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 Tedford

First Commonwealth Bank

Senior Vice President, SBA Sales Executive

Vice President

The State Bank and Trust Company

Headquartered in Defiance, Ohio, SB Financial is a diversified financial services holding company with two operating subsidiaries: State Bank and DCM. State Bank provides a full range of financial services for consumers and small businesses, including wealth management, mortgage banking and commercial and agricultural lending, operating through a total of 19 banking centers; 18 in nine Ohio counties and one center in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and 22 full-service ATMs. The Company has six loan production offices located throughout the Tri-State region of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. DCM provides item processing services to community banks located primarily in the Midwest. SB Financial's common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol "SBFG". SB Financial's preferred stock is listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol "SBFGP". 
In May 2016, SB Financial was ranked #160 on the American Banker Magazine's list of Top 200 Publicly Traded Community Banks and Thrifts based on three-year average return on equity ("ROE").

Vice President, Small Business Administration

U.S. Bank

Proud to be one of the Premier SBA Lenders
 As part of our commitment to the growth of small businesses nationwide, U.S. Bank is a leading participant in the lending programs of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Since 1976, we’ve provided more than $6 billion in SBA-guaranteed financing solutions to thousands of small businesses in America.

 Business ownership and expansion loans from $250,000 to $5 million.
 If you're interested in acquiring or expanding a business, two types of SBA loan programs are available. Both are designed for businesses with smaller borrowing needs.

 Loan amounts:
 Up to $5 million for the SBA 7(a) Business Loans 

 Real estate financing up to $11.25 million.
 For small businesses seeking to purchase, refinance or build owner-occupied commercial real estate, three SBA-backed financing solutions are available.

 Loan amounts:
 Up to $5 million for SBA 7(a) Real Estate loans
 Up to $11.25 million for SBA 504 loan programs
 Up to $7 million for SBA 7(a) Pari Passu

SBA Development Officer

About U.S. Bank 

We're honored to be recognized by Fortune Magazine as the 2013 Most Admired SuperRegional Bank in the world. 

U.S. Bancorp is a diversified financial services holding company and parent company of U.S. Bank National Association,(U.S. Bank) the nation’s fifth-largest commercial bank. Recognized for its strong financial performance, prudent risk management, capital generation and product quality, U.S. Bancorp provides a wide range of financial services for consumers, businesses, government entities and other financial institutions. U.S. Bank’s branch network serves 25 states, and we offer regional consumer and business banking and wealth management services, national wholesale and trust services and global payments services to over 17.4 million customers. Founded in 1863 under national Charter #24, U.S. Bank is the nation’s second oldest bank operating under its original charter. The company celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2013. U.S. Bancorp employs 66,000 people. 

U.S. Bancorp At A Glance (As of June 30, 2013) 
-------- 
Rank: U.S. Bank is 5th largest U.S. commercial bank 
Asset size: $353 billion 
Customers: 17.6 million 
Bank branches 3,087 
Businesses: Consumer and business banking and wealth management: Regional Wholesale banking and trust services: National Payment services, merchant processing and corporate trust: International NYSE symbol USB 
Specialties 

financial, services, banking, payments, loans, deposits, mortgage, home equity, wealth management 

Headquarters 
800 Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, MN 55402 United States 

Website 
http://www.usbank.com 

Industry 
Banking 

Type 
Public Company 

Company Size 
10,001+ employees

Senior Business Banker

Ohio Air National Guard

Aerospace Propulsion Specialist

Huntington National Bank

National City Bank

Business Banker

Business Banking Officer

Commercial Lending - SBA government guaranteed loans for working capital, business expansion, business acquisition, real estate acquisition and commercial construction.

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