Mark Estee

Mark Estee

Reno, NV

2021

Fix

Have accounting records, but not sure if they are in good shape? Have you been handling your accounting and feel that it's time to call in the pros? We will get your books in the best shape ever and provide you with the financial insight you need to run your business.

  • Triage
  • Perform
  • Tax
  • Monthly Accounting

Chef Mark Estee is a community leader and nationally recognized chef who is dedicated to building a thriving restaurant culture in Reno, NV. Mark has a rapidly growing restaurant portfolio, but it wasn’t always easy.

In 2014, Mark opened an ambitious venture he called Reno Provisions in an old J.C. Penney building. The $1.2 million project included a 10,000-square-foot restaurant-bar-market that butchered raw meat, produced cured meat products and turned out pasta and baked goods for his restaurants. Within a year, however, Reno Provisions was drowning in red ink. Desperate for cash, Mark shut down most of the operation and was forced to sell his flagship Italian eatery, Campo.

It was at this point Mark realized he needed a CFO on his team.

Mark is a visionary guy, an energy guy, a can-do guy – Mark was not a finance guy. Mark had worked with four different bookkeepers, he thought he knew all the numbers, but he just wasn’t seeing the results.

Step one for Vast was to figure out where Mark was at.

Were his books in good shape? Did he in fact have all the numbers? At Vast we call this phase Triage. We rolled up our sleeves and got to work digging through the books. We cleaned up, re-reconciled, verified, and purged.

Once we knew the books were in the best shape they had ever been in, we stepped in as the CFO.

We helped Mark with the big picture thinking – we implemented budgets, looked at systems, created payment plans, reduced debt, and advised on people. Sometimes we had to be the bad guy and say no. But the whole time we did this, we stayed true to Mark’s vision for his business. We knew Mark couldn’t support his people and the local food producers he cares so much about if he didn’t make some tough choices.

Mark now has a team of experts sitting on his bench.

From his Lead Accountant producing timely financial statements, the tax department taking care of tax preparation and planning, and his VCFO advising him on the big decisions, Mark knows his Vast team has his back.

Today, Mark is sitting at the helm of an incredible empire. His most recent acquisition of a famed and loved local brewery puts him, and his business partners, at 10 locations in Northern Nevada. He and the team are constantly looking for new opportunities and concepts to add to their growing portfolio. These days, Mark is a Grow client, but he doesn’t forget what the Vast team did for him when he came to us as a Fix client!

We restaurateurs need a window to see where we are all the time. Let the team at VAST show you the numbers, so you can do what you do best!

We restaurateurs need a window to see where we are all the time. Let the team at VAST show you the numbers, so you can do what you do best!

Mark Estee

Local Food Group

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