James Kennedy sits down with Michael Barbarita, founder of Next Step CFO and author of Powerful Business Strategies, to unpack four decades of wins and lessons – from buying his first company with high-interest debt, to engineering turnarounds with risk-reversal guarantees, to selling a struggling service business for a 10× EBITDA multiple. Michael shares the exact tactics he used to negotiate seller financing, restructure vendor debt, raise prices the right way, and craft compelling offers that competitors won’t match.
About Michael Barbarita
A veteran fractional CFO and former multi-business owner, Michael blends deep finance chops (accounting, FP&A, forecasting) with hands-on operating experience. He grew a ski retail business from $2.5M to $8M in five years, sold a specialty foods company, stumbled (and learned) with an outpatient clinic, then launched Next Step CFO to implement business and financial strategies most rivals overlook.
What You’ll Learn
- Buying With (Smart) Debt: How terms matter more than price – and why urgency can unlock favorable seller financing.
- Risk Reversal That Actually Sells: The “ski it three times or swap it” guarantee that boosted sales 25% with almost zero returns – and how to adapt it to services.
- Pricing Without Fear: Why “no one complains about price” is a red flag, how to test increases, and the telltale no-rate to aim for.
- Turnaround Playbook: Group vendor workouts, payment plans, trimming non-performers, bundling, financing options, and rebates to add value without cutting price.
- From Loss to Exit: Going from –$250K to profitable, then targeting a strategic buyer for a $500K sale at 10× EBITDA.
Episode Highlights
- “Terms can change everything. I’ll pay you $10M if I can pay $1 a month for 10M months.”
- “We sold 8,000 pairs the first year under the guarantee – eight came back.”
- “If you’re not getting some price pushback (≈20–33%), you’re probably priced too low.”
- “The hardest step is the next step after a failure – 30 days after we closed the clinic, I launched Next Step CFO.”
- “Strategic CFOs don’t just keep score – they create outcomes: offers, pricing, financing, exits.”
More About Michael’s Work
At Next Step CFO, Michael implements business + financial strategies that competitors won’t: positioning and guarantees that speak to a customer’s real risk, price architecture and testing, cash-flow and forecast discipline, vendor restructures, and exit targeting. His focus is making offers compelling, margins healthier, and outcomes measurable – so owners can stop funding losses from “Hip-Pocket National Bank” and start engineering optionality.
