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Growth gets loud when sales spike and calendars fill, but profit whispers through the numbers. We sat down with CFO and founder Natalia Zacharin to unpack the simple, durable moves that turn frantic effort into financial clarity. We start with the non‑negotiables: founders must sell until the offer is proven, resilience is built on reframing “I can’t” into “I can’t yet,” and your circle should normalize both bigger wins and smarter failures. These habits unlock options—and optionality is what keeps your business alive in rough waters.
From there, we dig into the silent killers that drain profit. Pricing takes center stage: an 80% close rate on cold leads means you’re too cheap, and “I’m too busy to hire” is usually a price problem. We map clean thresholds for service businesses—around 30% payroll-to-revenue—and share a pragmatic rule of thumb for when full-time hiring makes sense. We also run a live playbook for slashing waste: quarterly subscription audits, ownership for every tool, and redirecting those “just $20” leaks into high-ROI bets or cash reserves.
Metrics make the picture honest. We break down the handful you should watch monthly: marketing spend near 10–12% tied to booked calls and closes, payroll efficiency around 30%, and a clear markup strategy on contractors and COGS. We separate cash from profit, show how to build a six‑month runway one deposit at a time, and talk debt discipline so interest doesn’t eat your margins. With clean books closed by week two, simple dashboards, and forward-looking forecasts, you can see six months ahead and course‑correct before it hurts.
If you’re at the stage where decisions compound quickly—pricing, hiring, ads, runway—this conversation gives you the frameworks to move with confidence. Subscribe for more bold, unfiltered strategies each week, share this with a founder who needs a profit reset, and tell us: which metric will you track first?