A struggling one-man finance team finds leverage

Item: Oceans Talent
Author: Trey Sinclair

$20M

revenue brand supported

10+ yrs

accounting experience added

Industry

CPG

Company size

SMB

Role

Finance

Published

August 12, 2024

Newly hired VP of Finance, without a team

‍

Started in 2017, BIOLYTE is an electrolyte beverage company based in Atlanta, Georgia. As the only medical grade hydration drink to have the same amount of electrolytes as an IV bag, BIOLYTE’s business has been thriving with an annual revenue north of $20M. In July 2023, Trey Sinclair joined their 15 person team to head the company’s finances.

‍

Towards the end of 2023, as annual planning was in full function and tax season was up ahead, Trey started talking to his CEO about getting more help. At this point in time, BIOLYTE’s finance department was a one-man show with just Trey to handle all the tasks from day-to-day to more long-term strategic financials, along with a fractional agency setup for support on some of the

day-to-day tasks.

‍

So the question was now whether they were going to bulk up the hours on the agency or should they be looking at a more permanent, internal local hire?

‍

"There were a few questions we had to ask ourselves before we could make this decision. What would the agency cost at 40 hours a week vs. what would an internal hire cost? Obviously the internal would be higher, but then is the skill set significantly better? More importantly, what about retention with an internal hire? I could get an accounts manager locally, but then what are the growth opportunities I can provide them with in the next 18-24 months?"

- Trey Sinclair, COO

‍

My experience in the past has always been clock-in, clock-out, do what you're told to do. But with Chathu, she is much more of a self-starter, a go-getter. She continually improves the role, and value creation has always been something I've looked for in my hires.

Trey Sinclair

COO

Not another agency

‍

While Trey and his CEO were still looking for the most viable option for the situation, they did meet with a few agencies but nothing material seemed to develop during this time.

‍

It was now the end of Q1 2024 and Trey happened to serendipitously spot a LinkedIn post recommending Oceans, posted by an Oceans client themself. Having been impressed by their story, Trey decided to reach out for more information. After going through the model and a few conversations with the team based on what he was looking for, Trey & BIOLYTE were now paired with Chathurika Jinadasa!

‍

"They sent me Chathurika’s resume, impressive resume! We hopped on a phone call, I was impressed. We hit it off and connected right then. From the time of my initial inquiry to the time Chathurika was hired was very quick. Chathu came on board and was up to speed way higher than my expectations!"

Enter Chathurika Jinadasa: Accounting Manager

‍

Highly capable and qualified, Chathurika came onboard at BIOLYTE with over 10 years of experience in financial management across organizations in Sri Lanka. In previous roles she had been responsible for reporting to stakeholders in the UK, India, and locally.

‍

As Chathurika was being introduced to the business, BIOLYTE had now stopped working with their former agency and Trey had taken on their workload until Chathurika could familiarize herself with the internal systems and operations.

‍

"When Chathu came in, I took over the agency’s workload temporarily until she could get up to speed with her tasks. However, she exceeded the timeline so it was a very painless process for me to transition that workload to her. She didn’t just get up to speed really quick, she made those processes more efficient as well."

‍

Prior to Chathurika’s entry into BIOLYTE, there were a lot of day-to-day running tasks that were taking up a majority of Trey’s time, giving him less opportunity to focus on long-term forecasting and more strategic financial operations.

‍

‍

As Chathurika came in and took over these tasks, Trey was able to lend more of his business analyst and strategic expertise to his leadership team, gaining him his new role of COO at BIOLYTE!

‍

Externally hired, yet internally integrated

‍

It’s now been months since Chathurika joined the BIOLYTE team and with her initiative, knowledge, and efficiency she’s been able to improve most (if not all) their processes in terms of bookkeeping and account management. With her making their systems more efficient, Trey himself has been able to deliver better insights for the company.

‍

Chathurika is now fully integrated into the BIOLYTE ecosystem, as much as any of the other internal full time employees. She joins the team’s weekly meetings, she’s the company’s contact person not just internally but even for external stakeholders, in terms of financial follow-ups. Chathurika also has quarterly goals she has to reach, which are held to the same standards as any other internal employee.

‍

As Trey has moved from heading the Finance department to becoming COO, Chathurika has been introduced to the Purchasing, Sales, and Marketing teams. She's already started supporting the Sales team with data compilation and is in training to assist the departments with a number of other tasks too!

‍

Trey Sinclair

COO

Biolyte