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.

Providing SBA 7a & 504 program financing to emerging small businesses throughout North Florida and parts of Georgia.

Vice President, SBA Business Development Officer

U.S. Bank

Providing SBA (Small Business Administration) Lending Programs to help emerging and growing businesses with Working Capital, new Equipment, or the Purchase, Refinance, Construction or Renovation of Commercial Real Estate.

Team Leader of Business Banking Relationship Managers in providing financial solutions to emerging and growing businesses serving Central Ohio and its surrounding communities.

Business Banking Manager

State of Ohio

Supports the growth and sustainability of small, minority, and disadvantaged businesses in Ohio with technical and professional assistance, access to capital and bonding, and connection to business opportunities. The overarching goal is to help small, minority, and disadvantaged businesses contribute to job creation and economic growth.

Minority Development Financing Advisory Board

McKinsey & Company

The Black Management Accelerator Program focuses on enhancing diversity equity & inclusion leadership mindsets and behaviors, and setting a business strategy, problem solving for impact, and deepening participant understanding of nine functional business topics.

Management Accelerator Program

Columbus Landmarks Foundation

Advocate for the promotion, economic development and preservation of Columbus landmarks and neighborhoods.

President Board of Trustees

PROJECT REAP

Project REAP, or the real estate associate program, is a 10-week national diversity and inclusion initiative program geared toward commercial real estate, working to shift the makeup of industry professionals to a more representative workforce that mirrors the national and global communities where real estate investments are made.

Associate 

Huntington National Bank

Business lending liaison and program advocate for bank, non-profit, community development, federal, state & local government agencies to enhance program delivery to business owners over six state market footprint.

Vice President, Enhanced Lending Program Mgr

United Way of Central Ohio

Project Diversity Cycle 20

Josh Gibson Foundation

Ex-Officio Board Member

National City Community Development Corporation

Community Development Lending catalyst between various neighborhood groups, financial institutions, developers, local, state, and federal government institutions.  Revitalized low and moderate income neighborhoods throughout the local community by making loans and equity investments in residential and commercial real estate.

Executive Director, Pennsylvania

Providing SBA (Small Business Administration) Lending Programs to help emerging and growing businesses with Working Capital, Equipment or the Purchase, Construction, Refinance or Renovation of Commercial Real Estate. 

SBA loans are structured to include lower down payments and longer repayment terms than conventional bank loans, enabling businesses to keep their cash flow for operational expenses and spend less on debt repayment.  

Partner with me and leverage our strength at U.S. Bank as one of America’s leading SBA lenders.





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