Before Nimbl was a full-scale financial operations firm, it was just one person doing it all.
In the early 2010s, now founder and CEO Dave Olsen was a solo fractional CFO supporting startups and small businesses. And like many finance professionals, he found himself hitting a wall—not in demand, but in capacity.
He wasn’t just offering CFO-level strategy. He was also entering bills, reconciling accounts, and running payroll. As client needs grew, so did the hours. The problem wasn’t the work, it was the lack of leverage.
That’s where this story begins.
Delegation
To scale his impact, Dave turned to offshore support. First in India (2012), then Pakistan (2013), and finally the Philippines in 2015. His goal was to delegate repeatable tasks and free up time for the top-level work only he could do.
The process wasn’t smooth.
He spent hours on online job boards, sifting through applicants, conducting trials, and facing the all-too-common issue of ghosting. Then, everything changed when he met Cathy, an entrepreneurial leader based in the Philippines who had office space, compliance knowledge, and the ability to help manage hires locally.
What started as a single offshore assistant evolved into a scalable support structure.
Building a System Behind the Scenes
By 2015, Dave’s vision started to shift. He no longer just wanted to offload tasks—he wanted to build a system that could serve as a full accounting and finance department for growing companies.
With Cathy’s help, Nimbl created a small but mighty team in the Philippines, supported by documented processes and systems that allowed the business to serve more clients without sacrificing quality. Dave was still the only U.S. point of contact, but the back office was humming.
Scaling a U.S. Team with Offshore Leverage
In 2018, Dave formed the company that is now Nimbl and hired his first U.S.-based employee for client-facing work.
With a U.S. team in place and the Philippines team supporting them, Nimbl began scaling with intention. Every department—finance, people, marketing—had dedicated offshore support, and that structure allowed the firm to deliver high-value client services while maintaining operational efficiency.
Still, there were challenges.
Dave learned that not all new hires knew how to work effectively with offshore teams. Delegation didn’t come naturally. Communication was inconsistent. And while processes existed, relationships were limited. Cathy had handled most local dynamics, insulating the U.S. team from cultural context and complexity.
At a small scale, it worked. But the cracks were forming.
A Global Wake-Up Call
Then came the pandemic and with it, massive disruption.
Suddenly, Nimbl had to engage directly with local teams in ways it never had before. Lockdowns made compliance more complex. Turnover spiked as offshore talent explored freelance opportunities. Some of their best team members left, chasing dollar signs in a booming remote work market.
They also saw a client scale up to 50+ offshore team members, only to downsize to zero within a year. It was a wake-up call: building a resilient staffing solution required more than great hires. It required real infrastructure.
Dave began to fear that what he had built was a house of cards that was crumbling down when stress-tested.
Building It Right—Internally and for Clients
In 2022, Dave and Nimbl President Shane Rowley flew to the Philippines to meet the team in person. That visit marked the beginning of a new chapter as they:
- Introduced career paths and growth opportunities
- Restructured pods to include U.S. and Philippines team members together
- Initiated regular one-on-ones and stronger cross-border collaboration
- Began expanding beyond Manila to new cities like Cebu
- Created staffing systems, not just staffing placements
The goal wasn’t to just place people, but to build a people system.
Nimbl doesn’t just help firms “hire someone in the Philippines.” They help them implement an offshore staffing strategy with maturity, documentation, and long-term thinking baked in.
What Nimbl Staffing Looks Like Today
Today, Nimbl Staffing supports firms and finance departments with accounting, administrative, and operations professionals across the globe. But more importantly, they help firms implement a system, not just a solution.
They guide their clients in:
- Defining what and how to delegate
- Training their U.S. teams to work effectively with offshore teammates
- Embedding long-term structure for performance, growth, and retention
Because Nimbl’s clients shouldn’t have to spend a decade learning what they did. They’ve already been there.
Why It Matters
Nimbl believes great businesses are a team sport—they’re built by doing what only you can do, and delegating the rest.
Nimbl Staffing isn’t about cheaper labor or faster hiring. It’s about scaling with the right people, systems, and support in place from the beginning.
If you’re ready to scale your finance function without burning out your core team, Nimbl Staffing can help.
Let’s build it right.
