Posts Tagged ‘cfo’

This month, we continue to profile the work that John Lafferty has done to refocus and maintain the financial stability of various companies. As you read through these profiles, ask yourself, “does this sound like a issue that my business is having”?

Week 2 – Food Service and Financials

Place: Chicago, Illinois

Company Type: Food Services

The Situation: A specialty catering and food service company was doing well for themselves. Gradually, however, growth and profit slacked, before coming to a veritable standstill:

Stalled growth. What happens when you wake up one day and realize that your company has hit a plateau?  How do you shift the focus of your operation (and where do you shift it to) in order to stimulate growth to the next level?

The John Lafferty Solution

Enter hands-on professional, interim Chief Financial Officer (more commonly referred to as CFO) John Lafferty. Using his keen insight, he applies his financial prowess in combination with solid business sense to aid the executive team in understanding the key financial indicators, and then how to use those indicators to drive profitable growth.

The CFO-Pro Solution:  Acting in his role as financial mentor, Mr. Lafferty helped to “hone executive management skills and help department heads understand financial statements, determine product line gross margins, break-even sales points and product line contribution margins.” He also illuminated what areas they could afford to take risk, creating customizable immediate action plans, and showing which actions were necessary to meet their year-end objectives.  In the years that followed, sales grew by 250% and profit margins kept pace with sales.

The plateauing of the growth of a business can be a stressful situation. You need to have the right financial guidance to give your business solid direction and replace the stress with confidence in the new path of your company. Contact John Lafferty at 630-269-7646 or JLafferty@CFO-Pro.com today!