Cash Flow vs Profitability: Which is Most Important for Your Food Business?
Release Date: 08/19/2024
BABOYOT with Harvest Chocolate: Using Data to Drive Smart Growth in a Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Business
The Good Food CFO podcast
In this Building a Business on Your Own Terms episode, Sarah sits down with Matt Cross, co-founder of Harvest Chocolate, a bean-to-bar chocolate company in Tecumseh, Michigan. Matt shares how he and his wife Elizabeth transformed their culinary expertise into a thriving chocolate business that started in their kitchen during the pandemic and now operates a successful retail location with multiple sales channels. Matt reveals how Office Hours helped confirm his business was financially healthy and ready for strategic growth. Listeners will discover practical insights about: Using profit...
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The Resilient Food Brand: Financial Strategies to Weather Economic Storms
The Good Food CFO podcast
Despite rising costs and economic uncertainty, Sarah brings her characteristic straight talk to food business finances in this timely episode: "All is not lost." Drawing from both historical patterns and current market insights, she explains why specialty food brands can still thrive during economic downturns as consumers continue treating themselves to small luxuries like artisan chocolate and premium coffee. "This is not a shelter-in-place moment," Sarah emphasizes, but rather a time to be strategic about where you invest your resources. The episode unpacks three critical focus areas...
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BABOYOT with Benny Blanco Tortillas: Premium Pricing, Patient Expansion, and the Secret Code of Giving
The Good Food CFO podcast
In this episode Sarah sits down with Christopher Hudson, the Arizona native behind Benny Blanco Tortillas. After years in food service, Christopher purchased the company in what he calls "a match made in heaven." Christopher's approach to building a business on his own terms combines premium quality ingredients with transparent sourcing, a premium pricing strategy and a willingness to say "no" to opportunities that don't make financial sense or support his vision for a thriving local food industry. In this episode you’ll hear: Why Christopher turned down a $1.2M deal and the principles...
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Beyond 51%: Determining Your TRUE Product Margins for Food Business Success
The Good Food CFO podcast
Did you hear the episode where Sarah told her client they needed 70% product margins? Were you curious why it was so much higher than the usually recommended 51%? In this episode, Sarah pulls back the curtain on how she determines the right product margins for different food businesses, and guides you to finding yours. She reveals where your P&L is hiding crucial information and walks through her "orange slice" method for visualizing what's really happening with the revenue you earn. You'll learn the importance of separating “core COGS” from “other COGS”, why so many...
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BABOYOT with People's Choice Beef Jerky: Crafting Legacy on Their Own Terms
The Good Food CFO podcast
In a world where food startups chase rapid growth and quick exits, People's Choice Beef Jerky stands as a refreshing counterexample. This Los Angeles-based company has been crafting premium meat products since 1929, and is now thriving under fourth-generation leadership. Their story offers valuable lessons for food founders looking to build sustainable, profitable businesses that can withstand the test of time. In this episode of the Good Food CFO podcast, Sarah Delevan sits down with owners and siblings Brian and Sara Bianchetti as they share all that they have learned while continuing to...
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Community, not FOMO: Sarah Returns to Expo West After 10 Years Away
The Good Food CFO podcast
After more than 10 years away, Sarah decided to return to natural foods' biggest industry event - but why now? In this candid Season 14 opener, Sarah takes you behind the scenes of her Expo West experience, revealing what's changed, what hasn't, and whether the industry hype actually lives up to reality. The conversation also explores the striking contrast between the big business of Expo West and the Intense Conference for farmers market founders, managers and vendors Sarah attended just days later. This juxtaposition frames an honest discussion about what really matters in our food systems -...
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Breaking the Monopoly: How Founders Can Navigate a Consolidated Market
The Good Food CFO podcast
In this eye-opening episode of the Good Food CFO podcast, Sarah Delevan talks with Stacy Mitchell, co-executive director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, about the myths of market consolidation and how food founders can fight back against corporate monopolies. Stacy Mitchell is a writer, strategist, and policy advocate whose work focuses on dismantling concentrated corporate power and building thriving local economies. As co-executive director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, she has played a leading role in today's growing anti-monopoly movement and has authored influential...
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Ask The Good Food CFO: Is Rent a COGS, How to Establish Channel Margins, and the Hidden Costs of Co-Packers
The Good Food CFO podcast
In this special episode of The Good Food CFO podcast, we’re sharing highlights from our live Q&A session with BABOYOT members. These quarterly events are an awesome opportunity to connect with Founders and answer their most pressing financial questions. Some of the topics we tackled: Food Service vs. Wholesale Pricing: Discover why conventional wisdom about which channel is most profitable doesn't always hold true. One founder shares how running her numbers completely changed her channel strategy. The COGS “Gray Area”: Is your kitchen rental really part of your Cost...
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Building a Profitable Business: Advice from a $400 Million Brand Founder
The Good Food CFO podcast
In this episode of The Good Food CFO Podcast, Sarah Delevan shares candid insights from a recent meeting with the founder of a brand generating over $400 million in annual revenue, and doing it profitably. Through a series of powerful "sound bites" captured during their conversation, Sarah reveals how this founder's approach challenges traditional industry wisdom while delivering remarkable results. You’ll hear: Why marketing shouldn't drive your offers and how to structure profitable promotions The surprising truth about driving trial in e-commerce vs retail How to identify and...
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BABOYOT with Hope Lawrence of Hudson Henry Baking Co.: Building and Selling a Million Dollar Brand
The Good Food CFO podcast
In this episode of the Good Food CFO Podcast, Sarah Delavan sits down with Hope Lawrence, founder of Hudson Henry Baking Co., who shares her remarkable journey of building a profitable granola business on her own terms. From starting with just $4,000 in her farmhouse kitchen to reaching $1.25M in annual revenue, Hope's story proves that sustainable growth and profitability are possible without outside investment. In this conversation, Hope shares: The strategic reason she chose granola Why she was laser focus on profitability from day one, and the sales channel strategy that enabled...
info_outline"Things can look really good from the outside and your business can be failing."
20% of businesses fail in their first year, 30% by their 2nd year, and an additional 50% fail in year three.
In this episode, Sarah is joined by John Haskell, CFO Consultant and owner of Ranch Right, LLC. John has over 20 years of experience helping ranches become more profitable, starting new ranch businesses, and turning around failing ranches. Together, they are shedding light on the common causes of failure in business, and answering the question: Is it more important to have positive cash flow in your food business, or to be profitable?
They explore the difference between the “economics” and “financials” of your business, and the need to be honest with yourself about both. Sarah and John also define the various stages of starting, building and running a business, and share their guidance for prioritizing cash flow or profitability at each stage.
You’ll hear:
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What costs you MUST consider before launching your business, a new product or a new sales channel
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Why focusing on gross profit and cash flow is crucial in the early stages of your business to ensure financial stability
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What it means to “catch up to your overhead”, and how that impacts growth
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When you should start focusing on profitability in your business
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How to build cash reserves so can you weather the storms and seize opportunities during challenging times
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And More!
Bonus Clips from this Episode:
Is leaving money in your business smarter than investing in the market?
Connect with John
Website: Ranch Right LLC
Facebook: Ranch Right LLC
Instagram: @ranchrightllc
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