『The Fractional CFO Show with Adam Cooper』のカバーアート

The Fractional CFO Show with Adam Cooper

The Fractional CFO Show with Adam Cooper

著者： Adam Cooper
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Every small business owner needs financial advice to help scale and grow. Each week successful Operators join fractional CFO Adam Cooper, to share their experiences, tips and tricks to help improve your business cash flows, profits and help reach your financial goals. If you are an entrepreneur looking to take control of your business finances, this is the podcast for you.

© 2026 The Fractional CFO Show with Adam Cooper マネジメント マネジメント・リーダーシップ リーダーシップ 経済学
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  • The Rising Cost of Growth

    The Rising Cost of Growth
    2026/08/13
    Customer acquisition is getting harder.E-commerce growth has slowed, consumer confidence remains under pressure and businesses are having to work much harder to justify where every pound of marketing budget goes.So what does profitable growth look like when acquiring the next customer is becoming increasingly expensive?In this episode of The Fractional CFO Show, Adam Cooper is joined by Daniel Dunn, CEO and Co-Founder of Paper Planes, a growth agency and technology platform helping D2C and e-commerce brands use data-driven postal marketing to acquire, retain and reactivate customers.Dan's background spans Disney, data and insights consultancy dunnhumby, Tesco Clubcard strategy and managing major brand marketing investment before co-founding Paper Planes.That experience gives him an interesting perspective on one of the biggest challenges facing founders today: balancing customer acquisition and business growth with profitability and return on investment.The changing economics of customer acquisitionDan explains why the environment for e-commerce and D2C brands has changed significantly since the growth experienced during the pandemic.For years, businesses could increase marketing spend across channels such as Meta, Google and paid social and see relatively predictable growth.Today, that equation is becoming more difficult.Customer acquisition costs are under pressure, consumers have more choice and founders need a much clearer understanding of which marketing activity is genuinely creating incremental growth.That means moving beyond top-line revenue and asking better questions about marketing ROI, profitability and where the next pound of investment should go.Marketing needs both creativity and dataOne of the central themes of the conversation is Dan's view that marketing is both an art and a science.Great creative still matters. Brands need campaigns that attract attention, communicate effectively and stand out in crowded markets.But creativity needs to sit alongside data-driven decision-making.For founders working with more limited budgets, understanding the return generated by different marketing channels becomes particularly important. The objective isn't simply to spend more. It's to understand what works, remove ineffective spend and continually improve how capital is allocated.Acquisition versus customer retentionWe also explore the increasing focus on customer retention and reactivation.Businesses naturally spend a lot of time thinking about how to acquire new customers, but Dan argues that many overlook the value sitting within their existing first-party customer data.Once a business has paid to acquire a customer, there is an opportunity to build that relationship, increase customer lifetime value and encourage repeat purchases rather than continually paying to replace them with someone new.For founders focused on sustainable and profitable growth, the balance between acquisition and retention is becoming increasingly important.Why diversification mattersAnother major theme is marketing diversification.Many growing businesses become heavily dependent on a relatively small number of channels, particularly Meta, Google, email and paid social.That can work extremely well, until performance changes.Dan's advice isn't to abandon successful channels. Instead, businesses should understand which parts of their existing marketing spend are generating the strongest returns and continually allocate a small proportion of budget towards testing something new.His recommendation to founders is simple: every quarter, try a new channel.Testing doesn't necessarily require a larger overall marketing budget. It can mean identifying ineffective expenditure, reallocating it and using controlled tests to understand whether another channel can deliver incremental returns.Over time, that creates a more diversified and resilient customer acquisition strategy.First-party data and direct mailThe conversation also challenges some assumptions around direct mail.With hundreds of billions of emails being sent globally every day, getting attention through an inbox is increasingly difficult.Dan explains how modern postal marketing has moved well beyond traditional batch-and-blast direct mail.By combining first-party data, customer segmentation, marketing automation and personalised campaigns, physical mail can become another measurable channel within a wider customer acquisition and retention strategy.The principle is broader than direct mail itself: founders should be prepared to test different routes to market rather than automatically allocating budget to the channels everyone else uses.Growth, profitability and financial decision-makingFrom a financial perspective, this creates an important question.When does marketing spend represent genuine investment in growth, and when are businesses simply buying increasingly expensive revenue?For founders, CEOs and finance leaders, good marketing decision-making requires visibility ...
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    35 分
  • How Rise at Seven Increased Agency Utilisation from 50% to 80%

    How Rise at Seven Increased Agency Utilisation from 50% to 80%
    2026/07/30
    What separates highly profitable agencies from those that constantly feel stretched?For many agency founders, the answer isn't simply winning more clients or asking people to work harder. It's building better operational systems, improving resource planning, understanding the numbers behind the business and making more informed commercial decisions.In this episode of The Fractional CFO Show, Adam Cooper sits down with Ryan McNamara, Global Operations Director at Rise at Seven, to explore how the agency transformed its utilisation from around 50% to 80% over a two-year period—and, more importantly, what other agencies can learn from that journey.Ryan has spent his career building and improving operational systems across creative and digital agencies. Having founded his own business before moving into senior operations leadership, he understands both the entrepreneurial and operational challenges that agencies face as they grow.Rather than discussing theory, Ryan shares the practical lessons learned from implementing operational change inside one of the UK's best-known agencies.Together, Adam and Ryan explore why agency profitability is often driven by operational excellence rather than cost-cutting, why better resource planning creates better client outcomes, and why finance, operations and client services need to work together if agencies are to scale successfully.One of the biggest themes throughout the conversation is changing how agencies think about utilisation.Too often, utilisation is viewed purely as a finance metric or something used to monitor employee performance.Ryan explains why that's the wrong approach.Instead, utilisation should be viewed as an operational planning tool that helps agencies: Deliver better work for clients Improve project profitability Make more informed hiring decisions Build stronger commercial awareness Increase operational efficiency Support sustainable agency growth Rather than creating pressure, accurate operational data should help leaders make better decisions and give teams the support they need to succeed.In this episode we discuss: How Rise at Seven increased agency utilisation from approximately 50% to 80% Why improving utilisation takes time, consistency and leadership rather than quick fixes Why so many agencies struggle with utilisation, timesheets and operational discipline Why scheduling matters more than timesheets The difference between measuring historical performance and planning future capacity How resource planning improves both agency profitability and client experience Using utilisation data to support pricing decisions and improve project profitability Understanding when work is under-scoped and when projects need to be repriced Why timesheets should never be used to "police" employees Creating a culture where operational information helps people rather than punishes them How accurate data improves training, coaching and professional development Using operational data to support recruitment and hiring decisions Why utilisation acts as an early warning system for future capacity challenges The relationship between capacity planning, resource allocation and commercial performance Bringing together finance, client services and operations to improve decision-making Why operational leadership is ultimately about people, not process How agency founders can introduce better planning without creating unnecessary bureaucracy Why processes should support outcomes rather than dictate behaviour The importance of understanding your financial numbers before adding operational complexity Ryan's recommended business books on operations, leadership and continuous improvement One insight that particularly stood out was Ryan's observation that:"Timesheets tell you what has happened. Scheduling tells you what happens next."It's a deceptively simple idea, but one that completely changes how agencies should think about planning.Timesheets provide valuable historical data, but scheduling allows agencies to proactively manage future workload, resource allocation, project delivery and profitability.Throughout the conversation, Ryan explains how better scheduling allows agencies to identify future bottlenecks, improve client delivery, make smarter hiring decisions and ultimately build a healthier business.The discussion also explores how operational data supports commercial conversations.Instead of relying on gut feel, agencies can use accurate information to understand: Whether projects are profitable Where teams need additional support Which departments require investment When additional hiring is justified Where clients may need to be re-scoped or repriced How to balance client delivery with long-term sustainable growth These are exactly the kinds of conversations that founders, operations leaders and finance professionals need to be having if they want to build resilient ...
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    36 分
  • Funding Impact - Leading a Charity in a Competitive World

    Funding Impact - Leading a Charity in a Competitive World
    2026/07/16
    Can a charity teach business leaders about financial management?Most people assume charities and commercial businesses operate in completely different worlds.In reality, the financial challenges are remarkably similar.Whether you're leading a global conservation charity or a growing SME, you're still responsible for generating sustainable income, managing cash flow, allocating limited resources, investing in people and technology, planning for the future and making difficult strategic decisions.In this episode of The Fractional CFO Show, Adam Cooper sits down with Paul Cox, CEO of Shark Trust, to explore what it really takes to lead a purpose-driven organisation in an increasingly competitive funding environment.Although Shark Trust exists to protect sharks and rays around the world, this conversation is about far more than conservation.It's about financial leadership, strategic planning, resource allocation, operational efficiency and making better decisions under pressure.Paul shares his fascinating journey from investment banking to marine biology before ultimately becoming CEO of one of the world's leading shark conservation charities. Along the way, he explains why running a charity demands the same commercial discipline as running any successful organisation.One of the biggest misconceptions Paul challenges is the belief that charities somehow operate outside the normal realities of business.As he explains during the episode:"We still have bills to pay. We still have people to pay. We still have offices, technology and operating costs. The difference is that when we generate a surplus, we invest it back into creating more impact."That single insight forms the foundation for a fascinating discussion covering everything from fundraising strategy and financial planning through to artificial intelligence and measuring return on investment.What you'll learn in this episodeDuring the conversation we discuss: Why charities require exactly the same financial discipline as commercial organisations. The financial realities of leading a purpose-driven organisation. Cash flow management and maintaining financial resilience during uncertain economic conditions. Why unrestricted funding is often significantly more valuable than restricted grant funding. Long-term financial planning when projects and funding commitments span several years. Building diversified income streams to improve organisational resilience. Making strategic investment decisions when resources are limited. Balancing investment in people, technology and projects. Creating operational efficiency without compromising organisational purpose. Improving productivity through smarter systems and processes. The growing impact of Artificial Intelligence on fundraising, grant applications and organisational effectiveness. Responsible AI adoption and balancing technological innovation with environmental responsibility. Measuring return on investment when success isn't measured through profit. Leadership lessons from running an international conservation organisation. Why collaboration often creates greater long-term impact than competition. Running a charity still requires great financial leadershipOne of the strongest themes throughout the conversation is that good financial management isn't about maximising profit.It's about maximising impact.Whether you're a founder, CEO, finance director or charity leader, the same questions continually arise: How do you make the best use of finite resources? How do you prioritise investment opportunities? How do you forecast in uncertain markets? How do you improve productivity without continually increasing costs? How do you balance today's pressures with tomorrow's ambitions? Paul explains how Shark Trust approaches these challenges through careful strategic planning, disciplined financial management and a clear focus on long-term outcomes.For anyone involved in business growth, financial planning, strategic finance or organisational leadership, there are valuable lessons throughout this discussion.AI, productivity and doing more with lessArtificial Intelligence has become one of the biggest talking points for organisations of every size.Rather than viewing AI as a replacement for people, Paul explains how Shark Trust is exploring ways to use it responsibly to increase productivity and free up time for higher-value work.The conversation explores: Using AI to improve operational efficiency. Supporting research and knowledge gathering. Improving communication and content creation. Enhancing fundraising processes. Managing AI responsibly within a mission-led organisation. Balancing innovation with environmental responsibility. It's a thoughtful discussion that moves beyond the headlines to consider how leaders can embrace technology while remaining focused on people and purpose.Measuring success beyond profitFor most businesses, success is ...
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    31 分
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