Épisodes

  • The Power of Organizing Your Data: What These Food Businesses Learned in Their First Month Using Financial Strategy Software
    Nov 10 2025

    Sarah shares real stories from beta testers using The Good Food CFO financial strategy software for the first time:

    * A founder running five sales channels discovered their revenue tracking wasn’t set up to support strategic decision-making

    * A 16-year bakery owner finally understood where profit actually goes when monthly debt payments take it right back out

    * A founder learned why categorizing marketing expenses as cost of goods sold makes their numbers nearly impossible to interpret

    The software isn’t just a tool—it’s revealing the blind spots that most founders don’t even know they have. Tune in for practical insights about organizing your financial foundation and unlocking better decision-making in your business.

    Want this same clarity in your food business? Join our waitlist for 50% off your first month’s subscription.

    Join The Good Food CFO Community:

    Follow us on Instagram: @thegoodfoodcfo

    Watch on YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

    Become a Member: BABOYOT



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thegoodfoodcfo.substack.com/subscribe
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    42 min
  • BABOYOT w/ Kelley Scanlin of Pure Simple Foods
    Oct 27 2025

    Can you build a CPG brand without chasing unicorn status? Kelley Scanlin, founder of Pure Simple Foods (parent to Lark-Ellen Farm and Purely Sprouted), shares how she grew from farmer’s market beginnings to operating a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility—all while refusing to compromise on quality.

    Sarah and Kelley dig into the strategic path most founders overlook, exploring:

    * Why regional growth beats racing for national distribution

    * How mission and values guide major business decisions (including which distributors to work with)

    * The evolution from founder to CEO and knowing your end game from day one

    * Why slow, intentional scaling protects quality and profitability

    * The reality check every founder needs: you don’t have to be the next RX Bar

    * Building with strategy first—not just hoping for viral growth

    Kelley’s honest perspective on defining success differently offers a refreshing alternative to the “grow fast, exit big” narrative. This conversation redefines what CPG success can look like when you build on your own terms.

    Join The Good Food CFO Community:

    Follow us on Instagram: @thegoodfoodcfo

    Connect on LinkedIn: @sarahdelevan

    Watch on YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

    Become a Member: BABOYOT



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thegoodfoodcfo.substack.com/subscribe
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    1 h et 4 min
  • Profit by Design: Building a Food Business That Doesn't Require Endless Investment
    Oct 13 2025

    Margins matter—but what’s the rest of the financial strategy that transforms good margins into actual profitability and positive cash flow?

    Sarah lays out the complete three-part framework behind “Profit by Design,” the philosophy helping food founders escape the 70% failure rate. Beyond product margins, you need clarity on your true operating expenses and the ability to build financial scenarios that answer critical questions: How many units do I need to sell to break even? How much capital will this really take? How long until I stop reinvesting?

    Sarah shares the story of a baker whose scenario modeling revealed she’d need to bake cookies around the clock just to break even—saving her from launching an unsustainable business. Learn why planned losses are easier to navigate than surprises, how to know if you’re on or off track each month, and why having this complete financial roadmap transforms entrepreneurship from constant uncertainty into strategic execution.

    This is the missing link between understanding your margins and building a food business that actually works financially.

    Join The Good Food CFO Community:

    Follow us on Instagram: @thegoodfoodcfo

    Watch on YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

    Become a Member: BABOYOT



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thegoodfoodcfo.substack.com/subscribe
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    35 min
  • Farmer’s Market Strategies w/ Catt Fields-White: On Pricing, Scaling & When to Walk Away
    Oct 6 2025

    Farmers markets offer food founders the chance to capture high margin sales —but it only matters if you know how to make them profitable. In this episode, Sarah sits down with Catt Fields-White, nationally recognized farmers market expert and founder of the InTents National Farmers Market Conference, to answer real questions from Good Food CFO listeners about maximizing farmers market revenue.

    What You’ll Learn:

    * Why Catt told one cookie vendor to raise prices five times before adding production capacity

    * The margin advantage of farmers markets vs. wholesale distribution (and why it matters for cash flow)

    * Logistics for selling at 7+ markets weekly: staffing, delivery, and storage solutions

    * Simple display changes that directly impact sales (including the pricing psychology most vendors miss)

    * What to do before walking away from an unprofitable market, and more

    Thinking about launching, growing or revamping a farmer’s market business? This episode is for you!

    Join The Good Food CFO Community:

    Follow us on Instagram: @thegoodfoodcfo

    Connect on LinkedIn: @sarahdelevan

    Watch on YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

    Become a Member: BABOYOT



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thegoodfoodcfo.substack.com/subscribe
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    47 min
  • Client Story: The "Grow Last" Strategy That Created $107K Monthly Profits
    Sep 22 2025

    What if the secret to massive food business profits isn't growing revenue first? Sarah reveals a counterintuitive "grow last" strategy that transformed a seasonal business from $19K to $107K monthly profits in just two years.

    This client's 14% gross profit margins were a ticking time bomb – every new sale was actually creating bigger losses. But instead of the typical "sell more" advice, Sarah implemented a radical two-year approach that flipped conventional growth wisdom upside down.

    Year 1 Strategy: Fix everything inside the business first. Sarah walks through the unsexy but profit-generating work that most founders skip. Revenue stayed flat while profits more than doubled – proving the model worked before scaling.

    Year 2 Strategy: Revenue growth. But rather than finding new customers or opening a new locations, the goal was to maximize customer value.

    Tune in as Sarah breaks down her profit assessment process and all the details of the financial and operations strategy that resulted in 5X profit growth.

    Join The Good Food CFO Community:

    Follow us on Instagram: @thegoodfoodcfo

    Connect on LinkedIn: @sarahdelevan

    Watch on YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

    Become a Member: BABOYOT



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thegoodfoodcfo.substack.com/subscribe
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    37 min
  • Right-Sizing vs. Scaling: The Growth Strategy That Actually Makes Food Founders Money
    Sep 8 2025

    What if the secret to a profitable food business isn't scaling bigger, but growing smarter? Sarah challenges the "grow fast or fail" mentality that's crushing food entrepreneurs, revealing why 75% of VC funded businesses fail and sharing a proven approach to sustainable growth.

    You’ll meet two food founders who made the counterintuitive decision to right-size their businesses - one contracting from national to regional distribution, another strategically eliminating sales channels. The result? Better cash flow, higher profit margins, and businesses they actually love running again.

    Discover the three warning signs that your business needs right-sizing, why gross profit margins below 50% slowly drain your cash flow, and the specific financial tools Sarah uses to help founders evaluate whether contracting could transform their bottom line. You'll hear practical strategies for building a financially sustainable food business that works for you, not against you. Plus: inspiring updates on where these founders are today- including one successful business exit and a beautiful rebrand that's thriving.

    Financial Strategy Software is coming soon! Get on the waitlist now at thegoodfoodcfo.com/waitlist

    Join The Good Food CFO Community:

    Follow us on Instagram: @thegoodfoodcfo

    Connect on LinkedIn: @sarahdelevan

    Watch on YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

    Become a Member: BABOYOT



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thegoodfoodcfo.substack.com/subscribe
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    40 min
  • BABOYOT with Kartik Das from Doosra: Building Repeatable Revenue Without Big Retail
    Aug 25 2025

    While most founders obsess over store count, Kartik Das, Founder of Doosra is building repeatable revenue systems. Rather than chasing new accounts Kartik focused on just 15 core retail partners and developed a multi-channel strategy that generates predictable cash flow.

    Sarah and Kartik dive deep into Doosra’s financial playbook: the 90-day cash flow planning system that breaks large expenses into daily decision points, strategic use of 0% APR credit cards for working capital, and community crowdfunding. Discover why Kartik deliberately turned down major retail opportunities and how he validates market demand through methodical testing rather than expensive guesswork.

    From creative funding solutions to building systems that scale without burning cash, this episode delivers financial insights food entrepreneurs can use to build financially sustainable businesses.

    Learn more about Doosra

    Website: www.eatdoosra.com

    Instagram: @eatdoosra

    Join The Good Food CFO Community:

    Follow us on Instagram: @thegoodfoodcfo

    Connect on LinkedIn: @sarahdelevan

    Watch on YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

    Become a Member: BABOYOT



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thegoodfoodcfo.substack.com/subscribe
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    1 h et 5 min
  • Big News: We're Launching Custom Financial Software Built Just for Food Founders
    Aug 11 2025

    The Good Food CFO is launching first-of-its-kind financial strategy software built exclusively for food founders!

    After seven years of perfecting her approach with hundreds of clients, Sarah's taking everything she knows about building profitable food businesses and turning it into powerful software that doesn't exist anywhere else.

    This isn't another generic financial tool trying to serve everyone. In this episode Sarah is sharing the three core features launching in the initial version of the software, including a growth simulator that lets you test scenarios for growing your food business before making moves. Adding a new sales channel? Considering a new product? Run the numbers and see when you'll break even, when you’ll become profitable and how much capital you'll need to get there.

    Sarah shares why she swore she'd never be a tech founder (and what finally changed her mind), how winning June's $10,000 Amber Grant is accelerating development, and her bigger vision to use the software to prove local food businesses deserve serious investment.

    The software is launching soon! The waitlist is now open - hop on to be the first to know when the Beta version is available.

    Get on the waitlist today at thegoodfoodcfo.com/waitlist

    Join The Good Food CFO Community:

    Follow us on Instagram: @thegoodfoodcfo

    Connect on LinkedIn: @sarahdelevan

    Watch on YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

    Become a Member: BABOYOT



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thegoodfoodcfo.substack.com/subscribe
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    34 min