00;00;00;00 - 00;00;23;19

Unknown

Welcome to the Profit First for Real Estate Investors podcast. This series is the simple CFO Case Files, where our CFOs break down real client scenarios, financial systems and practical decisions from inside the business. Enjoy the episode.

00;00;23;21 - 00;00;44;05

Unknown

Welcome back. This is Christina and David. We are here on the case files or the CFO side of things, where we talk a lot about what we do internally and to helping you understand why it's so important to have the numbers in place, have the right people on your team, making sure you understand what the business as a whole like, how to be a better business owner.

00;00;44;05 - 00;01;09;29

Unknown

So we're here on another episode to talk about making sure you understand that relationship and why it's so important to have someone that's very strong, that understands you on your team today. So, Christina, welcome back to another episode here. Thanks. Happy to be here with you. Yeah. Me too. I like these episodes, and we've got at least one listener who likes this, these types of episodes too, that they actually called me a week ago.

00;01;09;29 - 00;01;26;19

Unknown

And I was like, well, I listen to you and Christina and talking about what goes on inside and just all the different things there. So we thank you. His name is David. So thank you, David, for giving me that feedback last week. But that's just you. Right, right. Yeah, it was me. It was it was the mirror. Thank you David.

00;01;26;22 - 00;01;50;24

Unknown

It's I appreciate that. But we do. We take a lot of care when someone comes to our door or someone, honestly, when they have enough nerve to raise their hand to say, hey, I'm in a bad situation or I don't know what I should know, or I'm feeling like there's lots of money coming in, but I really don't know where it's all going and I need some help here or there being there.

00;01;50;24 - 00;02;08;27

Unknown

Head against the wall like I have numbers from my bookkeeper. I just don't know if they're right or I have them and I know they're wrong and like, or I have them. I don't know what to do with it. That's where if someone takes their time and their energy and they're they're emotionally ready to reach out at that point to say, I need that help.

00;02;08;27 - 00;02;39;21

Unknown

We take a lot of care and to make sure that you get matched with the right person. So that's what we're going to talk about today is what goes into that process and what, oh, what type of people are reaching out. And like, how do we make sure we get the right person match to a business owner? Because we understand, too, that our role as a financial partner with you to make sure we meet you where you are, not just what we shove down your throat as stuff like what we can do for you.

00;02;39;21 - 00;03;03;20

Unknown

So that's where we have to be very careful with that, because we do. We care about every person that comes through our door. So, Christina, before I go into some of the stuff and some of our process here, is there anything you want to add before I just keep talking over and over and over again here? So whatever you need me to add, I'm operations, I run, you know, we we do a lot of things because we think of what the client needs first.

00;03;03;25 - 00;03;24;29

Unknown

And so that ties back to getting feedback, wanting to understand how we work, how to match them up. And so that goes into our onboarding process. From the moment we figure out what's going on and you become part of simple cfo's family, we take so much pride and so much we put so much effort into doing an onboarding call, getting you to the right people, matching them up perfectly.

00;03;24;29 - 00;03;55;07

Unknown

So wherever you're going with it, I can kind of describe the process too. It's just really cool that we have such a tight knit. I don't think we've changed it for quite a while too, because we've we've got it good. And you don't want to fix something that's not broken. Well, right. And I think we have a very low default rate of like if people get a CFO and then they don't like that person or they don't like something in the process, like that's a very, very low rate of them coming back and say, I want something different or, you know, like, this isn't a good fit.

00;03;55;12 - 00;04;13;02

Unknown

And I think that the proof is in the pudding with our numbers to be able to say that. But then as well to like you said, it's been a while since we changed it, but simple. CFO turned seven this year, so it wasn't always like Ted. Like for the first year or two years. Probably the first three years, really.

00;04;13;05 - 00;04;32;10

Unknown

Well, it was me out there doing a lot of these things. And then I started getting people on the team. And then eventually Christina came on board, and that's when things started going better, because it's like, we got to get some of these systems and operations in place, because if you've ever listened to any of past recordings or if you haven't, my background is not in the financial space.

00;04;32;16 - 00;04;49;14

Unknown

I was like, I had a lot of imposter syndrome going to these rooms sometimes and saying, hey, I know some things and I want to help you. But thankfully a lot of people trusted me and took a chance on me, and a lot of people came in and we were able to help a lot of people within those first two years.

00;04;49;21 - 00;05;12;22

Unknown

Then, thankfully, when profit first launched at the end of 2021, Christina and other people on the team really helped me understand what was really important. Another guy named Michael, who's still a part of our team all these years later. Had some very frank conversations with me up front of, like, what we needed to put in place in order to make it very seamless for people coming on board and people being able to get in the door.

00;05;12;28 - 00;05;30;19

Unknown

And then Christina took that a whole new level, like we said a couple of years ago, where now we have a very down in system process, but it's all for you, for if you're on the other end, we understand that you're coming from a very hard place. Usually when people walk through our door, they don't have numbers or all that list I went into before.

00;05;30;24 - 00;05;47;21

Unknown

So you're already a little bit like, I don't know what I don't know. And now you're telling me, like, I can know and have clarity and all this stuff, and I don't need to be a financial person, like, yes, that's what we're telling you. So once you have what we do. We'll just go through our process real quick, at least to getting a CFO.

00;05;47;24 - 00;06;07;09

Unknown

The first thing is you find it some way, if it's this podcast or if it's through speaking, or if it's through anything out there that we're, you know, obviously sending you to our call page. That simple. Com. I'll even put it out here on the little banner if you're watching this on YouTube. Simple CFO. Com from there you and I have a conversation or Christina gets on there.

00;06;07;13 - 00;06;34;12

Unknown

Someone on our team talks with you about your situation right now. And it's very much like a doctor. Very much we're diagnosing. Are we a good fit? Do you just need bookkeeping? Do you need profit first? Do you need an actual high level leader? Let's just take yesterday. So yesterday, Christina, I was talking with the person that just signed up and came in through the door, and he was like, I'm growing.

00;06;34;15 - 00;06;54;01

Unknown

Like, we're doing a million a month in the development and construction. You know, as far as, like, top line. So that's not as gross profit. Net profit. He's probably got like 10%, you know, revenue to gross profit margin. But he said we've grown rapidly. He's only been in the business like a year and a half. But he said, I don't even know where I need to start.

00;06;54;06 - 00;07;09;19

Unknown

Like, I don't know if I need a CFO first. I don't know if I need a CPA first. I don't know if I need a bookkeeper and just being able to get I had to take him to a whole like a high level of like, okay, show me your whole view of where your business is. And do you have bookkeeping in place?

00;07;09;19 - 00;07;31;13

Unknown

Do you have you filed taxes, you know, ever, you know, like in your life, like where are you at this point to know what you need first. Then I also ask some other questions like, are you paying yourself regularly? Do you know your bottom line? Do you know your top line for sure? Like, do you know some numbers that are very key for you being able to not stay up at night?

00;07;31;14 - 00;07;48;18

Unknown

Then he told me something very telling. He said, there's some things that are keeping me up at night in the business, around the numbers, some processes internally when it comes to accounts payable, things like that. And I told them, okay, it sounds like you do need high level help, but you also need bookkeeping and tax. Sometimes it doesn't go like that.

00;07;48;18 - 00;08;07;04

Unknown

Some sometimes people come through the door. They're not making very much. They might just need bookkeeping or someone comes through the door. They've got a great bookkeeper, but they don't know how to interpret the numbers. So then once we decide, okay, are we a good fit? Then from there, Christina and her team takes over on operations where you have an onboarding call.

00;08;07;04 - 00;08;26;24

Unknown

And that's what we want to talk about. Like how do we actually pair you up? There's another cool thing to before I let Christina go into, I want you to talk about like when we hand off from, you know, like, okay, it is a good fit. Christina I'll have you talk about that. But something else cool that we've done recently is we actually run reports on anyone who becomes a new client.

00;08;26;24 - 00;08;48;15

Unknown

There's three reports we run in our business. One's called the management brief because that helps us know how to pair up. And, like what? Some of the things that we need to understand about working with this person. There's also a sales brief like, okay, did we actually identify the the points that they needed to make in order to make sure that they are a good fit?

00;08;48;17 - 00;09;05;21

Unknown

And then there's another one where we just go through. Okay. How did we do like, did we do a good job in communicating that as well too. So we are trying to get feedback. So that way when operations takes over, they have as much data as possible to make it such a good experience for the person that comes through our door.

00;09;05;21 - 00;09;29;06

Unknown

So, Christina, I'll stop talking about the initial process once they come into the door for onboarding. What is your experience and what's the process on that side of things? Quick pause from the episode. I have exciting news that's expanding the world of profit first for real estate investors. You may know that years ago I wrote the book Profit First for Real Estate Investing, endorsed by Mike McCourt, that has been read now by thousands of real estate investors.

00;09;29;06 - 00;09;56;24

Unknown

And now we're launching three workbooks, one for wholesalers, one for fixing flippers, and one for rentals. These aren't just deal calculators. They're full implementation guides. They're dialed in for each type of business. Wholesalers you're getting assignment fee math, marketing, budgeting, planning, and how to beat the feast or famine cycle. If you're a flipper, you get ARV accuracy, rehab, budgeting and profit forecasting, and running multiple projects at once without going broke rentals.

00;09;56;24 - 00;10;18;02

Unknown

You get your freedom number, cash flow per door, and a five year portfolio plan, plus the full profit first bank account. Set up an allocation system. Tune to your business with formula specific for your business type everything you need to go from operator to CEO. And right now they're free. You just need to cover shipping. You go to p e workbook.com.

00;10;18;06 - 00;10;52;01

Unknown

That's PFREI workbook.com. Just like profit first for real estate investing or workbook.com, grab whichever matches your business. Or you can grab all three workbook.com go get them. Make more profit. All right back to the episode. All right. First I want to say like to anyone that's listening because I can't not think this way as a CFO myself. People that come to us like that are a million, 300, whatever like that, hang their head because they don't understand their numbers and they get quiet on the call.

00;10;52;01 - 00;11;10;07

Unknown

They don't know what to say to it. Like I have to say to anyone that's going through that or has ever gone through that and is listening like they should still be super duper proud of themselves. Like for even going out there and starting a business and being able to run something to be successful. Its successful in one way, or wouldn't still be going.

00;11;10;08 - 00;11;28;27

Unknown

And knowing that you who to reach out to and who to go to, and that you actually could possibly have a problem and finding a solution like they should all whoever's listening right now, if that's you, pat yourself on the back like, don't hang your head, patch yourself on the back for doing a great job and getting your business to where it is right now and making that phone call.

00;11;28;27 - 00;11;44;09

Unknown

So I need to get that out, because I've worked with a lot of people that just hang their head. I don't know what I'm doing on this, but like, they forget to stop and like they thank them and or thank God. That is really what I would do and just be proud of where they've come and the people that they brought up with them, the things they've been able to do.

00;11;44;09 - 00;12;02;04

Unknown

So I just want everybody to think through that. But I like that there's a book around that, the gap in the game. So if you have a hard time measuring your gains and you're always focused on the gaps in your business, read that book. So I just I'm going to slide that in there. So Christine, go back to what you're saying because I don't want to take over.

00;12;02;06 - 00;12;20;29

Unknown

So but it is important because those reports two that we get now are amazing because then we're not we have an onboarding call. So once you sign up we have a client success manager that she is your client advocate. She is all about the client, what is important to them, what they need to give you the best start into our family.

00;12;21;06 - 00;12;39;21

Unknown

I wouldn't even say working with us or being a client. I don't like calling people clients. You guys become our family, so having those reports gives us more of an outlook so we can utilize an onboarding call more efficiently because we all know, like, oh God, I got to do I got a call. First of all, I'm nervous to call now.

00;12;39;21 - 00;12;53;29

Unknown

I gotta do the sales call. Now I got to do this call and that and I and do an onboarding call. You can ask me the same stuff I just told them. So no, the answer is no. We listen to the ports, we listen to the sales call. We know exactly what we're stepping into before the onboarding call occurs.

00;12;53;29 - 00;13;23;07

Unknown

So you're not repeating anything. The onboarding call is meant to formally welcome you. Make sure that we understand what your needs are and we can meet you where you're at. So our clients manager will, untangle all of that information and watch calls and make sure that she's not wasting time. She's asking. She's closing the ends of the loop that are a little bit open and making sure that she fully understands getting all the answers before we choose which CFO works with you.

00;13;23;07 - 00;13;42;05

Unknown

So it's not a round robin game. It's not a this person needs a client, so we're just going to throw it over there or they're easier there in the office. You know, it's it's very it's a technique we use to where we take the personality. We want to understand what your needs are, what your specific real estate business is.

00;13;42;05 - 00;14;16;03

Unknown

Because we all know real estate is such a a big game. There's so many different ways you can take down real estate. So we we want that person to be to understand your exit strategy, how, you know, help you with exactly what you need that's hanging your head at night and your personality. So if if you're quick and you want to get answers now, we obviously want someone that's going to be able to do that or be able to bring you back and say, it's not so easy to get financial, you know, answers like this and to if you to slower you go at it that the more calm you can approach it and the

00;14;16;03 - 00;14;35;00

Unknown

calmer you become in your business, and the more you start to digest it more and understand it. So just things that would really help you and and getting to your actual goals. So like everybody starts their business for a reason. So if we understand what you're trying to do in your business in the end, then that helps us pair you up with the right CFO.

00;14;35;00 - 00;14;58;14

Unknown

So we take very much care in doing that. Like, we want to make sure that you are happy that you get introduced to your CFO. So once we do that, the CFO even watches all the calls, watches the reads, the briefings, watches everything that they can. That way, when they go into the first call with you, they already understand your business as well, and you're not repeating it and starting all over either.

00;14;58;14 - 00;15;25;26

Unknown

So we just really want to make sure that it's not repetitive, because if you think about it, sales call an onboarding call, call with your CFO. That could take at least three weeks, especially for busy business owners. So the last thing you want to do is waste time to actually get started. So we're very careful in reviewing all the stuff and making sure that when you get started and you have that kickoff call with your CFO, they are dialed in to exactly what your needs are, exactly what you're looking for.

00;15;25;27 - 00;15;45;27

Unknown

They understand your personality, they know more how to talk to you, and they just all the all around can start that relationship on just a really positive good note. Yeah. And that's where over the last few years to we've been really efficient on that onboarding. You know like we get you to that onboarding call and like we're helping you be proactive in the next steps.

00;15;45;27 - 00;16;01;23

Unknown

So making sure you get there, get your CFO introduced. Getting on that first call. We call that battle plan call with the CFO because we really want you to have those goals in front of the CFO. And you so, you know, throughout the course of this relationship, because that's what it is. You're not just getting some transaction here.

00;16;01;23 - 00;16;21;10

Unknown

You're getting a relationship with a person that will help you from that financial aspect. And we need to know that from the very first call, like, okay, what are we really working towards and how do we get there? And then helping you fill in those gaps in between? There's something we've actually added, but we've actually done it. We've probably doing this for like two years at least, if not a year and a half or more.

00;16;21;13 - 00;16;41;08

Unknown

Another call up front, which I know it seems like a lot of calls, but onboarding is a very brief call just to make sure, like Christine said, dialing into your business, making sure we pay you with the right CFO, taking all this data that we get from these calls that we've had to make sure that we pay you with the right person, then you have that initial one with your CFO, but that's the start of the relationship.

00;16;41;13 - 00;17;00;06

Unknown

Another call we added is called orientation. What does that mean? That means you meet with me, me or Christina, one of the owners of the business, and we go through how do you get the most out of this relationship? You probably have never worked with the fractional CFO. You don't know what to ask them. You don't know how to show up to a call.

00;17;00;09 - 00;17;16;26

Unknown

So that's where we do some training up front to make sure you get the most value from that relationship. You know what to ask if you don't know what to ask, I'm give you some questions to fall back on so you can always be showing up and getting value from those meetings. So we just do a little bit of training to help you become a better CEO.

00;17;17;03 - 00;17;37;17

Unknown

Because another thing I tell people even on that orientation call is that an investment in a CFO is an investment in you, in yourself as a CEO, you now think of yourself a little bit higher, even if you only we have some people that are on our in our family right now at simple CFO and clients that we're working with that are solar.

00;17;37;20 - 00;17;54;07

Unknown

And even then, I like for them to think of themselves like a business owner and a CEO. So sometimes they'll come on board and they're like, hey, I don't have any other people on the team. Does this work? And then they start to think of himself like that. And now with the CFO help, it's like, okay, who do we need to hire?

00;17;54;07 - 00;18;12;13

Unknown

How much money do we have to hire someone? What processes need to be work on next, like if you're a sole or do you want to become a business owner that has multiple people like those types of high level questions, and we're just preparing you up front to have as much success as possible, because we don't want this to just be, hey, you're just another number here.

00;18;12;15 - 00;18;34;13

Unknown

No, we care about the people that we work with and that you have the best experience possible. So it goes from are you a good fit on this team, you know, and making sure that you can get the value to, okay, onboarding and pairing you with the right CFO to make sure that you have a great experience. And then orientation a little bit of training for you to think of yourself as a business owner and just some of the things to show up to those calls.

00;18;34;13 - 00;18;56;14

Unknown

So that's what we do. Then we could we could take a long time here, Christina, because like these reports go pretty in depth of from all the calls that we have. Like what? How even I'll just read some of these headlines, like how do we deliver good news to this person, how to deliver bad news, how they'll respond to financial recommendations, what are the red flags and warning signs and how to give those to the owner?

00;18;56;17 - 00;19;13;29

Unknown

How to keep them engaged? Like how? Because sometimes the finances aren't the funniest thing to talk about. And guess what? As a fractional CFO company, we know that it's like, this is why we have to know what's important to you and how to make sure that you get the most value from those numbers. So you want to be engaged.

00;19;14;06 - 00;19;36;16

Unknown

You know what's really fun, Christina, is when I go to an event like I did last month, and a guy comes up and says, my favorite call of the week is with my CFO. Like having that call, knowing the numbers, having that clarity, and then being able to actually spar with him. He's like, I like going back and forth and like he pushes me and then I'll go back and like, okay, this is what we're going to do.

00;19;36;19 - 00;19;55;03

Unknown

So that's the type of person we want for you. And that's why we take so much care up front and pour so much into that onboarding process. So I just we wanted to always open up the door to you a little bit of what goes on behind the scenes. Because a CFO is not just a bookkeeper, they're not just a CPA.

00;19;55;10 - 00;20;25;25

Unknown

They're there to be your business financial guide. They're there as that financial partner, making sure you have everything you need to get what you want from your business. So that's a lot of our onboarding process. So Christina, is there anything else you want to say about this process or onboarding or working with the CFO? Before we wrap it up, I just hope I know a CFO and any financial partner, anytime you rip open your financials, everyone's nervous or trust lies in and CFO, you need to build that trust.

00;20;25;25 - 00;20;46;18

Unknown

So I hope everyone sees like our process is very careful, that we know that we can build that trust from point A and all these calls and all this effort that we put into it, like trust the relationship that we're making, then you feel a little more comfortable once you get introduced to your CFO, that you can trust them.

00;20;46;18 - 00;21;02;27

Unknown

They're part of a good family now. You're part of a good family, and then you start to build trust a little quicker than you would if you just called someone calling, and they just threw someone your way, and it took you a month to three months to get to know each other. Yeah, exactly. That's important. And we understand that.

00;21;02;28 - 00;21;16;25

Unknown

We understand where you're coming from, and we want you to feel safe, too. That's a lot of people just are like, like, here I am. I'm gonna open up my heart to you because it's the finances and we don't judge anything. Lots of people get on the call and ask, like, is this the worst situation you've seen?

00;21;16;25 - 00;21;30;05

Unknown

And I'm like, this isn't the worst situation I've seen this week. So it's like, we want you to just know we see a lot of this from a lot of people. A lot of people are in the same boat. These aren't just the thing. These are not the things you usually talk about, though. You go to a party, you're not talking about this.

00;21;30;05 - 00;21;45;16

Unknown

You go to a mastermind. You're not talking about this stuff. You're just usually talking about deals or volume or sales. We want to make sure that you have the bottom line and the cash to back that up. So that was a great point Christina there. Come in. We watched it to feel safe. We want you to feel like this person has my back.

00;21;45;23 - 00;22;03;12

Unknown

We understand and that you can build that trust from day one. That's why we build in some of these upfront calls as well too, because we want you to know that we're investing in you as a CEO from our company level, and that CFO is an extension of our company to help you on that financial journey. So that was a great point.

00;22;03;16 - 00;22;19;26

Unknown

Appreciate that, Christina. And if you do want to reach out to us, it's here simple cfo.com. And I've got my little widget the stop feeling broke widget here. That's how you can reach out to us. If you're on YouTube right now, you can scan that little QR code. Or if you're just listening you could go to simple CFO.

00;22;19;26 - 00;22;41;10

Unknown

Com if you're tired of just hearing us talk and you want to see us, you can go to YouTube. We have a profit first for our AI YouTube channel as well. We do plan in an upcoming episode to share a dashboard and to share numbers that we go over. So that's just a heads up. So when we release that episode, you will want to be on YouTube for that one.

00;22;41;10 - 00;23;06;07

Unknown

We will tell you what numbers, if you're listening on the podcast, are important, but we'll actually go through the dashboard as well. So you'll want to watch that, not just listen to it. Just be ready for that episode here in the next couple of weeks. Thank you so much for listening and for just taking the time to taking the time to even invest in yourself on this podcast probably means you're probably a good fit to at least have a call with us.

00;23;06;07 - 00;23;21;09

Unknown

And I don't say that just to get you on a call. I say that because you're the type of person that's investing in yourself as a business owner. Like that's who we like to work with. If you're pouring into yourself and listening to a podcast like this, we'd love to come alongside you and help you get there quicker.

00;23;21;11 - 00;23;41;09

Unknown

So let me take this little widget off Christina's head and the banner off of here as well too. There we go. Thank you so much, Christina. Any last words? Thank you. Nice talking to you again. Yeah. Love these episodes with you, Christina. Thank you for all that you do and what you pour into our into the family here.

00;23;41;09 - 00;23;59;05

Unknown

From the CFOs and our team and from the bookkeeping team and all the admin, all the way to working with the actual person that comes in the door. We care about you. Reach out to us if you need that. If not, catch us on the next episode. Thanks for listening. Thanks for listening to the Simple CFO Case Files on the Profit First for Real Estate Investors podcast.

00;23;59;07 - 00;24;13;09

Unknown

If you found this helpful, make sure you subscribe so you don't miss our guest interviews featuring other real estate investors and our Profit first chats with David Richter. If you're ready to bring clarity and structure to the finances in your business, visit profitrei.com to apply for a free financial discovery call with our team.