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We were reviewing a monthly close with an owner who had just crossed $1M in cash for the first time. A big milestone with years of work behind it. We started looking at what was actually in that number. Accrued bonuses not yet paid out, and some deferred revenue that had been recognized early. When

In July we spoke with an agency owner who, on paper, had a really solid finance setup. Monthly P&L delivered on time, clean categorization, and no reconciliation issues. The kind of financial setup most business owners are still trying to get to. The problem was that the business had shifted materially over the previous two

Last month we were reviewing the financials of a $7M agency. Their gross margin came in at 54%, which is respectable by most benchmarks, and the owner knew it. No alarm bells. No reason to dig further. We segmented it by client channel anyway. One channel was running at 35%. The blended number wasn’t wrong.

Last week I was reviewing financials with an agency owner who couldn’t figure out why his margins were shrinking. Revenue was up 15% year-over-year. New clients were signing. The sales team was hitting targets. But operating profit had barely moved. We dug into the details. His team had started offering “competitive discounts” to close deals

Last month I had three separate calls with founders who said nearly identical words: “We built our team for revenue that isn’t coming.” One was an agency owner staring at a pipeline he described as “shit.” Another was an eCommerce owner who needed $400K in the next two weeks to avoid drastic cuts. The third

Last week we concluded with a coaching business owner that they were losing 20% on every sale of their best-selling program. They’d been celebrating growth for two years. The problem wasn’t their pricing strategy or their market positioning. It was their unit economics assumptions. Assumptions vs Reality They’d built their entire business model around best-case

The last two weeks have been a rollercoaster. We’ve seen the headlines about the Middle East, the conflict, the Strait of Hormuz, and oil prices. Some of you may have brushed it off as “geopolitical noise that doesn’t affect my business.” But more likely, you’ve been wondering if or how it impacts your business. Either

At some point, every owner has to make a call here. It’s an operating decision. And just like every other operating decision, it comes with trade-offs. There’s only one real mistake: not making a deliberate choice. The Two Extremes (and Everything in Between) On one end of the spectrum, there is the open book policy:

You’ve set your goals for 2026. (What happened to 2025?! Last time I blinked, it was still summer.) That was the easy part. Now the hard part comes. Actually delivering on your goals. Typically, you start with fresh energy and great ambition. And then reality happens, and you’re off track. Maybe just a bit. Maybe

Are you on track for your 2025 goals? Odds are you’re off (although by how much is another question). As we near the end of the year, your head is shifting from 2025 to 2026. Loads of ideas. Great ambitions. Next year will be the year! Boring as it may sound, getting your budget right