by Casey Gillam, Sales Manger at CFO Plans Inc.
If you’ve ever had your heartbroken, you may have been told, “There are plenty of fish in the sea.” As relationship advice goes, that doesn’t usually do much to make you feel better in the moment. But as business advice goes, this can be a game-changer when you realize the potential. Sustainably sourcing replenishing resources from the planet’s abundant supply to meet the demand of the market was exactly how Rob McAdam decided to build his company in 2011. Choosing to combine his life-long passion – fishing – with his favorite delicacy – sushi – meant Rob could go to work every day pursuing his passions and make money while doing it. Another phrase comes to mind: “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.
”McAdam’s Fish is a fleet of 13 boats that exclusively utilizes pole and line fishing methods to catch albacore tuna off the coast of the Pacific Northwest and New Zealand. Pole and line fishing is used to catch one fish at a time, so there are no other fish or mammals caught accidentally as in other fishing methods. Each fish is caught by a barbless hook and then pulled in by hand. McAdam’s Fish is the only US-flagged fleet of albacore tuna boats. Rob and his captains have earned a reputation among sushi chefs around the world for having the best-tasting, most sustainable albacore. All of the tuna they bring ashore is certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.
After onboarding with CFO Plans, McAdam’s went through a series of systems streamlining. Since most of the accounting and financial software was CFO Plans preferred partners and CFO Plans being experts of each of these systems, the tech-stack was put in place quickly. Then, they revamped the chart of accounts and formalized the fixed asset register, wrote up process SOPs, and created a working back-office machine that could support proper business decisions and comply with regulatory authorities. Improved systems and attention to detail proved to be exactly what McAdam’s Fish needed to expand. As they were looking for new funding for expansion, the CFO Plans service team was instrumental in generating the accurate and high-quality financial reports the lenders and investors were looking for.
Rob McAdam had built the company of his dreams and he wasn’t looking back. But running a fishing business always presents challenges, no matter how much you enjoy what you’re doing. He knew his product to the market had to be the highest quality every single day – his reputation depended on it. So he cut no corners and put in the work early on to ensure his team was always performing the right way, the sustainable way. He chose to utilize the highest quality standards across his entire company and hired CFO Plans to manage all of the back-office operations. He is thrilled to have made the right choices early in the company’s development and uses those expectations of excellence for every corporate decision today.
