December 13, 2023 • 28 mins
Ever wondered how to transform your business's financial stability and increase your profits? We're joined by Susanne Mariga, a CPA and fractional CFO with two decades of expertise. Susanne shares the revolutionary Profit First model, a strategy that has been a game changer in our own business. We dive into the basics of this model, shedding light on the importance of having multiple bank accounts and how to pay yourself as a business owner. It's all about intentional profitability!
We then walk through the practical implementation of the Profit First system and emphasize the need to start with your current financial position and gradually increase your percentages. Susanne also debunks some common misconceptions and explains how this system can help determine your pay and eliminate randomness in your results.
Understand your firm's financial percentages and get started with Profit First by visiting www.profitmap.co
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everyone, thank you for tuning in to Center
Stage.
As always, this is a little bitof a bittersweet way to start
this show, but after today'sepisode, center Stage will be
going on an indefinite hiatus.
I'm not saying that we won'tever come back, but as of right
now, center Stage will notreturn in 2024.
I really do appreciate all ofyou who have continued to listen
(00:23):
, who have continued to send infeedback, for all of the ratings
and reviews that you gave us.
Thank you to all 150 gueststhat we had on this show over
the last three years.
This was a really great projectto be a part of and to work on,
and so again, never sayingnever.
(00:43):
Not saying it's not going tocome back, but, as of right now,
the show is going to pauseafter today.
But we have a great episode foryou today, a ton of value, as
always, and we hope you enjoy.
This is Center Stage puttingyour firm in the spotlight by
(01:12):
highlighting business owners andother industry experts to help
take your firm to the next level.
Hey everyone, and welcome toCenter Stage.
I'm your host, john Henson, andthis week we are talking about
your firm's finances and how youcan really do a lot to increase
your profits and get into abetter financial situation.
(01:33):
Now I know what you might berolling your eyes at that
statement, because I know thatthere are a lot of snake oil
salespeople out there who claimoh, we can 10X your profits in
30 days, and blah, blah, blah.
I don't like those peopleeither.
Right, and this is not whatthat is right.
This is something that we havebeen doing internally here at
Spotlight Branding for the lastfew years, and it has radically
(01:57):
stabilized our business.
It's helped us grow, and I amtalking about the profit-first
model of managing your finances,and so I am a little bit
familiar with it.
I handle our financesinternally, so I know how to use
it, I know how to navigate it,but I wanted to have someone on
who can explain it much betterthan I could, and so I am joined
(02:18):
by CPA and fractional CFO,suzanne Mariga.
Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
John, thanks for having me Excited to be here
today.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Awesome.
So yeah, before we dive in,give us a little introduction.
What's your background?
Why are you so passionate aboutthe profit-first model?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
You know I have been a CPA for over 20 years.
I think at some point you juststopped counting, right, it's
cool, but not cool.
Right, it means that you'regetting older.
But for over 20 years I haveworked with many, many small
businesses and I think that, assmall business owners, we do
what we do because we absolutelylove what we do.
(02:55):
Right, you guys are attorneys.
You love defending the law, youlike pushing buttons
potentially and really helpingyour clients be successful, and
that's what you're amazing at.
And whether our entrepreneur isa plumber or a construction
worker or an attorney, many ofus start our business because we
(03:17):
absolutely love what we do andit's our calling in life and we
love it so much that we probablywould actually do it for free
right.
And I remember when I startedout with my business, you know
that's exactly what I did.
You know, I literally had mydaughter and I wanted to create
a world where small businessowners could have access to
(03:38):
really quality accounting andtax services without paying an
arm and a leg.
And unfortunately, you know,when you're good at what you do
and you don't charge a fairprice, you get a lot of clients
right, you have a door thatnever stops closing and also
they tell their friends, so youget more of those type of
clients.
(03:59):
And it was interesting becauseprobably around year three or so
, you know, I realized that.
You know this was not gettingme where I wanted to go.
You know, in fact I worked waymore hours than I did at my last
corporate job before I startedthe firm I.
You know I hardly got to see mydaughter, which is why I
started the business, to be ableto balance work and life and be
(04:23):
able to see her grow up.
And frankly, I had nothing toshow for it.
You know, I didn't have.
I didn't have these, I didn'thave the profits, and it really
started me on this journey ofprofit first, and profit first
is a concept by Mike McAllister.
I also wrote a book with Mikelater on, called profit first
(04:44):
for minority businessenterprises.
But profit first is a modelwhere we create intentional
profitability.
So in Mike McAllister's book,what happens is we do it through
the use of bank accounts.
You guys may have heard of DaveRamsey.
You may have heard of hisenvelope systems.
As attorneys, I don't recommendthat you keep envelopes when
(05:04):
your client brings in cash, butinstead we want you to create
bank accounts.
Is what happens?
And what happens is these bankaccounts function very similarly
to, like, the envelope systems.
You know you have one bankaccount that receives all your
collections.
Right, it receives all yourrevenue Not that I owed him
money, but it but all of yourrevenue is what it'll it'll
(05:25):
receive.
And then what happens?
On the 10th and 25th, you'regoing to transfer money to
different bank accounts basedupon their purpose.
So what's going to happen isyou're going to immediately
transfer, on a 10th and 25th, afixed percentage to your profit
account and this is a fixedpercentage of your revenue.
And so what's happening isyou're creating intentional
profitability.
Day one You're going to createanother bank account called
(05:47):
owner's pay, and that's whereyou're going to transfer your
own or salary.
Yes, you're going to take thatoff top line and and it's
interesting because a lot oftimes when I ask owners who's
their most valued player, youknow they look at their favorite
all star employee.
But the reality is you trainthat all star employee and the
day you walk out the businessdoesn't exist anymore, and so
it's important as a businessowner that you compensate
(06:09):
yourself fairly for the workthat you're doing.
That third account that we'regoing to create as tax account,
because reality is, if you'vegot intentional profit happening
, you've got owners pay, you'regoing to have a obligation.
No matter how great youraccountant is, you're going to
have some tax obligation.
Now your accountant's going touse some great tax strategy for
you.
However, that tax is going tobe something that we don't want
(06:32):
to be worried about how we'regoing to pay last year's taxes
with this year's money.
So we're going to put thatmoney away and we're going to
again put away a fixedpercentage of revenue into that
tax account and that lastaccount.
That last account is anoperating expense account and
that means that after I fundedmy profit, after I funded my
owner's pay account, after Ifunded my tax account,
whatever's left over is going togo to my operating expenses,
(06:55):
meaning that that's the accountthat I'm going to make decisions
.
Right, I'm going to say can Iafford that big office space or
can I live in a and work in avirtual environment, especially
now that we've kind of tested itin the post COVID world?
Do I need those magazinesubscriptions that that I've
been paying for?
I know for us.
You know, we walked into ouroffice probably around May of
2020, and it was a ghost town,but we had all these magazines
(07:18):
that were like, not even creasedand open.
I was like, why are we payingfor these magazines?
But again, you know, this iswhere the account that you're
going to make decisions basedupon this is all the money to
get transferred here after Ifunded my profit, after I funded
my owner's pay, after I fundedmy tax account, and so this is
the account that I only haveleft to make operating expenses.
(07:38):
And what I like about the system, john, is that it uses our
natural psychology as businessowners.
You know, I always tell peopleit's kind of like feast or
famine.
You know, if we go back tothose, those, those generations
of, go right when, when there'splenty of food, we eat a lot,
right.
We store our fat, we get readyfor the winter.
When we're in famine, we eat alot less.
(07:59):
So that's the same way it iswith business.
You know, the day that we gotpaid, if all the money is
flowing in one account, right,it's like I can afford that new
computer, or I can sign that newcontract, you know and, and I
can bring on that new person, Ifeel like the world is
invincible.
But towards the end of themonth, when the payments have
all been received and all themoney has been spent on bills,
(08:20):
I'm feeling like I can't wait tofor for billing to happen the
first of the month, right.
And so what's happening iswe're working with something
called Parkinson's Law, we'reworking with our natural human
Tennessee and that OPEX account.
What it does is it creates anillusion of scarcity, meaning
that, you know, when I'm lookingat that OPEX account, when I
see that there's money in there,right, I'm going to make
(08:42):
different decisions, and when Isee that money is dwindling, I'm
going to make very differentdecisions.
Yeah, absolutely, while I'mcreating intentional
profitability.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Yeah, and and honestly, like kind of kind of
the way that it made sense to mewhen I was first learning about
this is that it's almost likeyou're you're making profit, an
expense line item on your profitand loss.
You know, it's like you'reyou're before anything else, I
eat profit first.
(09:11):
You're taking that percentageout and it's already accounted
for in your total revenue andit's almost.
It almost becomes an expenseline in your, in your P&L, which
, like you know to your point,it creates that sort of
intentionality where you're.
You now know, okay, this isreally what I'm working with.
(09:33):
I don't, I don't technicallyhave look at the end of the day,
you also need discipline withthis.
Yeah, because, like, what'swhat really is stopping someone
(09:56):
from being like, well, it was aleaner month, I don't have as
much in the operating account asI wish, but I've got all this
extra cash over here in myprofit account or in my owner
account or in my tax account,absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
And the thing that I like about Prophet First is it
creates physical boundaries,right.
It's kind of like you know, ifI don't buy junk food, I'm not
going to eat junk food, right?
If I don't have it in mypresence, I'm not going to be
focused on it.
And that's exactly what ProphetFirst does.
It literally takes money fromout of sight, right, and to out
(10:25):
of mind is what it does.
And, and you can hide thoseaccounts you know those, those
profit accounts and owner's payyou can even forgive that
they're there.
And what it does is it createsthese boundaries, it creates
these rules of the game, as Icall it right.
And, and you know, for us, youknow we like to make Prophet
First a game.
It's like how much can we winthis month, right?
And we're going to win bystaying within our operating
(10:46):
expense account.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah, absolutely yeah , I mean, and it's also it's fun
for me, you know, whenever Irun the transfers, it's like,
okay, how much, how much am Isending over to this account
this month?
Or you know this cycle or what,and it's and it's just
interesting to watch it grow.
The one thing I want to ask youthose you know how, and I know
that in the original book fromMike and Callowits and I'm
(11:12):
curious to see if you kind ofdeviate from this or if you hold
true to it, but I know thatthere were set percentages for
each different account based on,you know, whatever.
I mean, I think it's somethinglike 6% to the tax or 4% to the
profit, something like that.
Anyway, how you know, is that,is that really just kind of what
you recommend people do, or doyou kind of encourage them to
(11:34):
say, alright, how much profitpercentage do you want to start
at versus?
You know, in that initial set,what do you, you know, advise
people with?
Speaker 2 (11:42):
You know that's a great question, john, and what
happened was profit first.
Professionals, as a corporation, did a study and they did a
study of what does a healthycompany look like, and, and, and
.
These percentages were derivedbased upon the study.
And these percentages theyactually change depending on the
phase that the company is in.
For example, when a company isitty bitty and they are just
(12:05):
starting out, right, and it'sowner operated one attorney at
the show, maybe a secretaryunder $250,000 in revenue, it's
going to look a whole lotdifferent than when that company
hits $10 million plus inrevenue.
Right, the percentages aregoing to look very different
because when he's small, most ofthe money that's being
generated is going to go to theowner.
Right, because reality is theowner is doing most of the work.
(12:28):
Right.
He's actually doing the sales.
He's shaking the hands, he'sdoing the fulfillment right, he
might have one person supportinghim, but he's doing all the
work.
He's cleaning the bathroomright.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
And so 70% of the revenue is going to go to the
owner in a healthy company.
Now, by the time he's $10million and he's got attorneys
underneath him.
They've all got their support,their paralegals underneath them
.
You know his, his operatingexpenses, his wages, are going
to be a whole lot more.
It's a percentage of thatrevenue, right?
Because now his firm is runningbased upon the power of the
(12:59):
team, meaning that he couldprobably step out for four weeks
, go to go to go to Tahiti orsomeplace exotic, and his firm
will still run without him,right, yeah?
And and so does percentageslook a lot different.
Operating expenses could easilybe 65% of the collections at
that point, because, again, it'sbased upon the team.
Now his profit has grown, right, his profit as his company's
(13:21):
gotten bigger, as a percentagehas grown, because now you know
he's more of an investor and heneeds to make sure he's getting
a return.
But his owner's pay as apercentage of the total revenue
is a lot smaller.
Now he's still got a salary,it's just that he's not, he's
not the main guy anymore, right,yeah?
He's the CEO now.
He's the managing partner ofthat firm, and so his
(13:42):
percentages look a lot different.
So the percentages that you'rereferring to, john, are what a
healthy company looks like, andwe actually do have a giveaway
for anyone that's kind ofinterested in benchmarking,
where they should be based upontheir size.
If you go to wwwprofitmapco,you can download that, those
those charts, and it'llliterally show you, based upon
(14:04):
your revenue today, whatpercentages a healthy company
has that's similar to yours, sothat you can work your way there
.
Now I'll.
You know, one thing that I'lltell you is very few companies
start out at those percentagesright.
These are what we call targetallocation percentages, and I
always say start with whereyou're at.
You know, don't try to run themarathon within a day.
(14:26):
You know, if I say, john, we'regoing to run a marathon
tomorrow, now, john, you may bean amazing shape, but you know,
if you tell me that, suzanne,we're going to run a marathon
tomorrow, I'll be like John.
I know that tomorrow is today,but I decided not to come
because I feel like I'm going toget really sick, but I'm going
to be watching you on TV androoting for you.
Now, john, if you said, hey,suzanne, we're going to run that
(14:48):
same marathon, but we're goingto run it next year.
But we're going to practice andwe're going to build up your
stamina, and so we're just goingto walk them out tomorrow,
we're going to walk to you thenext day, and then the third day
we're going to run one of thosemiles and we're just going to
gradually build up.
You know, in a year from now,john, I'm going to show up to
the race that day, right,because I'm prepared, I know how
to pace myself, I know how tomake sure that I maintain the
(15:11):
endurance to get through thismarathon.
And that's the same way it iswith companies that are starting
profit first.
You know you may be in a leaseright now that you can't get out
for the next four years, and sowe're going to have to start
percentages a lot differentlythan at our goal, right?
And so what I tell people isyou know, start with, just go up
one percent.
Just go at one percent of whereyou are today.
(15:32):
So, if your profit is alreadyat one percent, go up to two
percent.
If your profits at two percent,go up to three percent and just
gradually increase them untilyou get there.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Yeah, absolutely, and I mean even I mean I think we
started doing this probably 2019, I want to say, and like we've
changed our percentages, youknow, over that period.
But one thing that youmentioned that I wanted to ask
you about, you mentioned, youknow, I want to talk about the
owner pay a little bit, becauseyou said you know the owner
(16:04):
still has a salary and I wantedto kind of clarify that point
because I don't, you know, andcorrect me if I'm wrong here,
because I know what we do.
It's not that you take yourpayroll off the books entirely,
like you.
Your payroll still shows up,but maybe your pay, you know,
maybe on the books your pay is,you know, maybe set it like
(16:25):
30,000, instead of whatever youreally want it to be 80, 90, 100
or more, you know, per year,because the rest of that is what
comes out of that owner account, right?
Speaker 2 (16:38):
And you're exactly right with that.
You know profit first.
One of the things I really wantto emphasize is it's not an
accounting system.
It is not an accounting system,it is, it is a cash management
system.
It's a system literally it'sphysics is designed to create
that intentional profit billthat you move money from one
bank accounts to another.
You don't touch it, thennaturally you're going to have
(16:58):
profit right now.
Now, in terms of accounting andtax law, it's a little bit
different because, depending onhow you're set up I'm a legal
entity standpoint you know ifyou're a sole proprietor, you
know you might be getting all ofthat right as a distribution.
But if you're an escort, you'vegot to take something called a
reasonable compensation right inorder to be in compliance right
with tax law.
And so you know really whatthat owners pay is.
(17:21):
It's a fixed dollar.
It's not a fixed dollars, apercentage right.
It's a fixed percentage of yourrevenue that you are going to
pay yourself.
Now how you run that throughyour payroll system, you're
going to follow your tax law.
That's appropriate for yourentity right.
So if you're a soleproprietorship, it's going to be
a distribution.
If it's a escort, you're goingto take a reasonable comp, and
(17:41):
then you're going to ask fordistribution right.
That's how you're going to dothat, and so really, it's just
it.
Just it helps you determine theamount that you're going to be
taking and also it's a guardrailbecause you know, as business
owners, you know, I meet abusiness owner and they had a
million dollars and they'retaking $100,000 salary.
You know, a few years from nowthey're at $10 million and
(18:02):
they're still taking $100,000salary.
And I'm like, okay, when do youwhen?
When do you when?
You've obviously have killedsales, you've learned how to
sell, but when do you rewardyourself for the work that
you're doing, right, yeah, andso really, by keeping a
percentage of collections,you're able to reward yourself
and grow as your company isgrowing.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Yeah, absolutely.
So you know kind of to kind ofzoom out a little bit what you
know, I know that you know this.
My this is obviously not thestandard.
I think it should be Right.
I think this is something thatevery business can benefit from,
but obviously it's just not howmost people think to run a
business.
So, in your experience, whathave you seen, like what kind of
(18:45):
mistakes or issues have youseen business owners make that
profit first and using thatsystem, easily resolves?
So in terms of implementation,john like so just in terms of
like you know just kind of howthey manage their revenue and
their cash.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Got it.
So the first thing that I seeand this is like the ones that
are not using profit first isthat you know they're getting
random results.
And what I mean is, you know,as a tax accountant, you know I
would have clients that wouldcome to my office and they would
be on pins and needles whenthey picked up their return and
I would be like, suzanne, howmuch do I owe?
(19:26):
And I would be looking at them.
I'm like you don't know whatshe owe.
I mean, you don't know how muchyou made.
I'm like, and literally theywouldn't know.
They wouldn't know.
It was literally, you know,it's like shooting in the dark.
It's how they're running theirbusinesses all year, and so
really it gets to figuring outwhy are we in business?
Right, why are we in business?
You know, when I look back frommy three years of starting my
(19:49):
business, when I first startedit it was like wait a minute.
I started my business to spendtime with my little girl.
I started my business to havefreedom of time.
I started my business to whynot make some money too out
where we're at it, right?
And really, you know I loveSimon Sinek.
It says it starts with why.
You know why did I do this?
And making sure that youractions align with the why right
(20:12):
and the goal, and so that cashmanagement system is there to
facilitate the goal.
You know, the next thing that Isee you know I'll dive into
profit first things that gowrong is, you know, is just
getting started.
You know, like, like John, youknow I'm proud of you.
You know you've been doing thissince 2019, right, this is
awesome.
And you know a lot ofentrepreneurs they go oh, you
(20:33):
want me to set up high bankaccounts.
You know what I said that's alot of bank accounts.
I'm like I'm gonna have to gotalk to my banker.
He's gonna think that I'm crazyand you're absolutely right.
Your banker will think thatyou're absolutely bogus and
crazy.
You're absolutely right, so getready for it.
But you're gonna make a wholelot of money, right, and he's
gonna be asking you in a fewyears to become a private
banking client, right, and soyou know it's just to getting
(20:55):
started.
You know there are free banksout there now, like Relay Bank
is the official bank of profitfirst.
It'll let you start up to like10 bank accounts with no fees
and has free bank accounts foryou.
You know there's ways tonegotiate with your banker.
Hey, if I keep a minimumbalance, will you get me free
banking?
But don't let the initialstarting up the bank accounts
(21:18):
really be something that holdsyou back with that.
You know, I think a lot oftimes that when you're doing
profit first, you're absolutelyright.
John, you're gonna run into someroadblocks, especially starting
out.
You know, it's kind of likerunning that marathon we talked
about earlier.
You know you don't run amarathon day one, you run the
marathon after about a year.
(21:38):
Right, and that's the same waya profit first.
You know you're gonna.
You may have fixed contractsthat you're in that you can't
get out of, but if the key isnot to get discouraged, the key
is to create a plan.
You know, if I have, you know,just like you know going to
college you guys were going tolaw school you had to think
about what classes am I gonnatake each semester in order to
graduate, because if you missone key course, you can't take
(21:59):
the next course.
So they compound and build.
That's the same way thatfinances.
Okay, I know I got this fixedpayment for the next five years.
I'm gonna build that into myprojections.
But where else can I maneuverthings at?
You know what's my Paretoprinciple?
I mean my 80, 20,.
What 20% of my clients areproducing 80% of my results
right?
What cases are am I most likelyto win?
(22:21):
Because maybe that's where Iwanna be focusing at and getting
really good at those areas.
And so really not just, youknow, not just like running
business random, but thinkingabout, hey, where do I, you know
, what are my goals, what do Ineed to do in terms of creating
a path to get there andexpecting the hurdles along the
(22:41):
way, but creating a path forward, yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
And so you know, I think to kind of start to wrap
this up a little bit I think youknow one of the nice things
about this profit-first systemis that it gives you that
intentionality of like now youactually do have profit.
So what do business owners dowith it?
(23:06):
Because I gotta imagine it'sgotta be a weird feeling for a
business owner to be like okay,I have all of these expenses on
my P&L and then over here I amliterally just putting money
away as profit.
I also am putting money away inmy owner account to pay for
myself.
I also have money putting overhere to pay the taxes, so I
(23:27):
don't even have to worry aboutthose.
So what do I do with all ofthis money in my profit account?
Speaker 2 (23:35):
So the way that profit versus set up is one of
the goals of profit versus tobuild that retain earnings we
call it the vault.
And the great thing aboutprofit versus that vault, which
is going to become your retainearnings, it's going to actually
match cash right, which is evenbetter right.
And what you're going to dowith that profit account is,
(23:57):
every single quarter you'regoing to give yourself a
dividend.
It's like you know, if you ownstock for Procter Gamble,
they're going to give you adividend.
Your company is going to giveyou a dividend, and what that
means is you're going to takehalf of what's accumulated in
that profit account and you'regoing to pay yourself a check.
You know, I remember my firstdividend check.
(24:17):
I went and bought a piano formy kids because I wanted them to
take and learn piano right.
It seemed like I ended up usingit more than AIDD, but you know
I wanted them to have a gift ofmusic, right?
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Now you know we talked about earlier that some
companies are starting fromdifferent places.
Some companies are startingwith that, and so what happens
is, instead of potentiallygiving that big dividend, you're
going to give yourself a realgift, and that's the ability to
sleep at night.
And so what that means isyou're going to take half of
that profit and you're going todo something called the debt
snowball, and what that means isyou're going to pay down your
(24:51):
smallest debt, first with thatprofit distribution, and then,
the next quarter, you're goingto pay down your next smallest
debt, and you're going to keepon doing that until you
eradicate that debt because youwant to be able to eat.
There's nothing like running abusiness debt fray.
Now, that other part of theprofit that you have, you're
going to build, retain earnings.
You're going to put that moneyinto a vault account.
(25:13):
You know, I always like to sayif you're at one of those big
banks, you're going to put it inone of those far, far away
banks, you know far, far awayand you're going to, you know,
small community banks thatdoesn't have online banking.
It's got to stand in line forlike 20 minutes to even say
hello to a teller.
You're going to put it far awayinto one of those accounts and
you're going to grow your retainearnings every single quarter.
So you know, when we weatherstorms, like we did during COVID
(25:37):
, you're going to have moneythere.
You know we've had clients thatbuild their vault to the point
they were able to get downpayments for buildings and they
were able to buy buildings whichis what we did.
Congratulations.
And so you're going to have alot of different options because
you're building that vault.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Yeah and so, and the thing here is, you know I mean
obviously you're going to have alot of different options and so
basically anyone who'slistening to this you're not
going to.
You know this is thisconversation is designed to
entice you to learn more aboutit, because I mean there's, you
know it's not something that Ithink you should try to do on
your own.
You know, should definitely,whether it's the original profit
(26:14):
first book from Mike or evenchecking out your book that you
wrote with him.
You know, and learning allabout it and working with
someone who can help you set itup is really important, making
people get in touch with you tolearn more, potentially work
with you and also to check outthose resources that you have.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Yeah.
So the best way is, first ofall, get your profit back, get
your profit map.
You know that's a free give me,that John's going to give you
as a gift, and so go towwwprofitmapco, make sure it'sco
notcomco, and get your profitmap.
Figure out where your healthycompany is of your size and
(26:54):
figure out you know where you,where you should be, and my
contact information is on thereso that you'll be able to
connect with me.
And if you're wanting to takethat next level, I am here for
you.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Awesome.
Yeah, we'll definitely put thatin the show notes.
Profit mapco.
I have one final question foryou before we wrap up here, and
if you had one final piece ofadvice for our listeners, what
would it be?
Speaker 2 (27:18):
So my final piece of advice and I think this is
anything that you want toaccomplish in life is figure out
what does winning look like foryou, meaning that, at the end
of the day, when you look backin your life five years from now
, 10 years from now, what wouldmake you feel like you've won
right, and then, algebraically,work back, create the processes
(27:40):
to create that, that life foryourself.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Absolutely yes.
Let's start at the end andfigure out what it looks like to
get there.
It's always, always a greatsentiment, so that is going to
do it for us here on CenterStage.
Thank you so much forcontinuing to listen and all of
the feedback that you're sendingour way.
That's going to do it, suzanne.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
To learn more, go to spotlightbrandingcom.
Slash center stage.
Hey everyone, thank you for tuning in to Center
Stage.
As always, this is a little bitof a bittersweet way to start
this show, but after today'sepisode, center Stage will be
going on an indefinite hiatus.
I'm not saying that we won'tever come back, but as of right
now, center Stage will notreturn in 2024.
I really do appreciate all ofyou who have continued to listen
(00:23):
, who have continued to send infeedback, for all of the ratings
and reviews that you gave us.
Thank you to all 150 gueststhat we had on this show over
the last three years.
This was a really great projectto be a part of and to work on,
and so again, never sayingnever.
(00:43):
Not saying it's not going tocome back, but, as of right now,
the show is going to pauseafter today.
But we have a great episode foryou today, a ton of value, as
always, and we hope you enjoy.
This is Center Stage puttingyour firm in the spotlight by
(01:12):
highlighting business owners andother industry experts to help
take your firm to the next level.
Hey everyone, and welcome toCenter Stage.
I'm your host, john Henson, andthis week we are talking about
your firm's finances and how youcan really do a lot to increase
your profits and get into abetter financial situation.
(01:33):
Now I know what you might berolling your eyes at that
statement, because I know thatthere are a lot of snake oil
salespeople out there who claimoh, we can 10X your profits in
30 days, and blah, blah, blah.
I don't like those peopleeither.
Right, and this is not whatthat is right.
This is something that we havebeen doing internally here at
Spotlight Branding for the lastfew years, and it has radically
(01:57):
stabilized our business.
It's helped us grow, and I amtalking about the profit-first
model of managing your finances,and so I am a little bit
familiar with it.
I handle our financesinternally, so I know how to use
it, I know how to navigate it,but I wanted to have someone on
who can explain it much betterthan I could, and so I am joined
(02:18):
by CPA and fractional CFO,suzanne Mariga.
Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
John, thanks for having me Excited to be here
today.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Awesome.
So yeah, before we dive in,give us a little introduction.
What's your background?
Why are you so passionate aboutthe profit-first model?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
You know I have been a CPA for over 20 years.
I think at some point you juststopped counting, right, it's
cool, but not cool.
Right, it means that you'regetting older.
But for over 20 years I haveworked with many, many small
businesses and I think that, assmall business owners, we do
what we do because we absolutelylove what we do.
(02:55):
Right, you guys are attorneys.
You love defending the law, youlike pushing buttons
potentially and really helpingyour clients be successful, and
that's what you're amazing at.
And whether our entrepreneur isa plumber or a construction
worker or an attorney, many ofus start our business because we
(03:17):
absolutely love what we do andit's our calling in life and we
love it so much that we probablywould actually do it for free
right.
And I remember when I startedout with my business, you know
that's exactly what I did.
You know, I literally had mydaughter and I wanted to create
a world where small businessowners could have access to
(03:38):
really quality accounting andtax services without paying an
arm and a leg.
And unfortunately, you know,when you're good at what you do
and you don't charge a fairprice, you get a lot of clients
right, you have a door thatnever stops closing and also
they tell their friends, so youget more of those type of
clients.
(03:59):
And it was interesting becauseprobably around year three or so
, you know, I realized that.
You know this was not gettingme where I wanted to go.
You know, in fact I worked waymore hours than I did at my last
corporate job before I startedthe firm I.
You know I hardly got to see mydaughter, which is why I
started the business, to be ableto balance work and life and be
(04:23):
able to see her grow up.
And frankly, I had nothing toshow for it.
You know, I didn't have.
I didn't have these, I didn'thave the profits, and it really
started me on this journey ofprofit first, and profit first
is a concept by Mike McAllister.
I also wrote a book with Mikelater on, called profit first
(04:44):
for minority businessenterprises.
But profit first is a modelwhere we create intentional
profitability.
So in Mike McAllister's book,what happens is we do it through
the use of bank accounts.
You guys may have heard of DaveRamsey.
You may have heard of hisenvelope systems.
As attorneys, I don't recommendthat you keep envelopes when
(05:04):
your client brings in cash, butinstead we want you to create
bank accounts.
Is what happens?
And what happens is these bankaccounts function very similarly
to, like, the envelope systems.
You know you have one bankaccount that receives all your
collections.
Right, it receives all yourrevenue Not that I owed him
money, but it but all of yourrevenue is what it'll it'll
(05:25):
receive.
And then what happens?
On the 10th and 25th, you'regoing to transfer money to
different bank accounts basedupon their purpose.
So what's going to happen isyou're going to immediately
transfer, on a 10th and 25th, afixed percentage to your profit
account and this is a fixedpercentage of your revenue.
And so what's happening isyou're creating intentional
profitability.
Day one You're going to createanother bank account called
(05:47):
owner's pay, and that's whereyou're going to transfer your
own or salary.
Yes, you're going to take thatoff top line and and it's
interesting because a lot oftimes when I ask owners who's
their most valued player, youknow they look at their favorite
all star employee.
But the reality is you trainthat all star employee and the
day you walk out the businessdoesn't exist anymore, and so
it's important as a businessowner that you compensate
(06:09):
yourself fairly for the workthat you're doing.
That third account that we'regoing to create as tax account,
because reality is, if you'vegot intentional profit happening
, you've got owners pay, you'regoing to have a obligation.
No matter how great youraccountant is, you're going to
have some tax obligation.
Now your accountant's going touse some great tax strategy for
you.
However, that tax is going tobe something that we don't want
(06:32):
to be worried about how we'regoing to pay last year's taxes
with this year's money.
So we're going to put thatmoney away and we're going to
again put away a fixedpercentage of revenue into that
tax account and that lastaccount.
That last account is anoperating expense account and
that means that after I fundedmy profit, after I funded my
owner's pay account, after Ifunded my tax account,
whatever's left over is going togo to my operating expenses,
(06:55):
meaning that that's the accountthat I'm going to make decisions
.
Right, I'm going to say can Iafford that big office space or
can I live in a and work in avirtual environment, especially
now that we've kind of tested itin the post COVID world?
Do I need those magazinesubscriptions that that I've
been paying for?
I know for us.
You know, we walked into ouroffice probably around May of
2020, and it was a ghost town,but we had all these magazines
(07:18):
that were like, not even creasedand open.
I was like, why are we payingfor these magazines?
But again, you know, this iswhere the account that you're
going to make decisions basedupon this is all the money to
get transferred here after Ifunded my profit, after I funded
my owner's pay, after I fundedmy tax account, and so this is
the account that I only haveleft to make operating expenses.
(07:38):
And what I like about the system, john, is that it uses our
natural psychology as businessowners.
You know, I always tell peopleit's kind of like feast or
famine.
You know, if we go back tothose, those, those generations
of, go right when, when there'splenty of food, we eat a lot,
right.
We store our fat, we get readyfor the winter.
When we're in famine, we eat alot less.
(07:59):
So that's the same way it iswith business.
You know, the day that we gotpaid, if all the money is
flowing in one account, right,it's like I can afford that new
computer, or I can sign that newcontract, you know and, and I
can bring on that new person, Ifeel like the world is
invincible.
But towards the end of themonth, when the payments have
all been received and all themoney has been spent on bills,
(08:20):
I'm feeling like I can't wait tofor for billing to happen the
first of the month, right.
And so what's happening iswe're working with something
called Parkinson's Law, we'reworking with our natural human
Tennessee and that OPEX account.
What it does is it creates anillusion of scarcity, meaning
that, you know, when I'm lookingat that OPEX account, when I
see that there's money in there,right, I'm going to make
(08:42):
different decisions, and when Isee that money is dwindling, I'm
going to make very differentdecisions.
Yeah, absolutely, while I'mcreating intentional
profitability.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Yeah, and and honestly, like kind of kind of
the way that it made sense to mewhen I was first learning about
this is that it's almost likeyou're you're making profit, an
expense line item on your profitand loss.
You know, it's like you'reyou're before anything else, I
eat profit first.
(09:11):
You're taking that percentageout and it's already accounted
for in your total revenue andit's almost.
It almost becomes an expenseline in your, in your P&L, which
, like you know to your point,it creates that sort of
intentionality where you're.
You now know, okay, this isreally what I'm working with.
(09:33):
I don't, I don't technicallyhave look at the end of the day,
you also need discipline withthis.
Yeah, because, like, what'swhat really is stopping someone
(09:56):
from being like, well, it was aleaner month, I don't have as
much in the operating account asI wish, but I've got all this
extra cash over here in myprofit account or in my owner
account or in my tax account,absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
And the thing that I like about Prophet First is it
creates physical boundaries,right.
It's kind of like you know, ifI don't buy junk food, I'm not
going to eat junk food, right?
If I don't have it in mypresence, I'm not going to be
focused on it.
And that's exactly what ProphetFirst does.
It literally takes money fromout of sight, right, and to out
(10:25):
of mind is what it does.
And, and you can hide thoseaccounts you know those, those
profit accounts and owner's payyou can even forgive that
they're there.
And what it does is it createsthese boundaries, it creates
these rules of the game, as Icall it right.
And, and you know, for us, youknow we like to make Prophet
First a game.
It's like how much can we winthis month, right?
And we're going to win bystaying within our operating
(10:46):
expense account.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah, absolutely yeah , I mean, and it's also it's fun
for me, you know, whenever Irun the transfers, it's like,
okay, how much, how much am Isending over to this account
this month?
Or you know this cycle or what,and it's and it's just
interesting to watch it grow.
The one thing I want to ask youthose you know how, and I know
that in the original book fromMike and Callowits and I'm
(11:12):
curious to see if you kind ofdeviate from this or if you hold
true to it, but I know thatthere were set percentages for
each different account based on,you know, whatever.
I mean, I think it's somethinglike 6% to the tax or 4% to the
profit, something like that.
Anyway, how you know, is that,is that really just kind of what
you recommend people do, or doyou kind of encourage them to
(11:34):
say, alright, how much profitpercentage do you want to start
at versus?
You know, in that initial set,what do you, you know, advise
people with?
Speaker 2 (11:42):
You know that's a great question, john, and what
happened was profit first.
Professionals, as a corporation, did a study and they did a
study of what does a healthycompany look like, and, and, and
.
These percentages were derivedbased upon the study.
And these percentages theyactually change depending on the
phase that the company is in.
For example, when a company isitty bitty and they are just
(12:05):
starting out, right, and it'sowner operated one attorney at
the show, maybe a secretaryunder $250,000 in revenue, it's
going to look a whole lotdifferent than when that company
hits $10 million plus inrevenue.
Right, the percentages aregoing to look very different
because when he's small, most ofthe money that's being
generated is going to go to theowner.
Right, because reality is theowner is doing most of the work.
(12:28):
Right.
He's actually doing the sales.
He's shaking the hands, he'sdoing the fulfillment right, he
might have one person supportinghim, but he's doing all the
work.
He's cleaning the bathroomright.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
And so 70% of the revenue is going to go to the
owner in a healthy company.
Now, by the time he's $10million and he's got attorneys
underneath him.
They've all got their support,their paralegals underneath them
.
You know his, his operatingexpenses, his wages, are going
to be a whole lot more.
It's a percentage of thatrevenue, right?
Because now his firm is runningbased upon the power of the
(12:59):
team, meaning that he couldprobably step out for four weeks
, go to go to go to Tahiti orsomeplace exotic, and his firm
will still run without him,right, yeah?
And and so does percentageslook a lot different.
Operating expenses could easilybe 65% of the collections at
that point, because, again, it'sbased upon the team.
Now his profit has grown, right, his profit as his company's
(13:21):
gotten bigger, as a percentagehas grown, because now you know
he's more of an investor and heneeds to make sure he's getting
a return.
But his owner's pay as apercentage of the total revenue
is a lot smaller.
Now he's still got a salary,it's just that he's not, he's
not the main guy anymore, right,yeah?
He's the CEO now.
He's the managing partner ofthat firm, and so his
(13:42):
percentages look a lot different.
So the percentages that you'rereferring to, john, are what a
healthy company looks like, andwe actually do have a giveaway
for anyone that's kind ofinterested in benchmarking,
where they should be based upontheir size.
If you go to wwwprofitmapco,you can download that, those
those charts, and it'llliterally show you, based upon
(14:04):
your revenue today, whatpercentages a healthy company
has that's similar to yours, sothat you can work your way there
.
Now I'll.
You know, one thing that I'lltell you is very few companies
start out at those percentagesright.
These are what we call targetallocation percentages, and I
always say start with whereyou're at.
You know, don't try to run themarathon within a day.
(14:26):
You know, if I say, john, we'regoing to run a marathon
tomorrow, now, john, you may bean amazing shape, but you know,
if you tell me that, suzanne,we're going to run a marathon
tomorrow, I'll be like John.
I know that tomorrow is today,but I decided not to come
because I feel like I'm going toget really sick, but I'm going
to be watching you on TV androoting for you.
Now, john, if you said, hey,suzanne, we're going to run that
(14:48):
same marathon, but we're goingto run it next year.
But we're going to practice andwe're going to build up your
stamina, and so we're just goingto walk them out tomorrow,
we're going to walk to you thenext day, and then the third day
we're going to run one of thosemiles and we're just going to
gradually build up.
You know, in a year from now,john, I'm going to show up to
the race that day, right,because I'm prepared, I know how
to pace myself, I know how tomake sure that I maintain the
(15:11):
endurance to get through thismarathon.
And that's the same way it iswith companies that are starting
profit first.
You know you may be in a leaseright now that you can't get out
for the next four years, and sowe're going to have to start
percentages a lot differentlythan at our goal, right?
And so what I tell people isyou know, start with, just go up
one percent.
Just go at one percent of whereyou are today.
(15:32):
So, if your profit is alreadyat one percent, go up to two
percent.
If your profits at two percent,go up to three percent and just
gradually increase them untilyou get there.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Yeah, absolutely, and I mean even I mean I think we
started doing this probably 2019, I want to say, and like we've
changed our percentages, youknow, over that period.
But one thing that youmentioned that I wanted to ask
you about, you mentioned, youknow, I want to talk about the
owner pay a little bit, becauseyou said you know the owner
(16:04):
still has a salary and I wantedto kind of clarify that point
because I don't, you know, andcorrect me if I'm wrong here,
because I know what we do.
It's not that you take yourpayroll off the books entirely,
like you.
Your payroll still shows up,but maybe your pay, you know,
maybe on the books your pay is,you know, maybe set it like
(16:25):
30,000, instead of whatever youreally want it to be 80, 90, 100
or more, you know, per year,because the rest of that is what
comes out of that owner account, right?
Speaker 2 (16:38):
And you're exactly right with that.
You know profit first.
One of the things I really wantto emphasize is it's not an
accounting system.
It is not an accounting system,it is, it is a cash management
system.
It's a system literally it'sphysics is designed to create
that intentional profit billthat you move money from one
bank accounts to another.
You don't touch it, thennaturally you're going to have
(16:58):
profit right now.
Now, in terms of accounting andtax law, it's a little bit
different because, depending onhow you're set up I'm a legal
entity standpoint you know ifyou're a sole proprietor, you
know you might be getting all ofthat right as a distribution.
But if you're an escort, you'vegot to take something called a
reasonable compensation right inorder to be in compliance right
with tax law.
And so you know really whatthat owners pay is.
(17:21):
It's a fixed dollar.
It's not a fixed dollars, apercentage right.
It's a fixed percentage of yourrevenue that you are going to
pay yourself.
Now how you run that throughyour payroll system, you're
going to follow your tax law.
That's appropriate for yourentity right.
So if you're a soleproprietorship, it's going to be
a distribution.
If it's a escort, you're goingto take a reasonable comp, and
(17:41):
then you're going to ask fordistribution right.
That's how you're going to dothat, and so really, it's just
it.
Just it helps you determine theamount that you're going to be
taking and also it's a guardrailbecause you know, as business
owners, you know, I meet abusiness owner and they had a
million dollars and they'retaking $100,000 salary.
You know, a few years from nowthey're at $10 million and
(18:02):
they're still taking $100,000salary.
And I'm like, okay, when do youwhen?
When do you when?
You've obviously have killedsales, you've learned how to
sell, but when do you rewardyourself for the work that
you're doing, right, yeah, andso really, by keeping a
percentage of collections,you're able to reward yourself
and grow as your company isgrowing.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Yeah, absolutely.
So you know kind of to kind ofzoom out a little bit what you
know, I know that you know this.
My this is obviously not thestandard.
I think it should be Right.
I think this is something thatevery business can benefit from,
but obviously it's just not howmost people think to run a
business.
So, in your experience, whathave you seen, like what kind of
(18:45):
mistakes or issues have youseen business owners make that
profit first and using thatsystem, easily resolves?
So in terms of implementation,john like so just in terms of
like you know just kind of howthey manage their revenue and
their cash.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Got it.
So the first thing that I seeand this is like the ones that
are not using profit first isthat you know they're getting
random results.
And what I mean is, you know,as a tax accountant, you know I
would have clients that wouldcome to my office and they would
be on pins and needles whenthey picked up their return and
I would be like, suzanne, howmuch do I owe?
(19:26):
And I would be looking at them.
I'm like you don't know whatshe owe.
I mean, you don't know how muchyou made.
I'm like, and literally theywouldn't know.
They wouldn't know.
It was literally, you know,it's like shooting in the dark.
It's how they're running theirbusinesses all year, and so
really it gets to figuring outwhy are we in business?
Right, why are we in business?
You know, when I look back frommy three years of starting my
(19:49):
business, when I first startedit it was like wait a minute.
I started my business to spendtime with my little girl.
I started my business to havefreedom of time.
I started my business to whynot make some money too out
where we're at it, right?
And really, you know I loveSimon Sinek.
It says it starts with why.
You know why did I do this?
And making sure that youractions align with the why right
(20:12):
and the goal, and so that cashmanagement system is there to
facilitate the goal.
You know, the next thing that Isee you know I'll dive into
profit first things that gowrong is, you know, is just
getting started.
You know, like, like John, youknow I'm proud of you.
You know you've been doing thissince 2019, right, this is
awesome.
And you know a lot ofentrepreneurs they go oh, you
(20:33):
want me to set up high bankaccounts.
You know what I said that's alot of bank accounts.
I'm like I'm gonna have to gotalk to my banker.
He's gonna think that I'm crazyand you're absolutely right.
Your banker will think thatyou're absolutely bogus and
crazy.
You're absolutely right, so getready for it.
But you're gonna make a wholelot of money, right, and he's
gonna be asking you in a fewyears to become a private
banking client, right, and soyou know it's just to getting
(20:55):
started.
You know there are free banksout there now, like Relay Bank
is the official bank of profitfirst.
It'll let you start up to like10 bank accounts with no fees
and has free bank accounts foryou.
You know there's ways tonegotiate with your banker.
Hey, if I keep a minimumbalance, will you get me free
banking?
But don't let the initialstarting up the bank accounts
(21:18):
really be something that holdsyou back with that.
You know, I think a lot oftimes that when you're doing
profit first, you're absolutelyright.
John, you're gonna run into someroadblocks, especially starting
out.
You know, it's kind of likerunning that marathon we talked
about earlier.
You know you don't run amarathon day one, you run the
marathon after about a year.
(21:38):
Right, and that's the same waya profit first.
You know you're gonna.
You may have fixed contractsthat you're in that you can't
get out of, but if the key isnot to get discouraged, the key
is to create a plan.
You know, if I have, you know,just like you know going to
college you guys were going tolaw school you had to think
about what classes am I gonnatake each semester in order to
graduate, because if you missone key course, you can't take
(21:59):
the next course.
So they compound and build.
That's the same way thatfinances.
Okay, I know I got this fixedpayment for the next five years.
I'm gonna build that into myprojections.
But where else can I maneuverthings at?
You know what's my Paretoprinciple?
I mean my 80, 20,.
What 20% of my clients areproducing 80% of my results
right?
What cases are am I most likelyto win?
(22:21):
Because maybe that's where Iwanna be focusing at and getting
really good at those areas.
And so really not just, youknow, not just like running
business random, but thinkingabout, hey, where do I, you know
, what are my goals, what do Ineed to do in terms of creating
a path to get there andexpecting the hurdles along the
(22:41):
way, but creating a path forward, yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
And so you know, I think to kind of start to wrap
this up a little bit I think youknow one of the nice things
about this profit-first systemis that it gives you that
intentionality of like now youactually do have profit.
So what do business owners dowith it?
(23:06):
Because I gotta imagine it'sgotta be a weird feeling for a
business owner to be like okay,I have all of these expenses on
my P&L and then over here I amliterally just putting money
away as profit.
I also am putting money away inmy owner account to pay for
myself.
I also have money putting overhere to pay the taxes, so I
(23:27):
don't even have to worry aboutthose.
So what do I do with all ofthis money in my profit account?
Speaker 2 (23:35):
So the way that profit versus set up is one of
the goals of profit versus tobuild that retain earnings we
call it the vault.
And the great thing aboutprofit versus that vault, which
is going to become your retainearnings, it's going to actually
match cash right, which is evenbetter right.
And what you're going to dowith that profit account is,
(23:57):
every single quarter you'regoing to give yourself a
dividend.
It's like you know, if you ownstock for Procter Gamble,
they're going to give you adividend.
Your company is going to giveyou a dividend, and what that
means is you're going to takehalf of what's accumulated in
that profit account and you'regoing to pay yourself a check.
You know, I remember my firstdividend check.
(24:17):
I went and bought a piano formy kids because I wanted them to
take and learn piano right.
It seemed like I ended up usingit more than AIDD, but you know
I wanted them to have a gift ofmusic, right?
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Now you know we talked about earlier that some
companies are starting fromdifferent places.
Some companies are startingwith that, and so what happens
is, instead of potentiallygiving that big dividend, you're
going to give yourself a realgift, and that's the ability to
sleep at night.
And so what that means isyou're going to take half of
that profit and you're going todo something called the debt
snowball, and what that means isyou're going to pay down your
(24:51):
smallest debt, first with thatprofit distribution, and then,
the next quarter, you're goingto pay down your next smallest
debt, and you're going to keepon doing that until you
eradicate that debt because youwant to be able to eat.
There's nothing like running abusiness debt fray.
Now, that other part of theprofit that you have, you're
going to build, retain earnings.
You're going to put that moneyinto a vault account.
(25:13):
You know, I always like to sayif you're at one of those big
banks, you're going to put it inone of those far, far away
banks, you know far, far awayand you're going to, you know,
small community banks thatdoesn't have online banking.
It's got to stand in line forlike 20 minutes to even say
hello to a teller.
You're going to put it far awayinto one of those accounts and
you're going to grow your retainearnings every single quarter.
So you know, when we weatherstorms, like we did during COVID
(25:37):
, you're going to have moneythere.
You know we've had clients thatbuild their vault to the point
they were able to get downpayments for buildings and they
were able to buy buildings whichis what we did.
Congratulations.
And so you're going to have alot of different options because
you're building that vault.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Yeah and so, and the thing here is, you know I mean
obviously you're going to have alot of different options and so
basically anyone who'slistening to this you're not
going to.
You know this is thisconversation is designed to
entice you to learn more aboutit, because I mean there's, you
know it's not something that Ithink you should try to do on
your own.
You know, should definitely,whether it's the original profit
(26:14):
first book from Mike or evenchecking out your book that you
wrote with him.
You know, and learning allabout it and working with
someone who can help you set itup is really important, making
people get in touch with you tolearn more, potentially work
with you and also to check outthose resources that you have.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Yeah.
So the best way is, first ofall, get your profit back, get
your profit map.
You know that's a free give me,that John's going to give you
as a gift, and so go towwwprofitmapco, make sure it'sco
notcomco, and get your profitmap.
Figure out where your healthycompany is of your size and
(26:54):
figure out you know where you,where you should be, and my
contact information is on thereso that you'll be able to
connect with me.
And if you're wanting to takethat next level, I am here for
you.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Awesome.
Yeah, we'll definitely put thatin the show notes.
Profit mapco.
I have one final question foryou before we wrap up here, and
if you had one final piece ofadvice for our listeners, what
would it be?
Speaker 2 (27:18):
So my final piece of advice and I think this is
anything that you want toaccomplish in life is figure out
what does winning look like foryou, meaning that, at the end
of the day, when you look backin your life five years from now
, 10 years from now, what wouldmake you feel like you've won
right, and then, algebraically,work back, create the processes
(27:40):
to create that, that life foryourself.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Absolutely yes.
Let's start at the end andfigure out what it looks like to
get there.
It's always, always a greatsentiment, so that is going to
do it for us here on CenterStage.
Thank you so much forcontinuing to listen and all of
the feedback that you're sendingour way.
That's going to do it, suzanne.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
To learn more, go to spotlightbrandingcom.
Slash center stage.
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