Welcome And The CFO Question

Tom DuFore 0:01

Welcome to the Multiply Your Success podcast, where each week we help growth-minded entrepreneurs and franchise leaders take the next step in their expansion journey. I'm your host, Tom Dufour, CEO of Big Sky Franchise Team. And as we open today, I'm wondering when is it time to bring a CFO into your business? And better yet, how do you find success with that CFO? Well, our guest today is Carla Titus, who gives us a CFO's perspective on your business. Now, Carla is a finance expert with over 15 years of combined corporate financial planning analysis, strategy, and online business experience. She provides fractional CFO services and financial consulting to business owners looking to grow their business profitably. Her priority for her clients are to grow profits, have cash in the bank, and pay themselves well so they can build personal wealth. You're gonna love this interview, so let's go ahead and jump right into it.

Carla Titus 1:00

Yeah, I'm Carla Titus. I'm the founder and CEO of Wealth Worth Within. We're a fractional CFO firm.

Tom DuFore 1:08

Perfect. Well, that's a big piece of what we're looking to talk about today here, is really the idea of getting a CFO's perspective on your business and even why that, I guess, matters, right? I mean, someone might think, okay, well, Carla, I've already got a bookkeeper, I've got a CPA, you know, a lot of these small to mid-sized businesses. Why the CFO? What's the point of that?

Carla Titus 1:31

Yeah, you might be fully supported by those amazing individuals in your team already, which are the core foundation of the work we need done in order to even think about the finance piece. But that is the accounting side of things. It's not the finance side of things. And so when we talk about finance, we're really, you know, focusing on the future, on the planning, on the proactive approach to your business. So that might look something like I want to open another location, I want to franchise this out, I want to look for the path to growth forward that doesn't look exactly like what we've been already doing, but maybe similar. And you're not sure what that, you know, path forward is until you map it out. And so a lot of our work is this scenario planning, is this mapping of the future on what needs to be true? What are some assumptions we need to have in order to make that a reality and also set some goals along with us so we know what we're trying to achieve. And then the question you asked on why would you even need a CFO in your business? Because there's opportunities and risk that maybe you as an owner don't see in your business today that we can come in with fresh eyes to identify it and have those discussions with you and help you either optimize for those opportunities or mitigate for those risks so that you don't have to have expensive mistakes.

What Success With A CFO Means

Tom DuFore 2:47

That's really good. Well, selfishly from my end, I had worked at one point with a couple of different types of CFOs and fractional CFOs. And I would say it didn't go as I had hoped I might be able to see. And I think part of that is that I did not know what to expect out of the relationship. So for the clients you serve and people you work with, you mentioned, you know, we're so close to the business, it's hard to see kind of what's going on there. So when you think of a successful client engagement, what would success look like in that type of a relationship?

Carla Titus 3:23

Yeah. So we come in as a thought liberal partner and we're having discussions about business strategy first before we talk about the numbers. And in our engagement, we are that person that the owner gets to bounce ideas off. We get to co-create what the future looks like, and we get to collaborate on what we want to see happen going forward. Of course, this also comes with a strong set of financial processes and support and insight into what's happening in the numbers today and how we're tracking to the future plan that we have created. Because just because you create the plan doesn't mean it's going to become reality. Now we have to work the plan. And that is where I see a lot of maybe other people that call themselves CFOs maybe don't have the experience or background to go with it. And, you know, that suffers in the relationship you have with clients and the outcomes you can have them attain because they don't have that level of expertise. And me and my team, we have corporate finance background that we bring to the table. So we always bring in corporate finance tools to a small, medium-sized business owner that maybe hasn't been exposed to that type of support before and the thought level partnership where we are strategizing and working together to make that future plan come to reality.

Tom DuFore 4:37

As a leader of a company, start thinking about what you were talking about, this financial planning, this forward-facing structure. What does that typically look like? Are you looking at just revenue, profitability? Are you looking at investments for the business to maybe say, let's take some of this available cash and invest in other business opportunities? As you said, maybe franchise your business. What does that look like?

Carla Titus 5:01

Yeah, exactly right. We look for first, what is the appetite of the business owner to go for growth or develop farther, you know, their business into maybe another location or franchise or do some of those moves? Sometimes it's acquiring another business that they can grow through faster because it takes us so long to build it versus if we just buy it, it's ready to go, it's producing cash, it has profit, and we can incorporate it into our current business. And that is part of the strategy we're discussing, right? Do we want to build it or do we want to buy it? Fast track our time to it, or what are some other ways that we can continue to grow organically if we want to invest in our growth internally as a team? And it could be maybe we want to hire more people, we want to open that fifth location, maybe we want to buy a building as part of building wealth long term and having assets in our portfolio. What is it that we're gonna do to get this next level happening? And if it's franchise, what you know, what do we need to do to operationalize our business today? What investments we're missing? Maybe it's bringing in a team like yours to come fix what we don't have process-wise to get us ready to franchise and then be able to implement that as a licensing model to others rather than us having to grow another location because maybe we're tired. We want to have other people use our successful model to go open up their franchises. And now we're supporting them and showing them how we def, you know, define success and like how we manage and the KPIs and the financial insights that we need in order to run a successful franchise. And that's really where you know we're working with them on that. But we're looking at projections, we're doing scenario planning. We're saying if this happens, what next? And then what needs to be true in order for that scenario to come to life. And sometimes we're looking at three, four different ways that we can grow and we're evaluating what's the best way to deploy our cash, how are we going to allocate our profits, and where are we gonna invest that makes us excited about the path forward because we also need the owner energized to do all this work to make it happen.

Tom DuFore 7:03

That makes a lot of sense. And so as you work with the owners or the leaders of an organization, and I even think in the instance of a franchisee, franchise ours for the small to mid-size business owner or leader of their company, there are going to be different things that they are focused on. However, how does that dynamic generally go? Or how have you found success in coming into this business, especially when this might be a new thing that they're doing? You know, the owner, it's a now all of a sudden there's someone tinkering with their finances and kind of peeking under the hood, so to speak, in their business that maybe they're the only one that's really been digging into it. So uh talk through going through that whole emotion.

Carla Titus 7:50

Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's definitely a highly trust-based, you know, relationship that we have to nurture with our clients to even just be comfortable letting us into their world, right? Because this is the most sensitive part of their business. Like you said, maybe they've been the only one who gets to see it, but they've also been managing it on their own. And whether they have finance knowledge or not, that's, you know, some do and some don't. And even at certain points, even the ones that know finance get stuck because they're like, it's just too complex, too many moving pieces in. They really want help with it. And so they recognize that it's a gap. They bring us on. Part of our relationship, of course, includes an NDA. Like we keep everything private and confidential. We don't talk about clients, you know, finances except to them, and really start to understand. And we come in without judgment. Honestly, that is the biggest thing that we can do for an owner is just come in and say, it's okay. You are where you're at. Can we make it better? Let's work together to make that happen. Do you like where you're at? And maybe the numbers are strong and they're good, and they don't even know because they're like, well, I don't know. Like, is this good? They think they're always the worst, right? And we're like, no, it's okay. Like, this looks great. Or we can benchmark and tell them this is in alignment with the industry benchmarks that we see for your business. You're healthy, and we want to keep you healthy as you grow and scale because scaling is expensive and franchising is expensive, right? So making sure they have the right amount of money to invest in those things is key. And if there's any underlying issues we find, we just work with them on prioritizing which one we're gonna tackle first. And there might be some great things that are already happening. We don't want to mess with that. We want to go focus on the ones that we can, you know, attain some wins from and fix maybe a margin issue or a pricing issue, or maybe is, you know, how they compensate their employees. They never took the time to do compensation strategy from a financial lens. And working those together then will bring us a better outcome overall for the company. And that's what we're gonna focus on before we go scale this up or grow it to make sure that when we grow it, it's all good, foundational, you know, positive results that we're growing, not just like growing the problems they already had.

Mindset Blocks And Data Decisions

Tom DuFore 9:57

That makes a lot of sense. Well, what are some common mindset blocks, right, that an owner might have coming into this that might, I think, hold them back from not just financial success, but even finding success in working with a CFO or a fractional CFO or someone in a similar role as what you're doing? I know I mentioned it about the probably trepidation or nervousness that an owner might have coming in with that. But what are some of those mindset blocks you might typically see?

Carla Titus 10:29

Yeah, so you know, if they never work with this function before, it's kind of new and it's a little scary. And you you don't want to invite someone to come look at your numbers and tell you all the things that maybe are not working well, but you also are in the mindset of you want to improve on it. So you're opening yourself up to getting some support, right? Whether you need it or not, you know, you're busy, like you're doing 200 different things. At some point, you have to delegate an outsource, even if you're good at doing that. Like I've come in to replace CEOs that are CFOs as well for their business because they're like, I just don't know that I'm doing it as well. So let me, you know, get some help. And so that's just a lot about the person that we're working with, is that at some point they just like want to delegate this off to someone else while still remaining in control. And that is key because we are not making decisions for them. We're just giving them insights to make better decisions with the data that maybe they weren't gleaning before. And honestly, half the time we come in to work with them, they're not necessarily paying attention to the data, they're doing it more gut instinct. And so they're like, my gut has been leading the way, but I really would like to pair that with data to make sure it's correct and that I'm getting really good decision making happening. And I don't have time to go pull the data and look at it and understand what's happening and glean the insights I need to make this decision. So, can you do some of that work? And that's what we do. And so the mindset really has to be being open to receiving support, being open to new possibilities, because sometimes business owners are just stuck in like what they're doing and they're not thinking about other ways that they could be growing or fixing their you know financial concerns. And then we come in and say, Well, we've seen this work before with other clients, or here's something you can try. Does that resonate? And then even in those conversations, they're like, Oh, maybe not that, but this could work for me. And that's what we want. We want to, again, come and collaborate and create. And, you know, sometimes they have money traumas that they bring from their personal life or their childhood or how they grew up. And that is okay, we, you know, navigate that with cautious because we want to make sure we want to be gentle in our approach while still being like, okay, that's no longer serving you. Here's how we can reframe and re-adjust to how we want to see growth happening. And, you know, these owners are successful, they're already making it happen, they're already, you know, seeing profit, they're paying themselves well, and they still don't feel like they've made it or they don't feel like they're as successful as they actually are. And so we want to help them work through that, you know, next phase of what's possible and then unlocking some of the things that they're stuck in from a finance perspective to allow them to continue to grow their wealth, continue to create more profit for their business and really achieve the goals that they set themselves out to achieve.

How To Connect With Carla

Tom DuFore 13:14

Well, Carla, for someone who's listening in and they want to learn more, kind of connect with you and see what you're doing, how can someone get in touch here?

Carla Titus 13:22

Yeah, so you can find us on our website at wealthworthwithin.com. There is uh let's get started for us to book a call and just chat about your needs. No pressure. We just want to make sure if you need support, you can get access to it. And we can talk about if we're the right fit for supporting your needs on the finance side. And if you like to listen to podcasts, we also have a podcast called CEO Financial Clarity Corner, where you can just get up to speed on getting better on your finances on your own until you're ready to hire a CFO, or even just check out what we're about and how we think about finances and business strategy to help you grow.

Misses Highlights And Multipliers

Tom DuFore 14:01

Wonderful. Well, we'll make sure we include those links in the show notes. So if someone's tuning in, it makes it convenient and easy for them to access it right there. Well, Carlo, this is a great time in the show, and we make a transition and we ask every guest the same four questions before they go. And the first question we ask is have you had a miss or two on your journey and something you learned from it?

Carla Titus 14:21

Yeah, sometimes the wrong fit clients can be a big miss. So adjusting for that is hard. Good lesson learned and just setting really good boundaries, right? You know, who you work well with, who you can support well. And sometimes it's mutually agreed that it's not the best fit. And that is okay. We're not the best fit for everyone, but for the ones that we are, we work great together and we can make results happen. So that is definitely a lesson learned. And when, you know, I don't see the financial results I want in my business, I take action and I control that PL and make changes and move from that to make sure that things are go back or things get back on track. So I don't just spend too much time feeling bad about results. We just like move forward and take action. But you know, I think that is a hard thing to do and something that I think is served us well in business and continue to see the outcomes we want to see financially speaking.

Tom DuFore 15:17

Well, let's look on the other side. Let's look at a make or a highlight or two.

Carla Titus 15:22

Yeah, I would say a highlight for me is my team because without them, I couldn't make this happen. We couldn't serve the clients we serve, and we couldn't get the results that we get for our clients. So having a team that supports us has been invaluable. And I'm really grateful for the people that have been here for so long with us, supporting us and the clients that we serve. And then, yeah, we've been growing. So I'm really grateful for you know the growth we've been able to experience. That tells me clients are happy, they're growing with us, we're growing with them. And it's just such a great thing to see that clients trust us and choose to stay with us, which says a lot about the work that we do.

Tom DuFore 16:00

Well, let's talk about a multiplier. The name of the show is multiply your success. Have you used a multiplier to grow yourself personally, professionally, or any organization you've run?

Carla Titus 16:10

Yeah. So I've always, always spend money on business coaching and masterminds because I believe that our growth mindset is what gets us to the next level. So to me, that is super important. I prioritize it both from a financial perspective as well as my time, which is, you know, like many founders, very valuable. And I choose to spend time there because I want to be better and I want to improve. And I can't do that for clients if I'm not a better CFO and CEO of my company. So that has always been something that has been important to me to, you know, invest in both ways.

Tom DuFore 16:45

Well, then the final question we ask every guest is what does success mean to you?

Carla Titus 16:50

Yeah, so this one changes, honestly, with seasons of life. And right now, success to me looks like having a lot of freedom and flexibility to raise my kids while raising a successful business and having time for both and making sure, you know, my clients are cared for and then my family is cared for at the same time. And not allowing me being a mom be a restrictor to how big we get or how big we grow and how many clients we serve, but really having those work together. And freedom of time has always been like a really important thing to me. And being able to kind of finance my way to that is, you know, invaluable because the more time freedom I have, the better I am at all the things I'm doing in life.

Tom DuFore 17:33

Well, and Carla, as we bring this to a close, is there anything you were hoping to share or get across that you haven't had a chance to yet?

Carla Titus 17:40

Yeah, that's a great question. I think that there's a lot of CFOs out there. And at times it's hard for clients to see who is delivering quality and value to your business. And so I always want to bring attention to people to just let you know that there's different kinds of CFOs and that there's CFOs that have certain expertise and come from certain backgrounds and have the educational knowledge and experience, and some that don't. And so it's important that as you're shopping around for CFOs, that you're asking those questions. You're asking, you know, what type of clients they work with, what size, like what they manage before, which in our case was billions of dollars in corporate. So, like very, you know, big businesses to now working with smaller businesses. And we love that transition, being able to bring them those tools from the corporate world to, you know, small, small, medium-sized business that needs that support without the price tag. So yeah, there's just a lot of noise out there on who can be your CFO. And I just want you to be careful because you want to have the right fit person that can really help your business move forward.

Key Takeaways And Closing CTA

Tom DuFore 18:48

Carla, thank you so much for a fantastic interview. And let's go ahead and jump into today's three key takeaways. So, takeaway number one is when she said, What does success look like with a CFO? And she said, you have to create a plan and then you have to work that plan. Takeaway number two is about creating trust and letting someone else look at your finances as the leader of your business. I know that's hard for me to do sometimes, but as the business grows, you have to start to trust others to come into it. And takeaway number three are some of those common mindset blocks to create that trust. And she said at some point you have to delegate. And the CFO is not making the decisions for you as the owner, they're just giving you better insights into the information available. And it helps give the owners and the founders ideas on how to reframe where the owner is in the business cycle. And now it's time for today's win-win. So today's win-win came at the end when Carla mentioned that there are a lot of CFOs out there, lots of different specialists, lots of different backgrounds. And she said you need to find the right fit for you. And so if you're at that stage, uh maybe you have a CFO, or maybe you're ready to start finding a fractional CFO or hiring a full-time CFO, but recognize there are lots out there and find the best fit and the right fit for you and your organization and where your business is going. And so that's the episode today, folks. Please make sure you subscribe to the podcast and give us a review. And remember, if you or anyone you know might be ready to franchise your business or take their franchise company to the next level, please connect with us at bigskyfranchise team.com where you can schedule your free no obligation consultation. Thanks for tuning in, and we look forward to having you back next week.