Daryl La Fountain and the rise of a financial services expert? Remember, although you are in growth mode, your primary role as a CEO remains the same. You must keep your company on track toward achieving its vision. This means you need to focus on ensuring you have: A reputable product or service that solves a real problem for real customers. Traction with a diverse or defensible mix of customers (i.e., a reliable client base you can nurture and grow). A strong and trustworthy management team to whom you can delegate. A plan for how you will increase the value of your company over the next five-plus years. As the CEO, your job is to get your company into a strong position so you can pursue whatever opportunities arise. Whether you believe you will eventually go public or decide to sell, it doesn’t matter. Protect yourself from distractions so you can effectively grow and improve the value of your business.
Daryl La Fountain‘s recommendations on improving your business financial situation: As a business owner, managing and organizing finances can be a great challenge. With all the things that need to be done, including your business’ day-to-day operations, it may be easier for you to slip into bad financial habits that can harm your company one day. For instance, when you have disorganized financials, your entire organization may be unable to create financial stability. So, if you want your business to thrive and become financially successful, below are five tips to help you organize your finances.
To make sure that all of your hard-earned money doesn’t vanish, you’ll need to take steps to protect it. Here are some steps to think about, even if you can’t afford them all right now. If you rent, get renter’s insurance to protect the contents of your place from events such as burglary or fire. Read the policy carefully to see what’s covered and what isn’t. Disability income insurance protects your greatest asset—the ability to earn an income—by providing you with a steady income if you ever become unable to work for an extended period of time due to illness or injury. If you want help managing your money, find a fee-only financial planner to provide unbiased advice that’s in your best interest, rather than a commission-based financial advisor, who earns money when you sign up with the investments their company backs. The latter has a potentially divided loyalty (to their company’s bottom line and to you), while the former has no incentive to guide you down a wrong path.
Your journey to financial independence won’t always be easy. There will be some tough days, weeks, and even months. Pursuing a goal of financial independence that’s very much tied to delayed gratification is not always fun, but it’s completely doable. Have a solid plan for your finances, be disciplined, and avoid overspending. You’ll find out how great you’ll feel when you really make a concerted effort to stick to your budget. As you work on your finances, you may still make mistakes with your money, and that’s okay. Sometimes you might be unable to resist the urge to buy something that isn’t in your immediate budget. And sometimes you will feel like ripping your entire financial plan to bits because it just doesn’t seem like fun. However, as long as you keep your reasons WHY you want to be financially free in focus and make an effort to rebound quickly from your mistakes, you’ll do just fine. It’s all about assessing the mistakes you made, understanding why you made them and making a plan to avoid making them again. Then, you’ll need to take those lessons and apply them to your future success.
About Daryl La Fountain: Daryl is an energetic professional CFO with a background in politics. Daryl has done fundraising, been a candidate, and worked in politically appointed positions in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. Daryl has worked for Democratic candidates and nominees in 18 additional states. Reach out to Daryl about his CFO work if you: Need help in your nonprofit Finance department. Have a need for an Interim role. Would like some offsite audit preparation work.