A Growth and Exit Advisor that Makes Your Business Easier to Sell | Plan Today to Nail Your Exit

Business Strategist Sherpa | Helping Business Owners to Exit on Their Own Terms | Entrepreneur | Leadership Coach

WE SERVE
🔹 Business Owners
🔹 Revenues between $1 - $30 million
🔹 Burning desire to improve business

STOP:
🟥 Believing your business can’t run without you 
🟥 Sacrificing your family to run the business
🟥 Worrying that your business won’t finance your retirement
🟥 Struggling to scale and grow your business 
🟥 Working long hours and not earning true worth 

BY FOCUSING ON THIS:
🔹  Systematizing your business 
🔹  Aligning your growth strategies with clients who value what you do
🔹  Attracting employees that share your values
🔹  Building team engagement and accountability 
🔹  Focusing on what drives the value of the business


TO GET THIS OUTCOME:
✅  A business that thrives without you 
✅  More time for passions and loved ones
✅  Retirement piece of mind
✅ Higher business value 
✅  Employees that think like owners

Do you want to learn more about building your personalized Business Value Growth Blueprint, Contact me at D.Cherry@FocusCFO.com

Darren Cherry, CEPA®

Promoting your accountant to CFO is a costly mistake.

It feels like a smart move—until revenue stalls and chaos creeps in:

You think you're saving money by promoting from within.

But here's what happens next.

Strategic decisions get delayed. Budgets lack insight. Growth slows.  

I've seen it firsthand. A founder once said, “Our controller is now our CFO!”  
Three months later: “I’m not sure what a CFO does…but I know this isn’t it.”

Accounting keeps the books clean.  
CFOs drive the business forward.

They build financial strategy.  
Plan for scale.  
Challenge assumptions.  
Spot risk before it hits.

That’s the difference between reporting the past vs. owning the future.

If your “CFO” only closes your books…you don’t have a CFO.

Here’s what to do:
Write down the three biggest financial decisions you’ll face in the next year.  
Now ask: is your current setup ready to lead those?

Hiring the right CFO isn’t a luxury.  
It’s the move that helps your business grow faster—and safer.

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“If I leave town, the business breaks.”

That’s what a $12M business owner told me last year.

Here’s how we fixed it—and gave him real freedom:

He hadn’t documented a single process.

Every decision, every approval, every minor detail ran through him.

No wonder he couldn’t take a long weekend.

We started small:
- Mapped out key systems
- Assigned clear owners
- Built dashboards to flag issues early
- Wrote down the playbooks

Six months later, he took a two-week trip. Zero calls. Zero fires.

Because now the business doesn’t depend on him.

Freedom doesn’t come from walking away.

It comes from building a business that runs without you.

Start with one process this week.

Change the game long-term.

Most founders wait too long to plan their exit.

That mistake costs them millions—and years of freedom.

Here’s how to prep for a smooth exit in less than an hour a week:

Too many owners think exit planning starts when it’s time to sell.

I used to think that too.

Until I watched a client get half the value he expected—because his business relied too much on him.

Now I start planning 3–5 years out. Even for clients not sure they want to sell.

Why?

Because real exit planning isn’t about leaving.

It’s about building a business that runs without you.

When you plan early, you:

- Strengthen your leadership team  
- Build systems that scale  
- Start delegating real responsibility  
- Reduce red flags that scare buyers  
- Make your business easier to own—and more valuable

You protect your equity and your time. Whether you sell or not.

Want to keep your business but work 20 fewer hours?

Want to sell in 5 years and get top dollar?

Same strategy.

Start exit planning now—before you “need” to.

Here’s one step to begin:  
List every decision only you can make.  
Then choose one to delegate this month.

Buy back your time while growing your value.

That’s smart strategy—not an end game.

One of the biggest risks in your company?  
Only one person knowing how things work.

You don’t need a fancy consultant to fix this.  
You need 30 focused minutes a week and a shared folder:

Most teams run on “tribal knowledge.”  
The same three people who know the work inside and out.

But the moment one of them gets sick or takes PTO?  
Everything stalls.

I saw it firsthand.  
One client had a cost-tracking process no one else understood.  
When that person went on vacation, the whole department froze.

We fixed it with one unsexy habit: documenting.

Every week, each team member wrote out how they did a key task.  
Processes went from “in someone’s head” to “on paper and accessible.”

Now?  
New hires onboard faster.  
Leaders sleep better.  
No more single points of failure.

Try this next week:

- Pick one recurring task  
- Write out the steps  
- Save it in a shared folder

Small habit.  
Big impact.

Don’t wait for a vacation to expose your blind spots.

“We’re profitable... but we’re broke.”

You’ve heard it. Maybe even said it.

Here’s how to fix it fast—without cutting headcount or chasing more sales:

Track these 3 numbers weekly.

I worked with a founder whose P&L showed profit every month. But their bank account kept shrinking.

The issue?

- Accounts Receivable was aging past 60 days
- Accounts Payable was due in 30
- Inventory kept piling up and wasn’t moving

They were funding growth with cash they hadn’t collected.

We made one change: weekly cash flow checks with AR/AP/inventory reports.

Within 60 days, they uncovered over $500K in locked-up cash.

Cash is the heartbeat. Profit is paperwork.

Watch these numbers like a hawk:
- Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)
- Days Payables Outstanding (DPO)
- Inventory Turnover

Run the math. Tighten the cycle.

Start with one question tomorrow:
“How fast are we turning cash back into cash?”

Most “profit problems” are really timing problems. Fix that, and your bank balance follows.

David K. Jones

Global Sales Director

Sales Xceleration®

Many businesses struggle to grow their sales. Sales Xceleration provides business owners with an experienced Sales Consultant to drive sales growth when you need it most. 
As your local Advisor utilizing the Sales Xceleration platform, I'll help you build a sales engine and create record-breaking growth for your business. Connect with me and build a path to more sales. 
•	Create Your Sales Plan
•	Find Your Best Customers
•	Grow Your Sales

Outsourced VP of Sales

Sales To Innovation, LLC

Sales To Innovation, LLC is the consulting company that I started when I partnered with the Sales Xceleration organization.  Sales Xceleration is the premier group of sales advisors focused on helping small business organizations, in your local community, grow their sales.  The impact to a small business owner is immediate and impactful.  Helping them rest easy at night knowing that their company's sales are on track for breakthrough performance.

President

Hexion Inc.

Directed global growth strategy, marketing, communications and sustainability teams for the Forest Products Division.  Led new business development.  Directed formaldehyde advocacy and sustainability efforts.  Hexion is a $4B specialty chemical company. Owned by Apollo Global Management a private equity company.
	Led teams to support 5 “breakthrough” growth projects selected by Apollo Global Management Board, including a novel finished wood product project – a first specialty material for Hexion. Achieved a key initiative to move away from just selling resins.  Target commercialization is 2020 in a $5B market segment.
	Advanced new products to commercial business units in the markets of agriculture fertilizers, mining chemicals and animal feed – all large $1B+, growing, “new to Hexion” markets, moving outside of core market segments.  Provided early stage market research and business plan development.
	Created all branding strategies with implementation via digital channels (new website, social media), trade shows and traditional publishing, positioning Hexion as the world’s premier supplier of chemical products for engineered wood.

Global Vice President

Momentive

Directed global growth strategy, marketing, communications and sustainability teams for the Forest Products Division. Reported to the President. Global functional leader that implemented matrix support system for 7 business units. Supported projects in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Colombia, Russia, India, Canada, Finland, Europe and US.  Momentive was a $8.5B specialty chemical company. Owned by Apollo Global Management a private equity company.
	Identified $50M in new EBITDA potential.  Hired new teams, developed business plans and created new technology options via internal development and external partnerships.  
	Created new global growth pipeline process to streamline new project approval. Helped build excitement for new projects and give visibility to all global projects.  Prioritized projects to be larger in scope with improved financial goals.
	Identified hundreds of new ideas via a managed ideation process that led to 23 projects, including a structural adhesives project for cross-laminated timber used in new 18 story buildings made of wood.

MBI International

Led all operations, engineering, research, sales and marketing.  MBI is non-profit organization affiliated with Michigan State University.  Now known as the Michigan State University BioEconomy Institute.  MBI worked with venture capital funded start-up companies and large chemical companies to derisk and scale new industrial biotechnology processes. MBI completed genetic engineering on organisms to produce biobased industrial chemicals via fermentation.
	Positioned MBI in the market as the premier organization for industrial biotechnology scale up. Proactively marketed MBI to large chemical, agricultural and biotechnology companies. Presented at industry conventions.
	Engaged with the US Departments of Agriculture and Energy to gain research grants. Hosted Secretary of Agriculture, US Senators and Representatives to educate about the sustainability benefits of industrial biotechnology.
	Licensed fermentation technology to large companies and small start-up companies. Led all contract negotiations and ongoing relationships during commercialization.

Chief Business Officer

Managed sales, marketing and research groups.  Provided leadership for commercially expanding MBI.  Delivered chemical industry perspective and methods to create profitable partnerships.
	Scaled up acrylic acid, succinic acid, fumaric acid, 1-4 butanediol, cellulosic ethanol and other proprietary products for clients.  Negotiated large fee-for-service contracts, which was a very important funding mechanism for MBI.
	Provided strategic insight to Michigan State University Professors, Administrators and Board Members on how to commercialize and license university technology to industry.  Brought in new industry relationships and excitement.

Senior Vice President

Ashland

Reported to Chief Growth Officer; led new effort to diversify away from petrochemicals moving toward renewable and sustainable chemistries.  Ashland was a $11B company in specialty chemical manufacturing, Valvoline Oil, APAC road paving, Chemical and Plastics Distribution.
	Established company’s strategic plan for bioproduct initiatives, successfully securing approval of chairman.
	Led development of $100M investment in a European joint venture project with Cargill, focusing on conversion of glycerin into propylene glycol.

Director, Bioproducts

Appointed by President as initial member of an innovative, corporate team assembled to develop new strategic direction for the company in addition to clarifying investment opportunities for $1B resulting from sale of petroleum refining operations. Accessed market opportunities and recommended specialty chemicals as the direction for the company.

Director Growth Office

Global responsibility for $250M of specialty chemical revenue. Managed staff of 60 with 5 direct reports. End use markets included automotive, building and construction, packaging, assembly, electronic, and medical.

Global profit and loss responsibility for three business units (acrylics, urethanes and hotmelts) with $150M in revenue, overseeing 130 employees in sales, marketing, product management, technical, customer service and manufacturing.  Markets included pressure sensitive adhesives, flexible packaging adhesives and hot melt adhesives.

Global Business Director

I build a path to more sales. Many small B2B businesses struggle to grow their sales. As your Advisor, I will provide the leadership you need to ﬁnd your best customers and build a sales engine to create record breaking growth for your business. Once a path is built, you can more easily ﬁnd your way. 

A listing of my core competencies includes:
✔ Sales Consulting
✔ Business Plan Development
✔ Innovation Management
✔ Acquisitions & Joint Ventures
✔ Global Management
✔ Strategic Planning
✔ Sales Market Research
✔ Manufacturing
✔ Unique Value Proposition Creation

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David K. Jones

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