March 14, 2025 • 33 mins
Segment 1 with Lisa Greene-Lewis at 0.00.
It’s the scariest time of year for small business owners- no not Halloween, its tax time- March 15th for businesses and April 15th for everyone personally. Why is it so scary for so many small businesses owners and what we all need to know.
Lisa Greene-Lewis is a CPA and tax expert for TurboTax. Lisa has over 20 years of experience in tax preparation and breaking down tax laws. She has contributed tax articles to local, national, and online publications, including US News & World Report and Huffington Post. Lisa has also appeared on news broadcast, the Steve Harvey Show, and the Ellen Show.
Segment 2 with Ashwin Gulati at 14:49.
if you have every started a business, it's like a life and death experience; not only for the company but also for the founder.
Ashwin Gulati is the author of: "Soul Venture: A True Life and Death Journey into the Startup Culture". He and wrote a tell-all that dismantles the myths, ambitions, and harsh realities of the riskiest culture in business. He has launched international ventures, helped start-ups take off or land, and copiloted complex transitions for over 100 companies in various industries in the UK, US, Spain, and France. With 30 years in the trenches, he has identified the hidden pitfalls, unspoken truths, and personal twists that ultimately determine a venture’s success or failure.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-small-business-radio-show--3306444/support.
It’s the scariest time of year for small business owners- no not Halloween, its tax time- March 15th for businesses and April 15th for everyone personally. Why is it so scary for so many small businesses owners and what we all need to know.
Lisa Greene-Lewis is a CPA and tax expert for TurboTax. Lisa has over 20 years of experience in tax preparation and breaking down tax laws. She has contributed tax articles to local, national, and online publications, including US News & World Report and Huffington Post. Lisa has also appeared on news broadcast, the Steve Harvey Show, and the Ellen Show.
Segment 2 with Ashwin Gulati at 14:49.
if you have every started a business, it's like a life and death experience; not only for the company but also for the founder.
Ashwin Gulati is the author of: "Soul Venture: A True Life and Death Journey into the Startup Culture". He and wrote a tell-all that dismantles the myths, ambitions, and harsh realities of the riskiest culture in business. He has launched international ventures, helped start-ups take off or land, and copiloted complex transitions for over 100 companies in various industries in the UK, US, Spain, and France. With 30 years in the trenches, he has identified the hidden pitfalls, unspoken truths, and personal twists that ultimately determine a venture’s success or failure.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-small-business-radio-show--3306444/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Get ready for all the craziness of small business. It's
exactly that craziness that makes it exciting and totally unbelievable.
Small Business Radio is now on the air with your
host Barry Moultz.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Well, once again, it is the scariest time of years
for small business owners. And I don't mean Halloween. It's
tax time April fifteenth. So why is it so scary
for so many small business owners and what do we
all need to know? My guest is Lisa green Lewis,
who's a CPA and tax expert for TurboTax. Lisa has
twenty years of experience in tax preparation and breaking down
(00:39):
tax laws. Lisa has contributed tax articles to local, national
online publications including US News and World Report and The
Huffington Post. She's also appeared on news broadcast, The Steve
Harvey Show and The Ellen Show. Lisa, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Thank you for having me. So why do you.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Think this is such a scary time for small business owners?
Speaker 4 (01:01):
I think small business owners, you know, they're juggling a lot,
they have a lot on their plate. They're trying to
run their business and make money, and there are so
many things that they can deduct so many nuances to businesses.
You know, depending on what type of entity you are,
(01:21):
there are different tax implications as well. But that's what
turbo tax is here for to help.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
So you think it's the not knowing that really scares people,
if they're going to do it the right way, if
they're going to pay too much tax, if they're not
going to take enough deductions. You think that's really the
root of it.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Yes, I do think that.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
You know, Fors came out with a study and it
showed that ninety three percent of small businesses overpay their taxes. Wow,
So I think that people, you know, it's just the unknown.
We also did a survey conducted by Talker Research in
seventeen percent of gen z ers believe that you can
(02:02):
write off anything as a business expense. And as we know,
there's a lot of gen Zers jumping into you know,
self employment or side gigs and small businesses.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, I mean paying for all your suits probably as
in tax adaptible unless it's a uniform, so all those.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Kinds of things.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
So what when you talk with small business owners, what
should were the top things they should know about this
tax season?
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Well, first, you know, depending on how your business is structured,
this is very timely. You need to know your tax
deadline first of all. So if you are a multi
member LLC, an S corp or a partnership, you have
a tax deadline coming up March seventeenth. If you are
(02:54):
a single member LLC, your tax like you know, your
individually considers help them Floyd, so your tax deadline is
going to be April fifteenth. So I would say, you know,
that's the first thing you need to know.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Why is the tax line different for the different forms
of corporations is because they have to get something to
the individuals.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Yes, that is a good point.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
So if you are a partnership, a multi member LLC
S corp, you're going to prepare your business taxes first
and you're you're going you're not going to be taxed
on that, but you're going to be taxed on income
(03:40):
that shows up on your K one and that's going
to flow through to your personal taxes.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
And so we need to give the businesses the time
to produce the K one so we can file our individuals,
you know, on time. What else should we know, Lisa,
besides the deadlines, I think that a lot of people
don't get excuse me, don't get help?
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Right?
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Yeah, And one thing I want to mention, you know,
Turbo Tax. We have our Turbo Tax live business tax
experts and they are experienced in specific businesses. So there's
so many businesses that are coming up, and they can identify,
(04:20):
you know, the specific deductions and credits that you're eligible
for for your business. And they're also available year round.
Once you use them, businesses come up with you know,
business owners come up with questions year round, like you know,
I want to purchase this equipment for my business. Is
this going to be deductible? What should I do in
(04:42):
that case? So they're available year round for those questions
and also to help you figure out your estimated taxes
as well.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
You know, this is really fascinating. So because I never
realized that you guys had live help, live support things
like that. My son actually had a question on you
were cub season ticket holders, and we sell the tickets
on StubHub. So tub hub sends us a ten ninety nine,
but we don't make as much as it costs us
for the tickets, so there's really no gain. He didn't
(05:13):
know how to put that on his tax return, and
he actually engaged the Turbo tax advisor. He said it
was so easy. They got online, they talked, they showed
him what to do, and it was done literally in
like five minutes.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Yes, that's it's so easy. And that is another thing
you know to talk to your or inform your listeners
about is the ten ninety NINETYK because the case yet
right more people are going to be getting that because
they lowered the thresholds for reporting income on ten ninety
(05:49):
ninety K. So before it was two hundred transactions and
twenty thousand dollars and under their American Rescue Plan, there's
been a lot of back and forth, like when it
was going to be lowered to the over six hundred dollars.
This year is a transition period, and so if you
had payments processed by a third party provider over five thousand.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Dollars, you're going to get that form.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
But one thing to know when you see that income
amount on that form, you're not going to be taxed
on that full amount. Like you said, you know you're
going to have for instance, if you're self employed and
you have income on there, you're going to deduct your
business expenses against that.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Or if you're an online.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Seller selling clothes or an occasional seller.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Usually people don't make.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Don't have a gain on clothes that they sell unless
it's a designer item. So you have to make sure
you deduct that what you the cost of what you
sold from that amount, so that you're not paying more
taxes than you should.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
So, Lisa, what are some of the savings inductions that
business owners should know about?
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Often overlook, Yeah, you can deduct so much as a
business owner, and even if you're self employed, so your
office expenses, rent, utilities, professional services, insurance, you know, you
get depreciation for any of your assets that you have.
(07:24):
And then some that people don't even think about. It's
called the Section one seventy nine deduction. Not to get technical,
but instead of deducting the amount of a big capital
item over the years, you're able to expense it in
the year you bought it. So equipment you get up
(07:47):
to one point two million dollars. That's a huge amount.
And then a lot of people that use their cars
for their business. You know, if you put a suv
and play. If you bought an suv in twenty twenty
four and you use it for your business, over fifty percent.
If it's six thousand pounds under fourteen thousand pounds, you
(08:10):
can do that thirty thousand, five hundred upfront.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
And then there's also some.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
SUVs and other vehicles that are they are considering equipment,
so you get the whole deduction right.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
You know. One of the biggest mistakes that I find
that small business owners make is, as you said before,
they don't really think about their taxes all year round
in a couple different ways. One is they don't keep
they don't separate their business and personal out and also
they don't make estimated tax payments. Do you find in
your work with small business owners those are issues?
Speaker 4 (08:43):
Yes, that's very important separating your personal and business expenses,
especially there's so many people just starting out, so you
want to, you know, have separate credit card accounts or
bankingunts for your business so it's easy to identify those
(09:04):
different expenses. But you know, if you're just starting out
and you don't have them separate, there is no need
to worry. You know, we have QuickBooks for businesses, QuickBooks
self employed, and it's easy to just it makes it
really easy to separate your business and personal expenses when
you use that.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
You know, I've been a QuickBooks user in my own
business for twenty five years, and I will tell you
I'm religious about keeping track of business versus personal And
when it's time to do my taxes because I'm a
single member LLC, it literally takes me an hour to
fill out the form and just download the information from QuickBooks.
So I'm a testament to say, if you do it
(09:45):
consistently all year round, you don't have to fear tax time.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Right.
Speaker 5 (09:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
And with QuickBooks and Turbo Tax, it's a seamless integration
between the two. We've really enhanced our technology. We don't
want people, you know, having to juggle between multiple apps,
so we've made it where it's a seamless integration between
(10:11):
QuickBooks and TurboTax.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Well let's talk about that. So I know there's there's QuickBooks.
Are there any other integrations for other platforms that into
it provides.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Yeah, you know, we have our integration with Credit Karma
as well. Credit Karma is the personal app you know
that helps people with their finances and helps them give
them tools to build their credit. But you know it
has some of your personal information there that can integrate
(10:42):
with your taxes. Then you can also start your taxes
from Credit Karma since if you're a credit Karma customer
already it already has that information.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Now there's something called, which I don't realized, turbo tax
business that really supports entrepreneurs. Tell us about that.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
Yes, so turbo tax business. We have our experts that
are able to do your taxes fully or you know,
if you start your taxes yourself doing turbo tax business,
you can get assistance along the way and you know,
ask you might come up with a question, you can
(11:21):
ask your questions or fully hand your taxes off. And also,
I know I mentioned you can get year round help
with our turbo tax live experts, and our experts have
an average of twelve years experience.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
You know, it's so interesting, mean Lisa, because a lot
of small business owners say to me, you know, should
I do the taxes myself or should I get help?
And I'm always like, you should get help because these
people know a lot more than you do. They're experts
in this area. And whatever you spend, in my opinion,
you're going to save by having an expert work with you.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Yes, just being able to to identify those specific deductions
and credits are eligible for there's so many new businesses
coming up and you might not know all of the
deductions and credits. And that's what we're here for so
that you can spend time on your business but also
(12:18):
save money so that you can put that money back
into your business.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
So this year, April fifteen is on a Tuesday. It's
not on a weekend, so we're not going to get
any extra days, right right, right, But you can file
an extension as long as you pay all your taxes.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Correct, Yes, you can file an extension.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
And also with our Turbo tax Live business, our experts
can help you, you know, with filing your extension as well.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Right, I mean I typically file an extension because then
that gives you more time put money into my retirement account.
So that usually works out and the government doesn't care
as long as they already have your money.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Right, Yes, so you're ment like with a step IRA exactly. Yes,
you can contribute to your step IRA twenty five percent
of your net income or sixty nine thousand dollars whatever
is less, and you can do that by the extended deadline,
(13:18):
and then you may be able to detect some of
that on your twenty twenty four taxes. And that's one
difference between personal taxes. If you're not self employed and
can't open an IRA, you can only contribute by the
tax deadline April fifteen, not the extended deadline, and it's
(13:40):
it's less. It's up to seven thousand dollars eight thousand
dollars if you're fifty and over.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
That's good advice. Anything else you'd like to tell small
business owners that you think are really important this time
of year, Lisa.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
Yes, I would just say, you know, don't delay, gather
all your documents, and you know Turbo Tax Life Business
is here to help you. And we also we know
that you have to do your personal taxes like you
talked about if you're a partnership or you llc so
(14:14):
we have twenty person off your personal taxes if you
use Turbo tax Lide Business.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Lisa, thanks much for joining the show. It's really going
to help us do our tax as much more easily.
As April fifteenth is just around the corner, there's a
small business radio show. We'll be right back.
Speaker 6 (14:31):
Thinking of starting your own business, get on board for
a crazy ride, Be the first person to tweet Berry
at very Molts and get a free copy of his
book You Need to Be a Little Crazy, The truth
about starting and growing your own business. You will need
the company.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Stick around to get your small business unstuck. More of
Small Business Radio with Barry Moles.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
If you've ever started a small business, it's like a
life and death experience every single time. That's the story
of almost every co founder. So what do we do
with it? My next guest is Ashwin Galatti, who's the
author of Soul Venture, a true life and death journey
into the startup culture. He writes a tell all book
(15:20):
that dismantles the myths, ambitions, and harsh realities of the
riskiest culture and business. He's launched international ventures, helped startups
take off in Land, and copied complent transactions for one
hundred companies and various industries around the world. Ashwin, Welcome
to the show.
Speaker 5 (15:36):
Great, Thank you so much for having me here. So
happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
So I love the title of the book because I've
started through my own businesses and it really is a
soul venture. Why do you use that title?
Speaker 7 (15:48):
Yeah, you know, Actually I've had a lot of titles
to choose from end towards the end, and most of
my titles before were very business oriented, you know, about
business and startups. And I realized that the book is
you know, if you if you read the book, it's
it's it's sure you learn a lot about business, but
there's a lot of deep, unspoken you know, things that
(16:10):
entrepreneurs go through, which is pretty much soul searching. And
so I think that it was very fitting for this
to be, you know, an inside journey of an entrepreneur
merged with what the you know, the business challenges are.
And so that's why I chose the title of Soul Venture,
and I think it's it's it's appropriate for what I wrote.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Really, so, the statistics for startup businesses are not pretty
I mean, by some estimations, ninety percent of all businesses fail.
Why is that statistics so high?
Speaker 7 (16:41):
Well, there's there's so many reasons, and my book goes
into it. I think that, you know, one of the
things that I wanted to share that's a little bit
different than I think what we all hear about. You know,
of course, people and businesses go out of business because
they were out of money or you.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Know, that's the number one reason. Every business goes to
business for the same reason.
Speaker 5 (17:04):
That's the number one reason the question is why.
Speaker 7 (17:06):
Yeah, So I think the way I look at it,
there are there are there are only two reasons, not
two categories. Right, there's there's a there's the outside category,
which is the business one and you know you nailed it.
One is you just run out of money. People don't
realize it takes longer, it costs more, and you know
there's a lot of investment.
Speaker 5 (17:26):
Pressure or cash flow pressure. So you know that's one reason.
Speaker 7 (17:32):
But I always wondered on the business side, what if
you had all the money, and what if you have
the best team, what if you have the greatest problem,
and why do you still go out of it?
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Right? And some people do. I think that's an excellent
point because some people have unlimited money. Some people do
the best team, the best product, and they still go
out of business.
Speaker 5 (17:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (17:48):
And I did a lot of research and a lot
of thinking about this, and I think it comes down
to one thing, which is on the.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
Business side, it comes down to timing really, and you
could have the best product in the world. I mean
back to back in the day.
Speaker 7 (18:00):
I don't know if you remember Webman, you know they
had like hundreds of millions of dollars, but just this
timing is either too early web bland webland, weban web
of course, I remember they had the Yeah, they had
like hundreds of millions of dollars, And there's so many
examples I actually use in the book. But I think
timing is important. But the other thing I wanted to
(18:21):
talk about was the things that people don't talk about,
which is like the what the entrepreneur is going through.
And I think one of the reasons a lot of businesses,
small businesses struggle is because the entrepreneur, the founder, is
personally struggling, struggling, and they don't.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
Really share that.
Speaker 7 (18:39):
I mean there's a lot of you know, analysis and
writing I did about what myself and a lot of
people I've worked with first time entrepreneurs of you know,
why why are they starting this business? I mean, you've
got a great job, and okay, you don't want to
be you know, you don't want to report to somebody,
But then you go out and get twenty investors.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Right exactly, and all these customers and all these that
work for you, when you get a hundred bosses.
Speaker 5 (19:02):
Yeah, exactly, why are they struggling?
Speaker 7 (19:04):
Ashwinn Well, I think that you know, uh, this is
this is you know, goes with the title a little bit.
I think there's a deep yearning, deep you know, need
for some entrepreneurs to sort of make an impact, to
fill a hole in their lives or what it is,
and they want to make, you know, you want to
make a move.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
And I think.
Speaker 7 (19:21):
Startups is a place where it's so easy, you know,
it's so easy to start a startup, right because especially nowadays,
especially nowadays, it's so easy.
Speaker 5 (19:31):
In a click of a button, you could do it.
Speaker 7 (19:33):
And I think that there's a lot of unspoken things
about you know, I talk about in my book, you know,
some shadow work and some you know, DNA work, and
some some things that people go through in the childhood
that they try to work it out through business and
through a crazy business like startups, right, and people don't
talk about that, and I think that is an important reason.
(19:54):
Another reason is that the founders and the key you know,
key people that start the business get into an argument
or just can't resolve it, and that that really is
a foundational you know shift in a company. So there
are so many reasons I have in the book, both
business and personal, but I figure to ask me, you know,
(20:15):
the top ones those are the ones I've seen in
my experience.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
How do you figure out because I think that, you know,
it's in pop culture these days that everyone should start
a business, you know, it's a way to get rich,
you know, all those kind of things because of you know,
the famous examples, the Mark Zuckerberg's, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs
and all those kind of things. How do you figure
out if you're really meant to be an entrepreneur? Because
I really believe ashwhen that a lot of people armed.
Speaker 5 (20:41):
Well, that's a great question.
Speaker 7 (20:43):
In fact, there's a chapter in my book which says,
are you meant to be an entrepreneur?
Speaker 5 (20:47):
How are you built? You know? And you know, I
was wondering one time. I was like, you know, just a.
Speaker 7 (20:52):
Way, you know, a five foot basketball player, well won't
make the NBA, you know, I.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Mean unless you're many need balls. That's like the Yeah, you.
Speaker 7 (21:02):
Know, is there some sort of a criteria that people
just cannot be entrepreneurs?
Speaker 5 (21:06):
You know? I wondered that kind of all my life.
Speaker 7 (21:09):
And what I did was I looked at it from
both the East and the Western perspective. Right on the
on the Western perspective, you know, there are all these
mayas brig tests, there's DNA analysis.
Speaker 5 (21:20):
In fact, there's a DNA you know, I think.
Speaker 7 (21:22):
It's DRD four or seventh you know seven R that's
called the Wonderleuss gene.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
Twenty percent of the population has it.
Speaker 7 (21:30):
So the Western mindset is like, you know what, there's
there's a DNA, there is there's environmental factors. The Eastern mindset,
which is very interesting. You know, I'm originally from India
and I've you know, looked at that side as well.
They look at things like destiny, you know, astrology, numerology,
and honestly, I don't think anyone is born to be
(21:53):
an entrepreneur or that there is like you know, you
look at wake up one day and you're the perfect entrepreneur.
I think it's a combination of things, and one really
important factor is sort of your history, your family, your
support system, and the environment in which you've actually been
operating for quite some time, right. I think those things
kind of need to come together in my view for
(22:16):
someone to be an entrepreneur. And at least from what
I've observed, you know, it's a.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Because I would tell you when I started my first business,
I was I was someone who started a business I
didn't become an entrepreneur til I got through two or
three businesses, right, what I kind of knew, what I needed,
what I knew, and what i'd really know, and when
I really got used to the instabile and the unstability
and also accepting change. Yes, I think that was a
(22:44):
really big thing.
Speaker 5 (22:45):
I know.
Speaker 7 (22:45):
One interesting thing is that people say, you know, you
got to you got to do while you're young. You know,
you know the world is yours and you've got to
you got to go conquer it. And what's interesting is,
I'm not sure about that anymore, because in a way,
you need balance in life, in some level of balance
in life in order to really go through the craziness
of startups. And when you're younger, you actually don't have balance, right.
(23:09):
You're trying to a family, you're trying to you know,
have kids, you're trying to do a startup at the
same time. And I'm not sure, right, And I think
that maybe you know, you hit on it and you
have to, you know, go through a few jobs and
a couple of startups before you're kind of ready to
call yourself an entrepreneur. And I think that's one of
the things that I've observed, and I've been working in
(23:31):
you know, incubators, accelerators and even the SBA, and I've
seen so many first time entrepreneurs, you know, in that
mode saying I got to do it now while I'm young.
And you know, I have a chapter in my book
about one of the one of my colleagues that started
a business after retiring and he's doing very well. So
(23:54):
I think you're right. It takes some time to really
understand what it is. What does it entrepreneur really mean?
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Yeah, I think there's a there's a sweet spot, right,
I would agree that too early on, you know, you
need a little more stability, but later on, you know,
maybe you can't take the risks. So I think there's
a balance.
Speaker 5 (24:12):
So there is a balance.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
We're talking about Oshwin Gulati, who's the author of Soul Venture,
a true life and death journey into the startup culture.
Tell us about your death journey.
Speaker 7 (24:23):
I guess, well, well, if you read the first couple
of chapters.
Speaker 5 (24:30):
I wouldn't give it all away.
Speaker 7 (24:31):
But I think, I think this is what people don't
talk about, right, I mean, there's so many famous entrepreneurs
actually that have taken their lives right, I mean Anthony.
Speaker 5 (24:41):
Burday and Spade. I mean, wait a minute, wait a minute,
you meet it. You've done what you wanted to do.
And I think that.
Speaker 7 (24:50):
Startups sometimes is a platform for for highly you know,
motivated people to fight their demons, you know. And I
won't to go into too much detail, but I know
a lot of people, including myself, you know, that have
gone through some really hard times, dark dark moments where
(25:11):
you know, depression and you know you don't see what's
going to happen next, and it's it's really a it's
really a hard journey. It's always great when things are
going great, but ups and downs are so high and
so low that I think this is something people don't
really talk about, and entrepreneurs't want to talk about it
(25:31):
because they need to look like, hey, they're the warriors,
and you know, investors are not going to invest in
someone that's not a warrior and so forth. So I
think if you dig under the covers, you'll see that
a lot of people are struggling in you know, in
their journeys.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Yeah, and I disclosed mind when I wrote my first book.
In May of nineteen ninety five, I started I was
running my third business. I started in blurry vision and
it turned out it was diabetes, and it really plunged
me into the pressure anxiety. I lost the one hundred pounds,
almost was institutionalized. So that was my near death experience
running my third business. And I think we all have them,
(26:09):
if we're gonna be honest.
Speaker 7 (26:11):
Yes, absolutely, And what was yours? Well, you know I
was in extreme you know, I'll be honest with you.
I was extreme deep depression. If you read my first
couple of chapters, I was, you know, borderline suicidal.
Speaker 5 (26:25):
I mean I had to get help.
Speaker 7 (26:27):
I got you know, medical help, I got you know,
meditation help, and everything that needed to happen, you know,
I did.
Speaker 5 (26:35):
So.
Speaker 7 (26:36):
I mean there are some really personal and revealing things
in the book, and I think that that's what makes
it different. It's not just like I how to book.
They're like thousands of those out there. So I kind
of tell all I put it on the line.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Actually, So, Ushian, why is it important to you because
it was important to me. Why was it important to
you to share these kinds of personal details in your journey?
Speaker 7 (26:59):
You know, that was a really tough decision for me
to do, because you know, I've like lived in the trenches,
not just the trenches of my own startups, but also
with so many other first time entrepreneurs. And I've seen
what isn't spoken, you know, and and the and in
moments where that I think makes or breaks the business.
(27:23):
And it has nothing to do with the product, and
it has nothing to do with the money or the team,
you know. For example, you know, I was I was
talking when I was writing about like the team, the
core team, and I think that almost every entrepreneur in their.
Speaker 5 (27:40):
Core team needs to have a coach or a therapist
or a physical trainer.
Speaker 7 (27:45):
You know, like you're the number one they're the number
one asset, and and all you're doing and not taking
care of the number one asset, right, And so it's.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Like show Billions where they have actually a therapist on staff.
Speaker 5 (27:56):
Absolutely everybody. It's like the new thing.
Speaker 7 (28:00):
I think it's going to become a requirement for investors
to you know, invest and say hey, we want you
to have therapy and nutritional and so I think that's
where it's it's going to be headed. And it's an
important discussion to have.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
So you talk about and everyone talks about this idea
of balancing work and life and things like that. I
always saw it as not really a balance because I
think as an entrepreneur that's unrealistic. I saw it as
how do I integrate them together? What's your view of that?
Speaker 7 (28:31):
So, you know, it took me a long time to
understand this, but I think I finally figured it out
for me at least, that the difference is, you know,
like the differences between working on the business and working
in the business right.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
And Michael Gerber right, who's been on this.
Speaker 7 (28:49):
Exactly, if you can figure out a way of working
on the business more than you work in the business
and find that formula for your particular business. Maybe it's
more people, maybe it's more money, maybe it's you know,
less products. I don't know what it is. But there's
so many to do's, as you know, right NonStop. You know,
you can wake up in the morning and keep going
(29:10):
NonStop for fifteen hours. But what happens is that you
don't work on the business as much and you kind
of get you know, buried in the weeds. For me,
it's been that, right, it's been when I make my
to do list, I try to figure out what's like
the big stuff that I need to address while I
have to go through the list for me, that's that's
the balance. And also take take time off, right, take
(29:34):
my morning rituals or you know, I play tennis, and
make sure that just carve out time to do things
that are not business related almost every day.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
So one thing you talk about in the book is
that it really could help if an entrepreneur could you
better get to know their own strengths and weaknesses. And
I believe that how do we learn what we know
and we don't know because a lot of times, ash
when when we have a little bit of success, we
think we know everything, We think we have the goal
than touch.
Speaker 5 (30:01):
That's true.
Speaker 7 (30:02):
In fact, you know, people that have success up front
sometimes don't have success in their next ventures just for
the reason you just mentioned, right, I mean, the only
way it's really hard for you to get to know.
I mean, if it was really hard for me to
get to know my own situation myself, I had to
get coaching, I had to get help, I had to
(30:24):
get you know, you know, physical trainers, whatever it takes
that outside people. And I've always wondered, right, I mean,
I play tennis. You have all these top tennis players
in the world, but they have all these coaches because
they can see things from outside of outside the tennis
court that the players can't see inside the tennis court.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Right, Like people say, why can you help me? Well,
because I'm not you right right.
Speaker 5 (30:50):
So I've been doing coaching for a while now. It's
really helped me.
Speaker 7 (30:53):
I think I wish I had if I had to
do one thing all over again in my startups, I
would have like spend the money on coaching, in therapy
and personal support for not just me, but also like
my team, you know. I think that's the way to
do it.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
So the last question I want to ask you is
what advice do you give now to people that come
to you and say, listen, I want to start this thing.
What do you think?
Speaker 7 (31:18):
Well, I try very hard to understand why they want
to start this thing, and I mean the non business
you know, reasons behind it, And I mean the first
advice I do is to make sure they're very very
clear you know why it is. Is it because money?
Is it because of they don't fit in in the workforce.
(31:41):
I mean, my first advice would be, honest, you get
a coach, you know, talk it through. You know, there
was this one one chapter in the book that that
was interesting that I was looking at the applications of
college applications and how how colleges ask you to write
these essays, and I was almost like, we should write
(32:03):
these essays before starting a startup, and I think business
plans should require that. So I think my advice would
be to look at all the non business reasons why
you want to start the business, and you know, journal
it and talk to people, get some help, and then
kind of merging the business side of it. So I'm
(32:24):
an advocate now after all this time that it's a
inward journey and an outward journey, right, and that's setting
what the core of the book is about. And that
would be my advice.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
I think that's great advice. Ashman, Thanks for joining the show.
Where can people catch up with you?
Speaker 5 (32:40):
Well, I'm on I'm on LinkedIn.
Speaker 7 (32:41):
You can learn more about my book at soul venturebook
dot com and my contact information is there. I'm on Facebook,
Ashman Goalatti, all the social media ways you can you
can get in touch with me and would love to
love to hear from you.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Thanks for me on the show, and I want to
thank everyone for joining this week's radio show. Oh I
got to thank our incredible staff, our booking producer Sarah Scheffern,
our video and soundead or Ethan Moltz. If you are
serious about being more successful in twenty twenty five, give
me a call up, set up a special line seven
seven three eight three seven eight two five zero, or
email me at Barry at molts dot com. Remember, love everyone,
(33:18):
trust a few, and pal your own canoe. Have a
profitable and passionate week.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
You can find Barrymoltz on the web at Barrymoltz dot com,
or more episodes of small Business Radio at small Business
Radio Show dot com
Get ready for all the craziness of small business. It's
exactly that craziness that makes it exciting and totally unbelievable.
Small Business Radio is now on the air with your
host Barry Moultz.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Well, once again, it is the scariest time of years
for small business owners. And I don't mean Halloween. It's
tax time April fifteenth. So why is it so scary
for so many small business owners and what do we
all need to know? My guest is Lisa green Lewis,
who's a CPA and tax expert for TurboTax. Lisa has
twenty years of experience in tax preparation and breaking down
(00:39):
tax laws. Lisa has contributed tax articles to local, national
online publications including US News and World Report and The
Huffington Post. She's also appeared on news broadcast, The Steve
Harvey Show and The Ellen Show. Lisa, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Thank you for having me. So why do you.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Think this is such a scary time for small business owners?
Speaker 4 (01:01):
I think small business owners, you know, they're juggling a lot,
they have a lot on their plate. They're trying to
run their business and make money, and there are so
many things that they can deduct so many nuances to businesses.
You know, depending on what type of entity you are,
(01:21):
there are different tax implications as well. But that's what
turbo tax is here for to help.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
So you think it's the not knowing that really scares people,
if they're going to do it the right way, if
they're going to pay too much tax, if they're not
going to take enough deductions. You think that's really the
root of it.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Yes, I do think that.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
You know, Fors came out with a study and it
showed that ninety three percent of small businesses overpay their taxes. Wow,
So I think that people, you know, it's just the unknown.
We also did a survey conducted by Talker Research in
seventeen percent of gen z ers believe that you can
(02:02):
write off anything as a business expense. And as we know,
there's a lot of gen Zers jumping into you know,
self employment or side gigs and small businesses.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, I mean paying for all your suits probably as
in tax adaptible unless it's a uniform, so all those.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Kinds of things.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
So what when you talk with small business owners, what
should were the top things they should know about this
tax season?
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Well, first, you know, depending on how your business is structured,
this is very timely. You need to know your tax
deadline first of all. So if you are a multi
member LLC, an S corp or a partnership, you have
a tax deadline coming up March seventeenth. If you are
(02:54):
a single member LLC, your tax like you know, your
individually considers help them Floyd, so your tax deadline is
going to be April fifteenth. So I would say, you know,
that's the first thing you need to know.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Why is the tax line different for the different forms
of corporations is because they have to get something to
the individuals.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Yes, that is a good point.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
So if you are a partnership, a multi member LLC
S corp, you're going to prepare your business taxes first
and you're you're going you're not going to be taxed
on that, but you're going to be taxed on income
(03:40):
that shows up on your K one and that's going
to flow through to your personal taxes.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
And so we need to give the businesses the time
to produce the K one so we can file our individuals,
you know, on time. What else should we know, Lisa,
besides the deadlines, I think that a lot of people
don't get excuse me, don't get help?
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Right?
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Yeah, And one thing I want to mention, you know,
Turbo Tax. We have our Turbo Tax live business tax
experts and they are experienced in specific businesses. So there's
so many businesses that are coming up, and they can identify,
(04:20):
you know, the specific deductions and credits that you're eligible
for for your business. And they're also available year round.
Once you use them, businesses come up with you know,
business owners come up with questions year round, like you know,
I want to purchase this equipment for my business. Is
this going to be deductible? What should I do in
(04:42):
that case? So they're available year round for those questions
and also to help you figure out your estimated taxes
as well.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
You know, this is really fascinating. So because I never
realized that you guys had live help, live support things
like that. My son actually had a question on you
were cub season ticket holders, and we sell the tickets
on StubHub. So tub hub sends us a ten ninety nine,
but we don't make as much as it costs us
for the tickets, so there's really no gain. He didn't
(05:13):
know how to put that on his tax return, and
he actually engaged the Turbo tax advisor. He said it
was so easy. They got online, they talked, they showed
him what to do, and it was done literally in
like five minutes.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Yes, that's it's so easy. And that is another thing
you know to talk to your or inform your listeners
about is the ten ninety NINETYK because the case yet
right more people are going to be getting that because
they lowered the thresholds for reporting income on ten ninety
(05:49):
ninety K. So before it was two hundred transactions and
twenty thousand dollars and under their American Rescue Plan, there's
been a lot of back and forth, like when it
was going to be lowered to the over six hundred dollars.
This year is a transition period, and so if you
had payments processed by a third party provider over five thousand.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Dollars, you're going to get that form.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
But one thing to know when you see that income
amount on that form, you're not going to be taxed
on that full amount. Like you said, you know you're
going to have for instance, if you're self employed and
you have income on there, you're going to deduct your
business expenses against that.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Or if you're an online.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Seller selling clothes or an occasional seller.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Usually people don't make.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Don't have a gain on clothes that they sell unless
it's a designer item. So you have to make sure
you deduct that what you the cost of what you
sold from that amount, so that you're not paying more
taxes than you should.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
So, Lisa, what are some of the savings inductions that
business owners should know about?
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Often overlook, Yeah, you can deduct so much as a
business owner, and even if you're self employed, so your
office expenses, rent, utilities, professional services, insurance, you know, you
get depreciation for any of your assets that you have.
(07:24):
And then some that people don't even think about. It's
called the Section one seventy nine deduction. Not to get technical,
but instead of deducting the amount of a big capital
item over the years, you're able to expense it in
the year you bought it. So equipment you get up
(07:47):
to one point two million dollars. That's a huge amount.
And then a lot of people that use their cars
for their business. You know, if you put a suv
and play. If you bought an suv in twenty twenty
four and you use it for your business, over fifty percent.
If it's six thousand pounds under fourteen thousand pounds, you
(08:10):
can do that thirty thousand, five hundred upfront.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
And then there's also some.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
SUVs and other vehicles that are they are considering equipment,
so you get the whole deduction right.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
You know. One of the biggest mistakes that I find
that small business owners make is, as you said before,
they don't really think about their taxes all year round
in a couple different ways. One is they don't keep
they don't separate their business and personal out and also
they don't make estimated tax payments. Do you find in
your work with small business owners those are issues?
Speaker 4 (08:43):
Yes, that's very important separating your personal and business expenses,
especially there's so many people just starting out, so you
want to, you know, have separate credit card accounts or
bankingunts for your business so it's easy to identify those
(09:04):
different expenses. But you know, if you're just starting out
and you don't have them separate, there is no need
to worry. You know, we have QuickBooks for businesses, QuickBooks
self employed, and it's easy to just it makes it
really easy to separate your business and personal expenses when
you use that.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
You know, I've been a QuickBooks user in my own
business for twenty five years, and I will tell you
I'm religious about keeping track of business versus personal And
when it's time to do my taxes because I'm a
single member LLC, it literally takes me an hour to
fill out the form and just download the information from QuickBooks.
So I'm a testament to say, if you do it
(09:45):
consistently all year round, you don't have to fear tax time.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Right.
Speaker 5 (09:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
And with QuickBooks and Turbo Tax, it's a seamless integration
between the two. We've really enhanced our technology. We don't
want people, you know, having to juggle between multiple apps,
so we've made it where it's a seamless integration between
(10:11):
QuickBooks and TurboTax.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Well let's talk about that. So I know there's there's QuickBooks.
Are there any other integrations for other platforms that into
it provides.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Yeah, you know, we have our integration with Credit Karma
as well. Credit Karma is the personal app you know
that helps people with their finances and helps them give
them tools to build their credit. But you know it
has some of your personal information there that can integrate
(10:42):
with your taxes. Then you can also start your taxes
from Credit Karma since if you're a credit Karma customer
already it already has that information.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Now there's something called, which I don't realized, turbo tax
business that really supports entrepreneurs. Tell us about that.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
Yes, so turbo tax business. We have our experts that
are able to do your taxes fully or you know,
if you start your taxes yourself doing turbo tax business,
you can get assistance along the way and you know,
ask you might come up with a question, you can
(11:21):
ask your questions or fully hand your taxes off. And also,
I know I mentioned you can get year round help
with our turbo tax live experts, and our experts have
an average of twelve years experience.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
You know, it's so interesting, mean Lisa, because a lot
of small business owners say to me, you know, should
I do the taxes myself or should I get help?
And I'm always like, you should get help because these
people know a lot more than you do. They're experts
in this area. And whatever you spend, in my opinion,
you're going to save by having an expert work with you.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Yes, just being able to to identify those specific deductions
and credits are eligible for there's so many new businesses
coming up and you might not know all of the
deductions and credits. And that's what we're here for so
that you can spend time on your business but also
(12:18):
save money so that you can put that money back
into your business.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
So this year, April fifteen is on a Tuesday. It's
not on a weekend, so we're not going to get
any extra days, right right, right, But you can file
an extension as long as you pay all your taxes.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Correct, Yes, you can file an extension.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
And also with our Turbo tax Live business, our experts
can help you, you know, with filing your extension as well.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Right, I mean I typically file an extension because then
that gives you more time put money into my retirement account.
So that usually works out and the government doesn't care
as long as they already have your money.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Right, Yes, so you're ment like with a step IRA exactly. Yes,
you can contribute to your step IRA twenty five percent
of your net income or sixty nine thousand dollars whatever
is less, and you can do that by the extended deadline,
(13:18):
and then you may be able to detect some of
that on your twenty twenty four taxes. And that's one
difference between personal taxes. If you're not self employed and
can't open an IRA, you can only contribute by the
tax deadline April fifteen, not the extended deadline, and it's
(13:40):
it's less. It's up to seven thousand dollars eight thousand
dollars if you're fifty and over.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
That's good advice. Anything else you'd like to tell small
business owners that you think are really important this time
of year, Lisa.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
Yes, I would just say, you know, don't delay, gather
all your documents, and you know Turbo Tax Life Business
is here to help you. And we also we know
that you have to do your personal taxes like you
talked about if you're a partnership or you llc so
(14:14):
we have twenty person off your personal taxes if you
use Turbo tax Lide Business.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Lisa, thanks much for joining the show. It's really going
to help us do our tax as much more easily.
As April fifteenth is just around the corner, there's a
small business radio show. We'll be right back.
Speaker 6 (14:31):
Thinking of starting your own business, get on board for
a crazy ride, Be the first person to tweet Berry
at very Molts and get a free copy of his
book You Need to Be a Little Crazy, The truth
about starting and growing your own business. You will need
the company.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Stick around to get your small business unstuck. More of
Small Business Radio with Barry Moles.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
If you've ever started a small business, it's like a
life and death experience every single time. That's the story
of almost every co founder. So what do we do
with it? My next guest is Ashwin Galatti, who's the
author of Soul Venture, a true life and death journey
into the startup culture. He writes a tell all book
(15:20):
that dismantles the myths, ambitions, and harsh realities of the
riskiest culture and business. He's launched international ventures, helped startups
take off in Land, and copied complent transactions for one
hundred companies and various industries around the world. Ashwin, Welcome
to the show.
Speaker 5 (15:36):
Great, Thank you so much for having me here. So
happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
So I love the title of the book because I've
started through my own businesses and it really is a
soul venture. Why do you use that title?
Speaker 7 (15:48):
Yeah, you know, Actually I've had a lot of titles
to choose from end towards the end, and most of
my titles before were very business oriented, you know, about
business and startups. And I realized that the book is
you know, if you if you read the book, it's
it's it's sure you learn a lot about business, but
there's a lot of deep, unspoken you know, things that
(16:10):
entrepreneurs go through, which is pretty much soul searching. And
so I think that it was very fitting for this
to be, you know, an inside journey of an entrepreneur
merged with what the you know, the business challenges are.
And so that's why I chose the title of Soul Venture,
and I think it's it's it's appropriate for what I wrote.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Really, so, the statistics for startup businesses are not pretty
I mean, by some estimations, ninety percent of all businesses fail.
Why is that statistics so high?
Speaker 7 (16:41):
Well, there's there's so many reasons, and my book goes
into it. I think that, you know, one of the
things that I wanted to share that's a little bit
different than I think what we all hear about. You know,
of course, people and businesses go out of business because
they were out of money or you.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Know, that's the number one reason. Every business goes to
business for the same reason.
Speaker 5 (17:04):
That's the number one reason the question is why.
Speaker 7 (17:06):
Yeah, So I think the way I look at it,
there are there are there are only two reasons, not
two categories. Right, there's there's a there's the outside category,
which is the business one and you know you nailed it.
One is you just run out of money. People don't
realize it takes longer, it costs more, and you know
there's a lot of investment.
Speaker 5 (17:26):
Pressure or cash flow pressure. So you know that's one reason.
Speaker 7 (17:32):
But I always wondered on the business side, what if
you had all the money, and what if you have
the best team, what if you have the greatest problem,
and why do you still go out of it?
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Right? And some people do. I think that's an excellent
point because some people have unlimited money. Some people do
the best team, the best product, and they still go
out of business.
Speaker 5 (17:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (17:48):
And I did a lot of research and a lot
of thinking about this, and I think it comes down
to one thing, which is on the.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
Business side, it comes down to timing really, and you
could have the best product in the world. I mean
back to back in the day.
Speaker 7 (18:00):
I don't know if you remember Webman, you know they
had like hundreds of millions of dollars, but just this
timing is either too early web bland webland, weban web
of course, I remember they had the Yeah, they had
like hundreds of millions of dollars, And there's so many
examples I actually use in the book. But I think
timing is important. But the other thing I wanted to
(18:21):
talk about was the things that people don't talk about,
which is like the what the entrepreneur is going through.
And I think one of the reasons a lot of businesses,
small businesses struggle is because the entrepreneur, the founder, is
personally struggling, struggling, and they don't.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
Really share that.
Speaker 7 (18:39):
I mean there's a lot of you know, analysis and
writing I did about what myself and a lot of
people I've worked with first time entrepreneurs of you know,
why why are they starting this business? I mean, you've
got a great job, and okay, you don't want to
be you know, you don't want to report to somebody,
But then you go out and get twenty investors.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Right exactly, and all these customers and all these that
work for you, when you get a hundred bosses.
Speaker 5 (19:02):
Yeah, exactly, why are they struggling?
Speaker 7 (19:04):
Ashwinn Well, I think that you know, uh, this is
this is you know, goes with the title a little bit.
I think there's a deep yearning, deep you know, need
for some entrepreneurs to sort of make an impact, to
fill a hole in their lives or what it is,
and they want to make, you know, you want to
make a move.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
And I think.
Speaker 7 (19:21):
Startups is a place where it's so easy, you know,
it's so easy to start a startup, right because especially nowadays,
especially nowadays, it's so easy.
Speaker 5 (19:31):
In a click of a button, you could do it.
Speaker 7 (19:33):
And I think that there's a lot of unspoken things
about you know, I talk about in my book, you know,
some shadow work and some you know, DNA work, and
some some things that people go through in the childhood
that they try to work it out through business and
through a crazy business like startups, right, and people don't
talk about that, and I think that is an important reason.
(19:54):
Another reason is that the founders and the key you know,
key people that start the business get into an argument
or just can't resolve it, and that that really is
a foundational you know shift in a company. So there
are so many reasons I have in the book, both
business and personal, but I figure to ask me, you know,
(20:15):
the top ones those are the ones I've seen in
my experience.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
How do you figure out because I think that, you know,
it's in pop culture these days that everyone should start
a business, you know, it's a way to get rich,
you know, all those kind of things because of you know,
the famous examples, the Mark Zuckerberg's, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs
and all those kind of things. How do you figure
out if you're really meant to be an entrepreneur? Because
I really believe ashwhen that a lot of people armed.
Speaker 5 (20:41):
Well, that's a great question.
Speaker 7 (20:43):
In fact, there's a chapter in my book which says,
are you meant to be an entrepreneur?
Speaker 5 (20:47):
How are you built? You know? And you know, I
was wondering one time. I was like, you know, just a.
Speaker 7 (20:52):
Way, you know, a five foot basketball player, well won't
make the NBA, you know, I.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Mean unless you're many need balls. That's like the Yeah, you.
Speaker 7 (21:02):
Know, is there some sort of a criteria that people
just cannot be entrepreneurs?
Speaker 5 (21:06):
You know? I wondered that kind of all my life.
Speaker 7 (21:09):
And what I did was I looked at it from
both the East and the Western perspective. Right on the
on the Western perspective, you know, there are all these
mayas brig tests, there's DNA analysis.
Speaker 5 (21:20):
In fact, there's a DNA you know, I think.
Speaker 7 (21:22):
It's DRD four or seventh you know seven R that's
called the Wonderleuss gene.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
Twenty percent of the population has it.
Speaker 7 (21:30):
So the Western mindset is like, you know what, there's
there's a DNA, there is there's environmental factors. The Eastern mindset,
which is very interesting. You know, I'm originally from India
and I've you know, looked at that side as well.
They look at things like destiny, you know, astrology, numerology,
and honestly, I don't think anyone is born to be
(21:53):
an entrepreneur or that there is like you know, you
look at wake up one day and you're the perfect entrepreneur.
I think it's a combination of things, and one really
important factor is sort of your history, your family, your
support system, and the environment in which you've actually been
operating for quite some time, right. I think those things
kind of need to come together in my view for
(22:16):
someone to be an entrepreneur. And at least from what
I've observed, you know, it's a.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Because I would tell you when I started my first business,
I was I was someone who started a business I
didn't become an entrepreneur til I got through two or
three businesses, right, what I kind of knew, what I needed,
what I knew, and what i'd really know, and when
I really got used to the instabile and the unstability
and also accepting change. Yes, I think that was a
(22:44):
really big thing.
Speaker 5 (22:45):
I know.
Speaker 7 (22:45):
One interesting thing is that people say, you know, you
got to you got to do while you're young. You know,
you know the world is yours and you've got to
you got to go conquer it. And what's interesting is,
I'm not sure about that anymore, because in a way,
you need balance in life, in some level of balance
in life in order to really go through the craziness
of startups. And when you're younger, you actually don't have balance, right.
(23:09):
You're trying to a family, you're trying to you know,
have kids, you're trying to do a startup at the
same time. And I'm not sure, right, And I think
that maybe you know, you hit on it and you
have to, you know, go through a few jobs and
a couple of startups before you're kind of ready to
call yourself an entrepreneur. And I think that's one of
the things that I've observed, and I've been working in
(23:31):
you know, incubators, accelerators and even the SBA, and I've
seen so many first time entrepreneurs, you know, in that
mode saying I got to do it now while I'm young.
And you know, I have a chapter in my book
about one of the one of my colleagues that started
a business after retiring and he's doing very well. So
(23:54):
I think you're right. It takes some time to really
understand what it is. What does it entrepreneur really mean?
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Yeah, I think there's a there's a sweet spot, right,
I would agree that too early on, you know, you
need a little more stability, but later on, you know,
maybe you can't take the risks. So I think there's
a balance.
Speaker 5 (24:12):
So there is a balance.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
We're talking about Oshwin Gulati, who's the author of Soul Venture,
a true life and death journey into the startup culture.
Tell us about your death journey.
Speaker 7 (24:23):
I guess, well, well, if you read the first couple
of chapters.
Speaker 5 (24:30):
I wouldn't give it all away.
Speaker 7 (24:31):
But I think, I think this is what people don't
talk about, right, I mean, there's so many famous entrepreneurs
actually that have taken their lives right, I mean Anthony.
Speaker 5 (24:41):
Burday and Spade. I mean, wait a minute, wait a minute,
you meet it. You've done what you wanted to do.
And I think that.
Speaker 7 (24:50):
Startups sometimes is a platform for for highly you know,
motivated people to fight their demons, you know. And I
won't to go into too much detail, but I know
a lot of people, including myself, you know, that have
gone through some really hard times, dark dark moments where
(25:11):
you know, depression and you know you don't see what's
going to happen next, and it's it's really a it's
really a hard journey. It's always great when things are
going great, but ups and downs are so high and
so low that I think this is something people don't
really talk about, and entrepreneurs't want to talk about it
(25:31):
because they need to look like, hey, they're the warriors,
and you know, investors are not going to invest in
someone that's not a warrior and so forth. So I
think if you dig under the covers, you'll see that
a lot of people are struggling in you know, in
their journeys.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Yeah, and I disclosed mind when I wrote my first book.
In May of nineteen ninety five, I started I was
running my third business. I started in blurry vision and
it turned out it was diabetes, and it really plunged
me into the pressure anxiety. I lost the one hundred pounds,
almost was institutionalized. So that was my near death experience
running my third business. And I think we all have them,
(26:09):
if we're gonna be honest.
Speaker 7 (26:11):
Yes, absolutely, And what was yours? Well, you know I
was in extreme you know, I'll be honest with you.
I was extreme deep depression. If you read my first
couple of chapters, I was, you know, borderline suicidal.
Speaker 5 (26:25):
I mean I had to get help.
Speaker 7 (26:27):
I got you know, medical help, I got you know,
meditation help, and everything that needed to happen, you know,
I did.
Speaker 5 (26:35):
So.
Speaker 7 (26:36):
I mean there are some really personal and revealing things
in the book, and I think that that's what makes
it different. It's not just like I how to book.
They're like thousands of those out there. So I kind
of tell all I put it on the line.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Actually, So, Ushian, why is it important to you because
it was important to me. Why was it important to
you to share these kinds of personal details in your journey?
Speaker 7 (26:59):
You know, that was a really tough decision for me
to do, because you know, I've like lived in the trenches,
not just the trenches of my own startups, but also
with so many other first time entrepreneurs. And I've seen
what isn't spoken, you know, and and the and in
moments where that I think makes or breaks the business.
(27:23):
And it has nothing to do with the product, and
it has nothing to do with the money or the team,
you know. For example, you know, I was I was
talking when I was writing about like the team, the
core team, and I think that almost every entrepreneur in their.
Speaker 5 (27:40):
Core team needs to have a coach or a therapist
or a physical trainer.
Speaker 7 (27:45):
You know, like you're the number one they're the number
one asset, and and all you're doing and not taking
care of the number one asset, right, And so it's.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Like show Billions where they have actually a therapist on staff.
Speaker 5 (27:56):
Absolutely everybody. It's like the new thing.
Speaker 7 (28:00):
I think it's going to become a requirement for investors
to you know, invest and say hey, we want you
to have therapy and nutritional and so I think that's
where it's it's going to be headed. And it's an
important discussion to have.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
So you talk about and everyone talks about this idea
of balancing work and life and things like that. I
always saw it as not really a balance because I
think as an entrepreneur that's unrealistic. I saw it as
how do I integrate them together? What's your view of that?
Speaker 7 (28:31):
So, you know, it took me a long time to
understand this, but I think I finally figured it out
for me at least, that the difference is, you know,
like the differences between working on the business and working
in the business right.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
And Michael Gerber right, who's been on this.
Speaker 7 (28:49):
Exactly, if you can figure out a way of working
on the business more than you work in the business
and find that formula for your particular business. Maybe it's
more people, maybe it's more money, maybe it's you know,
less products. I don't know what it is. But there's
so many to do's, as you know, right NonStop. You know,
you can wake up in the morning and keep going
(29:10):
NonStop for fifteen hours. But what happens is that you
don't work on the business as much and you kind
of get you know, buried in the weeds. For me,
it's been that, right, it's been when I make my
to do list, I try to figure out what's like
the big stuff that I need to address while I
have to go through the list for me, that's that's
the balance. And also take take time off, right, take
(29:34):
my morning rituals or you know, I play tennis, and
make sure that just carve out time to do things
that are not business related almost every day.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
So one thing you talk about in the book is
that it really could help if an entrepreneur could you
better get to know their own strengths and weaknesses. And
I believe that how do we learn what we know
and we don't know because a lot of times, ash
when when we have a little bit of success, we
think we know everything, We think we have the goal
than touch.
Speaker 5 (30:01):
That's true.
Speaker 7 (30:02):
In fact, you know, people that have success up front
sometimes don't have success in their next ventures just for
the reason you just mentioned, right, I mean, the only
way it's really hard for you to get to know.
I mean, if it was really hard for me to
get to know my own situation myself, I had to
get coaching, I had to get help, I had to
(30:24):
get you know, you know, physical trainers, whatever it takes
that outside people. And I've always wondered, right, I mean,
I play tennis. You have all these top tennis players
in the world, but they have all these coaches because
they can see things from outside of outside the tennis
court that the players can't see inside the tennis court.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Right, Like people say, why can you help me? Well,
because I'm not you right right.
Speaker 5 (30:50):
So I've been doing coaching for a while now. It's
really helped me.
Speaker 7 (30:53):
I think I wish I had if I had to
do one thing all over again in my startups, I
would have like spend the money on coaching, in therapy
and personal support for not just me, but also like
my team, you know. I think that's the way to
do it.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
So the last question I want to ask you is
what advice do you give now to people that come
to you and say, listen, I want to start this thing.
What do you think?
Speaker 7 (31:18):
Well, I try very hard to understand why they want
to start this thing, and I mean the non business
you know, reasons behind it, And I mean the first
advice I do is to make sure they're very very
clear you know why it is. Is it because money?
Is it because of they don't fit in in the workforce.
(31:41):
I mean, my first advice would be, honest, you get
a coach, you know, talk it through. You know, there
was this one one chapter in the book that that
was interesting that I was looking at the applications of
college applications and how how colleges ask you to write
these essays, and I was almost like, we should write
(32:03):
these essays before starting a startup, and I think business
plans should require that. So I think my advice would
be to look at all the non business reasons why
you want to start the business, and you know, journal
it and talk to people, get some help, and then
kind of merging the business side of it. So I'm
(32:24):
an advocate now after all this time that it's a
inward journey and an outward journey, right, and that's setting
what the core of the book is about. And that
would be my advice.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
I think that's great advice. Ashman, Thanks for joining the show.
Where can people catch up with you?
Speaker 5 (32:40):
Well, I'm on I'm on LinkedIn.
Speaker 7 (32:41):
You can learn more about my book at soul venturebook
dot com and my contact information is there. I'm on Facebook,
Ashman Goalatti, all the social media ways you can you
can get in touch with me and would love to
love to hear from you.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Thanks for me on the show, and I want to
thank everyone for joining this week's radio show. Oh I
got to thank our incredible staff, our booking producer Sarah Scheffern,
our video and soundead or Ethan Moltz. If you are
serious about being more successful in twenty twenty five, give
me a call up, set up a special line seven
seven three eight three seven eight two five zero, or
email me at Barry at molts dot com. Remember, love everyone,
(33:18):
trust a few, and pal your own canoe. Have a
profitable and passionate week.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
You can find Barrymoltz on the web at Barrymoltz dot com,
or more episodes of small Business Radio at small Business
Radio Show dot com
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!