Wisdom from the CEO - Brian Mingham

Wisdom from the CEO

Brian Mingham

Founder & CEO of CFSI Loan Management

Brian Mingham, Founder & CEO

CFSI Loan Management

Brian Mingham is Founder & CEO of CFSI Loan Management (CFSI). He is responsible for the firm’s overall strategy, reporting, and general management of CFSI.

Since founding the firm in 2012, Mr. Mingham has transformed CFSI to a leading nationwide construction risk mitigation firm by creatingkey strategies and hiring the bestteam in the space. In his role, Mr.Mingham has continued to focuson building CFSI’s year-over-yearrevenue growth by leading keygrowth initiatives, identifying highgrowthmarket segments.

Mr. Mingham is a high-energy, results-oriented executive with proven experience in all aspects of start-ups and growth initiatives to create viable businesses. He has proven his ability to capitalize on market opportunities, driving revenue and profits, combining entrepreneurial vision with strong management, leadership, and relationship-building skills.

How did you go about building a customer base for your early ventures? I spent 15 years in the mortgage business in national sales roles, and all of my businesses have revolved around selling services into that space. Sell what you know! There is not a better piece of advice when building a business.

What has been your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur? It has been the hardest and most rewarding experience in my professional experience. Utilizing all of the wisdom I was exposed to at a Fortune 500 company has been priceless. I believe that I would have made many more mistakes, failed to plan properly, and just shot from the hip – and all of those things can be costly when you are growing your business with your own money!

What has been one of your biggest challenges as a CEO during the pandemic crisis? CFSI has always had a Disaster Recovery Plan in place, as well as a Work From Home policy, since our office is in Colorado and we can sometimes experience severe storms and large amounts of snow. We have utilized these processes in the past, but this has been very different. Now, the issue of being stuck at home, spouses, kids, pets, and the media are driving additional stress and chaos into the workplace (which happens to be at the kitchen table), and it shows in work quality. More employees are telling us that they are “stressed out” because they cannot escape the situation. We took for granted our work life, gym life, and home life, and it has been changed forever.

What advice would you offer someone who is starting their first business? Do what you know, stay away from highly regulated spaces, and start small. My CPA asked me “Why would you pay someone $2M for a business to make $200k a year?” then they said “Just start one!” That comment resonated with me, and so I decided to follow their advice. It has worked out very well. Capital requirements are real, payroll is real, taxes are real, and you cannot escape these things in a business. Pay close attention to the math, do not run a loss, do not hire friends, make sure to pay for talent, and outsource what you can.

What key activities would yourecommend entrepreneurs toinvest their time in?For me it is reading! Understandyour business, your clients’ business,their clients’ business, and sell. Allbusinesses have the classic struggleof Sales/Ops, and you cannot do bothfor long – so pick what you are goodat and hire the best person you can todo the rest. Build a team around keyplayers in your organization, trainthem up, treat them well, and theywill help you grow your business.

CFSI Loan Management www.thinkcfsi.com