potential areas to be outsourced. Selling may appear to be an easy task to accomplish from the outside, but when you’re in the middle of it, it’s not easy. As a salesperson, you need to know what you want to accomplish with your sales force and what you’re using it for. Héctor points out as a young company grows, they believe they need sales; but they don’t know how to build a relationship. There are many components that factor into an effective salesperson. They need to be able to explain what they’re selling and figure out the additional needs their buyers might have. Also, they need to understand and articulate the total cost of ownership of what they’re selling. For example, when you buy an elevator, you’re not just buying an elevator. There’s a cost to maintain it. A great salesperson will provide the approximate cost of owning and using a product. Presenting the estimated lifespan of a product would be helpful as well.

In Order to Make Money, You Need to Spend Money

AcceleratingCFO advocates spending money so you can focus on what you do best. Brian and Scott asked Héctor if he sees a specific trigger point when a company will know right away that it’s time to stop doing it by themselves and hire someone.

Héctor doesn’t see a specific point and time across the board that will shout to a company that it’s time to outsource. You want to control costs as much as possible, and there comes to a point where you have to look at all business costs as an investment into future. In order to make money, you need to spend money. You need to be smart with your money. You need to figure out how to best spend your money, no matter how little the amount, so you can achieve the growth you’re targeting. This is very unique to each organization. Héctor advises not to shy away from spending money even if money is tight. He asserts that if you’re not making enough money, you’re probably not spending enough money.

DIY PR?

There was a question from the audience from a solopreneur who was wondering when they should do their own PR and when they should hire out.

Crisis PR

Héctor laments that PR can be a nightmare if not handled properly. His advice to a solopreneur is to handle a small crisis internally but if the situation starts to get out of hand — they’re having questions or doubts about the legality of things — call someone else in. You don’t want to be saying or doing things that are going to put you in a precarious position.

New Product PR

When introducing a new product or service, Héctor asserts that timing is critical and that you should hire a professional or team of professionals to do the PR in order to get the highest impact on your audience. He goes on to say that buyers don’t like to give second chances. If you miss your moment, it could be extremely harmful to the future profitability of your company.

Brand Marketing with New Product

There was a second question from a 5-year-old marketing group. They’re launching training software and are wondering if they should brand it under their existing marketing brand or if they present the new business on its own.

Héctor sees many pros to launching a new product under an existing brand.

  • There’s a transfer of trust.  
  • It makes a statement that you are growing, and as you’re growing, you’re expanding your services.
  • Starting a new brand that your current audience doesn’t like may damage the existing brand.

Brian looked at the issue from the financial side. If you’re going to create a new brand and a completely new entity, it’s going to require a fairly significant cash investment to get the new product launched. It is much more cost effective to leverage the goodwill of your existing customer base to maximize sales.

Click here to listen to Brian and Scott’s entire conversation with Dr. Héctor R. Lozada.

Learn more about Dr. Héctor R. Lozada:

shu.edu

Brian Califano & Scott MargolinBrian Califano

Scott Margolin

Co-founders & Managing Partners

AcceleratingCFO


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