Our common refrain at Fox & Partners is that we want to be not only a part time CFO, but also a true partner for your business. From our first conversation, we seek to understand your organization from a full, 360-degree view so that we can provide the right services and add maximum value.
This goes beyond reviewing and organizing your financials. While we are excellent at that part of the process and we pride ourselves on our ability to improve a business’s cash flow, we know there’s more to your organization than what’s in the books.
Helping Our Clients in Other Ways
That’s why we are willing to go the extra mile for so many of our clients when it is within our power to do so. Here are a few examples to better illustrate how we’ve done this over the years:
- We’ve assisted multiple clients with staffing and personnel challenges.
- We’ve helped a small family farm to keep a great client by aiding with deliveries.
- We helped a client to obtain a private loan
- We formulated a strategy to help a store move product and get Google reviews.
To learn more, please read on.
Implementing Staffing Solutions
Employees can make or break a business, especially when they are public-facing. In the service industry, your staff is one of the biggest factors in the formation of your brand and public image. The right person can cement customer loyalty, but the wrong one can smash it to pieces with one bad interaction.
Keeping the Right People
A client we were partnering with had a problem finding and keeping the right people, which was hurting their bottom line. We tackled this by first helping them to set up an organizational chart and pinpointing the exact roles they needed in order to run efficiently. We then helped with writing job descriptions and posting job ads so they could identify the right individuals for those roles. We even helped with screening applicants to make the process move more quickly.
Maintaining Consistent Hours
In another instance, a client was having trouble maintaining consistent hours for the storefront side of their organization. This was not their main source of business, but it had significant potential for success. So, we helped them find and hire someone to run the store regularly. This meant the business could be consistent and reliable, which is key to customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Chief Operating Officer
Another business we worked with was in need of a Chief Operating Officer. The business owner needed a right-hand-person, a solid partner to help them keep things running smoothly and contribute to the growth of their company. We were able to introduce them to a great professional in our network who was the perfect fit and is still with them today.
Professional Writer
We’ve even helped our clients with endeavors not directly related to their business operations. A CEO we work with was developing her memoir and expressed that she needed some help updating and polishing her manuscript. We put her in touch with a professional writer and editor who we work with, who was able to help her make the edits necessary so she could move forward with the publishing process.
Maintaining Client Relationships
We were working with a local store & farm when a tough challenge arose. They had a great relationship with a restaurant they delivered to regularly, but this process had some logistical issues. During the slower months, only one person was at the store at a time, and the product was quite heavy. A single worker would not be able to lift this product alone, and they would not be able to leave the store to make the delivery on time. It was looking like the deliveries would have to stop, which would have been a significant blow to this business.
Coincidentally, one of our employees took a route to work each day that was close to both the farm’s storefront and the restaurant. Bringing the product from point A to point B was manageable for us to handle for a couple of months when they needed the help.
This allowed our client to bridge the gap and keep the relationship strong through those summer months, while also buying them time to figure out a more viable long-term solution for the next slow season.
Obtaining Private Funds
One client we worked with had several valuable assets, but not much cash available. So, one of our goals was to help them obtain liquidity from those assets to alleviate some of the stress that came from being relatively cash-poor.
We decided to explore ways to get this client a loan against a plot of land they owned. They would need to do this privately, as financial institutions and banks do not offer this type of loan. We connected our clients with the right private lenders who were able to provide them with that much-needed cash infusion.
This turned out to be the exact solution they needed to streamline their business practices and free up some personal funds each month.
Moving Excess Product
A retail client we partnered with was having trouble selling one particular product. They had a significant amount of stock and wanted to offload it, but it wasn’t moving at the rate they wanted.
This product was relatively small, so we recommended they create a display next to the register. Then, we took it one step further and suggested they offer the product for free in exchange for a Google review.
The strategy was a success! The store moved all of its remaining inventory, and its Google score improved.
Some of these tasks are more consistent with the role of a part time CFO than others, but we feel they all show how we will help our clients with any aspect of their business as long as it is within reason. If it is within our power to provide a solution that yields a significant return, we will find a way to make it happen.
A Better Financial Partner
Partnering with a part time CFO that genuinely cares about your success can turn the tide for your business. Contact Fox & Partners today and find out how we can help strengthen key areas of your business.
