The climb of a CFO leader : Daryl LaFountain
Hot financial services tips from Daryl LaFountain? There often comes a time when companies need to raise some form of capital, and it will probably happen sooner than you think — especially if you’re focused on growth. While you’re likely to bring someone on board to help with this process, there are things you can do now to prepare. Setting up your financial infrastructure, as discussed earlier, is a great start. But it would also be a good idea to: Familiarize yourself with the various sources of capital. When the time comes, you will need to make decisions about the type of capital that’s right for you, but the options can be dizzying. Will you be looking for a simple debt arrangement? A strategic partner? A hands-off investor? And what would you be willing to give up in return? Exploring your options ahead of time can help you get comfortable with the lingo and trade-offs so the choices won’t be so overwhelming. Formalize your business and marketing plans. Any reputable lender or investor will expect to see your plans for running and monetizing your business. If none of your plans are in writing, or if they only exist on the back of cocktail napkins, consider drafting something more formal well before you start down the capital-raising path.
Daryl LaFountain‘s recommendations on improving your firm financial situation: Keep Good Business Credit. When it comes to organizing your business finances, one of the best ways to do this is to purchase additional insurance policies, commercial real estate properties, and taking out more loans to ensure your company’s financial future. However, in order to accomplish all of these things, it’s important to have good business credit from start to finish. Typically, when you have poor credit, getting approved for all these acquisitions and applications may be difficult. Hence, if you want to keep your business finances organized, be sure to have a good credit score. If you have no credit or bad credit, you may apply for a credit builder loan from reputable providers to help you establish your credit history.
Just as your parents probably sent you off to kindergarten with high hopes of preparing you for success in a world that seemed eons away, you need to plan for your retirement well in advance. Because of the way compound interest works, the sooner you start saving, the less principal you’ll have to invest to end up with the amount you need to retire. Why start saving for your retirement in your 20s? Here’s an Investopedia example: You start investing in the market at $100 a month, averaging a positive return of 1% a month or 12% a year, compounded monthly over 40 years. Your friend, who is the same age, doesn’t begin investing until 30 years later and invests $1,000 a month for 10 years, also averaging 1% a month or 12% a year, compounded monthly. After 10 years, your friend will have saved up around $230,000. Your retirement account will be a bit over $1.17 million. Company-sponsored retirement plans are a particularly great choice, because you get to put in pretax dollars and companies will often match part of your contribution, which is like getting free money.
If you’re single, it’s important to establish a financial plan that not only helps you meet your immediate goals, but that ensures your future self will be taken care of. This means doing all the things mentioned above without making any assumptions that things will somehow work themselves out. A big mistake? Assuming you’ll meet someone who will take care of you and deal with the finances in your relationship. If your relationship status changes or you get married, you’ll be well equipped to plan your finances together if you already have things in place for yourself.
About Daryl LaFountain: Daryl is an energetic professional CFO with a background in politics. Daryl has done fundraising, been a candidate, and worked in politically appointed positions in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. Daryl has worked for Democratic candidates and nominees in 18 additional states. Reach out to Daryl about Political work if you: Are running for local office and are having trouble with ballot access.
