Business That Lasts – Episode 228
This week, Chief Victory Officer Eric Guy sits down with Lauren Furtado, founder of Unconventional CFO Services. After two decades in corporate finance and navigating profound personal loss, Lauren now helps business owners gain clarity, confidence, and control over their finances. In this conversation, Lauren shares how aligning your money with your mission can create real peace, purpose, and growth.
Takeaways:
Simplicity Over Complexity: Lauren’s work as a fractional CFO is rooted in clarity. She believes business finance doesn’t have to be intimidating; it just has to be approachable. While many business owners are overwhelmed by spreadsheets and jargon, Lauren helps them cut through the noise. Her approach is to make complex financial concepts simple without minimizing their importance. As she puts it, “It’s not easy, but it can be simple.” By distilling financial management down to a few key metrics and connecting them directly to the owner’s goals, she creates a roadmap that anyone can follow.
Replacing Fear with Confidence: Many small business owners, especially in trades and service industries, operate with a fear-based relationship to their finances. They may feel ashamed of what they don’t know or overconfident about what’s worked in the past. Lauren sees both: insecurity that prevents people from asking for help and ego that blocks them from making changes. Her method gently but firmly helps leaders shift from fear to clarity. She creates a judgment-free zone where owners can admit what they don’t know, learn how to interpret financial data, and make confident decisions about the future.
Financial Strategy Is Personal Strategy: What sets Lauren apart is her integration of personal and business goals. Early in her work with clients, she asks tough but necessary questions. What do you want your life to look like? How do you want your business to support that? She encourages business owners to involve their families in these conversations and to align their financial strategy with their desired lifestyle. Whether it’s spending more time at home, preparing for retirement, or buying a second property, Lauren keeps these goals front and center, tying them directly into business metrics like net profit, cash flow, and revenue growth.
Cash Flow is the Engine: Lauren spends more time on cash flow than any other financial tool. She explains that even profitable businesses can run into trouble if cash isn’t flowing correctly. Her cash flow forecasting process gives owners a clear picture of what money is coming in, what’s going out, and when. This visibility allows for better decision-making, like timing purchases, hiring, or negotiating with vendors. With a strong cash flow system, business owners shift from reactive to proactive, no longer blindsided by surprises.
Strong Systems Create Less Stress: Lauren cites research showing that many small business owners spend more than 20 hours per week stressing about finances. Much of that time isn’t productive; it’s worry. By setting up solid bookkeeping systems, monthly reporting rhythms, and clear review processes, she frees up her clients’ mental and emotional bandwidth. The result isn’t just increased profitability; it’s decreased anxiety, better relationships, and more time for what really matters.
Empowerment Through Vulnerability: Finances can feel deeply personal. Lauren calls it “financial nakedness,” that vulnerable place where you reveal what’s really going on in your books. But by leading with empathy and authenticity, she builds trust. Her clients know they can talk about the stress on their marriage, their fears about the future, or the goals they’re almost afraid to say out loud. She brings both strength and softness, an assertive, no-nonsense style balanced by deep emotional intelligence.
Don’t Wait to Ask for Help: Reflecting on her own entrepreneurial journey, Lauren admits that trying to do everything alone was a mistake. She now encourages leaders to bring in help, whether financial, legal, or operational, before they burn out. Her message is clear: you don’t have to wear every hat, and doing so may cost you more in the long run.
Links:
Check out more of Lauren: https://unconventional-cfo.com/link-in-bio
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