Exit Planning

Merushka Chetty

Darren Cherry – The Exit Planning Blueprint

In this episode, James Kennedy talks with Darren Cherry, Partner at FocusCFO and leader of the firm’s Exit Planning practice, about building a business that thrives without the owner. Darren explains the three reasons companies bring in a fractional CFO, why exits take 12-18 months (minimum), and how to grow value (not just income) by reducing owner dependency, tightening approvals, and installing metrics that drive behavior. He also shares a turnaround story from industrial manufacturing and the mindset entrepreneurs need to scale and sell.

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Merushka Chetty

Joe Stafford – The $26 Million Math Mistake That Changed Everything

In this episode, James Kennedy sits down with Joe Stafford, founder of Trinity Business Advisors and serial entrepreneur, to unpack hard-won lessons from scaling to $60M revenue, surviving a bank workout, exiting two companies, and now guiding owners through exit planning the right way. Joe shares how a simple gross-margin math fix generated $26M in profit, what really happens when private equity is on the other side of the table, and a practical playbook for making your business sellable, scalable, and less owner-dependent.

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Merushka Chetty

Joe O’Regan – Why 90% of Startups Waste Their Capital 

James Kennedy chats with Joe O’Regan – founder of Intrinsic CFO and an ACCA-qualified fractional CFO – about the full arc of capital: deploying it in banks, raising it in corporate finance, and managing it inside growing SMBs. From wind-farm project finance and PPAs to benchmarking margins and preparing for exit, Joe breaks down how smart capital allocation – and the “three Es” (economical, effective, efficient) – drives durable growth. Along the way: dairy-farm grit, Big Four consulting, Canada radio days, and why every business should be “always ready to sell.”

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