What Would You Do if you were CFO at a Fast-Growing DTC Brand? – with Dan Major (episode 609)
Dan Major is a Fractional CFO for DTC fashion, footwear, and beauty brands. Focused on scaling profitability by unlocking margin and freeing up cash for ads and stock.
In this WWYD episode, Dan walks through what he would do if he became the first serious CFO at a fast-growing DTC brand. He shares practical advice on fixing reporting, improving unit economics, finding hidden margin, and unlocking cash from inventory so brands can grow faster without losing control of profitability.
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Dive in:
[05:17] Understanding Sales and Margins Discrepancies
[07:56] Managing finances in eCommerce
[13:03] Understanding Contribution Margin Basics
[16:57] Analyzing industry benchmarks and margins
[18:28] Analyzing Profit and Loss Statements
[22:46] Managing stock levels and cash flow
[24:28] Listen to Dan’s Top Tips!
Start With Trusted Numbers
Dan says he would start by fixing the data before making any decisions. Many brands have different figures in Shopify, Triple Whale, StoreHero, Xero, and QuickBooks. That creates confusion and leads to bad decisions. You do not need perfect reporting, but you do need numbers you can trust. If your sales and margins are wrong, every marketing and stock decision that follows will be wrong too.
Audit Your Best-Selling SKUs
The first place to look is the unit economics of the products that drive most of your revenue. Dan focuses on product margin, gross margin, and contribution margin. Contribution margin matters most because it includes customer acquisition costs. A bestseller can appear profitable on Shopify and still lose money after ads are included. This is often the fastest way to discover hidden profit leaks.
Fix the Biggest Margin Leak
Once the numbers are accurate, the next step is to find the part of the P&L that is overweight. Dan shares an example where adding a shipping charge and reducing discounting improved margin by around eight percentage points. Those changes increased profit on every order without adding new costs. Many brands look at overheads first, but pricing and delivery are often easier wins. Small margin improvements can create a surprisingly large profit boost.
Use Finance to Fund Growth
Finance should not only be a cost-control function. The real opportunity is to free up margin that can be reinvested into marketing. When contribution margins are healthy, additional ad spend can help a brand outgrow competitors. That requires finance and marketing to work closely together and review performance constantly. The episode gives a practical framework for deciding when to reinvest and when to keep the profit.
Turn Old Stock Into Cash
Inventory is often where the hidden cash sits. Many brands are short on bestsellers while holding years of slow-moving products in the warehouse. That stock ties up cash that could be used for new inventory, ads, or operations. Clearing old stock through sale periods can release significant working capital. For many eCommerce businesses, the easiest source of cash is the inventory they already own.
eCommerce Book Top Tip
- 12 Months to $1 Million by Ryan Daniel Moran
eCommerce Traffic Top Tip
- Evaluate marketing channels on their blended impact, not just single-channel ROAS, because awareness channels can lift sales elsewhere.
Tool Top Tip
- Use A2X quickbooks or Link My Books to automate Shopify, Amazon, and TikTok sales data into Xero or QuickBooks for faster, more accurate reporting.
Carbon Top Tip
- Buy less stock and buy more accurately using sell-through data to reduce overproduction, deadstock, landfill waste, and tied-up cash.
Interview links
Related Episodes
- WWYD? Ian Leslie on Achieving Hockey Stick Growth in a $10–25M eCommerce Brand (episode 561)
- What Would You Do if growth at your eCommerce brand has stalled? – with Janis Thomas (episode 566)
- What Would You Do as Head of eCommerce tasked with massively improving operational efficiency? – with Jaime Hill (episode 570)
- What Would You Do to Tackle the Opportunity that is AI Chat and GEO? – with Miracle Inameti-Archibong (episode 578)
- What Would You Do if you were embarking on a replatform in 2026? – with James Gurd (episode 584)
- What Would You Do as Head of eCommerce Entering the Preloved Market? – with Andy Ostcliffe (episode 605)
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