Does your new venture need a CFO and how can you afford it ?
Your new business is up and running and you’re now into the rapid scaling up phase. And then, it gets incredibly tough.
Often less than a couple of years into any new venture, there’s escalating demand for your founder team to be sharper and faster than ever before, and if that team does not include an experienced CFO then its highly probable that your infrastructure and finances will be under extreme pressure
Decision making is at break neck speed but often you lack data and rigour around your numbers, ratios and KPI. The business is growing, as are the complexities and there is a high risk of wrong decisions at this point
One of the critical challenges the founder team faces is when to boost their financial management by bringing a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) on board.
Supporting rapid growth demands access to higher levels of financial skills and financial management infrastructure, but a full-time CFO may not be needed and certainly may be too costly when you need funds for other areas of growth.
The CFO is your go-to-finance person holding the reins of cashflow, formulating financial strategy, mitigating your risks in a fast-paced changing business environment and making sure you run on world-class systems, empowering you to raise that next round of growth finance where necessary.
Some of the problems any growing business may face include :
- Cash is not flowing — on paper your business is showing a profit and you are paying taxes but there is never enough cash available – typical of a growth company that needs more working capital the faster it grows.
- Growth capital seems out of reach – potential investors are asking for your financials, but you don’t have the time or resources to answer them
- Decision making is becoming harder as financial information and key metrics are becoming less clear
You need to value, prepare and package your company as a priority, and this is not within your skill-set, or that of your current bookkeeper or financial advisor.
The goal, generally between years two to 10 are about accessing the higher levels of skills that escalate growth in affordable way. This is where the part time CFO hire becomes attractive.
Here are CFO Counsel we have experience in helping high growth businesses through business and financial issues. Whether this be from a minimal advisory board role, onto from 3 days a month to 3 days a week, our part time CFO’s are a cost efficient solution.
Contact us for a free consultation around your needs.
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