Couverture de The Fractional CFO Show with Adam Cooper

The Fractional CFO Show with Adam Cooper

The Fractional CFO Show with Adam Cooper

De : Adam Cooper
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Every small business owner needs financial advice to help scale and grow. Each week successful Operators join fractional CFO Adam Cooper, to share their experiences, tips and tricks to help improve your business cash flows, profits and help reach your financial goals. If you are an entrepreneur looking to take control of your business finances, this is the podcast for you.

© 2026 The Fractional CFO Show with Adam Cooper Direction Economie Management Management et direction
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  • Growing an Agency Without Following the Rules

    Growing an Agency Without Following the Rules
    Jul 2 2026
    What does it really take to build a successful business without external investment?Many founders are told that the route to growth is to raise funding, specialise in a niche, standardise everything and scale as quickly as possible. But what if there was another way?In this episode of The Fractional CFO Show, Adam Cooper is joined by Gulliver Moore, Founder and CEO of Sunday Treat, a creative content agency that has grown organically into a multi-million-pound business working with some of the world's best-known brands, including Google, Disney, Canon, Revolut and Candy Crush.Over the last five years, Sunday Treat has expanded from a one-person operation into a team of fourteen, all without taking external investment and while deliberately ignoring much of the conventional advice given to agency founders.Instead of focusing on aggressive scaling, Gulliver explains why they've prioritised building a financially sustainable business, maintaining a strong company culture, protecting creativity and making commercial decisions that support long-term growth.This is an honest conversation about what building a modern agency really looks like behind the scenes.Rather than talking about overnight success, we explore the realities of growing a business, managing uncertainty, improving leadership, forecasting revenue, maintaining healthy cash flow and building a company that founders genuinely enjoy running.In this episode we discuss: Growing a creative agency without raising external funding Why cash flow is often more important than revenue growth Building a profitable business while staying true to your values The financial realities of running a project-based agency Managing working capital and large client payment terms Financial forecasting when future revenue is uncertain Scaling from founder to CEO Developing management and leadership skills Creating a culture that attracts and retains talented people Why Sunday Treat deliberately chose not to niche down How variety can become a competitive advantage Winning larger clients without following the traditional agency playbook Expanding into the United States and establishing a presence in New York Balancing creativity with commercial discipline Managing risk while continuing to grow Why sustainable growth often beats rapid growth One of the themes that runs throughout the conversation is the relationship between creative ambition and commercial discipline.Gulliver openly discusses how becoming responsible for employees completely changed the way he viewed leadership and business.Like many founders, he discovered that being technically brilliant at your craft doesn't automatically prepare you for managing people, having difficult conversations or building an organisation.He talks honestly about the mistakes he made early on, the management books that transformed his approach and why learning to become a better leader has arguably been just as important as winning new clients.For listeners interested in financial leadership, there are some particularly valuable insights into managing a business where revenue is inherently unpredictable.Unlike subscription businesses or companies operating on recurring revenue, Sunday Treat works largely on individual projects.That means forecasting income, managing utilisation, planning recruitment and protecting cash flow requires a very different approach.Gulliver explains how they think about financial planning, why maintaining a healthy cash buffer has been critical to their growth and how they approach larger client projects where payment terms can stretch well beyond the point at which suppliers and employees need paying.For founders, CEOs and business owners, it's a practical reminder that profitability and cash flow are not always the same thing—and that sustainable businesses are built through careful financial management as much as strong sales.The episode also explores one of the biggest debates in the agency world—whether businesses should niche down.Conventional wisdom suggests agencies should specialise in one industry or one type of customer.Sunday Treat deliberately chose not to.Instead, they work across multiple sectors and platforms, helping brands create content for everything from LinkedIn and TikTok through to television advertising and global campaigns.Gulliver explains why this approach has helped keep the team engaged, protected the business from changes within individual industries and ultimately created more opportunities for growth.Another fascinating part of the discussion focuses on international expansion.After seeing a significant proportion of revenue already coming from US clients, Sunday Treat recently established a formal presence in New York.Rather than treating expansion as simply opening another office, Gulliver shares the commercial realities behind entering a new market, including client acquisition, pricing, building relationships ...
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    34 min
  • What Good Financial Leadership Looks Like in Practice

    What Good Financial Leadership Looks Like in Practice
    Jun 17 2026
    What does good financial leadership actually look like inside a growing business?Many founders reach a point where bookkeeping is under control, management accounts are being produced, and year-end compliance is taken care of, yet they still feel uncertain when making important business decisions.They know the numbers exist.They receive reports.They have visibility of revenue.But they still don't feel fully in control of profitability, cash flow, hiring decisions, pricing, or growth plans.In this episode of The Fractional CFO Show, Adam Cooper is joined by Heidi Armstrong, Fractional CFO at ACC Finance Solutions, for a practical discussion about the role financial leadership plays in helping founder-led businesses improve profitability, strengthen cash flow, and make better decisions.This is a particularly special episode as it marks the first time a member of the ACC Finance Solutions team has joined the show.Drawing on her experience working with businesses across recruitment, beauty, media, professional services and other founder-led organisations, Heidi shares what she sees when businesses begin to outgrow basic finance support and require more strategic financial guidance.The conversation explores a common challenge faced by many SMEs.Business owners often know they need "better finance", but they're not always sure what that means in practice.Is it better reporting?More detailed management accounts?A bigger finance team?More software?Or is it something else entirely?Throughout the discussion, Heidi explains why good financial leadership is often less about producing more reports and more about helping business owners understand what their numbers are telling them and how those insights should influence future decisions.Topics covered include:• What a Fractional CFO actually does within a growing business• Why many founders feel disconnected from their numbers despite receiving regular financial reports• The difference between financial reporting and financial leadership• How financial forecasting helps business owners make decisions with greater confidence• The role of cash flow forecasting in supporting sustainable growth• Why revenue growth does not always lead to improved profitability• How management information can become a genuine decision-making tool• The importance of monitoring financial KPIs that actually matter• Common reasons margins deteriorate without founders noticing• Why pricing reviews should be a regular business discipline• The impact of inflation, supplier costs and overhead increases on profitability• How hiring decisions affect cash flow, capacity and future growth• The financial implications of expanding too quickly• Why business owners should place a value on their own time• How scenario planning supports better strategic decisions• The hidden cost of difficult clients• Why client profitability is about more than revenue alone• Lessons learned from working across multiple industries and business modelsOne of the most interesting parts of the conversation centres on client profitability.Many business owners evaluate clients purely based on the revenue they generate.However, Heidi discusses why some clients can consume disproportionate amounts of management time, operational resources and emotional energy.A client may appear profitable on paper but become significantly less attractive once the true cost of servicing them is taken into account.The discussion highlights why founders should regularly assess not only what clients pay but also the time, complexity, interruptions and stress associated with managing those relationships.The episode also explores the connection between financial visibility and confidence.When founders lack clarity around cash flow, profitability or future financial performance, decision-making often becomes reactive.Businesses delay investments.Hiring decisions become difficult.Growth opportunities are missed.Cash flow concerns create unnecessary stress.By contrast, businesses that embrace financial forecasting, scenario planning and regular performance reviews are often able to make decisions earlier, with greater certainty and lower risk.Heidi shares practical examples of how she helps business owners understand the numbers behind their businesses, identify potential issues before they become serious problems, and create financial plans that support both growth and profitability.The conversation also touches on a challenge many founders face but rarely discuss openly: the value of their own time.Business owners frequently make decisions without fully considering the opportunity cost of their involvement.Tasks that appear profitable on paper can become far less attractive when the founder's time is properly valued.Understanding this often changes how businesses think about delegation, recruitment, pricing and operational structure.Whether you're running a recruitment business, professional services firm, agency, ...
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    38 min
  • Building Without Funding: Control, Trade-offs, and Discipline

    Building Without Funding: Control, Trade-offs, and Discipline
    Jun 4 2026
    Building Without Funding: Control, Trade-offs, and Capital DisciplineWhat if the best source of funding for your business isn't an investor?What if it's your customers?In this episode of The Fractional CFO Show, Adam Cooper sits down with Tayfun Bilsel, founder and CEO of Clinked, to explore the realities of building and scaling a technology business without relying on external investment.Over the last two decades, the startup world has become heavily associated with fundraising, venture capital, angel investors and rapid growth. Raising capital is often presented as the natural next step for ambitious founders.Tayfun's journey offers a different perspective.Since launching Clinked in 2008, Tayfun has grown the business into a leading client portal and business collaboration platform serving thousands of customers across more than 40 countries worldwide. Yet much of that growth has been achieved without the traditional venture-backed route.Instead, Clinked was built through customer revenue, careful resource allocation, financial discipline and a relentless focus on solving real customer problems.In this conversation, Adam and Tayfun discuss how operating without external funding changes the way founders think about growth, risk, profitability, customer acquisition and long-term decision making.One of the most interesting parts of the discussion centres around the concept of customer-funded growth.Rather than building products in isolation and hoping the market would eventually respond, Clinked's early development was heavily influenced by real customer feedback. In some cases, customers even helped fund specific product features, creating an additional layer of market validation before development resources were committed.The result was a business built around genuine customer demand rather than assumptions.The conversation explores how this approach helped create focus, prioritisation and commercial discipline during the early stages of growth.Topics covered include:• Why Tayfun initially chose not to pursue external investment• The realities of building a SaaS business during the 2008 financial crisis• Customer-funded growth and product validation• How early customers shaped Clinked's development• The importance of product-market fit• Financial discipline and capital efficiency• Managing cash flow without a financial safety net• Resource allocation when every investment decision matters• Customer acquisition versus customer retention• Why recurring revenue became a strategic advantage• Growth under constraint and the benefits of limited resources• Long-term thinking versus short-term investor expectations• Building sustainable growth models• The relationship between profitability and growth• Risk management for founder-led businesses• Scaling internationally without venture capital• Customer success as a growth strategy• Decision-making under uncertainty• The trade-offs between speed, ownership and control• When founders should consider raising investment• Common fundraising mistakes made by growing businessesThroughout the discussion, Tayfun shares practical lessons from nearly 18 years of building and growing Clinked through multiple economic cycles, changing technology trends and shifting market conditions.One recurring theme is the value of staying close to customers.As Clinked grew, the business continued to prioritise customer feedback, customer success and customer relationships. Tayfun explains how maintaining direct contact with customers helped the company make better decisions, identify opportunities faster and avoid many of the distractions that can come from chasing vanity metrics or short-term growth targets.The episode also explores the financial realities of building a company without access to large amounts of external capital.Without investor money acting as a buffer, cash flow management becomes critical. Every hiring decision, product investment, marketing initiative and growth opportunity must be assessed through the lens of sustainability and long-term value creation.For finance leaders, CFOs and operators, the discussion offers valuable insight into capital allocation, customer economics, resource prioritisation and strategic planning.For founders and entrepreneurs, it provides a candid look at the challenges and rewards of building a business where customer value, profitability and sustainable growth take priority over fundraising headlines.One particularly valuable section of the episode focuses on the question many founders face:"When should you actually raise capital?"Tayfun shares his view that investment should generally follow validation rather than precede it. Before raising money, founders should understand their market, prove customer demand, establish repeatable growth mechanisms and gain confidence that additional capital can generate a meaningful return.Rather than raising money simply because funding is available, he ...
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    29 min
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