#52: Back To The Basics: Essential Financial Knowledge for Founders

Welcome to another episode of the Founder Podcast! Today, Chris Lee, explores the topic of finances. Operating a business often starts with a cash-based approach, especially during the early stages. Chris reflects on his experience running Founder Acceleration, a group of 50 entrepreneurs, and emphasizes the critical role of understanding the basic financials for scaling your business. As Chris shares insights gained from scaling a business from zero to $233 million annually, he highlights the importance of CEOs and founders having a solid grasp of financial principles. While hiring professionals like controllers, CFOs, or accountants is valuable, Chris asserts that CEOs must possess fundamental financial knowledge to guide decision-making and drive profitability. If you're looking to enhance your understanding of financial aspects crucial for business growth, this episode provides valuable insights. Tune in and take the first step toward becoming a more informed and strategic founder! Don't forget to check out Founder Acceleration, where entrepreneurs gather weekly to discuss and learn from each other's experiences. Visit founderacceleration.com to apply and join this dynamic community of business leaders. Highlights: "Understanding the basic financials of your business is absolutely imperative to really be able to go and scale." "You can hire a controller, you can hire a CFO, you can have a great accountant. But as the CEO, as the founder of your organization, it's imperative that you have a grasp on the basic knowledge." "Your gross profit margin percentage should not vary tremendously, it should be within one to two points if you have a really tight dialed-in direct labor cost of goods sold, managing your inventory and those types of things." Timestamps: 00:00: Introduction 02:21: Product Cost & Profitability 03:59: Revenue & Gross Profit 06:34: Acquisition Cost 08:19: Cost Management Live Links: 🚀 Join my community - Founder Acceleration https://www.founderacceleration.com 🤯 Apply for our next Mastermind https://www.thefoundermastermind.com ⛳️ Golf with Chris https://www.golfwithchris.com 🎤 Watch my latest Podcast Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-founder-podcast/id1687030281 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1e0cL2vI1JAtQrojSOA7D2?si=dc252f8540ee4b05 YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thefounderspodcast