Blaise Dinkelman, CPA, MBA, Fractional CFO, and owner of Outlook CFO, is a seasoned executive and a strategic advisor whose specialties include strategic planning, process improvement and lean systems.
Heather Graves Ramsey, owner of Coach to Brilliance interviews Blaise about what a business should consider to stay healthy and who businesses should have in their corner to avoid problems in the first place.
Chamber CEO Liz Hartman concludes with insider information for What You Need to Know in LO for the month of February.
2025 Award Recipients
Bob Bigelow Lifetime Achievement Award – Doug and Judy Cushing
Community Leader of the Year – Kevin Hanna
Dee Denton Business of the Year – Travel and Cruise Desk / Jamie Anderson, Owner
Bill Korach Leadership Award – Brian Monihan
Kay Vega Lakewood Center Champion – Jan Rimerman
C. Herald Campbell Heritage Champion – Caroline Glad
Fortuna Arts Champion – TBD
Networker of the Year – TBD
Rookie of the Year – Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Tamara Davis and Liz Tafel
Century Award – Lake Grove Garden Club / Lake Grove Presbyterian Church
Beautification Award – LO School District River Grove Elementary and Willow Apartments
LIZ HARTMAN:: [00:00:00] This is Business LO, a podcast by the Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce, which connects, educates, advocates, and champions our business community. We have nearly 500 members from international corporations to home based businesses, and we serve them all. Each episode of Business LO gives insider information to the local business community and the neighbors who support them.
And now let's talk business LO.
MICHELLE ODELL:: We're getting serious today, folks. It's February 1st. We're going to be talking about weathering the storm today. Why businesses close. And we have an expert with us for this episode to pass out umbrellas and galoshes. It's Blaze Dinkelman, CPA, MBA, fractional CFO. He's a seasoned executive, a strategic advisor, whose specialties include strategic planning, process improvement, and lean systems.
We also have Heather Graves Ramsey, owner of Coach to Brilliance. [00:01:00] She specializes in executive coaching and leadership development. And as always, Liz Hart.
I'm Michelle O'Dell. Let's have Heather take over the reins and talk to our guest, Blaise
BLAISE DINKELMAN:: Dinkelman. Thanks for inviting me to be a part of this. This is really
HEATHER GRAVES RAMSEY:: great. So Blaze, first of all, thank you so much for taking time to be with us. Part of the reason why we wanted to do this episode is we noticed there's a lot of businesses that are closing around us and we're like, well, wait a minute, like how do we help our businesses here locally to be as healthy as possible?
So we want to help them weather that storm, but we also want them to just be thinking of things that maybe they aren't thinking of because they're delivering whatever that product is or the service. So my. Burning question for you is really around, you know, as a business owner myself, but also for business owners around me, what should we be considering and thinking about in order to stay and be a healthy [00:02:00] business?
Speaker 3: At the heart of every entrepreneur, we are engaging in a process of taking something, whether that's a product or a service. And we're selling it for more than, hopefully, that's the plan. We're selling it for more than what it costs. And when we achieve that, there's money to be made. There's profit there.
It sounds overly simplistic, but that basic premise. Unfortunately, it gets a little bit noisy as a business grows and every business owner needs to, to come back to that. But first and foremost, looking at the health of your business, are you following that, that essential principle or are you falling into a trap, for example, of managing your business with a bank account balance as a business grows, things can get away from you.
And you, you know, many business owners that I work with. Fall into this trap where they unfortunately go to sleep checking their bank account and they wake up in the morning checking [00:03:00] their bank account and they know about how much they're going to process in payroll and they know about how much they need to be bringing in on a weekly basis.
And that's about it. And it can be a little bit dangerous as time goes on because things can get a little more complicated than that. So I really would. Press upon the minds of those business owners out there that are looking for, how, how can we do this better is to go in and really try to understand, are they following that basic foundational principle of making sure that at least in theory, selling things for more than, than their worth.
And if not, maybe it's time to get somebody professionally to come and take a closer look. Whether that's an accounting professional like myself, or even just a bookkeeper or a tax CPA, someone that. Can come take a look for you. Cause that's not something that you want to be running a business blindly with.
Speaker 4: It's important for us to look at our margins. And I don't know that all businesses take a moment to step back and see, what am I actually making off from? All that I'm doing, right? Not just the, [00:04:00] the one product that I'm putting on the shelf, but also all the other things that go into that, making sure that we have that.
So cashflow is definitely important. And I hear you on, I mean, there's a lot of businesses that I'm working with that are especially small business owners. They want to make sure they can make that payroll and that stresses them out more than anything. And oftentimes they're not taking a paycheck because they're making sure that their people are going to get paid.
That cashflow piece is one to handle. If I'm looking at that cashflow, what are some other things that might be That, that I could be thinking of or looking at as well.
Speaker 3: One piece that I will add to that is, before I answer that is E, every business has a point where they're kind of a break even, where the amount of the revenue that they're bringing in is enough to cover all of the expenses that it costs to make that revenue.
Plus paying themselves and paying maybe for the rent and utilities of their, if they have a brick and mortar facility. And so there's a breakeven point. And if you don't know what that number is, any of your financial [00:05:00] accounting professionals that are advising you, whether that's your tax. Accountant or whatever, ask him for that.
Ask, what's my break even point? Know what that is. Conceptually, that is the amount of revenue that you need to bring in every month or every week that you can tuck in the back of your mind. And no, I got to hit that or I need to exceed it. Cause that's the point where I just break even. It's zero. Okay.
There's nothing left over, but I need to be exceeding that. And if you don't know what that number is, you're again, you're kind of driving blind a little bit. So I would say that the other. Concept that I deal with a lot is when we start out as small business owners, we keep track of things on a basis that is cash basis.
Okay. We get a deposit from someone like a payment and we record it and then we pay for things as we need it. And that, that's a totally normal part of running a business. But when it comes to looking at your reports, that means that there can be a timing issue between the money's coming in and the money's [00:06:00] going out.
And if you look at your financials and you're trying to look for, am I profitable? Am I really operating this business in a way that it's making money? There's an inherent problem within the financials because those revenues and expenses aren't lined up in the same period. You can average periods, you know, where, where those expenses come, but it's a challenge.
And so in the accounting industry, there's a term called accrual based accounting. It's something that your accountant will eventually use that word. And essentially its whole purpose is to line up those revenues and expenses in the same period. Then there's multiple ways that we can maybe try to get there.
Even if we're not tracking it on a regular basis, but asking somebody to show me how profitable am I? Can you convert this to a cruel basis for me? Just so I know for this period or for this year, like what my profit margins are. That's incredibly valuable because every one of us, we have like thousands of transactions running through our businesses.
It's hard to like sit and [00:07:00] try to do that on the fly, but that's what our financial reports are there for is to capture it all. And to kind of tell us. The profit and loss specifically is there to tell us how profitable we are. So being aware of that cash basis and getting a snapshot of the accrual is great.
As a business matures, you will graduate. It's a great moment in a business's life when they graduate into accrual basis. Cause then you get to have your financials look that way all the time. And it's really a lot more powerful. You, so you got to understand a little bit of that bias that's happening at the beginning of your business.
Speaker 4: You know, definitely work with a lot of people who maybe they don't get paid right away. So they might have done the work, invoiced the group, and especially if they're working with a larger company, a lot of times they don't pay for 60, 90 days. It's not a big deal for them, but it is a very big deal for that small business.
One of the things that I encourage my folks to do is like, Hey, take a look at the way you're doing your contracts. Are you getting paid up ahead? What are the terms that you're doing? Like, what do you need to do? Because if that cashflow is stressing them out, especially from a payroll [00:08:00] perspective, you know, what can you do to move those organizations along?
Can you say, Hey, you're going to pay 80 percent upfront and then 20 percent after the event?
Speaker 3: Exactly.
Speaker 4: So we talked a little bit too, about things that people could be looking at now in this new year. One that you'd mentioned is like, what's changing? for our businesses.
Speaker 3: The cost of staffing is going up. And so being aware the need and cost of your employment, not just the wages and the taxes, but there's a lot of competition that's still coming in with other benefits that you may need to offer to be competitive, to get the right staff in place on a second, you know, maybe a lower level.
We talked about, you know, it's the The impact of inflation and tariffs, we're in a very inflationary environment right now as a global economy. But the U S is definitely feeling a lot of that. The recent forecast, especially with the threats of tariff, we're expecting to see additional inflation rates that are a little bit steeper than we've had in our lifetime.
And [00:09:00] so being aware of that and learning to not. Shy away from the notion of raising your prices and planning to negotiate with others for product and things like that, because it's, it's going to continue to be a competitive market that way. And so in the years past, we've just sort of tacked on one or 2 percent every year.
And, and that was just kind of standard, but now it's a little bit more than that. Three to 4%, it can be as much as, so we have to be careful and be aware that those are coming and that can. Really influence our buying practices as well as our cost of services that we have from our other providers as a business
Speaker 4: Definitely and I think to like look at your pricing because I have so many clients that have kept their pricing the same For so long and they're not looking at what's changed And so therefore in one case this woman was and you know, she was losing money.
It's a service based Organization they were losing money because of the clients that they had she ended up having to say, you know what? I'm [00:10:00] actually gonna I only have clients that are this amount per month and I have to say no, even though I love some of these other ones, I have to say no to some of those because I'm not going to be sustainable with the people that I've hired in order to be able to do that.
She's had to pay more for the staff as well as some other pricing increases. Just taking a look at what are we charging? How long have we been charging that and what kind of conversations do we need to have?
Speaker 3: And maybe that's something that was an inevitability, but that's the thing that's changed, right?
Is the, with the acceleration of inflation. You either make those decisions now, or you potentially are forced out of business. So being aware of that, that those forces are happening and reawakening the possibility of those decisions needed to happen sooner than maybe they, you thought they would.
Speaker 4: So Blaze, I have overextended.
I've looked at my numbers. I've overextended. I see that I could be going down a path that is not going to keep me here as a business. What the heck can I do? To stop that.
Speaker 3: Unfortunately, a too common of an [00:11:00] issue that comes up. I mean, every business owner has that fiduciary responsibility to monitor the capital in their business.
And I know I'm using some accounting terms, but you're responsible for the cash. That's you're the, you're the one person that typically bears that responsibility. My first answer, which you're not going to like is you need to avoid getting this position in the first place. Okay, so this is like an obvious comment, but it is highly recommended.
It's, it's, if you read any, like a Dave Ramsey book or any other financial advisor, they'll tell you, you need like three to six months of reserves. And that principle for personal finance applies to your business. So letting your business go high risk by not having enough cash to cover at least three months worth of your operating expenses is not.
A safe thing, especially in an environment where we're dealing with a lot of change, which we are in, we are coming out [00:12:00] of a century of stability globally and domestically where things were really profitable and successful as a business. But we have a lot of international stuff that's going on and it's we have a lot of domestic tax policy and everything that's really changing the lay of the land.
And so at a time more than ever, we need to. Pay respect to a little of that conservative principle of, of keeping those cash reserves. Now from there, what do we do when we're in that spot and if, whether we've done that or not. I've gotten
Speaker 4: there. I didn't mean to, but I got there. Yeah.
Speaker 3: There's a, maybe a list of things that we can do.
Are there other revenue streams that we can go look for that are maybe more profitable? Is the current one that I'm doing, is it drying up or experiencing a lot of competition? So this is a little bit of a pivot question. Can, is there something else we can offer that goes, you know, if I've got a brick and mortar, is there another product that I can offer that's increased my profit margins?[00:13:00]
Are there assets that I recently purchased? Like I'm reinvesting in the business and I bought this new machine. And oops, now my money's gone. Can I sell that machine back? Get that money back. Okay. That's a, an oh kind of a situation, but can you do that? We don't love to talk about cutting costs, but unfortunately that's an option that, that you might need to consider.
And another is getting a loan. For most small business owners, we are familiar with the SBA, which is the government backed agency that allows your banker access to loans that maybe their bank wasn't really willing to back, but the federal government will help you out. It doesn't mean that it's free money, it is a loan, but they will give you more money than you think.
And so if you're in a pinch, you know, talk to your banker, ask, is there a line of credit that you're eligible for, or a loan to kind of bail you out. That's like a one or two type thing. You can't cry wolf too many times with that, but that is an option. [00:14:00] And then lastly, you could look for a capital partner.
There's somebody that you know that will come in with some cash and you can give away a portion of your business. That is an option. The last point that I would make on this is if you get to this point, know that you're not alone. I think so many business owners, we get into this point and we're embarrassed and we clam up and we don't want to share that with anybody.
You're not alone. So many business owners get into this position and it's not all 100 percent your fault. There's normal and it's not unique to small business owners either. We've got Honda that's looking to potentially merge with Nissan. So don't get too far down on yourself when those things happen.
Speaker 4: So who do I need in my corner? In general, I don't want to get overextended. My people that are helping me stay healthy.
Speaker 3: Every business owner needs to be actively surrounding themselves with a group of advisors. And those that try to do it alone can only get so far and they have to go back and do makeup work to build up that [00:15:00] network, but have some kind of bookkeeping service provider.
They need a tax CPA. Usually those are two different groups, but they can be the same. In addition to that. These, some of these are just natural. Like you have an insurance provider. This is somebody that is financially astute. They're well informed. Getting a financial advisor personally, they can really help with a lot of these types of decisions that give you a helpful perspective and push back maybe on some of the ideas that you have.
Speaker 4: The chamber, you have a lot of, a lot of people at the chamber and there's so many different people and resources and connections that you have. I know for me personally, I've used score a ton at different points in my business because they've been really helpful with just big decisions that I was going to be making.
Should I do this? Should I not? And so having somebody that's been there and done that was super helpful. And
Speaker 3: that is the essence of what that advisor group should be. It's somebody that's been where you are. And that they can give you [00:16:00] some advice and build that network, build that that group. Maybe they're not professional advisors, and I would encourage you not to just lean on the professional advisors, but to have those friends, those mentors, those other business owners.
Cause key thing is I don't care if you're an extrovert or an introvert, you need the network. The number one trait that I would recommend that you lean into is just resilience. Business owners like have to be resilient. Things aren't always perfectly blue skies. It's a little bit of a roller coaster to grow your business.
And I think most business owners know that we as entrepreneurs have to deal with those ups and downs. There's some bright skies in front of us. This is a forecasting to be a really good year, despite the conditions that we're headed into with the inflation and whatnot, there's a lot of hiring that's taking place.
There's a lot of growth that's expected. And so with that. You make plans to accommodate that kind of environment. And so that [00:17:00] resilience is required to kind of be at peace when those times are slow and then be prepared to pounce when those opportunities are coming. Just recognize that it's for a season when things are down and learn how to pivot through it.
Speaker 4: I love that. It's a lot about mindset. What can I learn from this? Then what can I do differently to bring myself back up or bring us all back up? Right?
Speaker 3: Absolutely. And you know, maybe that's a time to get a business coach or some sort. They're trained to be able to guide you through that process I think is, is really powerful.
And so if you don't have some kind of coach or somebody that's emotionally intelligent enough to have that kind of a conversation with you. Maybe the downturns are a time to go and invest in that in yourself. Cause it builds that resilience and strengthens that muscle for sure.
Speaker 2: Wow. We are so lucky to have you blaze and Heather on our side, free, wonderful advice right here from business LO.
Thank you again so much for being here and blaze. Tell us how we can get ahold of you. If [00:18:00] someone wants to talk to you a little bit more.
Speaker 3: Best way to get ahold of me is probably to go to my website, which is www dot outlook. CFO. com and connect with me there. You can always find me also on LinkedIn. I have the most unique name, so I'm really easy to find.
Blaise Dinkelman. There's not another one in the world. I love to visit with business owners and know what they're going through and to kind of help them to see how. That fiduciary responsibility is not a weight that they have to carry alone. It's something that they can bounce ideas off of and it can spin things out in my direction to work on for them.
So it's a great service that, that we provided in a fractional space.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Blaise.
Speaker 3: You're welcome. It's my pleasure.
Speaker 2: Okay. Liz Hartman, let's get into what you need to know
Speaker: in LO. Well, you know, from that great podcast from last month with Chief Johnson, we are getting French descent. So, if you would like a wrench and you promise to put it [00:19:00] right next to your water main, you can get a free one.
We will have them at the chamber, and we'll have them over at the main fire department. Oh, right. The big deal is the Community Awards event, and that's on February 26th, up at Iron Light. This is the one time you get to really see how we make the fabric of the community. Who's had a lifetime of service?
So, our Lifetime Achievement People, the Bob Bigelow Award, is going to Judy and Doug Cushman. Both of them have made contributions throughout their life. And then, we don't award the Community Leader of the Year every year, but this year we are. And it's going to Kevin Hanna for his work in his assistance in initiating a police foundation.
And then, we have two Institutions that turned 100 in 2024, the Lake Grove Garden Club and Lake Grove Presbyterian Church are joining the Oswego Lake Country Club and Lake Oswego Review in being 100 years old and serving the community. [00:20:00] And then we have the Rookie of the Year award. Grocery Outlet Bargain Market.
They have really connected our chamber members. They've done special events with individual chamber members. We thought they were the appropriate ones for Rookie of the Year this year. The business of the year is Travel and Cruise Desk, and they had a number of nominations. What's really exciting about this, Jamie Anderson is the owner, and we see him at networking all the time.
Travel and Cruise Desk turned 60 this year. But what's even more impressive is, this is third generation. So, we will have at least two of the generations at the community awards. And so, you can see how many connections we have in this community. Not something you find everywhere.
Speaker 2: That's right, and thanks everybody for listening.
All of the information we talked about will be on the show notes. And remember, every day is a Chamber of Commerce day here in Lake Oswego.
Speaker: The Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce thanks you for listening to Business LO. [00:21:00] We would love to have you as a member so you can help Lake Oswego continue to be one of the best places to live, work, and play.
If you want to share an idea for a future episode, you Or become a member, visit us at LakeOswegoChamber. com and please like and follow us on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And for help with your business podcast, go to ModCastProductions. com