Client Case Study: The Blind Spot

Client Case Study: The Blind Spot

Mar 7, 2019

Client Case Study:  Wills

 

While financial coaching can be a great help for those getting out of debt and establishing a small business, those folks who believe they are doing everything right can benefit as well.

 My client Tom was confident he was doing everything correctly.  He's a 401(k) millionaire who maxes out his retirement account, and he doesn’t believe in consumer debt.  He only agreed to give financial coaching a try to see if there were any blind spots in his approach.

During his session he realized he still had not taken care of his will, which is important since he has two small kids.  Having a will will allow him and his wife to select who will raise their children should anything happen to them rather than leaving this decision to the state.  Tom knows that no one knows his family as well as he does, and he and his wife definitely wanted to make this decision themselves.

I recommended he speak to some friends he has who are lawyers in his local area for recommendations to an estate attorney who could help him get all of his documents in place, such as a will, a trust, power of attorney, and health care documents.  While no one really wants to think about the possibility of an untimely death, Tom agreed if he really wanted to think of himself as the guy who has it all under control he needed to step up and take care of this area as well.

A good referral for me is your coworker, who may think he’s got it all under control.  He wants to talk to me to get a checkup and make sure that’s correct.  Connect us so we can schedule a free twenty minute call.

*Client name and some details have been changed to protect privacy.

 

 

Client Case Study: You Can’t Hide from the IRS

Client Case Study: You Can’t Hide from the IRS

Mar 4, 2019

Client Case Study:  You Can't Hide from the IRS

 

For seven years Al Capone was a crime boss in Prohibition-Era Chicago.  But in 1931, Capone was charged with income tax evasion. The moral of the story is that you might be able to evade law enforcement, but you can’t escape the IRS.

 

My client Anna is a full time student and part time hairdresser.  Two years ago she received a 1099 from her employer, but she wasn’t sure what to do with it, so she did nothing.  Anna didn’t understand that one copy of the 1099 goes to the employee, and a duplicate goes to the IRS.  So they know exactly how much she made that year, and they have a pretty good idea how much of that money is theirs. 

Anna had been getting letters from the IRS, but was unsure of what to do with them, so had been storing them unopened in the glove box of her car.  I convinced her to take them to a CPA so she could see what she owes and work out a payment plan.  If you have a client who is ignoring their financial issues, refer them to me for a free initial call.

*Client name and some details have been changed to protect privacy.

 

 

Client Case Study: Student Loan vs. Emergency Fund

Client Case Study: Student Loan vs. Emergency Fund

Mar 4, 2019

Client Case Study:  Student Loans vs. Emergency Fund

 

When is paying off debt as fast as possible NOT a great idea?  When you have no emergency fund and are facing a layoff.

 My client Sam* was torn between paying extra off his student loans OR saving that money in case of an emergency.  He was leaning toward  making the big student loan payment, since he had a 401(k) he could tap into for cash if he needed extra funds. 

We discussed the fact that every time he takes cash from his 401(k), he’s increasing his tax bill, losing 10% as a penalty, and reducing his ability to retire one day.  As we talked he realized that if he paid extra money toward his student loans and then got laid off, he then wouldn’t be able to pay the minimum payments if he didn't have cash on hand.  But if he saved that money instead, he’d be able to use that cash to make the payments in case of a layoff. 

And of course there's nothing lost – if Sam isn't affected by the layoff after all, he can make the big payment toward his student loans then.  It would mean a tiny bit more in interest, but that's a small price to pay to know he's covered in case he's affected by the layoff.

If you have a friend who’s trying to decide where to focus financially and needs some help deciding, connect us so we can schedule a free twenty minute call.

*Client name and some details have been changed to protect privacy.

 

 

Meet FIRE…

Meet FIRE…

Oct 15, 2018

How to Annoy Friends and Lose Money!

I’d always been an aspiring entrepreneur. I remember as a kid taking the fresh green grass clippings, soaking them in water, putting the green fluid in cups, and trying to sell it to passers-by on our dead-end street. (more…)

Hello World, Meet Lisa!

Hello World, Meet Lisa!

Oct 14, 2018

Let me tell you a bit more about my personal background and how that has shaped my perspective.

I grew up in a small town in Arkansas. It was the kind of place people moved FROM. It was not the kind of place many people moved TO. My family lived there for 20 years and were still thought of as the new people.  (more…)

Network Marketing OR…

Network Marketing OR…

Oct 13, 2018

Let me tell you a bit more about my personal background and how that has shaped my perspective.

I grew up in a small town in Arkansas. It was the kind of place people moved FROM. It was not the kind of place many people moved TO. My family lived there for 20 years and were still thought of as the new people.  (more…)

Entrepreneurial Years

Entrepreneurial Years

Oct 12, 2018

As in “The REAL Entrepreneurial Years.”

I learned three powerful things during those network marketing years – how to sell,  how to extrovert fearlessly, and how to say no to authority by standing up for what I believed to be right.

I knew I didn’t want to be controlled, and corporate life, at least for me, had been about control.  Sure, it feels like there’s safety in letting someone else make the call, but it is a false safety.  It’s a safe feeling that comes only from not looking at the danger.  A change in management, a change in strategy, a change in your boss’s opinion can mean you are out the door, even if you did everything right (or at least believe you did).  I was on the right track with being independent, but it needed to be real.

In network marketing they say you are running your own business, but you are not.  If you were, you’d get to control the marketing and advertising.  You’d get to decide which products to carry.  You’d have an accounting system to know what your profit or loss is.  You are running your own sales operation, which is the most critical part of any startup, but it isn’t the whole story.

It’s true that nothing happens until someone sells something, but I was fresh out of things to sell.  My last corporate job had been in consulting, and my husband was a consultant, so it seemed like a good place to start.  The great thing about a services business is that it requires minimal investment to get started.  You really just need something to offer to people.

I’d always been fairly good at organizing my space, and so I fell into professional organizing.  I joined the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), which had a very strong Atlanta chapter.  From these ladies I was able to learn all the secrets of organization.  I was able to take what I’d learned about sales and marketing from my last career and bring it to a real, stand alone company.  I got business via referrals and referred business out.  I collaborated with other organizers on their big projects, and I hired peers to help me with my larger gigs.

At first the learning was amazing.  Tips and tricks for organization.  How to establish, market, and run a real business.  How to team with others on projects.  But within a year I’d grown tired with the actual organizational work.

We tend to feel like what is easy for us is easy for everyone.  It’s not.  And the danger of this type of thinking is that we fail to appreciate our gifts, and the efforts of others who are weak where we are strong.  After a bit of time as a professional organizer, I just wanted to scream, “just clean up after yourself!  You are an adult!  Put your toys away when you are done playing with them!  It’s not that hard!”  Wanting to yell at your clients is a strong sign that you may not be working with the right clients.  It was time to move on.

 

Simplified Technology Solutions, Inc.

Simplified Technology Solutions, Inc.

Oct 11, 2018

Just as I was reaching a point of frustration with my consulting business, my husband was starting a company of his own.  He was working as an IT consultant for a firm in Atlanta.  The firm was struggling with plans for growth in a post Y2K and post 9-11 world, where cheaper talent was available overseas for big development projects.  

Darren thought he could do it better, but he knew there were big gaps between what he had and what he felt he needed.  He recruited another consultant from the existing company who had a long-term contract with a large local employer, giving us instant credibility with other clients.  A third co-worker was added to cover all the back office mechanics of actually running the business.  It’s the kind of role that would be described as “secretary” if a girl did it, but it’s actually a very important component of the operation that allows the consultants to focus on taking care of clients without the distractions of billing, collections, and all the government paperwork that seems to grow as the business grows.

The team came together just as the old company began the process of selling itself, so the exit of the two partners was slowed by their need to assist with that transition.  In the meantime, Darren mostly coded the operations guy out of a job, which caused some issues when he was ready to join the team full time.  With a small business, you can sell or you can deliver what is sold.  There’s not much else to do.

As part of the startup, each partner put in a small amount of money and was given a third of the company.  Note to the reader – do not give away for pennies what will cost you thousands to buy back.  But that’s another story.

 

STS, Part Two

STS, Part Two

Oct 8, 2018

There was one gap in the team Darren had failed to recognize – sales.  The technical team at his old company had referred to the salespeople as “overheads” – basically leeches that lived off the hard work the consultants put in and the hours of sweat and tears they invested.  Luckily, one of the partners in STS had been part of the core team at the other firm and understood sales is the engine that drives the whole operation.  He suggested I be hired to help, since I had a background in IT (albeit as a business consultant), and in sales (although not in IT).  Darren agreed, but on the condition that his partner manages and work with me.

Coming in I was confident I could sell whatever they had.  It was unclear in talking to them what they had, though.  In response to the question, I was given a full page with multiple columns of acronyms of all the technologies they were competent in.  I knew from my past sales and marketing efforts and training this would never work.  There’s no elevator ride in the world long enough for that elevator pitch.

The process of asking “what do we do?  How are we unique?” and the struggles to answer that question led us to a business plan writing class.  The class was aimed at minority-owned small businesses and promised to connect us with the large corporations in the area who could hire lots of consultants.

By that time we’d already had our operations guy leave the company to work with a friend who had a construction business in Atlanta’s booming real estate market.  Majority ownership was transferred to me and to the wife of the co-owner, making us a women-owned business.

While the business class was invaluable in helping us focus in on our highest bill rate, most unique services, and our target clients, the promised contracts we’d get as a woman-owned business never did materialize.  Maybe they were real, and we just didn’t work that angle enough.  Or maybe it was always lip service from the big corporations, who believed they should be making an effort to work with diverse suppliers but didn’t really believe it was worth the effort to switch from the companies they were accustomed to working with.  Either way, it didn’t matter for us.  With our new found focus and plan, we were able to network our way into what has been a long-term stream of clients and projects.