Your client loves to brag about you. In every meeting with a third party, he/she refers to you as the company’s CFO. I cringe when I hear them say that. I casually tell the banker, vendor, or the other person I’m meeting that I’m a consultant. If they have questions, I’ll answer them. I’ve never…
I first heard the term fractional in front of the title CFO when I was introduced to a client. The year was 2008 or 2009. I looked at Jim with a quizzical look. I didn’t ask him, “Jim, what’s a fractional CFO?” There’s nothing fractional about me. I suppose that’s good marketing because the term…
Since I have CFO clients who read this blog, I probably need to watch what I write. But I have to be truthful. That’s because my first consulting project occurred while I was holding down a full-time job. Does that mean I think it’s okay for a CFO to moonlight by performing occasional consulting services? Sometimes,…
If you are in the early stages of your part-time CFO practice, you will be faced with the opportunity of serving a potential competitor of an existing client. Do you take the job or decline the work? I have always had an unwritten guiding principle of never serving a competitor. But there are exceptions, probably….
My journey to becoming a Free Agent CFO™ started in 1993 when I helped a small business obtain a $500,000 operating line of credit and to create their financial management and reporting systems from the ground up. Afterward, I was gratified hoping I could do more of these projects in the future. Little did I…
Are CFO firms like the cobbler without shoes–good at teaching and delivering strategy but not good at applying it to themselves? If you run or are part of a CFO firm, does that describe your organization? Words of Wisdom from the Dean of Consultants I consider David Maister (now retired) as the Peter Drucker version…
Periodically, I have other part-time CFOs ask if they should work with startups. My typical response is a question, “Do you want to go broke?” But Mark, I’ve been offered equity. My comeback is another question, “Have you ever heard of the endowment effect?” Bottom line, working with startups is hard, really hard. Be careful…
Am I allowed to suggest the obvious? Please grant me one mulligan for recommending what I believe is common sense. And before I go on, I’m only about 80% successful in what I’m about to preach to my peers in the consulting industry. Remember, We’re in the Giving Business I’m tight with my money. Maybe…
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