Profit First is a Cash flow Management System that supports prioritizing Financial Sustainability and getting business owners paid.

It is a tool for helping you implement a financial strategy that will lead to financial sustainability and profitability. I am a proponent of the strategy because it has proven to be a valuable extension to the work that I do with my clients and program members, BUT Profit First will NOT make you financially sustainable and operating as a cash-based business overnight.

What Profit First CAN Do is:

1.Help with the implementation of your financial strategy

Have you ever created a budget, a financial model or plan, and after a few weeks or months the whole thing is out the window because you didn’t stick to it? It’s totally normal and co common because it’s human nature! Many of us, me included, need some guidelines on spending to stick with the plan. Profit First is a strategy that can provide that for us.

2. Normalize Cash Flow

Rather than peaks and valleys in your cash accounts, rather then getting caught in the “debt cycle” where you pay off a bunch of debt with the cash on hand, only to run short on cash a few weeks or months later REQUIRING you to rely on Credit again, the Profit First cash flow strategy helps bring consistency.

3. Enable you to understand HOW and WHERE you are spending money in your business

Separating your cash into different accounts allows you to easily identify where you spend the most money, and if you have a tendency to 'overspend' or make purchases without thinking about the overall budget and ROI, or if you’ve been hanging on to money that could be reinvested into your business to help it grow.

a group coaching program member recently shared with me…

“I want to thank you for implementing Profit First in your coaching - it has really given me the confidence to buy materials and ingredients to prep for the holiday season! And your tools have been so helpful for assessing our new wholesale prices.”

Join us in the Profitable Food Business Community where we're talking Shipping Offers, Product Bundles + Discount Strategies for a Profitable Holiday Season!

If you haven't yet, complete your Profit Assessment to get a clear understanding of your numbers and make informed financial decisions as we head into the holidays. Learn more here.

---

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 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.

Profit First is a Cash flow Management System that supports prioritizing Financial Sustainability and getting business owners paid.

It’s a tool for helping you to implement a financial strategy that will lead to financial sustainability and profitability. And I am a proponent of the strategy because it has proven to be a valuable extension to the work that I do with my clients and program members. 

BUT Profit First will NOT make you financially sustainable and operating as a cash-based business overnight.

There are 4 Steps to Implementing Profit First in Your Food Business:

1. Understand where your business is financially right now

2. Identify WHERE you want to be, and by when (your financial goals)

3. Create a Plan for achieving those goals

4. Then, begin implementing Profit First cash flow strategies to assist in becoming financially sustainable, profitable, and eventually Cash-based.

Let's dig into each.

STEP 1 - Understand where your business is financially right now. We do this through a Profit Assessment

Profit First offers a Profit Assessment structure, but for Food Businesses it will look a bit different.

They refer to a category called Materials & Subs -- stands for Materials and Sub--contractors, and the items that are included in Materials must equate to 25% or more of real revenue.

For Food Businesses we eliminate “Materials & Subs” and utilize COGS - Specifically your Ingredients & Packings, Labor or Co-packing Costs AND all other COGS -- we want to see every penny that you are spending to produce and deliver your product / service to your customer. And that includes Merchant Fees, Sellers Fees, Market Fees, Shipping Costs, etc.

These costs are variable and affected by how much product you produce and sell, so we want to get VERY clear on what they are.

We also look at your Operating Expenses, current Owner’s Pay, Business Tax Savings and Profit to get a clear picture of you Business Profitability, not just your operational profitability.

The Assessment helps you to see your business finances in a whole new way, and identify what’s working, what’s not, and exactly where to focus your attention to improve your financial outcomes.

STEP 2 - Get Clear on Your Financial Goals, or what we call Your Financial Success Formula

What COGS% is going to help you maximize your Gross Profits, or as they call it in the Book your “Real Revenue”

And what % of your real revenue do you want to be able to set aside as Profit?

What Owners Pay % will help you reach your salary goal

What Tax Savings % will cover your quarterly or annual tax payments?

And What Operating Cost % is going to help you achieve financial sustainability?

These are your TARGETS. When you’re clear on your targets you can create a plan for getting there from where you are right now.

Step 3 - Create Your Roll-out Plan for Achieving these goals.

Financial sustainability comes by making incremental, meaningful changes to reach your targets in the time-frame that is right for you.

What is that time-frame? Is this an emergency financial situation?

Do you have some time to make these changes? Once you identify the time-frame you can see how your targets will change between now and then.

For example, if you are not currently paying yourself, your current allocation is 0% to Owners Pay - Your goal may be 40% of Real Revenue in 12 months. They might break down into 10% allocation increase each quarter from now until the end of the year to reach your goal.

So at the end of quarter one you’re allocating 10% to Owners Pay, at the end of Quarter 2 you’re allocating a total of 20% of Real Revenue to Owner’s Pay and so on…

Step 4 - Identifying the Strategies to Reach Your Goals

You want to take Implementation Step-by-Step based on where you can make the most financial impact, and remember it’s VERY RARE that the answer to your financial problems is ONLY to SELL MORE. You may need to increase sales but what can you do INSIDE your business - the things you have control over - to improve your financial situation?

Inside our Profit Assessment Online Course we’ve got a Roll-out Calculator And Strategy Finder to help you do this work.

When your Roll-out Plan is created, your key strategies are identified it’s time to Open Your Profit First Bank Accounts & Make Your Allocations

To learn more or to schedule a free 30 minute consult visit our website you an also find Sarah on Instagram: @sarah.delevan.consulting and LinkedIn

Join the FREE Profitable Food Business Group hosted on Mighty Networks

Have you subscribed and reviewed The Good Food CFO podcast yet?
This is the number one thing that you can do to support this podcast and ensure others in the food industry are finding me!

To do so, follow these easy steps:

• Click here to find my podcast in iTunes

• Once you’re there, click “listen on Apple Podcasts,” and hit “SUBSCRIBE” under the picture of me!

• Click “ratings & reviews” and leave me a little love!

THANK YOU for helping to support & promote The Good Food CFO! I look forward to connecting with you again soon.

---

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 and host of The Good Food CFO Podcast. To learn more about Sarah and opportunities to grow a more profitable food business Click Here.

Something I hear from food business owners is that they feel like they need to pay off their credit card bills in full every month, even if doing so is going to result in not having enough cash in the business to pay for operations… requiring them to continue using the credit card… eventually paying off all or a big chunk of the debt, and then being low on cash and having to rely on the card again.

We call this the DEBT CYCLE.

So what can you do to prevent this cycle and begin moving toward becoming a cash-based business?

Release the need to pay off your credit card(s) immediately, and Create a Plan.

Get clear on where you are financially right now, what is realistic in terms of servicing or paying down your debt, and create a plan to first stop utilizing the credit card for business purchases, and then for paying down the debit within a stated time frame.

Here are a few tips:

DETERMINE IF YOU HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO COVER YOUR MONTHLY DEBT SERVICE PAYMENTS

We're talking about JUST the minimum payments you must make to keep your account(s) current.

Total them up and subtract the amount from your average monthly Income - is the amount of income remaining enough cash for you to cover your average monthly expenses?

If the answer is YES - make the monthly minimum payments and begin operating your business on a cash basis - not utilizing the credit card any further for the time being.

The Profit First strategy can be really helpful here - encouraging you to allocate or set aside a set percentage of your Income to Debt Service each month. The allocation should cover your minimum payments in your slow months, and then during your higher sales months will cover the minimum payment and then some, helping you to pay DOWN the debt - not just service it. This is the strategy that I use and recommend for my clients.

If the answer is NO, you DON’T have enough cash left to cover your operating expenses - you’ve got to identify where you can cut costs immediately, and then where you can create efficiencies to reduce costs further.

YES - growing sales can help, but that is an external factor and before focusing on that, it’s important to be sure the internal factors that you CAN control are taken care of.

Here are the STEPS TO REDUCE SPENDING SO YOU CAN COVER YOUR MONTHLY DEBT PAYMENTS:

1. Identify What you DON’T NEED to operate successfully and eliminate the expense.
   Music subscriptions, subscriptions to tools or services you don’t use, memberships, etc.

2. Review your subscriptions and the service level for each.
   Where are you paying for more than you need or more than you’re actually utilizing? Lower your subscription level to cut costs. I usually review this quarterly as so much can change in just 3 months!

3. Take a deeper dive into your business and identify WHERE you may focus your attention to improve physical and financial efficiencies.
   

I talk a lot about the Profit Assessment because it is a GREAT tool for seeing your business finances in a new light and determining what area of your business is not working FOR YOU.

For example, your COGS may be high and limiting the amount of cash you have in your business. Maybe your Gross Profit aka Real Revenue is great, but your Labor Costs are high -- this is insightful information to help you take action and become more financially sustainable.

Financial sustainability doesn’t happen overnight, but with consistent action in the right parts of your business you’ll get there.
And when you’ve got the trifecta -- controlled costs, financial efficiency AND growing sales, you are surely on your way to operational profitability, business profitability and paying down your debt!

Lastly, for those of you implementing Profit First in Your Food Business, Each quarter take 99% of the funds in your Profit Account and use it to pay down your debt. That last 1% is for you! No matter what it amounts to, enjoy it!

When your debt is paid off, the profit account goes from being a debt-busting tool to a the source of your quarterly dividend.

---

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.

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

View fullsize

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.

---

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.