Client Story
From Instinct to Insight
“If you want to grow your business and take it to the next level, ProCFO Partners is how you do it.”
Michael Sisler
President
RU Living specializes in providing premium off-campus housing for Rutgers University students, offering strategically located properties that cater to the needs of a busy student lifestyle. With a focus on convenience and high-quality living, RU Living ensures students have easy access to campus while benefiting from a tailored housing experience designed to meet their needs. They emphasize financial performance and tenant satisfaction in their operations, ensuring a balance between student comfort and business success.
As RU Living expanded, its founder, Mike Sisler, faced the challenges of growing a business without the necessary financial oversight. Gut instincts and intuition, which had driven the company’s early success, were no longer enough. The complexities of managing a rapidly expanding business required a more sophisticated approach—one that could deliver actionable insights through data.
Why RU Living Engaged a Part-Time CFO
A key turning point came when Mike recognized the need for deeper financial management. “We struggled for a long time to manage growth internally,” Mike shares. “We tried working with tax accountants, but they didn’t provide the insight we needed to run, manage, and grow our business.”
That’s when Josefina Garcia from ProCFO Partners entered the picture. Josefina brought the financial expertise Mike needed to evolve from relying on intuition to making informed, data-driven decisions. For Mike and RU Living, working with Josefina provided the strategic guidance and financial clarity necessary to navigate growth, optimize operations, and make smarter business decisions without the complexities of managing new talent internally.
From Software Chaos to Financial Clarity
One of the major challenges RU Living faced was a complicated software migration. Initially, Mike had attempted to handle it in-house, relying on vendor promises that the transition would be “quick, easy, and cheap.” However, this quickly became a costly and stressful endeavor. “It was none of those things,” Mike recalls.
Josefina stepped in with valuable experience managing software migrations—a challenge many businesses underestimate. “Software migrations are tricky, and getting it right means engaging early,” Josefina explains. “It’s not just about the software—it’s about understanding the whole business and what’s needed for it to succeed.” Her expertise helped RU Living avoid costly mistakes and smooth the system’s transition. “Having Josefina in our corner was instrumental,” Mike explains. “We ended up choosing different software, and engaging her early on was much more productive. Drama is expensive, and having her involved saved us from a lot of it.” This reflects the broader value ProCFO Partners delivers: access to CFOs with diverse, specialized skills that complement each other, offering tailored solutions for complex business challenges like technology transitions and financial strategy.
Josefina’s collaboration resulted in a successful migration to more suitable software, saving both time and money. “We didn’t pick the most expensive option; we picked the right option for the business. Josefina helped us navigate the process and make the right decisions.”
Fewer Stories. More Strategy.
Before working with ProCFO Partners, RU Living’s board meetings were largely anecdotal, driven by stories rather than data. Mike would present narratives about the company’s progress and challenges to the board, but these stories often needed more hard data to support strategic decisions.
That all changed with Josefina’s involvement. “Now, with Josefina’s help, we come prepared with data that backs up our story,” Mike explains. “Whether we’re discussing past performance or projecting future growth, we have the numbers to support it.”
Whether we’re discussing past performance or projecting future growth, with Josefina’s help we have the numbers to support it.
This shift from storytelling to data-driven reports has made board meetings more productive and has allowed the board to provide more meaningful oversight. The stories and big ideas have always been interesting ways to connect board members to what’s going on with RU Living, but having the numbers completes the picture, helping to focus energy, resources and attention on strategic outcomes instead of anecdotal perspectives. Mike recalls a key piece of advice from his board chairman: “What difference does it make if you’re the fastest runner if you’re running in the wrong direction?” Thanks to Josefina’s data, RU Living is now “running in the right direction.”
Metrics That Matter: The ProCFO Partners Impact at RU Living
Data-driven insights have powered RU Living’s growth and strategic decisions under Josefina’s leadership. Key metrics like these have been put to work, turning insights into action and shaping strategic moves.
- Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR): Tracking DSCR by property and bed has been crucial for making strategic decisions about where to apply economies of scale—whether in apartment buildings or standalone houses.
- Cost & Revenue per Bed: By focusing on costs and revenues per bed, RU Living has gained a clearer understanding of profitability across different types of properties.
- Operational Efficiency Gains: Josefina’s involvement in the software migration process resulted in significant cost savings and operational improvements.
- Board Meeting Transformation: Transitioning from anecdotal storytelling to data-driven presentations has led to more productive board meetings and better strategic decisions.
The decision to work with Pro CFO Partners went beyond just filling a CFO role. RU Living needed a partner who could really understand their business and offer practical, industry-specific advice. This connection was key in tackling their unique challenges and guiding their growth. “Josefina not only has the skill set necessary to be our fractional CFO, but she also has a lot of background in our industry,” Mike says. “She walks the walk, knows the lingo and the language, and often makes recommendations that we should have known but didn’t.”
Josefina not only has the skill set necessary to be our fractional CFO, but she also has a lot of background in our industry. She walks the walk, knows the lingo and the language, and often makes recommendations that we should have known but didn’t.
Josefina’s approach went beyond the numbers. By asking the right questions and focusing on areas that needed attention, she helped RU Living strengthen its financial foundation, making the business more profitable, easier to manage, and, as Mike puts it, “more fun.”
From Software Chaos to Financial Clarity
One of the major challenges RU Living faced was a complicated software migration. Initially, Mike had attempted to handle it in-house, relying on vendor promises that the transition would be “quick, easy, and cheap.” However, this quickly became a costly and stressful endeavor. “It was none of those things,” Mike recalls.
Josefina stepped in with valuable experience managing software migrations—a challenge many businesses underestimate. “Software migrations are tricky, and getting it right means engaging early,” Josefina explains. “It’s not just about the software—it’s about understanding the whole business and what’s needed for it to succeed.” Her expertise helped RU Living avoid costly mistakes and smooth the system’s transition. “Having Josefina in our corner was instrumental,” Mike explains. “We ended up choosing different software, and engaging her early on was much more productive. Drama is expensive, and having her involved saved us from a lot of it.” This reflects the broader value ProCFO Partners delivers: access to CFOs with diverse, specialized skills that complement each other, offering tailored solutions for complex business challenges like technology transitions and financial strategy.
Josefina’s collaboration resulted in a successful migration to more suitable software, saving both time and money. “We didn’t pick the most expensive option; we picked the right option for the business. Josefina helped us navigate the process and make the right decisions.”
Data Driving Forward
The most significant shift for RU Living has been the transition from making decisions based on intuition to relying on clear, actionable data. “As a business owner, you sleep differently when you’re sleeping on data versus intuition,” Mike notes. “The clarity that comes with data has been instrumental in helping us make strategic decisions about which direction the company should grow in.”
The data-driven approach has allowed RU Living to spot new opportunities and tackle potential challenges before they become major issues. Mike likens it to having a “treasure map” that points to areas where there’s “gold buried” within the business’s financials. With Josefina’s guidance, RU Living is now digging in the right places.
Freedom from Analytical Anxiety
For Mike, the benefits of working with Josefina go beyond financial clarity. On a personal level, having data to support his decisions has reduced anxiety and freed up valuable time and resources. “Any anxiety that I had around a lack of data is going away,” he shares. “Now, instead of relying on intuition, we can reduce it to a math problem, which frees up a lot of personal bandwidth.”
With the financial side of the business in good hands, Mike can now focus on the core elements that will drive the biggest impact on RU Living’s profitability, growth, and security. “The data has strengthened our company financially and made a big difference in my day-to-day operations.”
What’s Next for RU Living and ProCFO Partners?
Looking ahead, RU Living is well-positioned for continued growth and success, thanks to the strong foundation that Josefina and ProCFO Partners have helped build. With data driving their strategic decisions and a clear focus on profitability and efficiency, the future looks bright for Mike and his team.
As Mike reflects on the journey, he has one piece of advice for other business owners: “If you want to grow your business and take it to the next level, this is how you do it.”
Mike puts his experience with ProCFO Partners in one word: “outstanding.”
In fact, Mike puts his experience with ProCFO Partners in one word: “outstanding.” For him, this word captured the genuine passion and commitment that Josefina and ProCFO Partners has shown toward the success of RU Living in ways that go beyond financial expertise. “That’s not something you can always pay for,” Mike explained, highlighting the rare blend of professionalism and personal investment ProCFO Partners has provided. Josefina’s technical expertise and unwavering support have helped turn his business into a stronger, more profitable, and resilient operation.
