Many businesses fail within the first five years, not because they go broke but because they cannot keep up with the growth. Things suddenly get complicated fast, especially from a financial management perspective, that many will just give up.
James Anthony Construction, a residential construction business that specialises in architecturally designed new builds and large-scale renovations, once faced the risk of growing fast and not being able to really see the financial impacts of their growth.
John Christophersen started the business with his brother. Their initial priority was to grow top-line revenue growth at all costs, without regard for project size or project type. However, as they took on multiple projects and became more in-demand, the challenges also began.
When you’re growing really quickly, it’s very easy to lose sight of what your strategic priorities are. It’s very easy to get bogged down in day-to-day tasks. It’s very easy to lose any sense of success or failure. And going home at night and not really knowing where you’re at is a deeply unsettling thing, John shares.
Xact CFO Advisory: Deep Dive
According to Xact Founding Partner and CEO Mick Renton, John’s story is everyone’s story. “Once they really start to scale it up, things get complicated from a financial management point of view, and they really need to bring in help,” he adds.
John met Mick at a Master Builders of Queensland event and introduced him to Xact Client Director for CFO Advisory, Daniel Wilkinson.
“When John first came to CFO Advisory, he was in a little bit of hurt around financial clarity in his business. He’d grown really quickly. His core business was actually very sound, and the big piece that was missing was just the financial clarity in his business,” Dan recalls.
Usually when businesses come and see me in CFO Advisory, they’re in a fair bit and cash flow hurt or they’ve just grown really quickly, and the systems and processes haven’t caught up and they’re not quite sure where to go next.
So, what we do, first of all, is we do a process called the Deep Dive, and what the idea is that the business owners take me through their business to help me have a better understanding of their business overall, so I can then go away and craft a plan for them to help steer them financially and commercially into the future, Dan explains.
Through Xact’s CFO Advisory, John is finally able to understand his business’s financial position, allowing him to make well-informed and life-changing decisions.
He also appreciates the accountability that Dan provides for his business. They meet regularly to discuss the business’s financial health and identify insights and opportunities for further improvement.
It allows me to sleep at night really,” John reveals. “There’s a level of empowerment that you don’t even know exists… [Xact Accounting] has provided me the level of empowerment where I can make decisions to grow the business, understand what the parameters are to grow the business, and then be able to execute.
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Get in touch today to learn more about CFO Advisory services or to book in a Deep Dive.
