Get ready to take control of your finances

Helping SMEs to define, diagnose and correct problems to increase the profits so that they can improve their cash flows and business value

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I am Frances Atherstone and I am moving back into serving the SME market after the last 5 years spent in private equity transformation work, where I have really honed/pulled together my skills learnt over my career as an MBA CIMA qualified accountant.

Being employed in many industries, responsible for Global teams, and in different size organisations (from £0.5m turnover to £2.8bn and many in- between) has taught me how to diagnose quickly, be able to shift perceptions and get buy-in to changes, and therefore improve processes really quickly.

“I will help you define and diagnose your problem and guide you to form your Blueprint for desired change”

– Frances A.

The Services

  • CEO support – Chief of Staff

    - Trusted advisor status for all areas of the business – cash flow, reporting and analytics, project management, manage Board meeting prep

    - Attend monthly Board and Strategy meetings and create reporting to support your current business analysis and future business trajectory

    - Adjust processes to support the business strategy and improve any areas of concern

  • CFO role

    - Number of days monthly agreed for a period with defined goals/tasks

    - “Hold the fort” while you look for someone permanent and offer insight on the core skillset you are looking for in someone permanent

    - Depending on your long-term strategy, whether it is preparing for an exit or building it will be a really important aspect in determining who you need in this role

Projects

Define the problem - 1 to 2 month


1st GATEWAY


- Gather data - conduct workshops and interviews with management and staff, review financial data, product purchasing and sales data/flow, and cash flow

- Define and prioritise the problem(s)

- Conduct external surveys, if necessary, such as customers, suppliers, and competitors

- Maintain a constant feedback loop with the client

- Produce a report with broad strategy and actionable steps for implementation and further investigation

- A Guarantee of X days per month in the office

Create Plan and Implement – 3 months


2nd GATEWAY


Includes 1 st Gateway

- Create a steering committee and an agile plan based on the diagnosis report

- Inform the business and mobilise the team.

- Implement changes/tackle the problem(s) with weekly progress meetings and steering committee meetings every two weeks.

- Conduct a month-end review at the board meeting where the client takes ownership and prepares a report with consultant's input.

Manage Process to Success/Implement - 12 months


Includes 1st and 2nd Gateway

- Manage Process to Success/Implementation

- 12 months Includes 1st and 2nd Gateway steps

- Attend board meetings and provide input for reports prepared by the client

- Conduct monthly accountability meetings with managers and teams

- Make corrections when required to initial plans

My Happy Clients

“Frankie was invaluable to us when selling my business - she streamlined processes within the company first and then dealt with all information requests timeously, as well as professionally managing the liaison with purchasers”

– Paul S - Sale of photocopier business

“Frankie’s superpower is getting ot the root cause of a problem and amazing insight into what stakeholders are looking for … in advance, and was creative in finding solutions to problems we encountered in a large Data Analytics project”

– David S. Partner in Big 4 Consulting practise

 FAQs