Setting up Financial Workflows and processes free up your time, improve financial reporting, and help you make more money.

As the Founder and CEO of your Good Food Business, your time is your most valuable asset. And ensuring that you are spending it on tasks that help move your business forward and make more money is extremely important. If you’re spending time making your financial workflows work that is not a valuable use of your time!

IDENTIFY YOUR ROLE IN YOUR FINANCIAL WORKFLOWS

Think about your Financial processes…

• How integral are you to making everything work right and get reported correctly to your Bookkeeper and Financial Team?

• Where in the process do you have a manual responsibility?

• Who else on your team is part of the process and what are their responsibilities? Are there better uses of their time?

• Think about the accounts or credit cards you use that your bookkeeping team can't access and require extra manual steps for you to verify and reconcile each month.

Things that feel like they only take a minute... ADD UP.

Once you’ve identified where you fit in your financial workflows talk to your team members about how you can automate or hand off anything that you are currently doing.

Don’t say, “it just takes a minute” or “It’s just quicker and easier if I do it”.
Remember that time is your most valuable asset and you need to be focusing on the things that move your good food business forward and make more money.

An Example of Financial Workflow that can and should be improved:

a Payment system that doesn't allow you to track who payments are from.

Let’s say you bill all Wholesale customers through Shopify, but they can pay through paper check or ACH that takes place outside of the Shopify system.

After payment or at the end of the month, you have to identify the payments received and link them to the right client and sales channel. As the CEO of your business this should not be part of your job, it is NOT a money making task so it also shouldn't be the responsibility of someone on your team.

Instead, create a system that do this work for you...

If you are billing your customers through Shopify, require that they pay through Shopify and have a clear set of products that only get sold to wholesale accounts so they are easy to track.

Otherwise use an alternate system like QuickBooks that offers an ACH payment option that links the invoice to the payment automatically, and if you accept paper checks create a simplified system for tracking checks received and reporting them to your Bookkeeper.

There are so many ways to streamline your Financial Workflows and get you focused on making more money!

If you want to learn more about Financial Workflows and connect with other Good Food Business owners, Join us in the Free Profitable Food Business Community!

And check out Episode 38 of The Good Food CFO Podcast.

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About the Author: Sarah Delevan is a Food Business Financial Coach and Consultant with over 8 years of working in the food industry. She received her MBA from Rollins College and In 2017 she founded Sarah Delevan Consulting based in Los Angeles, CA and serving clients across the United States. She is the creator of the Financial Success Formula and the founder of the Profitable Food Business Group Coaching program as well as the host of The Good Food CFO Podcast. To learn more about Sarah and opportunities to grow a more profitable food business Click Here.

The goal of profit first is NOT to cut costs simply for the sake of profits - the goal is to build a financially sustainable business.

cutting costs abruptly can negatively affect your product quality, customer service, and employee attitudes.

By implementing Profit First in your food business, you can reduce costs in a way that will positively impact your business, and in this video I’m sharing the steps for doing so.

Discover how to become a Financially Sustainable and Profitable Good Food Business!

I’m here to support you - so join us in the Profitable Food Business Community to share your questions.

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About the Author: Sarah Delevan is a Profit First Certified Food Business Financial Consultant and Coach with over 8 years of food industry experience. She received her MBA from Rollins College, and In 2017 she founded Sarah Delevan Consulting based in Los Angeles, CA and serving clients across the United States. She is the creator of the Financial Success Formula and the founder of the Profitable Food Business program as well as the host of The Good Food CFO Podcast. To learn more about Sarah and opportunities to grow a more profitable food business Click Here.

Can I Still Use Credit Cards, Loans and Investment if I implement Profit First?

Yes! IF you are someone who loves credit card points and wants to pay operating costs with your card and pay it off every month, do it!

If you’ve built a financially efficient business and can see exactly where and how investment or loan money will help you grow top and bottom line numbers do it!

Again, Profit First is a framework and a cash management strategy.  When you Know Your Numbers and are informed about the financial decisions that you are making, you can do whatever you think is right for you and your business.

What I don’t recommend is seeking a loan, line of credit or funding for a business that is NOT set up for financial sustainability - where you don’t know the exact impact and outcomes of utilizing those funds or how you’ll pay them back.  

Discover how to become a Financially Sustainable and Profitable Good Food Business!

I’m here to support you - so join us in the Profitable Food Business Community to share your questions.

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About the Author: Sarah Delevan is a Profit First Certified Food Business Financial Consultant and Coach with over 8 years of food industry experience. She received her MBA from Rollins College, and In 2017 she founded Sarah Delevan Consulting based in Los Angeles, CA and serving clients across the United States. She is the creator of the Financial Success Formula and the founder of the Profitable Food Business program as well as the host of The Good Food CFO Podcast. To learn more about Sarah and opportunities to grow a more profitable food business Click Here.

Should I grow first, THEN focus on Financial Sustainability and Profitability?

The simple answer is NO.

You’ve got to build a financially sustainable business from the INSIDE, and once that’s done growing sales WILL produce more profits -- but if you haven’t yet done that work, MORE SALES can equal BIGGER Losses. 

I saw this happen in my own food business, and it’s often the catalyst for people reaching out to me for Consulting + Coaching Services.  

The most extreme example I’ve seen first hand was a business that did a Facebook Promotion and her online sales soared to over $50,000 in a single month.  That same month she experienced over $30,000 in LOSSES because her business was not structured to support those sales and she hadn’t done the work to understand what shipping offer and discount level would work for her business.  

I see less extreme versions of this all of the time, where businesses are slowly and steadily growing revenue, but their profits are stagnant, or declining — I share a few examples in the Profit Assessment Online Course.

I want business owners to stop believing that losing money is “how it is” when you’re a young business and that more sales will solve the problem.

Taking the steps to understand your financials, set the right goals for your business, and implementing Profit First strategies, if it’s a good fit for your business, will help you become financially efficient and ensure that as your sales grow your profits do too. 

Discover how to become a Financially Sustainable and Profitable Good Food Business!

I’m here to support you - so join us in the Profitable Food Business Community to share your questions.

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About the Author: Sarah Delevan is a Profit First Certified Food Business Financial Consultant and Coach with over 8 years of food industry experience. She received her MBA from Rollins College, and In 2017 she founded Sarah Delevan Consulting based in Los Angeles, CA and serving clients across the United States. She is the creator of the Financial Success Formula and the founder of the Profitable Food Business program as well as the host of The Good Food CFO Podcast. To learn more about Sarah and opportunities to grow a more profitable food business Click Here.

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Focusing on profits within your food business is vital and not just because you’re a business, but because you’re a Good Food Business.

I know that some of you reading this might be thinking, or saying out loud, “We’re a mission-driven business, we’re not focused on Profit!”

I hear you, I felt the same way when I owned my food business.  But here’s the deal, if you want to achieve the mission of your business long-term you have GOT to be financially sustainable and profitable. 

Profits are the funds that you’ll use to invest in growth, efficiencies and other improvements. Maybe you’ll use profit funds to develop the new product you’ve been dreaming of.  Or perhaps it’s your goal to donate a portion of your profits to a charity.  Maybe you’ll celebrate with that money, or maybe you’ll do what I do and do a little bit of all of it, PLUS take a share for yourself and offer a profit-share with your employees. 

You started a business to do good, create change, earn a living doing something you love... No matter what your WHY is, Financial Sustainability and Profitability ensures that it becomes and remains a reality.

Do not be ashamed of profitability, do not be ashamed of wanting to make money.  If you’re struggling with this, if you’re having strong feelings right now, I recommend you go back and listen to The Good Food CFO Podcast Episode 06 with Caroline Snyder of Verdi Advising, I encourage you to read “We Should all Be Millionaires” by Rachel Rodgers  or “You’re a Badass at Making Money” by Jen Sincero, and listen to The Good Food CFO Podcast Episode 20: Profit First:: Will it Work For Your Good Food Business?

These will all help you along the journey of eliminating the guilt and limiting beliefs you have around money and financial success. 

Doing this work is a great gift to yourself and your community.

Discover how to become a Financially Sustainable and Profitable Good Food Business!

I’m here to support you - so join us in the Profitable Food Business Community to share your questions.

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About the Author: Sarah Delevan is a Profit First Certified Food Business Financial Consultant and Coach with over 8 years of food industry experience. She received her MBA from Rollins College, and In 2017 she founded Sarah Delevan Consulting based in Los Angeles, CA and serving clients across the United States. She is the creator of the Financial Success Formula and the founder of the Profitable Food Business program as well as the host of The Good Food CFO Podcast. To learn more about Sarah and opportunities to grow a more profitable food business Click Here.

Have you heard business coaches say things like… 

“Cutting out your lattes and brunch isn’t gonna suddenly increase your savings account. Instead, I want you to recognize your ability to earn a whole heck of a lot more.”

It’s true that cutting out lattes won’t suddenly increase your savings… but cutting out those lattes (like getting rid of unnecessary expenses in your business) might be a good idea if you’re struggling with cash flow. 

For the record - I love business coaches, and have one of my own. But as a financial consultant, I want to assure you that understanding + controlling expenses, and striving to earn more revenue, are not mutually exclusive

We've been taught to believe that bigger is better, that selling more is the main objective, and that at a certain point all that revenue WILL result in profits. But it's simply not true.

If your million dollar business has million dollar expenses, hitting that sales goal doesn’t mean anything.

Stories of start-ups with tons of funding and BIG sales numbers that never turned a profit are not uncommon.  Emerging food businesses forced to close their doors despite having amazing products + ravenous fans is the primary reason I do this work! 

As CPA Melissa Houston and I discussed in Episode 2 of The Good Food CFO Podcast…

“A 1% savings in one area of your business

can amount to a lot of dollars on your profit line... 

When you know that, and you can implement a small change that creates that 1% savings, the results can be really, really big.  Making small financial changes can really add up!” 

BIG revenue does not mean business longevity. 
Consistent profitability + financial sustainability does.
And that comes from understanding and controlling your costs now, and as you grow. 

If you’re ready to take the next steps toward understanding your numbers, gaining confidence in your financial decision making, and achieving consistent profitability we have tools + resources to help you do it.

1. The FREE Profitability Roadmap will help ensure that you’ve got a solid financial foundation in place.

2. The Financial Success Formula Program will help you understand your business financials, see the road to profitability, and create the Profit Plan that will help you get there.

And of course, the Profitable Food Business Community is always open! 

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About the Author: Sarah Delevan is a Food Business Financial Coach and Consultant with over 7 years of working in the food industry. She received her MBA from Rollins College and In 2017 she founded Sarah Delevan Consulting based in Los Angeles, CA and serving clients across the United States. She is the creator of the Financial Success Formula and the founder of the Profitable Food Business program as well as the host of The Good Food CFO Podcast. To learn more about Sarah and opportunities to grow a more profitable food business Click Here.