You're probably already drowning in a growing list of things you think you need to do to grow your firm in 2025. 

Finding new clients. Revamping onboarding. Website overhaul. Reviewing your client contracts and agreements. Figuring out how to use AI. The list goes on and on.

But here's what I've found:

The fastest-scaling and most profitable firms tend to focus on the simple (albeit harder) things that few others want to do - and even fewer are willing to do.

The hard truth is that the small things typically make a much more significant impact on your firm's growth than the big or complex things.

The right little things become important big things.

Faster to implement.
Lower cost and complexity.
Much quicker return on investment.

Today, I'm going to share 5 small changes you can make that will lead to healthier cash flows, happier clients, and more predictable growth in your firm.

Let's dive in.

Send your agenda 3 days prior 

Sending out the agenda for CFO calls at least 3 business days prior has been one of my firm's most impactful small changes over the years.

I'm not talking about a fully templated, copy-and-paste agenda, either!

Instead, I'm talking about a thoroughly thought-out agenda, including (but certainly NOT limited to):

• A thesis for the call: What is the key message you want to cover with the client on the call, and why is it important?

• A run of show for the call: What are the major sections or milestones for the call? How long do you want to spend in each section?

• Key financial takeaways for the period: What are you seeing in the data? What are the key drivers? What goals are they impacting?

Once you've assembled your big ideas, put those into an email and send them to the client at least 3 business days before the call. Ask the client to review your thoughts and come prepared with any questions, comments, or concerns.

What's the cost?

You have to have your act together ahead of time.
It means you have to be very intentional about timely preparation.  

What's the ROI? 

Your CFO calls are more meaningful because of the preparation, but it also means your clients are better prepared. That leads to better client questions and more value added through your services.

Charge BOM vs EOM 

Making the shift away from end-of-month billing and moving to beginning-of-month billing was a hard one for me in the early days.

I told myself all kinds of stories about how no one would ever agree to do that, so I avoided it for years.

That meant that I wasted time chasing down AP.

But that also meant that I wasted mental bandwidth tackling questions like "Ugh. Acme STILL hasn't paid last month's invoice now it's 27 days past due. If I push too hard on getting them to pay the invoice now, is the client going to just cancel and walk away - meaning I won't get paid for last month OR the work we've done this month? Should I be assertive? Or just kind of assertive?"

I nearly pulled a muscle doing all those mental gymnastics!

Finally, in 2019, I took the boldest of steps!

I was just about to close a new client that I REALLY needed (cash was tight back in the day)

I went through the scope.

We talked about pricing and expectations.

Then I told the prospect that we bill ahead of time instead of in arrears.  

Sweat dripped from my brow.

The prospect stared at me for what felt like an eternity.

"Cool! Send over the invoice. I'm excited about getting started."

No one has ever pushed back on this.
Not once.
Never. 

What's the cost? 

Making the (hard) decision.

What's the ROI?

No more chasing AP or trying to play mental gymnastics about when to push on an unpaid invoice.

Spend at least 30 minutes per day prospecting 

Are you tired of being broke?
Are you tired of unpredictable lead flow?
Are you tired of missing your growth goals?  

The solution is simple:
Spend at least 30 minutes per day prospecting.

👉 Here's what prospecting IS:  
Reaching out to people who might need your services and telling them about how you might be able to help.  

👉 Here's what prospecting IS NOT:
Posting on LinkedIn
Fooling with your website
Scrolling on Instagram or TikTok
Contriving a plan for how you'll start prospecting tomorrow

Now let me be clear - I am JUST like you:
I do not like prospecting, but I also don't like being broke.
I don't like running, but I also don't like heart disease.

So here I am, running and prospecting.

Prospecting sucks.
Being broke sucks.
Pick your suck. 

What's the cost?

30 minutes a day of suck.
2.5 hours a week of suck. 

What's the ROI?

A posh P&L and a banging balance sheet.

Just niche already

Stop telling yourself that niching down is a bad idea for you because of... reasons.  

Identifying a niche and sticking to it unlocks:
• More referrals
• Better quality leads
• Improved firm efficiency
• More effective processes and procedures
• Increased clarity on who and when to hire

I've talked to and coached several hundred firm owners.
Exactly zero of them have ever said "Mike, I really screwed up big time last year when I decided to niche down. I really wish I hadn't done that!"  

If you're stuck on how to create a niche, check out THIS BLOG I wrote on niching.

What's the cost?

Nothing.

What's the ROI?

See above.

Find and engage with a community of YOUR people

Community is probably the most discounted, under-leveraged, and under-utilized superhack when building a business - and Fractional CFO firms are no exception.

You will face countless hurdles on Day 1 and Day 100,000 and every day in between.

• Pricing
• Bad hires
• Bad clients
• Market shifts
• Economic shifts
• Regulatory changes
• New tools and automations  

...and those are just the things that come up on a typical Wednesday before lunch.  

You have two choices:

You can face those challenges alone and try to figure out what to do and how to do it.
 

Or you can surround yourself with a community of other people in the same boat.

• Some of those people will be ahead of you.
• Some of those people will be behind you.
• Some of those people will be right where you are. 

When you find the right community, that whole boat full of your peers are working together to support one another.

This shortcircuits the entire process of figuring out hard things on your own!

In fact, community is probably the only actual hack in building a business.

What's the cost?

30 to 45 minutes a week.
Maybe $1500 a year. 

What's the ROI?

Faster
Smarter
More efficient
Fewer headaches
Increased profitability
Not feeling alone all the freaking time 

If you're looking for a community full of your people, check out THIS ONE. I'm biased about this group, but it's truly pretty special.

Remember... 

The people at the top are collaborating.
The people at the bottom are competing.

So here's the deal

I know none of these are particularly sexy. You probably aren't going to talk about implementing any of these with your girlfriends on the golf course or with your buddies during the big bake-off competition.

However, the investment in terms of time and dollars is extremely low, which means there's not much risk.

I can tell you firsthand that the ROI for any one of these can be massive. Pick 2 or more, and your firm is almost guaranteed to be meaningfully changed this year.

Low risk.
Big upside.
What's your next move?