Business Coaching
FOCUSED FINANCIAL & STRATEGIC SOLUTIONS
Business Coaching through the lens🔎 of an experienced CFO…
As an established business owner, you need your business to work for you.
The stakes are too high to coast & hope it all “works out.” Instead, you want confidence that your business financial outlook is on a sustainable, profitable, uphill trajectory.
And, you likely need to solve some specific challenges, as well as optimize your backend processes to get you there.
With Business Coaching through the lens of a CFO, I can help put you on a financially healthy, profitable & solid path.
This service integrates Business Coaching, Business Financial Consulting work, & limited-scope CFO type work and is perfect for businesses who need the seasoned perspective & experience of a CFO (without committing to hiring an ongoing CFO).
Whether you need help with…
- Financial forecasting & planning as you look to expand your office, open an additional location, hire more staff, add a new offering, or scale in any significant manner (so that you’re not blind-sighted and make the best decisions for both the short and long-term).
- Determining why your revenue has grown, but your profit hasn’t kept pace—and then guiding you on how to fix (as relevant) the causal inefficiencies, incorrect positioning and messaging, slim margins, wrong pricing, etc.
- Implementing a strong framework for proper employee ROI in your business, which includes understanding the range of what you can “afford” to pay each employee while still making a healthy profit, the specific metrics you should be gauging employee performance by, and more.
- Assessing & improving your cash flow situation, and advising on strategies and changes that will improve your business cash flow experience to more stable and consistent grounds.
- Navigating a major business (or life) transition that has you needing confidence that your business financial situation is what you think it is. Whether you’re preparing to sale your business, transitioning your business to become the sole provider for you & your family, looking to buy out a partner, or considering add someone new to your business’ ownership, you want to know from the lens of experienced CFO what financial & operational problems exist so that you can fix them and be financially prepared.
- Creating & implementing a proactive & comprehensive business tax strategy that takes into account your specific business(es), goals, and personal life so that you fully enjoy the advantages of the United State’s SMB-friendly tax laws and dually have confidence that you’re 100% tax compliant. (Note that most businesses that have not explicitly worked with a business tax strategist on setting up a comprehensive, customized plan are paying tens of thousands of more than they could be in taxes every year.)
- Correcting your pricing & positioning for services or (products) that are unprofitable or that are not selling as well as they should.
I can help you through Business Coaching.
What results can I expect from Business Coaching?
You can expect us to achieve the specific goals we set out to work on. If you want to grow your revenue, increase your profit, or improve your personal compensation, we can make it happen. If you need to grow (or downsize) your staff, we’ll figure out the best path forward. If you want to optimize your tax strategy, we can achieve that. If you need help navigating any significant business transition, we can get you on the right track.
Additionally, as we address your specific challenges, I will always keep an eye on your profitability. Because I believe that profit is the most important marker of your business’ financial health. (For example, it doesn’t do you any good to increase your revenue, or to move into a bigger space, or to grow your workforce if your profit stays the same.)
To give you a specific idea of what you can expect in terms of profitability, over the past two years the average year-over-year profit increase for my clients has been 399%. And the median year-over-year profit increase for these clients over the same period has been 476%.
“I honestly cannot think of a better or more important investment I have made in my business—or in myself.”
It really is difficult to say enough about Erin, the quality of her work and the way she goes about it. After somehow managing to survive in business for over 30 years with almost no professional financial guidance, Erin came in and 1) helped me put things in the best possible professional order, 2) opened my eyes to resources and opportunities I had no idea existed, 3) helped me to a much better understanding of a number of issues related to my own mindset/self-imposed limitations around my business and money, and 4) supported me emotionally and intellectually as I made important decisions about growth and investment. You will find that she is both smart and proactive. If she commits to working with you, she will be all in and expect no less from you. I am better in more ways than one for my association with her, and I honestly cannot think of a better or more important investment I have made in my business — or in myself. If she seems a good match for you or your business, I cannot recommend her highly enough.
–Barry Nash, Barry Nash and Company
“Bringing Erin on was the biggest blessing for me personally and the business.”
I had the pleasure to work with Erin during a time when I considered my business to be at a “low”. The compounding struggles of the pandemic had me feeling defeated, and bringing Erin on was the biggest blessing for me personally and the business. Erin embraced ALL facets of business ownership – the tangibles (finance, operations) as well as the intangibles (beliefs, morale, personal emotions). In doing so, she managed to validate, educate and empower me as a person, which in turn empowered me as a business owner. She has laid the foundation for CLEAR and EFFICIENT financial strategies to help not only bring the business out of the “low” – but now speeding into a new “high”. I am feeling extremely confident with where the business is heading. THANK YOU, Erin. My gratitude is endless.
–Joyce Bertulfo, Revyve
“Thanks to Erin we are in track to have our highest grossing year ever!”
As a 15-year owner of a design and branding agency, I’ve experienced many successes, but with that also comes opportunities for support and growth. I wanted to be more in control of our finances and intentional with the money we made. I truly felt like my team and I had taken as far as we could on our own, and we were lacking the clarity needed to know what actually was the “right” next moves. It was time to bring someone in that could give us a deeper understanding of the “numbers” that could help take my business to the next level. Most importantly, what they meant, how to interpret them and how we could actually use that information to better plan for the future. That’s where Erin comes in. She works with us on regular basis to make key decisions that impact our business in day-to-day operations, helps us make informed (and smart) decisions based on our long-term financial goals and set new goals for the future based on opportunities we would not have seen otherwise. Overall her communication, guidance and insight have exceeded our expectations. I would highly recommend her to anyone with a business that isn’t quite large enough to hire an in-house CFO, but still wants the peace of mind, expertise and direction that a CFO can provide. It has made a world of difference in my business, and my money mindset. Thanks to Erin we are on track to have our highest grossing year ever!
–Kristin Moses, DesignGood
“There’s no doubt in our minds that having her on our team has allowed us to earn more money, stress less, and create a clear vision for the future.“
We’ve been working with Erin as Virtual CFO for more than a year, and she’s been a huge asset to our company as we’ve been working through some major transitions (not to mention COVID!). She’s been our biggest cheerleader, our financial guru, our rock, and our accountability partner. There’s no doubt in our minds that having her on our team has allowed us to earn more money, stress less, and create a clear vision for the future. She’s made financial decision-making simpler and has helped us focus on the big picture instead of getting lost in the details. Erin offers an experienced outside perspective that would have been impossible for us to attain otherwise. We feel lucky to have had the opportunity to work with her and know that she will continue to be a part of our major business decisions as we move forward.”
-Thriving ATX Business Partners
Areas of your business that we can improve…
(Please note, that the below is not an exhaustive list because I tailor my services to you & your business’ needs.)
Growing your revenue:
This will look different for different businesses. In some cases, I help my clients increase their sales volume. In other cases, I help them develop and position one or more additional income streams. And, in other cases, I help them transition their services to a more premium tier (so they can raise their rates).
Shifting or transitioning your services:
I help my clients shift or reorient their services so they’re more closely aligned with the type of work they want to be doing. (This usually involves a dance between maintaining current revenue streams, investing resources into developing the new offering, and managing all this on a timeline that’s manageable).
Improving you cash flow:
I help my clients understand where their money has gone (and is going), so they can anticipate and plan for the future. This typically includes educating them about their business’ burn-rate and financial runway; in addition, it often includes laying out different options for how to manage their business’ cash depending on their goals. (Here are some examples of the types of goals we might be juggling: paying off a loan more quickly; considering how taking on a new loan would affect cash flow when we consider the repayment schedule; reconfiguring the timing of profit payouts to the business owner; contributing to a business savings account; setting aside the proper amount of money for anticipated taxes due; etc.)
Increasing your compensation:
I help my clients not only increase their take-home pay (salary and distributions), but also increase the benefits they receive through their business. Some of these benefits include medical insurance, HSA contributions, repayment for use of personal property (through properly documented channels,) maximized 401k contributions (in 2023, employee-owners have the opportunity to contribute up to $66k for the year); medical reimbursements, and more.
Addressing staff configuration, hiring & compensation:
I help my clients match their workforce to the needs of their business. In many cases, this involves hiring additional staff (if we are trying to grow the business, or if we are trying to remove administrative tasks from the business owner’s plate). In some cases, however, it will involve downsizing staff in order to help clients strike the best balance for profitability and efficiency (and owner mental bandwidth!). A big part of this process involves helping my clients calculate the return on investment for each employee (or for each role in their business,) which helps us develop a compensation scale of what the business should invest in staff.
Optimizing your business legal structure:
I work with many clients whose businesses would benefit from operating as an S-Corporation. For these clients, I help them file for S-Corp status with the IRS (as well as filing for their LLC with their state—if they haven’t already done that). As a next step, we work on overhauling and optimizing the components of their business that will give them the biggest benefit from their new S-Corp status (these components include tax strategy, estimated tax payments, and payroll and accounting systems).
Addressing your tax strategy:
I help my clients develop a tax strategy that is tailored to their specific business needs. As part of this strategy, we will cover all the deductions they should be taking, and we’ll put a system in place to provide the necessary documentation for each deduction. Additionally, when you own more than one business, it’s crucial to have the optimal interplay between those businesses—for tax strategy purposes. If tax strategy is something you’ve never fully addressed, it’s likely you could save tens of thousands of dollars every year by addressing tax strategy (my average client in this situation typically saves over $50k per year).
Improving your accounting and payroll systems:
I help my clients customize their QuickBooks account according to their specific needs. This includes creating a customized Chart of Accounts and creating customized report templates. I can also develop processes to help business owners capture the information they need for their business. Additionally, I can help with payroll software set-up. And, I often train business owners (and any relevant staff members) on how best to use QuickBooks and payroll software.
If you’re ready to put your business on solid track, click the button below to get started!
Some additional important details:
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My Business Coaching service tends to be of greatest value & fit to businesses that are currently generating between $250k/yr – $5M/yr in revenue.
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Hiring me is a significant financial investment. However, since I began offering Business Coaching, every Business Coaching client that I’ve worked with has recouped far more than their investment into my services. Your investment will depend on the specifics of your business & needs, and a detailed proposal with price, scope & timeline will be provided to you after we have a free consultation. Please note that financing and payment plans are available.
MEET YOUR BUSINESS COACH, ERIN
Over the past 12 years, I have worked with hundreds of businesses across the country as a Fractional CFO, Accountant, Tax & Financial Consultant, Business Coach, and Professional Speaker. The businesses I’ve worked with have been in a wide range of different industries: I’ve worked with research companies, and I’ve worked with design firms. I’ve worked with stylists, and I’ve worked with therapists. I’ve worked with large businesses that make money on volume, and I’ve worked with high-end agencies that only service a limited number of (top-tier) clientele.
No matter your situation, I have the knowledge and the real-world experience to help make your business financial goals a reality. And I have the results to back it up.