The CFO Who Says No: Restaurant Finance with Roland Wood III | EP216

Step into Episode 216 of On The Delo as Delo sits down with Roland Wood III — a Phoenix-born, west-side-raised finance veteran who went from staff accountant to CFO across some of Arizona's most recognized restaurant concepts, including Grimaldi's and Square One. Roland pulls back the curtain on what a CFO actually does, why the best ones never win a popularity contest, and how "if the math doesn't math" sometimes the answer just has to be no.From navigating 50 Grimaldi's locations during a financial restructuring and securing $6–7M in COVID relief programs for Square One, to breaking down food cost management, inventory tech, marketing ROI, and the real value of fractional CFO services for growing hospitality groups — this conversation is packed with honest, practical perspective that operators, owners, and industry professionals rarely get to hear. Roland also unpacks why cutting quality to save margin is a long-game trap, how to use fixed pricing agreements to avoid supply volatility, and why "you will never save your way to prosperity."Chapter Guide (Timestamps):(0:00 - 1:50) Delo's New Book: Risky Business & Intro to Roland Wood III(1:51 - 5:06) Roland's Background, West Side Phoenix & the Restaurant Scene(5:07 - 9:28) School, ASU, Early Career & How Roland Landed in Restaurants(9:29 - 13:54) What a CFO Actually Does: Banking, Cash Flow & Hard Conversations(13:55 - 17:22) Grimaldi's: 50 Locations, Capital Structure & Food Cost Differences(17:23 - 21:38) Inventory Tech, ERP Systems, Cogswell, Craftable & Portion Decisions(21:39 - 25:09) Food Pricing Strategy, Fixed Agreements & Hedging Against Volatility(25:10 - 27:52) Marketing ROI: How Finance Holds Marketing Accountable for Traffic(27:53 - 32:28) Square One: COVID-Era Entry, Multi-Concept Finance & Barrett's Portfolio(32:29 - 34:47) Fractional CFO Services: Who It's For, Ideal Client & the Value Proposition(34:48 - 42:21) Rapid Fire + Roland's Finance Philosophy: Invest, Don't Just Cut(42:22 - 42:43) Delo's Close, Book Promo & Podcast Sponsor Mention👉 If this conversation on restaurant finance, fractional CFOs, and the real math behind hospitality operations resonated with you, hit Subscribe for more deep dives on business, risk, and the people running some of Arizona's best concepts.💬 Drop a comment with your biggest takeaway and share this with an operator or owner who needs to hear Roland's perspective.🤝Connect with Roland to chat more about consulting support in the hospitality space, fractional CFO services and organizational health consulting. https://www.linkedin.com/in/roland-wood-545aa216/🔗 Connect with DELO: https://linktr.ee/iamthedelo💡 Entrepreneur Community: https://www.builtdifferentcommunity.com 📚 Grab DELO’s Free eBook: https://toastability-production.s3.amazonaws.com/iiaxm3o0iqiawpe96g9o5efki5gh📲 DELO’s Preferred Business Service Partners: https://iamthedelo.com/connect📋 Restaurant Resources: https://www.runningrestaurants.com/subscribe DISCOUNT CODE: DeLo2025