What business owners told us about cash flow, inventory, forecasting, and financial visibility at three June industry events.
June gave BELAY Financial Solutions a firsthand look at a challenge many growing businesses are facing right now:
Growth is exciting, but it often exposes the gaps a business has been working around for too long.
As the business becomes more complex, unclear numbers, disconnected systems, cash-flow surprises, inventory issues, and delayed decisions become more expensive and harder to correct. We heard versions of that challenge at every event in June, from women entrepreneurs in Atlanta to beverage brands and inventory-focused business leaders in New York.
Across Money Unfiltered, BevNET Live, and the Cin7 Roadshow, the conversations pointed to a common theme: Business owners are trying to make bigger decisions, manage more complexity, and keep growth moving without losing control of what’s happening behind the scenes.
That doesn’t always mean something is wrong. It likely means your business is ready for a stronger financial foundation.
Here’s what June’s events revealed about the pressure points growing businesses are working to solve.
Financial Confidence Becomes More Important as Decisions Get Bigger
Tasia Holdorf represented BELAY Financial Solutions at Money Unfiltered, hosted at The Lola in Atlanta. The event brought together women entrepreneurs and business owners for honest conversations about earning, investing, building wealth, and making confident financial decisions.
The discussions reinforced a challenge many entrepreneurs face as they grow: Knowing revenue or checking the bank balance is not enough to make bigger business decisions with confidence.
Owners also need to understand whether pricing supports profitability, whether cash flow can handle the next investment, and whether the business has the right financial support to make those decisions wisely.
Encouragement matters, but growing business owners also need a clear understanding of how money moves through the business and how today’s decisions affect long-term growth. That’s where the right financial partner can help turn big goals into practical next steps.
CPG Growth Can Strain Cash Flow, Margins, and Inventory Planning
Claire Pelton and Tyler Kitchens attended BevNET Live in New York City, hosted by our partners at BevNET. Claire was also a featured presenter during Beverage School, where she shared what BELAY Financial Solutions has learned from helping early-stage and growing beverage brands navigate the financial side of growth.
The conversations reinforced how quickly growth can create financial pressure in the CPG world. A new retailer, production run, or distribution opportunity can impact cash flow, inventory planning, margins, cost of goods sold, and working capital.
That’s why beverage brands need more than a general sense that the business is growing. They need accurate numbers that show what’s selling, what it costs to produce and deliver, how much cash is tied up in inventory, and whether margins can support the next stage of growth.
The brands positioned to grow well are the ones that can connect sales momentum to financial reality before making the next big decision.
Inventory Decisions Are Financial Decisions
Aaron Cullip and Matthew Lynn represented BELAY Financial Solutions at the Cin7 Roadshow in New York City, where the Cin7 community, executives, and industry leaders gathered to discuss inventory, operations, and growth.
Inventory is never only an operations issue. For product-based businesses, inventory affects cash flow, margins, purchasing decisions, fulfillment, forecasting, and growth planning.
When inventory and accounting are disconnected, leaders may not have a clear view of what they have on hand, what it’s worth, what it costs to move, or how much cash is tied up in products that have not sold yet. That can lead to over-ordering, under-ordering, margin confusion, delayed decisions, and cash flow surprises.
Connecting inventory data with financial reporting gives business owners a clearer picture of what’s happening across the business. They can better understand when to buy, when to slow down, which products are performing, and how inventory decisions affect the broader health of the business.
The Big Takeaway
Across June’s events, the same pattern kept showing up in different ways: As businesses grow, financial decisions become more connected and harder to manage in isolation.
Cash flow affects hiring. Inventory affects margins. Forecasting affects purchasing. Pricing affects profitability. Systems affect decision-making.
Growth doesn’t always create those gaps, but it often reveals them.
If growth is making your financial systems feel harder to manage, BELAY Financial Solutions can help you find the clarity, structure, and support you need for what comes next.