Most business owners don’t get into trouble because they’re lazy or “bad with money.”
They get into trouble because growth creates complexity faster than their financial systems can keep up.
In this episode of the Bender CFO Podcast, Shane Bender sat down with Chris Thomas, Founder of Blue Oak Consulting. Chris brings nearly three decades of finance leadership experience and now works as a fractional CFO, helping business owners improve cash flow, strengthen profitability, and make smarter decisions with their numbers.
While Chris often works with industrial and manufacturing businesses, the financial lessons he shared apply directly to marketing agencies and growing B2B service firms—especially those trying to scale without stepping on a financial landmine.
🎥 Watch the full conversation below for the complete discussion.
Chris said most of his client conversations start with cash flow—or more accurately, a lack of control and visibility around cash flow.
That hits home for agencies and B2B service firms because cash flow pain often isn’t caused by a bad business.
It’s caused by timing.
Payroll hits every two weeks. Vendors and contractors need to be paid. Meanwhile, clients pay late, projects slip, retainers churn, or AR stacks up behind “we’ll get to it next week.”
Cash flow becomes the constraint that forces reactive decisions:
Chris’ point wasn’t “watch cash more.”
It was: get control of cash flow so it stops controlling you.
One of Chris’ real examples was a client who hadn’t adjusted pricing for almost two years. Costs rose, margins fell, and the owner didn’t see it until the damage was already done.
Agencies and B2B service firms hit the same trap—just in different clothing.
Instead of raw materials, your “cost” is often delivery time, specialist labor, subcontractor spend, or scope creep that never gets re-priced.
It shows up like this:
By the time the owner notices, they’re exhausted, the team is stretched, and the client relationship is fragile.
A strong CFO lens forces the right question early:
Are we pricing based on what this work really costs us now—or what it used to cost?
Chris described a situation he sees too often: the “house bank” won’t extend more credit, the owner panics, and they end up taking high-interest funding that looks convenient but creates a long-term trap.
He referred to them as “payday loan” style options for businesses—fast cash, brutal rates, and terms that don’t reward early payoff.
For agencies, the equivalent might look like:
Chris’ solution approach was straightforward:
Refinance high-interest debt into healthier structures where possible, reduce the interest burden, and use better cash flow management to prevent the same pattern from repeating.
The deeper lesson is this:
When you don’t know your numbers, you don’t know your options.
And when you don’t know your options, you make expensive decisions under pressure.
One of the most important moments in the conversation was the reminder that growth often creates cash strain—even in profitable businesses.
A business can be winning on paper and still get squeezed in the real world.
Agencies see this when:
Chris described a scenario where one prospect could represent a massive percentage of revenue growth, but fulfilling it required careful balancing so the company didn’t get in trouble.
For agencies, it’s the same concept:
Landing the deal is not the same as affording the deal.
This is why forecasting matters.
Not “monthly bookkeeping after the fact.”
Real forecasting that answers:
Chris shared a pitfall that applies to almost every owner: the belief that you can do everything yourself.
He used a simple example—spending an entire Sunday trying to do graphic design when that’s not his strength.
The point wasn’t about Canva.
It was about leadership.
Growth requires delegation at the right time, not “someday when things calm down.”
For agencies, this hits especially hard because the owner often becomes the bottleneck for:
A fractional CFO partnership helps remove that bottleneck by creating structure and accountability around the decisions that keep owners stuck in reactive mode.
Chris said something blunt: many owners don’t know their gross profit percentage or net income percentage. Not because they can’t “look it up,” but because they’re not looking at it.
That matters because if you don’t know your margin drivers, you can’t steer the business.
For agencies and B2B service firms, “know your P&L” means more than scanning revenue.
It means understanding:
Chris also highlighted another issue: inaccurate financials caused by poor bookkeeping or mis-coded expenses.
If the numbers aren’t clean, the decisions won’t be either.
Chris shared a common response he gets during outreach:
“I’m not looking for an accountant—I already have one.”
And his response is the key distinction:
A fractional CFO is a strategic business partner. The “right hand” of the owner. Someone who brings financial clarity into business operations.
That’s the difference between:
Chris also mentioned training non-finance teams on basics like fixed cost leverage and fixed vs variable cost—because clarity isn’t just for the CFO. It changes how the business operates.
For agency owners, this is where CFO guidance becomes a growth tool, not a finance expense.
Chris defined success in a way most owners don’t expect.
His goal is to help a client grow to the point they eventually say:
“Someday, Chris, I don’t need you anymore. I need a full-time CFO.”
That’s the real win.
Not dependency.
Progression.
Fractional CFO support is meant to create systems, clarity, and discipline so the business can scale beyond founder-led finance decisions.
If this conversation hit close to home, it usually means one thing:
You’re past the stage where instinct and bank balance checks are enough.
Bender CFO Services helps marketing agencies and growing B2B service firms gain financial clarity, make smarter decisions, and improve profitability month after month—without the cost of a full-time CFO.
We provide fractional and outsourced CFO leadership focused on:
👉 Book a Free CFO Strategy Call with Shane
Talk through your growth goals, cash flow constraints, and margin blind spots—and leave with clarity on what to fix next.