The fast age of technology forced our business environments to operate more strategically. This simply made the position of a chief business officer a necessity, rather than an optional add on.
If some elements in a business could be enhanced, it goes without saying that it has to, as soon as possible. We’re in an age where time waste is not rewarded. On the contrary, competitors in the current business environments simply wait for such an opportunity to dominate a market. So yes, your chief business officer might be your only chance in this sense.
The Strategy Behind The Chief Business Officer
There are multiple additions that such a person adds to the strategical element. When it comes to operations, the chief business officer could have an eye of viewing things that could be done faster. Things done faster, as mentioned earlier, in our tech age is critical.
Yet, in the startup world, the chief business officer is mostly the person who manages the business side of a startup. For instance, tasks like fundraising could be assigned to that person. The truth is, in our current landscape, there is a lack of CTOs (Chief technical officers).
But CTOs constantly require CBOs or Chief business officers in order to fulfil the potential of running a company or a startup in a healthy way. Techies lose focus when they are tasked with a market strategy overview. Someone has to zoom out in this sense and see what others can’t. That’s one of the core jobs and responsibilities of a chief business officer.
The Confusion
There is a common confusion between the CBO and the CFO/CLO.
- The CFO, chief financial officer, is mostly responsible for the numbers involved in the spreadsheet that you call a business, with every aspect of it.
- The CLO, chief legal officer, should tell you what not to do.
Yet, the naming has been in constant change in the past few years depending on the startup. Some would call this a chief strategical officer, others would just call CBOs, strategists.
Naming is never the problem, we’ve seen dogs in positions like Chief Morale Officer in some companies. What’s critical is the CBOs strategical views on how the operations are, how they can improve, and where the flaws come from.
Think of a business as a moving vehicle, the CBO would be your mechanic or computer embedded in the car to see what’s not doing so well. To be more accurate, the computer should tell you how things can be better.
Yes, we are in an age where a CBO is becoming more and more of a need in our ecosystem.