The growth of a financial services consultant : Daryl La Fountain? In the early stages of a company, CEOs get involved in everything. As your growth ramps up, however, you must become strategic with your time. You need to put systems in place for building and scaling a financially viable business while preserving your attention for mission-critical items. As a fractional CFO for growth companies, I help clients navigate this shift on a daily basis, and I’ve found the following tips useful in nearly every situation. Every business leader understands they need a strategy for attracting and converting new leads into customers. But when you’re growing sales on a budget, you need to be creative. Instead of costly ad campaigns or branding strategies, I’d recommend you build strong, reciprocal partnerships first and that you do so as soon as possible. I’m not referring to simple networking. I’m talking about identifying companies with business models that complement your own and approaching them with a win-win proposition. The relationship can be formal or informal, but the key is to offer something valuable in exchange for inexpensive exposure to your target audience.
Daryl LaFountain‘s guides on improving your business financial situation: Analyze the financial ratios: This is to help improve the economic aspects of your company, as well as organize the finances. Analyzing the financial ratios to keep up with your financial affairs means taking into account the generation of cash flow, debt ratio, economic and financial profitability, and many more. Know your financing options: This is to educate yourself about getting financial tools that can make your company grow. When you have knowledge of your financing options, you’ll be able to make informed financial decisions, especially when you decide to apply for a loan to organize your affairs. As you can see, the ones listed above are some of the habits that you should apply to your own business.
If you don’t learn to manage your own money, other people will find ways to (mis)manage it for you. Some of these people may be ill-intentioned, like unscrupulous commission-based financial planners. Others may be well-meaning, but they may not know what they’re doing, like Grandma Betty, who really wants you to own your own house even though you can only afford one by taking on a risky adjustable-rate mortgage. Instead of relying on others for advice, take charge and read a few basic books on personal finance. Once you’re armed with knowledge, don’t let anyone catch you off guard—whether it’s a significant other who slowly siphons off your bank account or friends who want you to go out and blow tons of money with them every weekend.
After working so hard to earn your money, the last thing you want is an unplanned occurrence to wipe you out. Insurance is essentially your backup plan that will protect your assets in the event a life circumstance happens that requires a large amount of money to resolve. Your insurance coverage should include health, auto, disability, life, home or rental, and business. Basically, you want to protect anything of major importance that has a high value to ensure that you (and your loved ones) are protected financially. Having the right insurance can turn what could otherwise be a major disaster into a mere inconvenience. In order to have the lifestyle you dream of in retirement, you need to plan adequately for it. You’ll need to determine how much you are going to need to retire, of course taking inflation into consideration, and how you plan to save and invest in advance for that period of your life. While retirement might seem like a lifetime away, it’s never too early to start!
About Daryl LaFountain: Daryl is an energetic professional CFO with a background in politics. Daryl has done fundraising, been a candidate, and worked in politically appointed positions in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. Daryl has worked for Democratic candidates and nominees in 18 additional states. Would like someone to do bundling and fundraising for you.