Customer spotlight: Dan the CFO

ccording to the Small Business Administration, 4.7 million businesses are created in the US every year. Within the first year, 25% of these businesses close their doors. By year five, half have failed, and by year ten, the number rises to 65%. So, what’s behind these metrics?

After 20 years of experience in corporate finance, Dan Dollevoet became the “accidental entrepreneur” who can answer that for you. With 86% of businesses failing due to cash flow problems, Dan focuses on helping small business owners manage their finances like businesses, not individuals.

Of course, every business is unique, and the causes and results of these cash flow problems take different forms. Dan has found most business owners know their craft, but small businesses tend to manage finances like individuals. As a Fractional CFO, Dan offers the experience and capabilities of a full financial team, in portions, principles, and processes business owners can apply to strengthen and grow their business.

We invited Dan to share his wisdom with our community of business owners as they prepare for the final quarter of the year. His advice? Focus on data, cash flow, and goals.

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1. Plans vs. Actual Outcomes

As Q4 approaches, remember that this period is a transition, not an endpoint. Dan encourages business owners to ask themselves:

• How are we finishing up this year? 
• How are we pacing against our goals?
• Are we on track to finish the way we wanted to?
• What do we need to do in Q4 to meet our goals?
• How do I execute in this next period?
• How did we do versus how we said?
• What didn’t we like? What will we do differently?

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This is the perfect time to closely review and reconcile essential metrics. Dan emphasizes the importance of reconciling your plans with actual outcomes. If you launched a new product this year, how is it performing? Are your sales projections meeting expectations? Did a new process yield the results you anticipated? Depending on the answers, it might be time to revise, redirect, or double down on certain strategies. Most important at this point, Dan emphasizes, is not to fear. 

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2. Your Goals Are Your Foundations 

These conversations about goals and results can be overwhelming, whether it’s your first time approaching a new year with your business in mind, or it’s one season of many for you in your business. Dan understands that even goal-setting can be intimidating, “Business owners get so in the weeds of doing the business every day - whatever that business is - that it's difficult for them to step back and say, this is my goal. This is what I really want to get out of the business, or this is what I'm in for.” 

Goals go beyond numbers, but those numbers are what unify the experience of every business owner. Dan recommends breaking your business down into manageable segments that you and your support system can focus on.

While long-term goals are essential, Dan advises keeping your focus on the near term: “I'm concerned about what my business is going to look like three years from now. But I should be much more concerned about what's gonna be going on my business in the next three months, So I might have these big overarching goals, but I think the best advice I could give would be to focus on, ‘How do I execute for this next month?’” Dan shares.

That’s where you’ll find the most immediate impact.

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3. Talk About It

“If you're not already meeting to figure out, how did we do versus what we plan to do? That's where I would start right now.” 

The last quarter of the year is full of opportunities to close out the year strong. Use this time with intention, grounded in the goals you’ve already set for your business. The clarity you’ve gained from the past three quarters will empower you to finish the year with purpose.

If you’re new to this process, make it a priority in 2025. It’s a continuous journey, driven by both the structure of the tax year and the cyclical nature of business. Plans evolve, but awareness and information help you make sense of the changes.

It was the unexpected close of the banking platform he was using, that led Dan to Novo. The clean functionality led him to sign up and stay, “I needed a simple solution. I didn’t have complex banking needs when I started”. Then he says, “I started growing and they started adding functionality I really like.”

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4. Cultivate Your Vision

So, where do you want to go as a business owner? Dan encourages you to look carefully and honestly at where you are now and where you want to be by the end of next year. Ask yourself:

• Where do we want our metrics to be by the end of the next year?
• How do we get to that point? What strategies will we use to get there?
• What information do we need to gather in Q4 to finalize strategy for next year?

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Allow yourself to be inspired, yet realistic, and clear. Knowing that the end of next year will bring another assessment of plan versus actual outcomes, balance your planning with flexibility. Embrace both possibility and practicality.

“The plan is the magic, right?," Dan says. "It's where you kind of work out in your head, like ‘This is attainable.’ Here are the things that I need to do to get there. As a business owner, they need to take that plan and go out and actually execute against it. Then we come back to comparing the plan to actual results.”

No matter the size or industry of your business, Dan has seen one consistent factor: the numbers. Every business owner has a unique relationship with their numbers, but those numbers are the key to understanding your business’s health.

Embrace your agency! How your goals for the next year address revenue or impact, the strategies you employ or abandon, the work you outsource or optimize - are all up to you. Take control!

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5. Seek Support

Dan recommends getting used to high-level meetings and engaging professional resources. Think of your business as a three-legged stool, supported by Operations & Organization, Finance & Accounting, and Sales & Marketing.

When all three legs are solid, your business stands strong. But if one is weak, it’s okay to seek help. “It’s okay if you aren’t good at everything. Most people aren’t good at everything,” Dan reminds us.

This might mean hiring someone to strengthen one leg, partnering with another business owner, or bringing in a business partner. Leadership in business is about building a sustainable entity that can stand on its own, even without the hands of its founder.

As a “numbers guy” and introvert, Dan faced his own challenges in marketing. Not knowing where to start, he took his own advice. “What I had to do was just face it head on and put together a plan”. He made a plan, figured out where to spend his time and effort, and decided which networking events and social media channels would offer the most value. Dan also emphasizes the importance of finding a community where you can share ideas and moments with like-minded people: “know that you’re not alone.”

Dan has been putting himself out there with the Novo Community, guiding business owners and group members with such presentations as “Cash Flow Essentials for Small Business Owners” and “Budgeting Essentials for Small Business Owners” as a Novo Community Subject Matter Expert in our latest series.

Based just outside Atlanta, Dan the CFO manages financial operations and strategies, supporting clients’ multitudes of challenges, and optimizing the processes of business owners across the country, virtually and through travel. On weekends, you’ll likely find him biking the trails of Georgia with his wife, enjoying the journey as much as the destination.

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