James Young NY Tractor Parts

James Young: NY Tractor Parts is a company which specialises in the supply of new, used and remanufactured spare parts to fit tractors. We’re a family business established 29 years ago, and to this day, my sister and I, we run the company that we took over from my father. We are specialists in overseas. We currently export to over 80 countries and it accounts for about 40% of our revenue. What started out as a one man business, which is buying old tractors and selling them for secondhand parts, is now slowly turning into a company which is more digitally-minded and looking for solutions and ways to not only help the farmers source the parts, but also help our farmers and end users repair the tractors as well.

James Young: Before we started working with The CFO Centre, the issues that we were facing were really just getting our heads around the numbers, trying to scale the business and just having that financial acumen and guidance to push us through. Within the team there was nobody currently working who was trained or had any expertise in financials, and whilst we could obviously read a profit and loss and we could get it produced, we were always looking back, as in reviewing our accounts after it happened, rather than having any sort of process in terms of forecasting or regularly creating and checking P&Ls to make sure we were tracking the numbers and getting the growth that we were trying to achieve.

James Young: The benefit since joining with The CFO Centre is firstly and most importantly, they’ve put us in with an excellent CFO who has been crucial in guiding us and getting us to think about and be more professional in the way that we want to develop our business. As well as that, they’ve also given us some opportunities to network with like-minded businesses and some great contacts within the industry, which can help, you know, facilitate the growth that you’re trying to achieve.

James Young: The benefits to me personally of working with The CFO Centre is really just peace of mind. It’s given me access to somebody who I can sound some ideas off and can be completely vulnerable with, and they’re able to give me advice and counselling. And just reassure you that the ideas that you have are either worth pursuing and if not, giving you a reality check and a sounding board that you can just vent off to. So it’s allowed me to feel more confident and feel more safe and also the plans that we’re making, there is somebody behind the scenes who’s got the expertise that can just be there to reassure you and also make sure that if things aren’t going the way you planned, they’re one step ahead, keeping an eye on the figures, making sure that we’re not overexerting ourselves and not going to run out of money or not be too profitable for too long.

James Young: My advice for any company looking to take on a part-time CFO is really most crucially, really get to know and like the person you’re working with. This is a relationship that is probably one of the most closest relationships you’ll have in the business and you really have to like and want to spend time with this person. So if you’re brought somebody and you don’t feel that that ability to be spending time with and be vulnerable with, move on, because that relationship is going to be absolutely critical. And also make sure that they have experience that’s applicable to you and are buying into the vision that you’re trying to do with your business.

James Young: The CFO has been able to increase my confidence massively because they’ve been able to take some of my ideas and actually give it a financial backing to prove that the numbers are doable. So when you’re presenting to the company, to other members of the stakeholders of the company, and also to any financial institutions that you may be looking to borrow money from. Them being able to take your ideas, your vision and direction and put it into a defined P&L forecast or cash flow forecast just gives you that confidence to show you that your ideas are possible and with the right backing and the right team that they can make things happen.