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In order to start and scale a fractional CFO firm to $200,00, you're going to need a handful of things.

Almost 7 years ago, I started building my own CFO firm from $0 to 6 figures. Honestly, I had no clue what it would take to get there.

Along the way, I ended up spending a ton of money and wasting countless hours on crap that never paid off. 

In retrospect, there were only 6 things I needed in place to hit $200k.

Today, I'm going to share that list with you in hopes that you will reach $200,000 significantly faster than I did.

Thing #1

The very first thing you'll need is to identify one service offering at one price point.

When I first started, I (incorrectly) assumed that I needed multiple offers and multiple price points. This was a myth that resulted in countless wasted hours trying to work through all the sales and marketing psychology.

Instead, decide on 1 service package at 1 price point.

There are a couple key benefits here: 

• It's easier to get good at selling 1 package than 3
• 1 package gives you laser focus on which processes you need

ProTip: Keep your package as simple as possible to start. Not sure what to include? Check out THIS video.

Thing #2

The next thing you'll need is a website (although probably not for the reason you think).

Q: Want customers to come begging for your CFO services? 
A: Build a fully customized, beautiful website with copy written by a pro and photos taken by the best photographer. 

The result? 
Crickets. 
🦗🦗🦗

The reality is that random people aren't going to flock to your website because you spent a ton of money on it. They don't even know you exist.

The people who DO visit your website will have met you, seen you, or heard you elsewhere. They're just dropping by to make sure you're legit.

A simple landing page with a contact form is all you need.

Spend hundreds not thousands.

Thing #3

The third thing you'll need is a social media presence. 

Do you need to be an avid daily poster with reels, stories, and videos of you having emotional meltdowns? 

Absolutely not.

But you do need to have a presence.

Again, people just want to make sure you're legit and having a social media presence helps. Even one post per week on one plantform helps people to understand that you're a serious professional and not a hobbyist.

Thing #4

Next, you're going to need some basic tech.

But don't tell yourself that you need to spend thousands (or even hundreds!) of dollars each month on your stack.

Here's all you need to get started: 

• Slack (free/month)
• G-Suite ($8/month)
• Ignition ($75/month)
• G-Accon ($23/month)

Are there great alternatives to each of those? 
Absolutely! 
You do you, boo.
(No need to email me telling me why your thing is better.😎) 

The temptation in the early days can be to spend inordinate amounts of time testing tech. This is a distraction that won't lead to $200,000.

Simplicity > Complexity
 

Thing #5

You'll want to get a templated CFO report in place for several reasons.

A templated CFO report helps:

👉 You streamline CFO calls
👉 You maximize efficient CFO call preparation
👉 Prospective clients visualize what your service looks like

The CFO report should serve as the central hub for all of your client conversations. 

We use Google Sheets and we keep it simple. 

We have one tab each for:

• Charts/graphs
• 12 month P&L
• 12 month Balance Sheet
• 12 month Statement of Cash Flows
• Cash Flow Forecasts
• Budgets & Projections
• Goal Tracking

If you're not good at making pretty spreadsheets, you can find someone on UpWork or Fiverr to help on the cheap.

Note: We use G-Accon to automate our CFO Report creation inside of Google Sheets. If you have more than 2 clients, this is a time-saving MUST HAVE.

Thing #6

Lastly, you need roughly 9 clients each paying $1800/month.

I know this sounds like common sense.  But the truth is, so many newer CFOs focus on anything OTHER than getting clients.

And you've got to have clients so that you can get paid so that you can sustain your mission!

Where do I find clients?
Check out THIS post where I lay out my entire marketing strategy.

I'm fully aware that the idea of "sales" brings up a lot of negative feels for a lot of people in our industry. Why?

Most of us aren't natural sales people and many of us have never had to sell anything before.

If the idea of sales calls makes the hair on your neck stand up, then chew on this 👇

I created a 60 minute training where I share the 8 step framework that I use to sell CFO services. You can watch it HERE for free.

Getting to your first $200,000 in revenue shouldn't be complicated. 
Yes, it's hard work and yes it takes a ton of effort. 
But I'm guessing you're no stranger to hard work or effort.

Today I want to encourage you to keep things simple and focus on getting those first 9 clients at $1800/month.

Your coach,
Michael