Founded in 2016, Prostack provides fully managed website hosting services for digital agencies and online businesses. They approached The CFO Centre after the concept of a fractional CFO was recommended to them at a time when they saw a great opportunity to scale the business significantly.
Prostack CEO, Martin Cole and his business partner, Chief Technical Officer Jimmy Crutchfield, had experienced steady organic growth since starting the business with just a £200 investment each in 2016.
However, the day-to-day running of the business was taking all their time and they weren’t thinking strategically. Despite knowing the business was profitable, they didn’t have sight of their financial performance.
A business connection recommended trying a fractional CFO to help them get to grips with the numbers in their business and inform their decision making.
Martin already knew Haider Mawji socially so a business relationship was easy to build and they started with a three-month trial looking at getting better visibility on the financial health of the business, and to develop a structured growth plan.
Martin describes the early days as being nothing like he expected. From The CFO Centre’s services being so much more than those of an accountant, to the unexpected advice that the business was in a strong position to scale, he felt refreshed and motivated by having this second opinion on the right thing to do for future success.
Initially, Haider created a budget and forecast and advised the business partners to focus on scaling their business.
Following that, Haider helped the team develop a sales strategy and set them some ambitious targets from which they have achieved significantly improved growth.
Prostack needed more management information to enable them to understand their business through a financial lens and also to plan for the future.
Haider began with the basics by putting a budget and forecast in place which showed that the business was in a strong position to scale up.
One of the main improvements has been the incentivisation of the co-founders to spend more time discussing the business and planning. Knowing their numbers gave them the motivation to do this which, in turn, meant some great ideas were generated and progress was made.
The new sales strategy immediately started to improve growth and, as an illustration that financial leadership isn’t just about numbers, Haider also implemented town hall style meetings to ensure their largely remote workforce began to communicate more.
Collaboration and growth both improved and a team of three became a team of nine over the course of a year.
Profits are being invested back into the business to ensure scaling can continue at pace and Martin explains that Haider’s knowledge and expertise gives them the confidence they need to do this.
Martin explained that Haider has provided so much more than the services you’d expect from a financial perspective. His counsel has increased the confidence of the team and helped them seethe path to growth and success.
Prostack has even increased its presence at large conferences and events, with the team feeling comfortable to compete with larger players and showcase their offering.
They have their sights set on scaling the business, they can see the opportunity and are enjoying anew-found enthusiasm for growth.
He motivates us to consider our options and reinforces our confidence that we have a good business. Haider is very good at finding information and motivating the whole team around the future direction of the business with is really valuable.”
Martin Cole – CEO Prostack
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