CLIENT STORY
From Flying in the Dark to Financial Clarity
How FDPack gave Rebecca Hunter the confidence to scale Jolene
Rebecca Hunter is the founder of Jolene, a premium body care brand (nipple covers) she launched 18 months ago, initially alongside a full-time job. With a background as a Head of Marketing and Marketing Director in consumer startups, Rebecca knew her product and her market. What she didn’t have was a clear view of her finances, and in the early, cash-hungry stages of building a business, that gap was starting to feel very exposed.
Then she met Spencer Smith, Founder of FDPack.
A founder who needed more than spreadsheets
Rebecca first connected with Spencer through a networking event. She had only just made the leap to working full-time in her business, and she came into the conversation with a clear sense that something wasn’t working, even if she couldn’t quite put her finger on what.
“I knew I had to be very cashflow conscious,” she explains. “I have to spend a lot on stock and I’m not necessarily making the sales yet to justify the highest stock spend, but if I don’t buy the stock, I can’t hit my revenue goals. I had all these upcoming costs, and I didn’t know how best to plan for them. I had spreadsheets I was trying to use but that wasn’t working properly. I just didn’t know how to do my cashflow planning and forecast for the year ahead.”
Her business is seasonal too, which makes cash flow management even more critical. She needed to understand when money would come in, plan for the months when it wouldn’t, and make sure she never ran out of cash to keep the business running.
“I knew I needed some support,” Rebecca admits, “but I didn’t know what that looked like, so I didn’t necessarily know what to ask for. But somehow, miraculously, I’ve been connected with Spencer, who has been able to help in all the right ways.”
Getting the foundations right
Spencer’s first task was to take stock of where things stood. What he found highlighted just how much needed to be put right. Rebecca’s management accounts were only being prepared quarterly and were running four or five months behind. Her bookkeeping wasn’t accurately reflecting what was happening in her accounts. And some important issues in her year-end accounts needed addressing before she could move forward with confidence.
Spencer flagged all of it. He helped Rebecca identify a more detail-oriented accountant suited to the demands of a scaling business and got her onto a monthly management accounts cycle. With the foundations properly in place, he could then turn his attention to what FDPack does best: giving founders a real, forward-looking view of their business.
Cash flow visibility across the year ahead – in real time
With her accounts in order, Rebecca began using FDPack’s proprietary forecasting platform alongside Spencer. The difference was immediate.
“FDPack is allowing me to really have the visibility I need,” she says. “In terms of what that annual year looks like, and potentially what happens in year two, year three, further down the line. But also, to plot out the cash required for each month, knowing that there’s going to be a lot of outgoings in the first few months, and then hopefully the sales will come in. It’s about juggling this really tricky financial time and making sure that I don’t run out of money.”
Because the FDPack platform is live and constantly updated, Rebecca can model different scenarios in real time. If a wholesaler comes to her with an opportunity – and a price tag to match – she can input those numbers straight away and immediately see how it changes her position.
“If an opportunity comes up and it’s going to cost me X,” she explains, “I can easily put that into the FDPack system and say: how is this going to change the numbers? Is this something I want to go ahead with? And I can get that answer quite quickly.”
Applying for funding – with confidence
Rebecca is also in the process of applying for a start-up loan to help supercharge her growth. Here, FDPack has added another layer of value, and not just for Rebecca herself.
“The work that Spencer’s allowing me to do with his platform is also painting a really good picture of how much cash I’m going to need,” she says. “So, I know the right amount to ask for when it comes to the startup loan, to get the debt financing that can really help supercharge my business and make sure that I don’t run out of cash.”
Beyond helping Rebecca arrive at the right number, the rigour and clarity of FDPack’s forecasting also gives lenders and investors confidence. A founder who can demonstrate real financial visibility, and show she understands the drivers of her own business, is a far more compelling case than one relying on guesswork.
“A lot more confidence. A lot more empowered.”
Ask Rebecca how working with Spencer and FDPack has changed how she runs her business, and the answer is unequivocal.
“I’ve got a lot more confidence and feeling a lot more empowered,” she says. “I have clarity on how much I can spend, whether I’m overspending, and if there’s a need for reforecasting, FDPack allows for that too. It ticks all the boxes.”
She describes Spencer as “my knight in shining armour when it comes to finances”; someone who not only helped her understand what she needed but delivered it at exactly the right moment in her journey as a founder.
“I didn’t really know what I needed,” she reflects. “I knew I needed support, but I didn’t know what that looked like. Somehow, miraculously, I was connected with Spencer and he has been able to help in all the right ways.”
Low cost and low risk
FDPack is a complete solution with tools and expertise bundled into one simple package. Designed to be lean and efficient, we charge a fixed monthly fee that is significantly less than the cost and risk of the equivalent in-house recruitment of one or more senior accounting personnel.