Bill Moore, B2B CFO®
Providing B2B CFO® services in Bedford, MA and surrounding areas

I want to kick myself now. It took me 9 months to start blogging. I registered/bought BostonCFO.net in June 2009. I subscribed to and sometimes read other blogs about business, wine, blogging, dad stuff, social media, etc. I got two clients blogging, (one is now a HubSpot customer). So, why did this take me so long? (Maybe, as a father of 6, my best work needs 9 months to develop?) Was I afraid of website technology? Was I afraid of not having much to say? Was I a perfectionist? Let me use this post to “think out loud” about my launching experience as a small business owner blogger and see if it can help another small business owner that may be stuck.

Website Technology: Blogspot and WordPress have very basic starter blogs where you can start blogging in a couple of minutes, but I wanted mine to look right. Granted I had to register the domain, arrange for a host, figure out how to get the site setup, but there was always help anytime I asked. I decided to use Thesis because of the recommendations for ease of use for SEO and a variety of other reasons that escape me now. So, technology wasn’t the problem.

Content: What would I write about? In person, I talk about business, communications, technology, family, stress, startups, etc, but on my blog it had to be perfect. I thought I only had 3-4 things that may be interesting to write about. So, on the Red Line back to Alewife, I put those initial 4 topics in my Iphone notes, and asked what else I might want to talk about. I ended up with 85 topics over the 20 minute ride home. So content wasn’t the problem.

Time: I’ve never considered myself to be a free-flowing creative writer. I am an especially good editor and shaper of ideas though. To me, the writing process included flashbacks to 3AM banging away on an old Smith Corona typewriter back when I first started college. I didn’t want to have that burden messing with my work or time. In reality it was just a conscious decision on how best to use my time. I was really questioning my writing skills. I recently switched my bloated e-mail pst file to my laptop and noted over 5,000 sent e-mails were in there. So my writing skills or time wasn’t the problem.

Perfectionism: There are a lot of really good looking blogs out there. How would I compete? But what am I competing in? Why was I blogging to begin with? Yes, I do want this blog to let people know about me and how to work with me, but I also wanted to have an outlet to share what I learn from working with clients, being a dad, a husband, a friend, etc. Since none of those blogs were about how I can relate to the business community around me, I wasn’t really competing with them. I just needed to create the blog to add a third dimension to the @BostonCFO people can get to know on Twitter and other local events. I was already being that person, and it was far from “perfect”. Hmm…perfectionism wasn’t the problem.

Just Get Started: In the end this blog had been sitting in pieces in my head and my computer. I’d throw it out in conversations every once in awhile, but that didn’t ever go anywhere. In the Army, I remember being stuck in the air about 25′ on a confidence course. I had climbed a ladder to get up there and now needed to walk 15 feet across wooden beams that were about 18″ away from each other. I couldn’t move. That first step was nowhere to be found. A drill sergeant climbed up to ask what my problem was. He said he remembered being stuck on that very obstacle course 5 years earlier with another recruit. He said once he took the first step, he was actually able to walk around up there pretty easily (as he was demonstrating), while the other recruit never did take the step and got sent home. He stood beside me to show me how that first step worked. I took that step, and found I too could walk around up there with ease. And I felt pretty silly for taking so long. I felt the same way today after I finally launched my blog.

Four weeks after my obstacle course epiphany, I was at the Army Parachute School at Ft. Benning, GA standing in the door of a C-130 aircraft about 1/4 mile in the air completely terrified, but yet I took that step and never looked back.

B2B CFO NAMED IN PRESTIGIOUS INC. 5000 LIST

184% Growth Earns B2B CFO Spot in the 2010 List of Fastest
Growing Companies in America

Phoenix, Ariz. August 24, 2010 – B2B CFO, nation’s largest
provider of CFO services to small businesses, has been named to the
prestigious Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in America.



Now in its 29th year, Inc. Magazine’s annual ranking judges US-based
and privately held companies by their revenue growth. This year’s
list was ranked on the percentage in revenue increase from
2006-2009. B2B CFO’s growth earned 84th place in its industry.

“There are approximately 27 million small businesses in the U.S.
today,” said Jerry L. Mills, founder and chief executive officer of
B2B CFO, “It is a huge honor to be among the fastest growing and the
most successful businesses in the country. Our firm has experienced
tremendous growth over the past few years and we are on track to
continue expanding. I am especially grateful to all of the firm’s
dedicated Partners who continue to advocate our services around the
nation.”

In a personalized letter congratulating B2B CFO on this
accomplishment, Jane Berenston, editor-in-chief of Inc. Magazine’s
wrote “Congratulations: your company, B2B CFO, has made the 2010
list of the fastest growing private companies in America. This
achievement puts you in rarefied company, especially if you consider
that over 27 million businesses are registered in the USA. The elite
group you’ve now joined has, over the years, included companies such
as Microsoft, Timberland, Visa, Intuit, Jamba Juice, Oracle, and
Zappos.com. I look forward to congratulating you in person in
Washington, D.C.”

B2B CFO’s growth is reflected in numerous awards this year. The
company was also recently named in ACE Corporate Growth Awards,
which recognized the most successful and fastest growing companies
in Arizona.
In August 2010, B2B CFO has grown to 170 Partners across 39 states,
representing 5,000 years of cumulative experience. Each Partner is a
seasoned financial executive who serves as CFO to growing businesses
on as-needed basis. Approximately 80% of the Partners have a
background that includes senior executive positions at the Big Four,
and all of the Partners have held high level executive finance
positions in various industries in corporate America. Together, B2B
CFO Partners work with more than 500 businesses in the nation with
combined annual sales of more than $3 Billion.

Jerry L. Mills and many of the B2B CFO Partners regularly dedicate
time to educate business owners on financial matters. Mills is a
frequent speaker and contributor and has been featured on many
national media networks including FOX Business, Fortune Small
Business, Smart Money and many others. Mills is also the author of
The Danger Zone – Lost in the Growth Transition, and Avoiding The
Danger Zone – Business Illusions, both business non-fiction books
that help entrepreneurs understand and build a strong financial
strategy.

“We look forward to participating in the Inc. 500|5000 conference in
Washington, DC this fall,” added Mills. “Along with my colleagues, I
look forward to the October 2nd awards ceremony and to meeting the
entrepreneurs that created the other 5000 fastest growing companies
in America.”

About Inc. Magazine

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures LLC, Inc.
is the only major business magazine dedicated exclusively to owners
and managers of growing private companies that delivers real
solutions for todays innovative company builders. Inc. provides
hands-on tools and market-tested strategies for managing people,
finances, sales, marketing, and technology.

Inc. Magazine’s 29th annual Inc. 5000 ranking of the fastest-growing
private companies in the country is available online at
www.inc.com/inc5000/list

About B2B CFO

Headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz., the firm was founded in 1987 by
Jerry L. Mills. B2B CFO is the nation’s largest CFO firm serving
entrepreneurial, growth and mid-market companies with revenue under
$75 million. The firm’s partners have an average of 25 years of
experience and each individual partner is a senior level executive
with a broad range of expertise. Please visit online at
http://www.b2bcfo.com/