This month, we chat with Chris Booth, the founder and principle at Foxtrot Twenty. Chris is a financial consultant and a member of The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He specialises in helping SMEs achieve sustainable, profitable growth through financial tools, analysis and insight. He is also Lemon and Lime’s Fractional CFO.
We asked him 8 questions to obtain further insight into the person who is passionate about finance.
1. Can you tell us about your business and what sets it apart from others in the industry?
At Foxtrot Twenty, we aim to help SME businesses shape their financial journey moving forward, whether that be for growth, or to make their existing business more financially efficient. I’m essentially a commercially focused finance leader with a proactive and forward thinking mind. My experience across small and large organisations, and a wide range of sectors is a rich blend that is not widely replicated.
2. Have you ever noticed anything particularly memorable or impressive while house hunting or attending open houses?
I actually have a very limited experience in house hunting, as I still live in the first house I bought! I am a bit of a Rightmove stalker and am constantly seeing what is for sale where I currently live. The thing that sticks out for me is the sheer range of approaches to marketing properties, from the impeccably presented to the downright woeful. When I started working with Lemon and Lime in 2020, it demonstrated the power of staging and I’ve been converted ever since.
3. Which famous person (dead or alive) would you invite to a dinner party and why?
Kurt Cobain. I was too young to go and see Nirvana play live and only post his death that I would have loved to understand what was going on his mind to be able to create some of my favourite songs whilst battling so many demons.
4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
Somewhere warmer than South Derbyshire! My wife has family in Mallorca and it’s always somewhere I love visiting – from the smell as you walk out of the airport, to discovering the hidden villages and coves round the coast. Maybe when my children are older, it’ll be where we can retreat to.
5. What’s one talent or skill you’ve always wanted to learn?
I wish I’d learned to play the guitar ‘properly’ when I was younger – I do have a guitar but aside from songs with easy chord structures, I’m pretty hopeless. As a lover of guitar music, I’d love to be able to recreate some of my favourite songs.
6. What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?
Taking the decision to start my own business in 2017 is probably the most adventurous thing I’ve done, given the notion of a Fractional FD/CFO wasn’t really a ‘thing’ back then and leaving a comfortable, steady job to zero income overnight was quite a step for a generally risk averse person. If that’s not high octane enough, I have mountain biked down the side of Table Mountain (faster than I was expecting)!
7. What’s something you hope to accomplish on your bucket list someday?
I would love to go and see The Masters golf tournament in Augusta. I watch it every year on television and the atmosphere looks incredible, and when you add professional sporting occasion in the mix, it’s a winner for me.
8. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
I can’t remember who said this to me when I was setting my business up, but it was “Know your worth” i.e. don’t undersell yourself, and be confident about what skills you have, and people will see that and be willing to pay you to tap into that knowledge and experience.
