Daryl La Fountain and the rise of a financial services consultant? 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 tricks on improving your business financial situation: In most cases, weak internal financial controls and policies can make your business incapable of organizing its finances. They can potentially get you into some legal problems if you don’t organize your company’s financial affairs. As such, it’s important to set up good financial habits to keep up with your transactions and help you mitigate problems down the road. These good habits can include: Hire a reliable finance manager: This is to help you make informed and sound financial decisions. They can implement strict accounting and economic management that’s vital to the proper organization of your company’s finances.
If meeting monthly health insurance premiums seems impossible, what will you do if you have to go to the emergency room, where a single visit for a minor injury like a broken bone can cost thousands of dollars? If you’re uninsured, don’t wait another day to apply for health insurance. It’s easier than you think to wind up in a car accident or trip and fall down a flight of stairs. If you’re employed, your employer may offer health insurance, including high-deductible health plans that save on premiums and qualify you for a Health Savings Account (HSA). If you need to buy insurance on your own, investigate the plans offered by the health insurance marketplace of the Affordable Care Act–there are federal plans or your state may have its own plan. Look at quotes from different insurance providers to find the lowest rates and see if you qualify for a subsidy based on your income. If you have health issues, know that a more expensive plan could be cost-effective for you; research the options. If you’re under 26, your best choice may be to stay on your parents’ health insurance, if they have it–an option allowed since the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act. If you can manage it, offer to reimburse them for the additional cost of keeping you on their plan.
Having financial goals is the foundation for your financial success. After all, you have to know what you want to accomplish in order to actually accomplish it. However, when it comes to setting goals, you want to make sure your goals are well defined and prioritized accordingly. It’s great to have big, lofty goals! But be sure to break them down into smaller chunks. That way, you’re not overwhelmed trying to accomplish them and you can easily measure your progress. It’s also really important that one of your goals includes a plan to deal with emergencies. You want to make sure you are prepared to weather a storm. Otherwise, you’ll just end up in debt again.
About Daryl La Fountain: 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. Are just entering the political realm and need some advice (Daryl has been there).