Uncover Hidden Revenues - Revenue Northstar

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Valerie Cobb, Co-Founder of Revenue Northstar, located in Post Falls, ID, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

There are gaps and silos in organizations. The gap, because of the Great Resignation and changing behaviors for full-time employment, maturation of leadership roles, and issues with gaining top talent at a price point small businesses can afford. The fractional world has been around for a long time. We see fractional bookkeepers, HR, Finance, marketers, etc. What we rarely see is the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) role or even an understanding of what a CRO does. Smallish organizations run around outsourcing some or all the above roles and even sales teams and some fractional sales leadership. Many organizations have an acting CEO and hire a COO and CFO and forget the alignment of Revenue Teams. Revenue Northstar is a company of fractional Chief Revenue Officers. For those businesses that truly want to align sales, service, new product development and marketing...all of which are revenue teams, the FCRO has the longevity and expertise, in fact, Fortune 500 experience, and for a fraction of the cost of a full-time equivalent CRO.

There is a benefit in the ROI for a CRO. The role is strategic and works at designing and creating five-year strategic financial plans and then working backward from those goals to align the rollout of the various revenue functions and ensure the execution of the plan for revenue. What makes our company unique is that we work as a team globally to act as one to ensure the execution of the plan. Typically working in time block increments set at specific times each week, much like any other employee. Strategy and execution make us different from consulting firms. We are highly interested in the results of the strategy and not simply the strategy alone.

We have coined the phrase Northstar Success Formula©. Which simply put means that we customize systems, processes, and deployments all the way through Funding as a Service to fit your environment and do not treat any company as a one size fits all methodology. The collective team spans multiple industries with collectively hundreds of years of experience in every facet of revenue and in many industries such as construction, heavy equipment, fintech, financial services, cyber tech and services, tax and accounting, fashion, automotive, professional services, food and beverage, hospitality, data tech, healthcare tech, renewables, oil & gas.

Tell us about yourself

The average tenure of a Chief Sales Officer or Chief Revenue Officer role is around 18 months to two years. I found that revenue was revenue, and I could easily step into any industry and win in revenue. I also found that I could do so on my terms instead of working full-time to achieve other organizational successes to be then replaced by several people at supposedly less cost. I found many executives who have felt the same way. They work 60 to 80 hours a week, win, and then move on. Through Vistage, I found my "why" and realized that my vision has three core components and is in a very realistic order. God, Family, and Business. Businesses can change lives faster than the government can. If successful, jobs are created, new innovations solve some of the toughest challenges in the world, and we lift and elevate together. God wants that, and I want that for my family...my human family.

My direct family inspires me to do better and to become and learn and to grow. I sang opera and musical theater for 18 years and coached singers for 10 of those 18 years. I am a Gallup "Achiever," a Meyers Briggs ENTJ, a DiSC iD, and yes…right on the line. I want to see people succeed. One thing I found is that when I went into business for myself, once you had clients, it was extremely difficult to manage to get more clients. I found that many others struggled with the same thing, so Revenue Northstar was born. My business partner out of Scotland has unique talents that complement my talents, and each Revenue Leader we bring on board continues to expand that talent set. We are a team, and we are not alone. I love seeing them all succeed and win at the same time as assisting other businesses to flourish. And…I found that there are a lot of fractional VPs of Sales or Chief Sales Officers, CFOs, COOs, CMOs, etc., but very few CROs have that unicorn talent of aligning and leading revenue teams.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

For now, seeing this company grow. It is hard to state my biggest accomplishment because that would be finite. I've grown companies by 600%. Is that an accomplishment? It was yesterday's news. I think ongoing, treating the team as the amazing people they are, and having them be a success one company at a time is huge!

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

What I work with every day. New business. You can build something, but if no one knows you built it, then it won't be successful in the marketplace. There is so much digital noise and competing noise for the same market attention. There have been great new products and services that never make it because of the noise. Positioning so that people understand the value and act on that value is difficult, especially when you are essentially creating a new category.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

1. Start with your strategic plan. That business case includes all the financial statements and assures, even though it is lofty, that you create that plan over a five-year outlook. Not three… five. Yes, things change, but if you don't know where you are going, you can't pivot if needed. Many trudge off with something that gained traction but has zero idea how to scale and what resources to place at what time. And start everything with investors in mind. If you can get investors (even if you don't need to), you will have pressure tested that plan to start, run and grow because investors typically don't invest unless they feel the plan is spot on.
2. Failure only happens in your mind. Get rid of the head trash and keep moving.
3. Five B's. Be okay with the unknown, be hungry, be humble, be smart, and be happy with the change. Change is the only constant.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://revenuenorthstar.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/revenuenorthstar
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revenue_northstar_llc/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RevNorthst1
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/revenuenorthstar/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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