From Fortune 500 Boardrooms to the Front Lines of Entrepreneurship
Table of Contents
- The Critical Gap in SMB Financial Services
- Why Strategic Financial Planning Matters for Growing Companies
- The Contrail Financial Approach to SMB Success
- Midwest Financial Services with National Reach
- Proven Results: SMB Success Stories
For most of my career, I lived in the world of scale: Fortune 500 corporations, global private equity firms, venture-backed startups, and family office funded enterprises. These were organizations with deep pockets and big ambitions. What they all had in common was the ability to leverage sophisticated strategic financial planning to drive better decisions, accelerate growth, and unlock profitability.
Key Insight: The same financial strategy consulting principles that power Fortune 500 success can transform small and mid-sized businesses when properly adapted and delivered through fractional CFO services.
I spent years inside these companies, helping leadership teams answer their most pressing strategic financial planning questions:
Common Strategic Financial Questions:
- Should we expand into this market?
- How do we allocate capital across competing priorities?
- What’s the most efficient way to raise funds or finance growth?
- How do we prepare for an acquisition or exit?
The Power of Strategic Financial Planning
The work was demanding, complex, and rewarding. But what struck me most wasn’t the high-stakes nature of the projects. It was the power of disciplined financial analysis combined with strategic clarity. In the right hands, financial insights weren’t just numbers on a page. They were decision-making fuel that gave leaders confidence to move forward boldly and created clarity where uncertainty had been the norm.
In large, well-capitalized organizations, this was just how things worked. They had the teams, the resources, and the budgets to support it. But the more time I spent in this world, the more I noticed something else: small businesses rarely had access to strategic financial planning.
The Critical Gap in SMB Financial Services
Small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) are the backbone of our economy. They’re run by driven, entrepreneurial leaders who create jobs, fuel innovation, and sustain local communities. I’ve always loved working with these companies and the people behind them. But over time, I noticed a painful gap in SMB financial strategy.
Most SMBs had a bookkeeper and maybe an accounting team. Their focus was essential but limited: maintaining accurate books, ensuring compliance, and preparing financial statements. Occasionally, these businesses hired a “contract CFO.” But in many cases, that fractional CFO was really just an extension of the accounting function, more focused on reporting the past than shaping the future.
The Fractional CFO Gap
Even when a company had a full-time CFO, I found that many of these professionals were spread thin or acting as generalists. They were competent, smart, and hardworking, but often lacked the bandwidth or the specialized experience to deliver the type of high-level strategic financial planning that larger organizations relied on.
The Cost of This Gap
Many SMB leaders were making multi-million-dollar decisions without access to the kind of financial strategy consulting that could dramatically improve their odds of success.
Why Strategic Financial Planning Matters for Growing Companies
This gap bothered me for two reasons.
First, I’ve always been passionate about entrepreneurship. I love the energy, the optimism, the scrappiness of founders and owners. These leaders are often closer to their customers, more agile in their decision-making, and deeply invested in their communities. They deserve the same caliber of financial strategy services as any Fortune 500 boardroom.
Second, I believe access to world-class financial strategy shouldn’t be a luxury good. It should be attainable for the very businesses that need it most: those at critical inflection points, making decisions that will shape their future for decades to come.
That’s when the idea hit me: What if I built a consultancy that delivered institutional-grade financial planning for small business and growth companies? What if I made it flexible, affordable, and tailored to their needs, without the overhead of a full-time hire?
That was the spark that became Contrail Financial.
The Contrail Financial Approach to SMB Success
I designed Contrail to bring the best of big-company finance into the SMB world, but without the bureaucracy or the hourly-billing mindset. Instead of selling hours, we sell value. Instead of providing backward-looking reports, we deliver forward-looking clarity through three core service areas:
1. Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) / Outsourced CFO Services
Financial planning and analysis is the heart of what we do. We build robust forecasting models, create dashboards that bring data to life, and provide real-time insight into profitability, margins, and capital allocation. But more importantly, we act as thought partners to founders and CEOs, helping them see around corners, navigate uncertainty, and make confident decisions about the future.
Our outsourced CFO services include:
- Strategic financial modeling and forecasting
- Budget-to-actual variance analysis
- Cash flow management and optimization
- Investment ROI analysis and decision support
- And much more
2. Corporate Development and Strategic Transactions
Growth often means more than organic expansion. Contrail helps businesses evaluate acquisitions, partnerships, and strategic transactions. We guide everything from due diligence and valuations to integration planning. For many SMBs, this level of corporate development support is usually only available to larger firms. We make it accessible.
3. Business Exit Planning and Preparation
For many owners, the business is their life’s work. Preparing for an eventual exit through a sale, succession, or leadership transition requires both precision and care. We help founders maximize enterprise value, prepare for due diligence, and navigate the emotional and strategic complexities of business exit planning.
Our exit planning services include:
- Business valuation optimization
- Due diligence preparation
- Financial package development
- Transaction support and guidance
These services aren’t abstract concepts. They’re the same capabilities I honed in boardrooms and transaction teams over two decades, now repackaged to serve SMB leaders with clarity and pragmatism.
Why the Name “Contrail Financial”?
The name Contrail comes from aviation, a passion of mine as a licensed pilot. At 35,000 feet, a contrail is the visible trail left behind by a jet moving quickly and purposefully forward. To me, it’s a powerful metaphor for what financial clarity provides: a clear path, proof of movement, and confidence at cruising altitude.
Contrail Financial exists to help businesses chart that course. We bring calm, structured analysis in the middle of turbulence. We create clarity where the path is clouded. And we leave an imprint of progress that extends long after the immediate decision.
Midwest Financial Services with National Reach
While Contrail has national reach, our roots are firmly planted in the Midwest. That’s by design. I grew up here. I built my career here. And I believe in the values that define this region: honesty, accountability, and hard work. Too often, Midwest companies are overlooked by coastal firms or underserved by service providers who don’t understand the unique dynamics of these markets.
Contrail is deliberately focused on serving these historically underserved businesses. We bring the sophistication of Fortune 500 finance, but we deliver it with Midwest business values: direct, transparent, and practical.
Our Business-Friendly Service Model
Contrail’s fractional CFO model is intentionally simple and business-friendly:
- Fixed monthly retainer (no hourly billing, ever)
- Flexible engagements that can be adjusted as needs change
- Customized scope tailored to each business
- Scalable role – we can act as your contract CFO or support your existing finance team
- Trusted partner network that extends beyond finance into legal, tax, IT, and more
This approach allows us to be true partners, not just vendors. We stay engaged through the ups and downs, guiding businesses across multiple chapters of their journey.
Proven Results: SMB Success Stories
The real proof of Contrail’s value comes from the businesses we’ve supported:
Krush Media: From scrappy startup to stable growth company, we’ve been a vital financial strategy partner, guiding them through rapid scaling and sustainable growth.
Bel Haven Communications: We led their capital raise end-to-end, building materials, managing investors, structuring the investment vehicle, and closing the deal. Today, we continue to manage investments seamlessly as their corporate development partner.
Pulp Fixin: A creative, fast-growing medical equipment brand that needed financial planning to match its entrepreneurial energy. We built the frameworks and reporting systems that gave leadership confidence in pricing, margin strategy, and growth investments, helping transform momentum into sustainable profitability.
These aren’t isolated stories. They’re examples of what happens when SMB leaders gain access to institutional-grade financial strategy.
Moving Your Business Forward with Strategic Financial Planning
At the end of the day, Contrail exists for one reason: to move businesses forward.
We know that small business owners don’t just need clean books. They need strategic clarity. They need someone who can look beyond the numbers to help them see what’s next. They need a financial partner who is invested in their growth, their legacy, and their success.
That’s why I started Contrail Financial: to bridge the gap between big-company sophistication and SMB opportunity. To provide clarity at cruising altitude. To embody Midwest values in a world that often overlooks them.
Because every business deserves to fly higher, with a contrail marking its purposeful progress.
Ready to elevate your financial strategy?
Contact Contrail Financial today to discover how our fractional CFO services can help your business achieve its growth objectives with confidence and clarity.
About the Author
Brian Faust is the CEO and founder of Contrail Financial, bringing over 30 years of hands-on experience in buying, building, investing in, and selling companies across diverse industries from startups to Fortune 500 corporations. As a licensed pilot based in Springboro, Ohio, he draws inspiration from aviation for his approach to business, believing financial clarity should provide a clear path and confidence at cruising altitude. Brian’s mission is to bridge the gap between institutional-grade financial strategy and the needs of small businesses, serving Midwest companies with the sophistication of Fortune 500 companies while maintaining core values of honesty, accountability, and hard work.
