CFO Pinch Hitters
Demand grows for temp finance chiefs who can jump in to help companies through reorganizations and turnarounds. -BY RUSS BANHAM Lisa Donahue is not your usual CFO. Although her career includes finance chief positions at sportswear manufacturer Umbro, energy producer Calpine and battery maker Exide Technologies, none of these companies paid Donahue’s salary. Rather, her compensation came from Alix Partners, a firm that helps companies through operational reorganizations and corporate turnarounds. Donahue is an interim CFO at the companies she serves, a role she is presently filling at Boston-based Atlantic Power, a publicly traded power producer. A cottage industry of CFO providers has emerged in the last 20 years, spurred initially by the failed leveraged buyouts of the mid-8os and more recently by increased competition brought on by globalization. Each of the firms involved, including Alix Partners, Tatum, Cerius, B2B CFO, TechCFO and several others, has its own value...
Learn How to Sell Your Business
As part of its Chamber EDucation program, the North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Sierra Economic Development Corporation is hosting a “Thinking of Selling Your Business” workshop Oct. 12 from noon-1:30pm at Mourelatos Lakeshore Resort, 6834 North Lake Tahoe Blvd., Tahoe Vista. Deadline to register is Oct. 7. This workshop is designed for those thinking of taking the leap and selling their business or perhaps have received an offer they can’t refuse. Attendees will learn about the planning, preparation, communications and execution when selling their business that will lead to a positive, profitable life transition. The presenter is David Frazier, a partner at B2B CFO, the largest financial consulting firm in the country with 184 partners in 39 states. Prior to B2B CFO, Frazier spent more than 25 years in various executive positions in finance and operations at large publicly traded companies. The cost is $55/person, and participants need to bring their own lunch. To register, call the Sierra Economic Development Corporation at (530) 823.4703 or...
Finding Financial Solutions
SOURCE: GO GILBERT! MAGAZINE DATE: 09/21/2011 Businesses in the spotlight Finding Financial Solutions: Jerry Mills uses his expertise to give corporate-level financial support to small and mid-size businesses By: SUSAN LANIER-GRAHAM In the mid-1980s, Jerry Mills was a manager at the accounting giant Arthur Anderson & Company in Phoenix. He examined the market and found a very real gap in support for mid-market companies. Mills realized that businesses often fall into traps in a time of growth because of the inability to manage cash flow effectively. While that management job falls to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in larger corporations, budgets don’t usually allow small and mid-sized businesses to fill that role. That’s where Mills knew he could help. In 1987, he launched B2B CFO to offer financial and management solutions to small and medium-sized companies. “Every company needs a CFO, but not every company can afford one. Our model makes it possible,” Mills explains. “Just as a company doesn’t need a full-time attorney, it doesn’t need a full-time CFO. We are there when they need us.” He adds that his company strives to provide customers with a sophisticated service at a cost they can afford. What began out of his home two decades ago now has more than 174 partners across the country, servicing more than 550 clients with combined annual sales totaling $5 billion and employing 30,000 people. For the second year in a row, Inc. magazine has named B2B CFO to the Inc. 500/5000 list of fastest-growing companies in America. “To be awarded this, especially during a recession, is quite an accomplishment,” Mills explains. “It’s also...
Borrowing From Friends & Family: 5 Things To Know
SOURCE: Huffington Post (Los Angeles,CA) AUDIENCE: 30,067,627 DATE: 09/30/2011 By: Geoff Williams For a lot of startups, money is tough to come by. So it’s not surprising that many fledgling entrepreneurs think about borrowing from the Bank of Mom and Dad or floating their business plans by college buddies. In fact, borrowing money from friends and family is the most common method for raising startup capital. But getting a business loan from your friends and family can’t help but become personal — and there are countless horror stories out there to prove it. That said, there are also plenty of successful entrepreneurial stories that begin with conversations at the Thanksgiving table or the local bar. How can you approach this tricky topic and ensure that your personal relationships do not suffer? Here are five things you need to know. 1. Money will impact your relationships. Not that you haven’t considered that. But it’s worth really thinking this through. If you can’t pay back the money your friends or family loan you, or if you take it and then don’t communicate with them, you could lose your relationship. And while you may be right if you’re thinking, “Mom would never disown me,” or, “Chuck and I have been friends since third grade,” the respect they have for you could take a hit. “Make sure that this loan doesn’t put the family member or friend in a hardship,” urges Lisa Baskfield, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts’ National CPA Financial Literary Commission. “It’s similar to investing in the market. The person loaning the money should be okay...
B2B CFO® Ranks Among Fastest Growing Arizona Companies
B2BCF0 RANK: No. 23 on the fast-growth list FOUNDER AND CEO: Jerry Mills HQ: Phoenix FOUNDED: 1987 EMPLOYEES: 197 partners across 39 states and four full-time employees in Mesa REVENUE INCREASE, 2009-10: 46.5 percent Q&A with founder Jerry L. Mills How do you maintain fast growth through the years? Maintaining steady, fast growth has been a matter of setting goals and then working diligently to build an infrastructure that supports our team and allows us to achieve our goals. It is also a matter of constant evaluation and making periodic adjustments to the process of the goal achievement. For example, when new technologies become available or when a process can be improved, we need to always adjust our course — first direction, then velocity. How does growth become a part of your business culture? I review my goals weekly. I also leverage the expertise and help from a personal coach who goes over my goals with me and helps me augment and expand them, causing me to stretch and grow at all times. I go over our goal achievements each month with the staff so the team will constantly have our progress in front of them. Making sure everyone knows the direction and the goals is crucial to our success. Looking out 12 months, what is your greatest obstacle to continued growth? I see absolutely no obstacles that will impede our ability to achieve and meet our...B2B CFO® are media experts on, and can speak to the media on:
- - Company Financials
- - Small Business Finance
- - Lending
- - Profit/Loss Statements
- - Exit Strategy
