Fractional Finances - Chris Gwinn - Entrepreneur Intel - Episode # 25

This week’s guest has a rich background in corporate finance, and experience managing over $85M in assets. Please welcome to the show, Founder and Fractional CFO at Midwest CFO

Chris Gwinn!

 Chris sits down with Host Wes Mathews and shares invaluable lessons from his entrepreneurial journey, emphasizing the importance of finding high-demand, recurring revenue models. Chris also offers practical tips for business owners to ensure profitability, strategic planning, and financial forecasting. 

Takeaways: 

• Entrepreneurs should focus on finding and selling a product or service that solves a pressing, high-urgency problem for customers, which makes sales easier and ensures more predictable cash flows. 
• To increase recurring revenue, form strategic partnerships and focus on understanding customer purchase frequency and proactively meeting their needs rather than just maximizing short revenue spikes. 
• In order to effectively manage your business finances, start by ensuring your financial data is clean and well-organized to understand the profitability of different services and make strategic decisions. 
• To accurately determine your gross margin, subtract the costs of producing your goods or services from your revenue, ensuring all expenses are cleanly categorized. Understanding industry-specific margins leads to better financial management.
• Secure financing when business is thriving, not just when in need, to ensure you have the resources to fuel growth during challenging times. Maintain a cash reserve of 200% to 400% of monthly overhead to weather economic storms and seize opportunities.
• To effectively manage business finances, focus on key performance indicators such as revenue, profitability, and customer metrics, while understanding essential financial statements like accounts receivable, balance sheets, and profit and loss statements.
• Business owners should consider adopting the EOS framework for its simplicity and effective operational models. Success hinges on a professional EOS implementer and a strong integrator (COO) to align goals and ensure smooth execution.

Quote of the Show:

• “It's going to be really, really difficult to figure out how to create a profit in your business if you don't understand what your margin is.” - Chris Gwinn

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-gwinn-cfa-96383b26/ 
• Website: https://midwestcfo.com/ 

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2I9O1Du2CFBfhGkvR1Oyem 
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/entrepreneur-intel/id1720785558 
• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/4d7fcd6e-e68f-4855-bb8a-8f872fc5b799 

Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/entrepreneur-intel-5556614