About
Why The CFO Project?
Back in 2006 I was a young accountant who wanted to escape the corporate world and work on the inside of a business - instead of just counting the numbers.
So I started a small business in my free time. Two years later I was making enough from my business to leave my corporate job to focus on my own business
I was living the dream that draws many entrepreneurs to starting their own business. With little capital I was able to start and grow a successful business.
Then in 2009 things changed.
I felt overwhelmed. I felt like there were a thousand balls up in the air and at any time they could all come crashing down. I felt like a hamster trapped on a wheel running 90mph in the same place without making any progress.
I didn’t know what was wrong with the business - much less know what to do about it.
It was doubly frustrating because I had an accounting background! I should know these things. I simply couldn’t see the forest for the trees. I was so bogged down in the weeds that I couldn’t work ON my business.
By 2010 a friend could tell I was not myself and asked me what was going on. I placed my head in my hands and simply said…”I need help.”
I didn’t know what kind of help I needed; I just knew that I needed it.
I took three main steps that started to turn things around:
Step 1: I started meeting with someone who cared enough to listen. Just being able to talk out business problems (with someone who 'gets business') was very therapeutic.
Step 2: I mapped out, on a spreadsheet, my entire business and started tracking EVERYTHING. I tracked…
- Number of Leads
- Lead Conversion Rate
- Number of Transactions
- Percent of Existing Customers who Bought Again
- Average Transaction Value
- Revenue (by category)
- Gross Profit %
- Marketing Expenses (as a % of revenue)
- Overhead Expenses
- Net Profit %
- Cash Flow (where money flowed in the bank and where money flowed out)
- And a lot more...
Step 3: I studied all of this “financial data” on my spreadsheet religiously every week and month and determined which areas of my business were preventing profitability the most. I then went to work focusing on improving that one particular area (the MOST important area). Then, I kept repeating the process by going to the next MOST important area…
The business turned around. Things got easier to manage. I started to experience the freedom that I wanted when I started the business. And, I was keeping a lot more of the money I was generating.
Fast forward a couple of years, and I realized that there are a lot of business owners who are struggling just like I did. And now I had the roadmap to get from overwhelm to freedom.
I created The CFO Project to bring that road map to small business owners like you. Big businesses have a CFO - a Chief Financial Officer - someone to make sense of the financials and advise the CEO on what the numbers mean and which actions will improve them.
But smaller businesses don’t usually have access to that kind of talent. Sure, you have an accountant or a bookkeeper, but they’re focused on reporting the past and preparing your taxes.
We give you your own CFO to make sense of the data, find the key metrics that drive profit, then help you build a plan that increases profits month-after-month.
Your CFO will meet with you monthly to review your “scoreboard” and highlight what’s working and alert you to areas of potential trouble. Then, help you strategize on the most important next steps to take in the next 30-days to improve the business.
The goal is to get you working ON the business instead of IN the business. To create more profit for you - the owner - and use systems and people to free up your time.
You’ll stop being a slave to your business and get the business finally serving YOU!
If you think you might be ready for this kind of help, I invite you to book a call with me or watch our 29-minute video workshop to see how it works.
