1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:04,960 welcome to the Art of Succession podcast 2 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:07,359 with Barrett Young Join us as we explore 3 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:08,800 the strategies stories and insights that 4 00:00:07,359 --> 00:00:10,559 shape the journey of leadership 5 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:12,400 transitions and business success no 6 00:00:10,559 --> 00:00:14,000 matter where you find yourself along the 7 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:15,759 journey This is the podcast where you'll 8 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,279 find the tools to make it happen Man 9 00:00:15,759 --> 00:00:19,359 this internet thing is really cool and 10 00:00:17,279 --> 00:00:20,640 it you know it makes so much sense for 11 00:00:19,359 --> 00:00:22,560 people to be able to file court 12 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:24,160 paperwork online instead of having to 13 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:26,000 come stand in line and fill it all out 14 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:27,920 by hand So we had to do a lot of cleanup 15 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:30,480 and structure building to make the 16 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:34,480 company appealing to an acquirer And the 17 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:37,760 real money comes from rich relationships 18 00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:40,000 with those customers knowing the nuance 19 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:41,840 of their particularities My name is 20 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:44,640 Barrett Young and this is the Art of 21 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:47,280 Succession podcast My guest today is 22 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:49,920 Nick Goff a CFP candidate and the 23 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,840 founder of Open-Handed Wealth For the 24 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:54,320 span of seven years Nick worked with his 25 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:56,399 dad at Court Solutions a payment 26 00:00:54,320 --> 00:01:00,079 processing company primarily focused on 27 00:00:56,399 --> 00:01:02,559 traffic court fines In 2017 they sold 28 00:01:00,079 --> 00:01:04,559 that company to a consolidator And Nick 29 00:01:02,559 --> 00:01:06,960 continued to work in the same role for 30 00:01:04,559 --> 00:01:08,720 that company as it continued to acquire 31 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:11,200 before launching his company and 32 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:13,119 changing careers Nick welcome to the Art 33 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:15,360 of Succession Hey I'm thrilled to be 34 00:01:13,119 --> 00:01:19,159 here Thanks so much for having me So I 35 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:22,000 want to start off with what's the 36 00:01:19,159 --> 00:01:23,680 burning desire or what brings you to the 37 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:26,159 art of succession today what is it 38 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:28,080 specifically about business succession 39 00:01:26,159 --> 00:01:30,880 that you want to share with with my 40 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:32,960 audience starting there's a reason that 41 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:35,520 that you know the business can be 42 00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:37,439 referred to as the the baby of the owner 43 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:41,840 You know when you cradle something from 44 00:01:37,439 --> 00:01:43,840 its infancy all the way to its uh you 45 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:46,240 know divevestature or all the way to its 46 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:48,159 success and you ride off into the sunset 47 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:51,600 and hand down to your kids there is an 48 00:01:48,159 --> 00:01:53,280 unbelievable amount of of your soul 49 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:55,600 that's like poured into this company 50 00:01:53,280 --> 00:02:00,000 It's an incredibly transitional pivotal 51 00:01:55,600 --> 00:02:04,079 time in life when you are leaving it and 52 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:06,719 going onto a new chapter Uh I love uh 53 00:02:04,079 --> 00:02:08,479 that exact space It's where I personally 54 00:02:06,719 --> 00:02:09,520 walked It's where I watched my dad walk 55 00:02:08,479 --> 00:02:11,599 and it's where I'll probably walk 56 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:14,160 someday soon as a eventually as a as a 57 00:02:11,599 --> 00:02:16,319 business owner myself Great Awesome So 58 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:19,680 let's get into that story Your dad 59 00:02:16,319 --> 00:02:21,319 started the company in 2000 and you came 60 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:24,640 along in 61 00:02:21,319 --> 00:02:26,879 2010 It fill in the context a little bit 62 00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:28,560 What do you mean by a payment processor 63 00:02:26,879 --> 00:02:31,280 well so I'll even fill in some context 64 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:33,200 there So he started one company in 2000 65 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:37,280 Uh he was bought out for that company in 66 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:38,959 I think ' 07 started this one in ' 08 67 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,879 And so then I came to work for him in 68 00:02:38,959 --> 00:02:42,400 2010 So this is the second time that he 69 00:02:40,879 --> 00:02:45,440 was trying to start a very similar 70 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:49,120 business And I think that initial seven 71 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:50,959 years probably helped immensely I'm sure 72 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,800 to launch the business that he you know 73 00:02:50,959 --> 00:02:56,239 eventually I worked for and that he sold 74 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:59,760 Yeah payment processor um was kind of a 75 00:02:56,239 --> 00:03:02,879 newish term I guess back in 2010 but you 76 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:05,840 know if if you got a traffic ticket uh 77 00:03:02,879 --> 00:03:08,560 there were basically uh no modern ways 78 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:11,680 to pay it uh where we were joined to to 79 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:13,680 serve and so you know we built a product 80 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:15,599 and my dad built a a website product 81 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:17,920 where you could go look up your traffic 82 00:03:15,599 --> 00:03:19,680 ticket process a payment for it and the 83 00:03:17,920 --> 00:03:21,599 court would get the money in you know a 84 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:23,840 day or two and that was pretty 85 00:03:21,599 --> 00:03:26,959 disruptive technology ology to the uh 86 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:28,560 money order or certified check that was 87 00:03:26,959 --> 00:03:29,920 uh required up to that point for for 88 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:32,480 paying any sort of government fine like 89 00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:35,280 that to a pretty rural uh you part of 90 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:37,360 the country Gotcha Okay How did your dad 91 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:38,879 come about that i I didn't realize he 92 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:41,840 had started another company there but 93 00:03:38,879 --> 00:03:45,280 was he a tech guy was he a web developer 94 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:48,159 like how what brought him to that no not 95 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:50,239 even close Okay Not even problem solver 96 00:03:48,159 --> 00:03:53,120 He was an entrepreneur He's a problem 97 00:03:50,239 --> 00:03:55,599 and he was such a problem solver which 98 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:57,360 would you know really uh gives me great 99 00:03:55,599 --> 00:03:59,200 courage because you don't have to be a 100 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:02,400 web developer to start a tech company 101 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:04,159 who knew right even in 2010 102 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,920 uh somebody approached him in like the 103 00:04:04,159 --> 00:04:07,360 late 90s with this idea that like man 104 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,439 this internet thing is really cool and 105 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:11,760 it you know it makes so much sense for 106 00:04:09,439 --> 00:04:13,680 people to be able to file paperwork 107 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:16,000 paperwork online instead of having to 108 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:18,479 come stand in line you know and and fill 109 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:20,000 out you know fill it all out by hand Uh 110 00:04:18,479 --> 00:04:21,600 but you know even then it was like we 111 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,880 have to have stuff notorized inside You 112 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,400 still have to do that So they but they 113 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:29,160 developed this kind of um you know 114 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:32,160 online paperwork processing management 115 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:33,600 platform Uh but it wasn't just filing 116 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:34,960 paperwork at that you know kind of 117 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:36,720 branched into other court related 118 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:40,000 services right and payments are a huge 119 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:41,720 one And so my dad spun off from there in 120 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:44,639 the I guess the late 121 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:47,280 2010s you know 0809 and started Core 122 00:04:44,639 --> 00:04:49,520 Solutions uh to do traffic ticket 123 00:04:47,280 --> 00:04:52,960 payments and really just zoomed in on 124 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:56,160 that slice And so it's still you have a 125 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:58,160 problem of like well if Nick speeds 126 00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:00,240 through town gets a ticket and then he 127 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:02,479 wants to go pay it how does he look it 128 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:05,840 up so we had to have a data connection 129 00:05:02,479 --> 00:05:08,120 with the the court you know case 130 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:10,880 software manager 131 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:12,560 u and then be able to present that on a 132 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:14,560 website where you could go and find 133 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:16,160 yourself without in theory just mining 134 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,759 it for all of the traffic tickets in our 135 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:20,000 database So you know that was still kind 136 00:05:17,759 --> 00:05:21,680 of early stage of of that technology 137 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:23,280 trying to you know set that up in a way 138 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:27,360 where it was secure enough but also 139 00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:29,039 still user friendly Gotcha Okay So then 140 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:31,440 I guess his first business it sounds 141 00:05:29,039 --> 00:05:33,840 like he had a partner then that was the 142 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:36,639 tech side of it or the had that vision 143 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:39,360 and he just he came along He had a 144 00:05:36,639 --> 00:05:42,320 partner that was the legal side Gotcha 145 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:46,320 And then he they kind of outsourced the 146 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:48,160 the tech side uh building a website and 147 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:49,440 you know setting up the connections and 148 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:52,800 integrations and all that My dad's a 149 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:54,960 salesman He's a phenomenal relational 150 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:55,880 you know go-getter problem solver kind 151 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:59,280 of guy 152 00:05:55,880 --> 00:06:02,240 Mhm Gotcha Every business needs that He 153 00:05:59,280 --> 00:06:03,919 was that you know the the integrator you 154 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:05,759 know following the like the EOS you know 155 00:06:03,919 --> 00:06:07,600 traction kind of framework So he was the 156 00:06:05,759 --> 00:06:10,479 visionary He needed the integrator And 157 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:12,800 so they hired this out and and it was a 158 00:06:10,479 --> 00:06:15,520 beautiful thing Gotcha Okay I mean very 159 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:18,560 cutting edge starting this company doing 160 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:23,080 this kind of actual work on the internet 161 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:26,400 in 2000 Um I'm thinking back to 162 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:28,800 209798 Uh eBay is the biggest 163 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:32,080 marketplace on the internet PayPal just 164 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:34,160 starts to facilitate that Um and here 165 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:35,120 your dad and and his partner come along 166 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:36,639 and they're like "Well we're going to 167 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:39,759 allow you to pay traffic courts and look 168 00:06:36,639 --> 00:06:42,000 up actual court cases and look up the 169 00:06:39,759 --> 00:06:44,160 fines associated with them on the 170 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:46,800 internet." So kudos to your dad 171 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:51,680 Definitely saw the vision there of what 172 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:55,680 was possible Um what kind of I mean you 173 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:57,840 came along 10 years later what kind of 174 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:59,680 problems did they have to solve for what 175 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:02,720 kind of things did they get into that 176 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:05,120 they they didn't realize going into it 177 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:08,759 uh that they came up with solutions for 178 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:08,759 to make this successful 179 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,080 i think probably one of the the biggest 180 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:13,759 hurdles right out of the gate is 181 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:15,360 building trust because if you just pick 182 00:07:13,759 --> 00:07:17,120 up the phone and call a government 183 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,360 office you're like "Hey I have a way for 184 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:20,880 people to pay 185 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:23,800 you." I mean imagine doing that now 186 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:27,160 right much less 15 years 187 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:31,120 ago Um building 188 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:33,039 trust with the you know the the the 189 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:36,240 public sector is very difficult It's a 190 00:07:33,039 --> 00:07:37,360 very very long sales cycle Um I also you 191 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,599 know there were some other issues of 192 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:42,479 just growth Growth is very very slow and 193 00:07:39,599 --> 00:07:43,720 stubborn uh because you have to sign on 194 00:07:42,479 --> 00:07:48,000 individual 195 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:51,440 accounts and the real money comes from 196 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:55,919 rich relationships with those customers 197 00:07:51,440 --> 00:08:00,280 knowing the nuance of their particular 198 00:07:55,919 --> 00:08:02,560 well their particularities um yeah every 199 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:05,199 every county is going to have different 200 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:07,520 things that they need and yes got to be 201 00:08:05,199 --> 00:08:09,360 customized to their solution well I'll 202 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:11,599 give you a fun a fun example here and 203 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:13,720 this is where I I love this idea of like 204 00:08:11,599 --> 00:08:16,080 become an expert on your customer's 205 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:17,599 problems and be really good at solving 206 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:19,360 them You can call it whatever you want 207 00:08:17,599 --> 00:08:21,120 You can call it tax prep you can call it 208 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:22,879 financial planning you can call it you 209 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:24,160 know payment processing but if you can 210 00:08:22,879 --> 00:08:25,759 be really really good at solving a 211 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:28,639 painoint they have they'll love you 212 00:08:25,759 --> 00:08:31,120 forever And who why why wouldn't they so 213 00:08:28,639 --> 00:08:34,000 we had a problem uh a couple of problems 214 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:35,919 where you get a ticket uh you want to 215 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,200 pay immediately and you pick up the 216 00:08:35,919 --> 00:08:38,479 phone because you see a phone number on 217 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,240 the back of the ticket So you pick up 218 00:08:38,479 --> 00:08:41,680 your cell phone right 219 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:43,120 luckily it was past car phones but like 220 00:08:41,680 --> 00:08:44,880 you know you pick up your phone you call 221 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,240 in and it's like "Hey can I pay this?" 222 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:48,880 Like "Okay yeah sure When did you get 223 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:50,160 it?" Well seven minutes ago Okay It's 224 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,480 not going to be available for payment 225 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:54,160 until maybe a week or two because it 226 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:56,880 just takes that long when you're dealing 227 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:58,560 with carbon copied you know tickets 228 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:01,279 Nowadays like the e- ticketing systems 229 00:08:58,560 --> 00:09:03,600 are literally instant Uh but you know 230 00:09:01,279 --> 00:09:05,360 that that's modern technology even now 231 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:08,880 that isn't fully integrated across the 232 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:10,560 country right so uh we built a little a 233 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:12,959 matching system where we could just take 234 00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:14,560 your information and ceue it up and save 235 00:09:12,959 --> 00:09:16,720 that And then as we were getting in new 236 00:09:14,560 --> 00:09:18,240 data it would say like "Oh this here's 237 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:19,600 Barrett's last name date of birth and 238 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:20,720 you know his citation number and it 239 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:22,240 matches." And send you an email like 240 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,080 "Hey we think we found your ticket You 241 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:24,920 can click here to pay it." And that was 242 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,200 a way 243 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:28,560 of you know following up with you 244 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,000 keeping current with you reminding you 245 00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:32,399 to pay your ticket because let's be 246 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:34,080 honest life happens and we forget Um and 247 00:09:32,399 --> 00:09:35,680 then also capturing that revenue for the 248 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:37,920 court So we saw some really really good 249 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:40,080 results from from that system And 250 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,440 another one was like again like you said 251 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:43,279 these different jurisdictions had 252 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:45,360 different particularities of like well 253 00:09:43,279 --> 00:09:46,640 they do it this way they do it that way 254 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:48,720 You know if you get a ticket for no 255 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:50,240 driver's license but you do have a 256 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:52,560 license It's just sitting in your wallet 257 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:54,720 You forgot at home Typically you can get 258 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:57,440 that reduced to like a $20 admin fee and 259 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:58,959 you're done But you have to get a copy 260 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:00,200 of it to the court which back then it 261 00:09:58,959 --> 00:10:04,000 was like 262 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:05,680 faxing you know And so we developed a 263 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:07,680 system where they could like you know 264 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:09,360 snap a picture with their phone email it 265 00:10:07,680 --> 00:10:12,160 to us We would take the record and then 266 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:13,519 eax it to the court We would then we 267 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:14,959 could actually they there were some 268 00:10:13,519 --> 00:10:17,120 customers or some clients that even let 269 00:10:14,959 --> 00:10:18,800 us do the verification for the clerk to 270 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:20,560 say like "Yes this matches the person's 271 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:22,640 name date of birth our records that 272 00:10:20,560 --> 00:10:25,440 we're looking at from your database you 273 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:27,839 know Mr Mr Courthouse." Uh we'll match 274 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:29,839 it for you reduce it process the payment 275 00:10:27,839 --> 00:10:31,920 on the phone right then send you all 276 00:10:29,839 --> 00:10:33,760 that you need to to keep your record So 277 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:35,360 it was like we really integrated 278 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:36,640 ourselves deeply with our customers to 279 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:39,440 solve their problems to make their lives 280 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:40,959 easier and they loved us for it Yeah 281 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:43,760 It's interesting because you really were 282 00:10:40,959 --> 00:10:44,720 serving two types of customers You had 283 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:46,240 the customer you were actually 284 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,160 collecting revenue from which was the 285 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:51,920 court 286 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:53,440 system but the user of your platform was 287 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:55,839 not the court system They just want to 288 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:58,160 get paid They don't want to get phone 289 00:10:55,839 --> 00:10:59,440 calls and and they don't want to get 290 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:01,920 phone calls from people that are 291 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:03,760 frustrated You want to make sure that 292 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:05,600 the user that's actually using it not 293 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:07,200 somebody coming in on a monthly basis or 294 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:10,560 anything like that but just a one-time 295 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:12,160 thing has a good enough experience that 296 00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:14,680 they don't just say "I'm just going to 297 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:18,000 write a check This is stupid." So how 298 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:21,120 did how were you getting feedback on 299 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:23,200 that platform at the time because you 300 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:26,640 your direct customer is the court they 301 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:28,240 don't know they don't use it Um how are 302 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:30,880 you getting direct feedback from from 303 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:32,399 the secondary customer back then uh 304 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:33,920 that's a great question I actually don't 305 00:11:32,399 --> 00:11:35,440 know if I have a great answer for that 306 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:37,839 but I think what you just did is you 307 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:40,320 identified the the first real problem 308 00:11:37,839 --> 00:11:41,839 which is the customer I have to sell 309 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:44,000 isn't the customer who's going to pay me 310 00:11:41,839 --> 00:11:46,160 anything and I have to It's kind of like 311 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:48,240 in pharmaceuticals how like a farm rep 312 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:50,880 has a pharma rep has to like get the 313 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:53,800 doctor to prescribe the medicine and 314 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:57,040 then get the person to go and fill the 315 00:11:53,800 --> 00:12:01,160 prescription So we we had to kind of 316 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:03,920 navigate that sales process 317 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:07,200 Um what we found is that if we could 318 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:10,399 make the if we could serve the court 319 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:13,480 clerk well and if we could really make 320 00:12:10,399 --> 00:12:17,120 his or her life easier reduce phone 321 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:19,279 calls integrate well learn their systems 322 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:21,040 and we had we were really nice We had 323 00:12:19,279 --> 00:12:22,959 really nice people working with us We 324 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:24,560 were just kind you know and when you 325 00:12:22,959 --> 00:12:27,519 treat someone with kindness and who 326 00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:29,519 usually gets griped at at the on the 327 00:12:27,519 --> 00:12:31,360 phone all day and cussed at and screamed 328 00:12:29,519 --> 00:12:33,040 at and you know like they pick up the 329 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,639 phone and call the clerk and rip him a 330 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:36,560 new one because the officer you know 331 00:12:34,639 --> 00:12:38,880 well he pulled me over and it's like you 332 00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:40,560 you hear like the the worst stories So 333 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:41,839 if we were just nice and if we could 334 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:44,079 make their life easier and take those 335 00:12:41,839 --> 00:12:45,200 phone calls off of them they would push 336 00:12:44,079 --> 00:12:46,320 people to us They would change their 337 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:47,839 voicemail and be like "Hey if you're 338 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:49,200 calling to pay a ticket call them." you 339 00:12:47,839 --> 00:12:51,519 know they would put our number and 340 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:53,120 website on this on this ticket you know 341 00:12:51,519 --> 00:12:55,680 so when you're holding it you can see 342 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:59,200 our so like it it was a and then we had 343 00:12:55,680 --> 00:13:03,040 to make the the user experience very 344 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:04,639 clean very distraction-free very simple 345 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:07,120 you know so you when you go it's kind of 346 00:13:04,639 --> 00:13:08,800 like if you went to Google in like the 347 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:10,480 you know early 2000s you're like "What 348 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:11,920 is this it's just like a white page with 349 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:14,800 a box What do I do with this?" It's so 350 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:16,959 easy All I have to do is search 351 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:18,959 Ask G's was where it was at you know you 352 00:13:16,959 --> 00:13:20,160 go and it's like "Hey I'm Jebs What do 353 00:13:18,959 --> 00:13:22,560 you want to learn about here's all your 354 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:23,839 filters." And like it was Jeez did a 355 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:25,440 good job of explaining what you're 356 00:13:23,839 --> 00:13:27,120 supposed to do with it Google was just 357 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:28,399 like kind of like Apple is now where 358 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:30,760 it's just like "Yeah we made a product 359 00:13:28,399 --> 00:13:33,279 and you had to figure it out you 360 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:36,240 know?" But we had to make a product that 361 00:13:33,279 --> 00:13:38,040 was so simple that you could you know 362 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:39,839 you could you could do it with no 363 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:41,399 questions And making that as 364 00:13:39,839 --> 00:13:44,720 frictionless as 365 00:13:41,399 --> 00:13:46,399 possible helped helped a lot Hey there 366 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:49,279 We're coming up on the end of season two 367 00:13:46,399 --> 00:13:50,959 of the artist succession and July brings 368 00:13:49,279 --> 00:13:52,959 our one-year anniversary of the show as 369 00:13:50,959 --> 00:13:55,120 well I hope that you've enjoyed the 370 00:13:52,959 --> 00:13:56,639 changes that I implemented in season 2 371 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:58,639 I've gotten some really good data from 372 00:13:56,639 --> 00:14:00,880 the algorithm just to see how people 373 00:13:58,639 --> 00:14:02,800 have been responding to that For season 374 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:04,560 3 I've got some other ideas but I really 375 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,480 want to connect with you as a listener 376 00:14:04,560 --> 00:14:08,240 So down in the description below you'll 377 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:10,399 find a link to my calendar I've got 378 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:12,480 space for five listeners who are 379 00:14:10,399 --> 00:14:14,399 available to book a 5 to 10 minute Zoom 380 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:16,480 call with me I really just want to talk 381 00:14:14,399 --> 00:14:18,800 with you meet you and find out what 382 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:20,480 brings you to the Art of Succession when 383 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:23,600 you listen to the show and what you 384 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:25,839 enjoy about it as I look to season 3 and 385 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:27,839 beyond of the show If you don't have the 386 00:14:25,839 --> 00:14:29,360 time to book that I understand I also 387 00:14:27,839 --> 00:14:30,560 have a Google form down there that you 388 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:32,480 can fill out and just leave your 389 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:33,839 feedback for the show as well I want to 390 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:35,760 thank you for being with me on this 391 00:14:33,839 --> 00:14:37,440 journey so far I'm looking forward to 392 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:39,360 the season 3 launch and the new guests 393 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:41,680 that I'm going to be bringing to you And 394 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:43,279 let's get back to that episode Before 395 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:45,440 the show you talked about your brother 396 00:14:43,279 --> 00:14:47,279 also joined the company So you joined in 397 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:49,760 2010 Did your brother join at the same 398 00:14:47,279 --> 00:14:52,079 time what brought you guys to dad's 399 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:54,639 company at that time What was the role 400 00:14:52,079 --> 00:14:57,360 and what was the you know what were you 401 00:14:54,639 --> 00:15:00,720 solving for the company yeah you know 402 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:02,320 for me I think I came in because my dad 403 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:04,720 was willing to pay me more than Publix 404 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:06,880 to buy groceries 405 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:09,839 and I would rather work for my dad than 406 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:12,800 work back in groceries uh through high 407 00:15:09,839 --> 00:15:14,880 school Okay So 2010 it was it was the 408 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:16,160 part-time job kind of thing It was a 409 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:17,600 part-time job for me and it became 410 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:19,440 full-time and you know I wanted to be 411 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:23,120 involved in the family business You know 412 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:25,320 that that was cool to me It wasn't um 413 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:28,240 you know I never really grew up aspiring 414 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:29,519 to work in an office and sit at a desk 415 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,519 you know behind a computer I don't know 416 00:15:29,519 --> 00:15:34,720 many people that really dream of that 417 00:15:31,519 --> 00:15:37,040 but um it was it was neat and it was fun 418 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:38,399 to be involved in business and I took an 419 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:40,560 interest in it when I was you know 420 00:15:38,399 --> 00:15:42,720 especially getting college I majored in 421 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:45,839 finance So I I eventually took on the 422 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:48,720 role of the financial manager for the 423 00:15:45,839 --> 00:15:51,279 for the company making sure that our you 424 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:53,120 know reports were tidy that the 425 00:15:51,279 --> 00:15:54,560 accountant and tax repairer had what 426 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:56,639 they needed that their questions were 427 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:59,759 answered that there was a strategy and 428 00:15:56,639 --> 00:16:02,000 just you know somebody keeping a a a you 429 00:15:59,759 --> 00:16:04,079 know a finger on the pulse so to speak 430 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:07,199 of the numbers of the business besides 431 00:16:04,079 --> 00:16:09,199 just the this classic entrepreneur like 432 00:16:07,199 --> 00:16:11,360 bank balance accounting like I have 433 00:16:09,199 --> 00:16:13,440 money in the bank I'm good you 434 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:15,360 My brother came on almost the same time 435 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:17,360 actually as the operations director So 436 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:20,079 my brother's brilliant He's uh he's an 437 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:22,240 incredibly talented software architect 438 00:16:20,079 --> 00:16:23,920 and engineers completely self-taught He 439 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:25,839 majored in political science He's 440 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:28,800 absolutely brilliant Probably reads a 441 00:16:25,839 --> 00:16:31,639 book a day Um he's he's just one of 442 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:33,600 those guys So when he came in he he 443 00:16:31,639 --> 00:16:34,800 started not even with a whole lot of 444 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:36,320 business experience but just kind of an 445 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:38,320 understanding of systems and processes 446 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:40,120 and how things should be built And he 447 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:43,040 was so good at 448 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:45,120 taking my dad's hairrained ideas that he 449 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:46,360 would scribble out on a whiteboard and 450 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:49,480 turning it 451 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:52,000 into an 452 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:53,680 actual Okay I think I see what you're 453 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:56,800 trying to do And it's going to look like 454 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:59,120 this And to get here we need to back way 455 00:16:56,800 --> 00:17:00,120 up here and start slowly and building 456 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:02,720 toward 457 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:04,000 this which was such an important I mean 458 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:05,799 talk about an integrated role like that 459 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:11,400 was such an important 460 00:17:05,799 --> 00:17:15,039 piece for my dad to have that person 461 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:17,520 um who who could help you know bring 462 00:17:15,039 --> 00:17:19,280 that clarity and that structure Yeah 463 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:21,280 Okay So it sounds like this is an older 464 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:23,039 brother who had already who was already 465 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:24,959 ready to start his adult professional 466 00:17:23,039 --> 00:17:26,559 life and you guys were brought the 467 00:17:24,959 --> 00:17:27,839 integrator in-house at this point 468 00:17:26,559 --> 00:17:30,799 whereas before it would have been 469 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:34,480 contractors and and in this company now 470 00:17:30,799 --> 00:17:36,400 that your dad spun off in 2007 Your 471 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:39,440 brother came in as the integrator to 472 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:42,480 your dad's visionary Yeah Yeah Very much 473 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:45,200 so He's an older brother Yeah So he's 474 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:47,039 four years older than me and 475 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:49,840 uh you know I'm lucky to have gotten to 476 00:17:47,039 --> 00:17:53,919 work with him Awesome So what did I mean 477 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:55,840 what was the vision at that time in 2010 478 00:17:53,919 --> 00:17:57,600 for the company i mean I know your dad's 479 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:59,919 just thrilled to have his two his two 480 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:02,559 boys working with them and you're kind 481 00:17:59,919 --> 00:18:04,400 of new not sure what you want to do but 482 00:18:02,559 --> 00:18:06,880 I mean where did what was the vision for 483 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:08,640 the company for that almost 10 years 484 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:09,760 that you guys were working in there i 485 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:11,200 mean bear I don't know if there was much 486 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:13,440 of a vision Okay You know and that's 487 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:15,840 kind of what's funny is like you know I 488 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:20,400 think my dad's vision was make money 489 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:22,480 provide for the family build a business 490 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:24,240 Okay So is that not a good enough vision 491 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:26,440 you know like that was kind of his Yeah 492 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:28,880 No but his visionary 493 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:31,760 days that caused him to launch an 494 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:34,240 internet company in 2000 had kind of 495 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:36,240 just settled a little bit maybe or you 496 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:38,320 saw the end in sight Let's say that may 497 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:40,320 maybe I I discounted that question too 498 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:43,480 much When you say a vision let let me 499 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:47,440 put it this way I guess the vision was 500 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:49,559 um you know we want to we want to be the 501 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:52,400 payment processor for traffic 502 00:18:49,559 --> 00:18:55,200 courts and you know that was kind of 503 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,880 just driving you know I guess it was 504 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:59,440 broad that it was probably that about 505 00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:02,320 that broad uh when I say vision now I 506 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:03,919 think differently um having read the 507 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:06,480 books that we have in the last 15 years 508 00:19:03,919 --> 00:19:08,080 and you know all the the the content and 509 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,840 podcasts around vision and mission and 510 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:11,440 values stuff like that you know I think 511 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:13,039 of Chick-fil-A I think of Apple I think 512 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:15,440 of these big companies that are are 513 00:19:13,039 --> 00:19:17,600 vision driven we weren't one of those we 514 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:19,600 just were like world changing kind of 515 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:21,280 yeah we just built a you know my dad 516 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:22,799 kind of built a business and it was it 517 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:24,240 was you know let's let's get this off 518 00:19:22,799 --> 00:19:26,400 the ground let's take care of customers 519 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:28,080 and you know let's let's make that court 520 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:29,840 clerk's life easier here by taking those 521 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:33,919 angry phone callers away and processing 522 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:36,160 payments Yeah Um I mean a much more 523 00:19:33,919 --> 00:19:37,679 localized vision but still a vision for 524 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,120 a small business I mean what was the 525 00:19:37,679 --> 00:19:40,799 size of the company when you and your 526 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:43,600 brother joined how many how many people 527 00:19:40,799 --> 00:19:45,320 were on the team uh single digits Yeah 528 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:48,559 Low single 529 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:50,400 digits When when we finally sold and 530 00:19:48,559 --> 00:19:51,400 when he sold it let's say we when he 531 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:54,320 sold it in 532 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:57,120 2017 I think we're up to like 14 or 15 533 00:19:54,320 --> 00:20:01,760 employees So still very much a small 534 00:19:57,120 --> 00:20:04,799 family style feel business Um 535 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:07,280 And customer-wise I mean how many 536 00:20:04,799 --> 00:20:09,679 payments like talk to me about growth 537 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:11,080 during that that led up to the 538 00:20:09,679 --> 00:20:13,840 acquisition 539 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:15,480 um just what was what was the what was 540 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:18,240 the 541 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:21,320 attractive value proposition here for an 542 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:23,919 acquirer yeah you know integrated 543 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:26,480 payments Uh what I mean by that is is 544 00:20:23,919 --> 00:20:28,720 payments that are relational 545 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:32,000 relationship based 546 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:33,840 um very sticky you know like I said we 547 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:35,520 deeply integrated with our customers we 548 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:38,640 we knew their problems well we solved 549 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:40,799 them and um you know we had good strong 550 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:42,480 cash flows for it you know we had double 551 00:20:40,799 --> 00:20:46,960 digit growth several several years in a 552 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:49,080 row and um as long as we continue to 553 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:51,280 very rarely do we lose a 554 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:52,559 customer you know and the the margins 555 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:55,600 were great you you know I mean we would 556 00:20:52,559 --> 00:20:58,720 charge a a percent processing fee which 557 00:20:55,600 --> 00:21:00,480 you know would cover our integration and 558 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:03,840 development time and costs and call 559 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:06,400 center and you know there was still um 560 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:10,480 enough meat left on the bone for you 561 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:12,240 know for an odor to to find appeal in 562 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:14,159 Yeah I was going to say the sales cycle 563 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:17,760 might be longer when you're dealing with 564 00:21:14,159 --> 00:21:23,200 those kind of entities but you bring on 565 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:24,960 a court in 2000 2001 it's probably still 566 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,559 using the same system Unless you don't 567 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:28,799 screw something up it's like no we made 568 00:21:26,559 --> 00:21:31,360 our innovative decision We're going to 569 00:21:28,799 --> 00:21:34,400 stick with it for the next 30 years just 570 00:21:31,360 --> 00:21:37,760 about Now I'll say you there's it's very 571 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:39,120 hard to actually vet the the at least it 572 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:40,720 was It's probably much much easier now 573 00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:43,520 with the amount of data out there But 574 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:47,039 man trying to vet the potential revenue 575 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:50,159 of a of a court uh was extremely 576 00:21:47,039 --> 00:21:52,480 difficult Um some of our highest revenue 577 00:21:50,159 --> 00:21:55,360 courts were these tiny little towns that 578 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:56,960 you never heard of that are Yeah 579 00:21:55,360 --> 00:21:59,280 basically speed I mean some of them but 580 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,039 like you know they had a little slice of 581 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:04,039 the 582 00:22:00,039 --> 00:22:06,480 freeway and you know and then other 583 00:22:04,039 --> 00:22:08,200 other clients we thought would be really 584 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:11,880 significant never bought 585 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:14,559 in and so we got a tiny percent of 586 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:17,280 their you know their gross traffic 587 00:22:14,559 --> 00:22:19,120 ticket volume and as a result because 588 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:20,480 they didn't really they didn't really 589 00:22:19,120 --> 00:22:22,480 see the vision right it wasn't that 590 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:24,159 appealing to them Um they weren't 591 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:25,760 putting your number on the tickets They 592 00:22:24,159 --> 00:22:26,880 weren't saying all payments must go 593 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,480 through here They're like "If you want 594 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:30,080 to come in and pay in person we'll still 595 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:31,840 take that check." All that kind of stuff 596 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:34,320 Yeah And we had we had clients that 597 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:36,240 would uh take payments over the phone at 598 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:37,840 their office on their own credit card 599 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:40,480 processor And it's like well why'd you 600 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:42,080 why' you you know after using your 601 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:43,840 system 602 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:45,840 after using your system to look it up on 603 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:47,760 the web I'm going to call and process it 604 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:49,600 there Yeah Yeah Well because the court 605 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:50,960 wouldn't charge you a service fee like 606 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,640 we would 607 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:53,919 And so sometimes the court clerk would 608 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:55,280 be like "Well I don't want you know I 609 00:22:53,919 --> 00:22:57,360 don't like that they're having to pay an 610 00:22:55,280 --> 00:23:01,200 extra $15 or whatever." It's like "Well 611 00:22:57,360 --> 00:23:02,559 that's fair but you know you could have 612 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:05,039 been doing something else instead of 613 00:23:02,559 --> 00:23:07,280 taking that phone call." Um we'll get 614 00:23:05,039 --> 00:23:09,080 into the acquisition here in a in a 615 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:12,720 minute 616 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:14,880 What talk about your dad just 617 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:16,799 approaching retirement starting to look 618 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:18,880 at his two boys working in the company 619 00:23:16,799 --> 00:23:21,320 your older brother running the company 620 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:23,360 uh very much so in the 621 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,640 day-to-day Share with me just a little 622 00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:27,840 bit of the conversations that were 623 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:30,400 happening before 2017 624 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:32,480 Yeah So you know at one point my dad did 625 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,799 approach my brother and I and kind of 626 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:36,400 just threw out 627 00:23:33,799 --> 00:23:39,640 like if we wanted to take over the 628 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:41,520 company he was open to that uh that 629 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:43,919 conversation you know and my brother and 630 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:46,640 I kind of we talked about it a few times 631 00:23:43,919 --> 00:23:48,960 and just kind of agreed that it it it 632 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:51,919 wasn't going to work out for us Um you 633 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:53,440 know my dad wanted needed to be able to 634 00:23:51,919 --> 00:23:55,840 just have kind of a clean break and go 635 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:57,919 retire And to do that we would either 636 00:23:55,840 --> 00:24:00,640 have to just come up with the money to 637 00:23:57,919 --> 00:24:02,159 buy him out um or borrow it And we 638 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:03,440 didn't we didn't have it We didn't want 639 00:24:02,159 --> 00:24:06,080 to borrow it And we didn't really want 640 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:09,520 him on like a you know a three fiveyear 641 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:10,799 sort of payment plan uh being bought out 642 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:13,000 slowly And the other thing too is we 643 00:24:10,799 --> 00:24:15,520 kind of saw there was some upcoming like 644 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:17,520 legislative tension about online 645 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:18,880 payments and again the sales cycle so 646 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:21,360 long Neither my brother and I are really 647 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:25,279 salespeople So we didn't really want all 648 00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:27,360 of that involved Um and so you know my 649 00:24:25,279 --> 00:24:30,880 dad started looking for an acquirer 650 00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:33,880 probably in I don't know 2014 15 even uh 651 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:36,240 but struggled because 652 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:38,080 of I mean a number of reasons you know 653 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:39,880 for instance you know the the whole 654 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:41,760 business was built on 655 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:44,080 handshakes you know we didn't actually 656 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:45,679 have contracts we didn't have we didn't 657 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:47,360 have like letters of understanding terms 658 00:24:45,679 --> 00:24:51,440 and conditions like I mean we didn't 659 00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:54,799 have any of that stuff uh you know 15 10 660 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:57,039 15 years ago know and so it wasn't very 661 00:24:54,799 --> 00:24:58,480 attractive to an acquirer to come and be 662 00:24:57,039 --> 00:24:59,760 like look you have good cash flow but it 663 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:02,240 could literally disappear tomorrow 664 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:04,400 because there's nothing you know it just 665 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:05,679 felt like a big liability a big risk so 666 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:07,760 we had to do a lot of cleanup and 667 00:25:05,679 --> 00:25:10,559 structure building to make the company 668 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:12,159 appealing to an acquirer and it was fun 669 00:25:10,559 --> 00:25:13,679 and it really was you know getting HR 670 00:25:12,159 --> 00:25:15,360 structures and policies and procedures 671 00:25:13,679 --> 00:25:18,480 and agreements and all that kind of 672 00:25:15,360 --> 00:25:20,000 stuff Well I mean how did your dad when 673 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:22,480 he when he was still in the talks with 674 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:25,240 you guys how did your get dad come to a 675 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:27,960 value for the business or was it just 676 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:30,880 like you being a financial 677 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:32,799 guy looking and saying realistically dad 678 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:34,400 you need this type of a number in order 679 00:25:32,799 --> 00:25:37,200 to be able to retire fully from this 680 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:38,880 point was there a valuation done or was 681 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:40,799 it just very much more like we need to 682 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:42,240 take care of dad and we can't do that 683 00:25:40,799 --> 00:25:44,400 with the cash we have right now i don't 684 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:46,400 think it was really either um the 685 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:47,919 typical small business world right where 686 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:50,799 it was like he kind of had a number in 687 00:25:47,919 --> 00:25:54,320 mind of what he wanted and it wasn't 688 00:25:50,799 --> 00:25:56,039 really based on valuation or metrics I 689 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:59,440 think it was 690 00:25:56,039 --> 00:26:03,039 just I don't know if it was just like a 691 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:06,000 big number This is my dream He just had 692 00:26:03,039 --> 00:26:09,120 a number in mind and it was not crazy 693 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:10,480 high but it was high and we were like I 694 00:26:09,120 --> 00:26:13,080 mean dad we want to take care of you 695 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:16,720 absolutely but like you 696 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:18,159 know I don't think we can quite do that 697 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:19,360 um evaluation would have been 698 00:26:18,159 --> 00:26:20,679 interesting And now as a financial 699 00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:24,559 planner I I 700 00:26:20,679 --> 00:26:26,240 see Oh man I mean the the stress of this 701 00:26:24,559 --> 00:26:27,919 is part of why I got into the career 702 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:30,000 shift that I got into because I saw 703 00:26:27,919 --> 00:26:32,520 firsthand the stress of an entrepreneur 704 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:35,919 who spent 15 years building two 705 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:38,880 businesses and was betting everything on 706 00:26:35,919 --> 00:26:40,400 the sale You know my dad had very little 707 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:42,400 life savings to this point that I knew 708 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:44,159 of at least And you know he was not 709 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:45,799 independently wealthy In fact he grew up 710 00:26:44,159 --> 00:26:48,400 rel in relative 711 00:26:45,799 --> 00:26:50,360 poverty And you know in many ways like 712 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:52,840 his story is 713 00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:55,159 is the American 714 00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:57,919 dream You know he's the 715 00:26:55,159 --> 00:26:59,600 the son of immigrants or grandson I 716 00:26:57,919 --> 00:27:01,760 guess of immigrants I think it was my 717 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:03,840 grandfather that came over from Italy as 718 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:07,120 a as a kid with his parents I guess he 719 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:10,159 my dad was the grandson of immigrants Uh 720 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:12,960 but you know like first name born Yeah 721 00:27:10,159 --> 00:27:16,480 his dad was a barber you know who who 722 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:18,159 worked until his last day of life And um 723 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:21,600 you know so for my dad to have this 724 00:27:18,159 --> 00:27:23,440 dream of retirement and being able to 725 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:25,760 live out his days with my mom together 726 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:28,559 enjoying life was was really important 727 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:31,360 to him But you know he had poured 728 00:27:28,559 --> 00:27:34,400 everything back into the company 729 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:35,840 um or spent it on his family And you 730 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:38,159 know it doesn't take a lot right and I 731 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:40,559 mean 10 15% savings over 30 years will 732 00:27:38,159 --> 00:27:44,400 do wonders You know everybody can live 733 00:27:40,559 --> 00:27:45,679 on 10% less Um and uh but he you he 734 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:48,400 didn't do that Nobody was there to help 735 00:27:45,679 --> 00:27:50,559 him and coach him to that And so there 736 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:53,200 was a ton of pressure a ton of stress on 737 00:27:50,559 --> 00:27:54,320 I've got to sell this company for the 738 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:56,159 number that will afford me the 739 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:58,480 retirement that I've always dreamed of 740 00:27:56,159 --> 00:27:59,640 Let's talk about the acquisition uh 741 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:02,480 first 742 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:05,039 So my understanding is this is a company 743 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:06,640 that had started to acquire similar a 744 00:28:05,039 --> 00:28:09,039 consolidator They were acquiring other 745 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:10,640 payment small little payment processors 746 00:28:09,039 --> 00:28:13,720 around the country at this point Is that 747 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:16,880 correct that's correct Okay So 748 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:19,200 what did did your dad get the number he 749 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:21,039 wanted from that that was in his head or 750 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:23,279 did you guys realize it's not going to 751 00:28:21,039 --> 00:28:25,039 be that and and he's going to have to 752 00:28:23,279 --> 00:28:26,720 get it lower you said you did some prep 753 00:28:25,039 --> 00:28:27,919 work to get it up to that number Talk 754 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,120 through talk through a little bit on 755 00:28:27,919 --> 00:28:31,799 that for me 756 00:28:29,120 --> 00:28:36,559 Yeah So this was the fun part Uh 757 00:28:31,799 --> 00:28:40,480 honestly you know so the first um gosh 758 00:28:36,559 --> 00:28:42,080 the first real offer that we got this 759 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:43,520 company I forget even where they were 760 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:46,000 maybe New York or something they they 761 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:48,080 reached out to us and asked basically 762 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:51,000 the terms of their purchase was like 763 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:53,760 "We're going to individually buy your 764 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:57,760 customers and any customers that don't 765 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:59,559 come over fall off completely you can't 766 00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:03,200 have them neither can 767 00:28:59,559 --> 00:29:05,679 we And at the end you know we'll just 768 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:07,279 set a like a I don't know a two or 3x of 769 00:29:05,679 --> 00:29:09,279 revenue per customer or whatever the 770 00:29:07,279 --> 00:29:11,039 number was We'll just buy your customers 771 00:29:09,279 --> 00:29:12,799 a trailing 12-month revenue or you know 772 00:29:11,039 --> 00:29:15,840 times some multiple we'll just pick them 773 00:29:12,799 --> 00:29:20,240 off one at a time It was like that 774 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:22,320 sounds horrible Oh my gosh And if I if I 775 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:24,720 lose my biggest customer like we're all 776 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:26,320 hosed Would Would would they have been 777 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:28,480 Sorry uh would they have been changing 778 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:30,320 the system at that point then or were 779 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:32,240 they looking to acquire and just move in 780 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:33,840 seamlessly it sounds like they would 781 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:35,520 want to buy the customers So the 782 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:37,840 customers have to migrate to their new 783 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:39,760 platform Make it very difficult make it 784 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:41,520 so that most of them don't want to stay 785 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:44,640 and then not pay for the ones that left 786 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:46,320 So yep I got you It was it was terrible 787 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:47,520 So we said a quick note to that but that 788 00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:49,919 was really discouraging because you know 789 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:51,279 when you're looking for an acquirer and 790 00:29:49,919 --> 00:29:52,320 you finally get somebody on the phone 791 00:29:51,279 --> 00:29:53,679 and they're like "Yeah we want to buy 792 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:55,840 your company." You're like "What oh this 793 00:29:53,679 --> 00:29:57,120 is awesome Cool Okay let's talk And they 794 00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:59,120 talk and they outline the worst plan 795 00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:00,799 ever And you're s kind of sitting there 796 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:02,799 like with your eyes blinking like I 797 00:30:00,799 --> 00:30:04,960 can't I can't imagine trying to do this 798 00:30:02,799 --> 00:30:06,080 but I'm nervous to turn it down Feels 799 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:07,919 like your life's kind of hanging in the 800 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:10,960 balance And then if you have the guts to 801 00:30:07,919 --> 00:30:13,120 say no now you have to wait out however 802 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:15,520 long until the next buyer hears about 803 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:17,520 you and bites which could be a week a 804 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:20,000 month a year and you just have to keep 805 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:22,480 trucking with your business uh hoping 806 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:24,080 that day comes So that was that's tough 807 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:25,840 Uh and my heart goes out to any 808 00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:29,279 entrepreneur any business owner in that 809 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:32,279 position because I know the just the 810 00:30:29,279 --> 00:30:35,440 pain of just waiting and waiting So 811 00:30:32,279 --> 00:30:38,559 anyway mid 2017 812 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:41,120 um we get another call Uh this is a 813 00:30:38,559 --> 00:30:45,880 really solid company We'd be acquisition 814 00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:49,120 number 20 Um they had plans to go 815 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:51,039 public and uh yeah they had done this 816 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:52,480 many times over and they were quick and 817 00:30:51,039 --> 00:30:55,840 efficient knew exactly what they wanted 818 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:57,679 They threw out a number uh with a payout 819 00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:59,440 and I think the combined total kind of 820 00:30:57,679 --> 00:31:00,880 got my dad to that number he was hoping 821 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:01,640 for which is really really cool So it 822 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:04,000 was a 823 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:05,679 win-winwin Uh you know we started having 824 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:08,480 meetings started doing due diligence 825 00:31:05,679 --> 00:31:10,320 signed NDAs and it closed by uh I think 826 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:12,080 it was December 1st So it's about four 827 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:14,080 months 828 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:16,880 And they did acquire the company then 829 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:19,200 and the existing systems and you came 830 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:20,720 over with the job and they bought 831 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:23,440 everything and everyone and they said 832 00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:26,159 you know we don't we're not buying you 833 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:28,480 to gut you Uh we we buy successful 834 00:31:26,159 --> 00:31:30,720 companies and try to help them do better 835 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:32,399 And they were very kind very they're 836 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:34,159 great folks Great folks They made our 837 00:31:32,399 --> 00:31:35,760 team all the way down And it was true 838 00:31:34,159 --> 00:31:37,279 They didn't you know they didn't buy us 839 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:39,679 and and fire half the They didn't fire 840 00:31:37,279 --> 00:31:42,240 anybody Uh in fact they you know they 841 00:31:39,679 --> 00:31:45,519 really helped to update some systems 842 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:47,360 that needed updating and to move us to 843 00:31:45,519 --> 00:31:49,120 their processing platform that saved us 844 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:50,399 a ton of money uh because they had way 845 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:52,320 better rates than we did because the 846 00:31:50,399 --> 00:31:55,279 volume was you know 100 times higher And 847 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:57,360 so it was it was cool I learned a ton uh 848 00:31:55,279 --> 00:32:00,880 from those folks and getting to be there 849 00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:02,880 Yeah So you stayed there for another six 850 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:04,559 seven years Part of that probably is 851 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:05,679 your mindset is shifting and saying I 852 00:32:04,559 --> 00:32:10,080 don't know that I want to do this for 853 00:32:05,679 --> 00:32:12,640 another 30 But what was it about being 854 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:14,799 part of this new company what does it 855 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:17,200 feel like to be on the acquired side uh 856 00:32:14,799 --> 00:32:21,120 and the consolidated side that that drew 857 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:24,399 you to it um for as long as it did 858 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:27,120 well so it at first it felt scary I mean 859 00:32:24,399 --> 00:32:28,120 I had plans to leave I think in the 860 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:29,799 first six 861 00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:32,559 months 862 00:32:29,799 --> 00:32:34,399 Um because you know you can say "Oh 863 00:32:32,559 --> 00:32:35,679 we're gonna we're gonna buy you and keep 864 00:32:34,399 --> 00:32:37,039 everybody We don't want to let anybody 865 00:32:35,679 --> 00:32:38,640 go." You can say that all day but as 866 00:32:37,039 --> 00:32:41,880 soon as you own it it's up to you and 867 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:44,720 you can do whatever you want So I I was 868 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:47,840 nervous for probably the first year like 869 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:53,399 waiting for the other shoe to drop Um 870 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:56,080 once that kind of went away and I 871 00:32:53,399 --> 00:32:58,840 realized my job was not about to be 872 00:32:56,080 --> 00:33:02,159 taken from me 873 00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:05,840 um you know I I saw it as a really neat 874 00:33:02,159 --> 00:33:08,519 opportunity to grow in a corporate 875 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:11,080 environment that I'd never been in 876 00:33:08,519 --> 00:33:13,679 Um you 877 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:15,519 know there's so many stories of people 878 00:33:13,679 --> 00:33:19,360 that make it to a corporate environment 879 00:33:15,519 --> 00:33:21,919 hate it and and leave Um I wanted to try 880 00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:25,120 it out And so 881 00:33:21,919 --> 00:33:26,440 um it was fun It was It really was It 882 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:30,480 was neat for a while 883 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:32,279 Um I will say I came in to my dad's 884 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:35,519 business with the goal 885 00:33:32,279 --> 00:33:36,720 of you know find working in the family 886 00:33:35,519 --> 00:33:38,880 business making better money but 887 00:33:36,720 --> 00:33:41,200 ultimately I knew I wanted to help my 888 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:43,279 dad into a retirement position I had 889 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:46,480 been interested in personal finance and 890 00:33:43,279 --> 00:33:49,840 investments since you know high school 891 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:51,440 uh and had really taken I wanted to 892 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:54,080 pursue the CFP In fact I started 893 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:56,080 pursuing the CFA charter after college 894 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:58,000 while working for my dad planning my 895 00:33:56,080 --> 00:33:59,679 next career move before he was ever even 896 00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:01,600 thinking of selling the business So it's 897 00:33:59,679 --> 00:34:02,960 kind of always been in my mind of like I 898 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:06,880 wanted to get into financial planning 899 00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:08,879 and investments uh the the family 900 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:10,960 business and the trajectory of the last 901 00:34:08,879 --> 00:34:13,520 14 years of my life really were a 902 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:16,679 different path that I just was on I mean 903 00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:19,159 it's just where where God had me 904 00:34:16,679 --> 00:34:21,040 Um so 905 00:34:19,159 --> 00:34:22,960 postacquisition you know I'm waiting for 906 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:25,359 the other three to drop and kind of 907 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:26,960 planning my exit and I just ended up I 908 00:34:25,359 --> 00:34:30,240 just kind of kept postponing it every 909 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:32,000 year for like seven years What were you 910 00:34:30,240 --> 00:34:34,480 I mean how were you growing talk to me 911 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:37,200 about that going from a company of 14 15 912 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:38,960 people to a corporate environment What 913 00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:42,079 specifically 914 00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:44,000 uh just skillwise relationship-wise what 915 00:34:42,079 --> 00:34:47,119 were you focused on that kept you 916 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:48,800 engaged for as long as it did knowing 917 00:34:47,119 --> 00:34:51,440 probably by this point I am going to 918 00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:52,960 launch I just don't know when Yeah You 919 00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:54,240 know I'd say a couple things First off 920 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:55,919 it's a lot of fun to present to people 921 00:34:54,240 --> 00:34:57,920 that you're not related to and to 922 00:34:55,919 --> 00:34:59,839 actually get to like pitch an idea or 923 00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:01,280 share a a business update or talk 924 00:34:59,839 --> 00:35:03,280 through a financial report with somebody 925 00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:05,599 that doesn't show your last name It's a 926 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:07,200 lot of fun Um it's a good kind of 927 00:35:05,599 --> 00:35:09,040 pressure and stress to be like you know 928 00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:11,119 make sure your your buttons are done and 929 00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:12,960 and go up and and know your stuff So 930 00:35:11,119 --> 00:35:14,720 there's a pride that comes from the 931 00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:17,920 polish of a corporate environment that I 932 00:35:14,720 --> 00:35:20,000 think is really is really good Uh I'll 933 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:22,000 also say I did have opportunities to 934 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:23,920 just rub elbows with people who were 935 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:26,720 smarter than me older than me better 936 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:28,480 than me more experienced than me Uh and 937 00:35:26,720 --> 00:35:30,320 that was always fun too So it was it was 938 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:34,800 neat to meet the the folks and just see 939 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:38,320 like how the real pros do it of you know 940 00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:40,880 project management IT marketing um 941 00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:44,079 business like big like high level 942 00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:46,560 business structure uh planning and cash 943 00:35:44,079 --> 00:35:48,240 flow forecasting and and all that So I 944 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:51,040 didn't have too many in the room 945 00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:53,440 meetings but I had a few uh and really 946 00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:57,280 did enjoy them And then like when COVID 947 00:35:53,440 --> 00:36:00,079 hit um and a lot of you know my 948 00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:02,320 day-to-day responsibilities and projects 949 00:36:00,079 --> 00:36:05,440 and everything kind of went on hold I 950 00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:07,280 don't like being bored So um I had been 951 00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:09,200 waiting for a good time to start 952 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:11,359 learning Microsoft PowerBI because I was 953 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,800 doing reporting and analytics for years 954 00:36:11,359 --> 00:36:14,400 at this point And I had built this huge 955 00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:16,720 big spreadsheet that was just a chaotic 956 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:19,440 mess to everybody but me I knew it like 957 00:36:16,720 --> 00:36:23,200 the back of my hand Uh but I needed a 958 00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:24,480 much better way of of of doing all that 959 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:26,560 right of doing the data management and 960 00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:28,480 the projecting and you know so anyway I 961 00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:30,640 I knew that I needed to learn R or 962 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:32,320 Python or something to like but I hate 963 00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:34,560 coding you know I didn't want to do that 964 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:36,720 So PowerBI was a really cool opportunity 965 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:39,119 to learn how to do data analytics and 966 00:36:36,720 --> 00:36:41,119 dashboarding and report management for 967 00:36:39,119 --> 00:36:43,920 you know a large entity a large 968 00:36:41,119 --> 00:36:45,920 organization with lots of data Um and so 969 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:47,920 I dove in head first and within about 3 970 00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:49,359 4 months uh I had learned the platform 971 00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:51,760 built two three reports showed them to 972 00:36:49,359 --> 00:36:54,079 my boss and he you he was floored showed 973 00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:56,079 them to his boss before you know it I 974 00:36:54,079 --> 00:36:58,800 was I was tasked with doing like you 975 00:36:56,079 --> 00:37:00,599 know data management and reporting for 976 00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:04,320 you the whole sector of like 12 977 00:37:00,599 --> 00:37:06,320 companies which was extremely difficult 978 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:08,400 because nobody had data as good as we 979 00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:12,000 did at Core Solutions and our sister 980 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:15,280 company Um nobody had data like us So 981 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:17,880 trying to get a report that looked as 982 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:21,599 good as the one I made for us for them 983 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:24,359 was it was awful Uh but you know it 984 00:37:21,599 --> 00:37:27,119 taught me a lot about uh projects 985 00:37:24,359 --> 00:37:28,240 managing people and you know following 986 00:37:27,119 --> 00:37:29,760 up with them because they don't really 987 00:37:28,240 --> 00:37:32,240 care about doing what you ask unless 988 00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:34,000 their boss tells them to I mean it's a 989 00:37:32,240 --> 00:37:37,599 good challenge Anybody can make a report 990 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:38,960 with beautiful data but real world is 991 00:37:37,599 --> 00:37:41,040 you're gonna have to make that not 992 00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:43,680 anybody 993 00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:45,920 It's it's easier to make a good report 994 00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:47,599 with beautiful data but the real world 995 00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:49,680 is clients are going to bring you the 996 00:37:47,599 --> 00:37:53,520 worst data and can you still make sense 997 00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:55,520 of it and turn it around so yeah And I 998 00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:58,079 know you know not to put words in your 999 00:37:55,520 --> 00:38:00,320 mouth but I know you've got four kids 1000 00:37:58,079 --> 00:38:02,480 and almost five kids under the age of 10 1001 00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:04,400 also So there had to be some of that 1002 00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:07,680 just it's nice to be able to shut this 1003 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:11,119 off at the end of the day I know when I 1004 00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:13,040 went back to being an employee in 2017 I 1005 00:38:11,119 --> 00:38:14,960 went from working for myself from home 1006 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:18,480 in my pajamas for clients that were 1007 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:21,599 remote to suit and tie or shirt and tie 1008 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:24,079 commute um you know clock in clock out 1009 00:38:21,599 --> 00:38:26,400 all that kind of stuff But I was in such 1010 00:38:24,079 --> 00:38:28,880 a place at that time that I needed that 1011 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:30,240 ability to just shut it off and walk 1012 00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:32,880 away from it at the end of the day Okay 1013 00:38:30,240 --> 00:38:36,079 So was that also part of it for you at 1014 00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:38,480 that time with babies being born yes I 1015 00:38:36,079 --> 00:38:42,640 mean in 2017 we had one we had our 1016 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:45,680 second in 18 and then 20 22 and 25 So 1017 00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:49,240 you know it it's been a crazy seven 1018 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:52,000 years no doubt Um 8 nine years 1019 00:38:49,240 --> 00:38:54,200 But I will you know I don't know being 1020 00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:57,640 in a family 1021 00:38:54,200 --> 00:39:00,400 business I don't know if there is 1022 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:02,480 like shut it off and and leave because 1023 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:05,119 as long as your parent or your brother 1024 00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:07,200 or your uncle or whatever is is the 1025 00:39:05,119 --> 00:39:08,560 owner you kind of always think like well 1026 00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:12,000 if something happened to him it's coming 1027 00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:15,599 to me So you can't you can't always just 1028 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:17,680 shut it off Um I was an employee I will 1029 00:39:15,599 --> 00:39:20,400 say postacquisition that that definitely 1030 00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:22,880 changed Um and then even pre-acquisition 1031 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:24,800 in like 2015 for a very short stint I 1032 00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:27,599 was an employee in a small family 1033 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:30,240 business uh a different business So I I 1034 00:39:27,599 --> 00:39:32,240 left my dad's company uh trying to make 1035 00:39:30,240 --> 00:39:35,599 a bit of a career move into more of a 1036 00:39:32,240 --> 00:39:38,079 financial position um at another local 1037 00:39:35,599 --> 00:39:41,760 family business and it was very very 1038 00:39:38,079 --> 00:39:43,880 difficult Um you know the but being a fa 1039 00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:46,960 being a 1040 00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:48,800 non family employee in a family business 1041 00:39:46,960 --> 00:39:50,800 I saw that side of it too and grew a lot 1042 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:53,280 of empathy for the people in my dad's 1043 00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:54,720 company that didn't have our last name 1044 00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:57,440 You know because they came to work every 1045 00:39:54,720 --> 00:39:58,640 day for the family Yeah I don't know So 1046 00:39:57,440 --> 00:40:00,400 just it's a whole different kind of 1047 00:39:58,640 --> 00:40:03,920 dynamic But yeah postacquisition being 1048 00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:07,839 able to just Yeah turn it off and go be 1049 00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:10,119 dad and be a husband and be Nick and it 1050 00:40:07,839 --> 00:40:13,680 that was very very 1051 00:40:10,119 --> 00:40:16,079 helpful So a lot of people go back to 1052 00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:18,079 being an employees and they enjoy the 1053 00:40:16,079 --> 00:40:19,839 life They enjoy maybe the increased pay 1054 00:40:18,079 --> 00:40:21,839 They enjoy shutting it off They enjoy 1055 00:40:19,839 --> 00:40:23,599 the the glamour that comes from being 1056 00:40:21,839 --> 00:40:26,320 part of a corporation again or a bigger 1057 00:40:23,599 --> 00:40:28,720 company again What caused you to start 1058 00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:31,440 to shift i mean I know you always wanted 1059 00:40:28,720 --> 00:40:33,839 to do financial planning but what what's 1060 00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:35,720 shifting in your mind and how are you 1061 00:40:33,839 --> 00:40:39,680 surveying the times 1062 00:40:35,720 --> 00:40:43,119 and why what caused you to go out and be 1063 00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:45,760 uh self-employed again oh man I mean I' 1064 00:40:43,119 --> 00:40:47,800 I'd say in in many ways it's the stories 1065 00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:51,520 of people who' done 1066 00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:54,400 it always appealed to me a lot the 1067 00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:56,640 founder e or mythos of like the me 1068 00:40:54,400 --> 00:41:00,079 against the world kind of thing I don't 1069 00:40:56,640 --> 00:41:01,720 know I mean just the you know more the 1070 00:41:00,079 --> 00:41:03,839 like XYN 1071 00:41:01,720 --> 00:41:05,760 radio the interviews with other 1072 00:41:03,839 --> 00:41:07,760 financial adviserss who are helping 1073 00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:10,200 clients 1074 00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:13,680 uh doing good 1075 00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:15,240 work making good money and enjoying a 1076 00:41:13,680 --> 00:41:17,520 lifestyle 1077 00:41:15,240 --> 00:41:20,000 practice You know that was it It was 1078 00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:21,760 them maybe in an assistant Maybe they 1079 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:23,760 had two or three employees a little 1080 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:25,440 boutique firm but they were making good 1081 00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:28,040 money They're serving clients doing work 1082 00:41:25,440 --> 00:41:30,400 they love and they're working 25 hours a 1083 00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:32,560 week It's like hey that sounds pretty 1084 00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:35,760 nice You know I would be fine to do that 1085 00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:37,440 and to be able to devote my time to to 1086 00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:40,560 helping people navigate something that's 1087 00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:44,400 typically incredibly stressful money 1088 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:47,920 Yeah Um I know you've shared watching 1089 00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:49,760 your dad do it kind of wrong Um I mean 1090 00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:52,079 nothing against your dad but just the 1091 00:41:49,760 --> 00:41:55,440 the American dream of work until you die 1092 00:41:52,079 --> 00:41:58,240 and then oh wow there's nothing here for 1093 00:41:55,440 --> 00:42:00,560 me to live out my last couple years How 1094 00:41:58,240 --> 00:42:02,560 much of that is in the back of your head 1095 00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:04,400 because I know that's a big part of what 1096 00:42:02,560 --> 00:42:06,480 you want to focus on now with your 1097 00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:09,280 financial planning firm How much is that 1098 00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:10,800 are you remembering those conversations 1099 00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:14,480 how much of that is remembering this 1100 00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:15,920 deal uh motivating you yeah I mean I 1101 00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:19,440 don't know if I'll ever really grow past 1102 00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:21,440 the first 1015 years of my career Um so 1103 00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:22,720 it it's yeah it's a huge part of the 1104 00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:24,760 story I you know I'll share a quick 1105 00:42:22,720 --> 00:42:27,280 story about 1106 00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:29,520 um you know this is why I got into the 1107 00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:33,560 business because I watched this happen 1108 00:42:29,520 --> 00:42:36,160 Uh so it was 2015 I guess 16 somewhere 1109 00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:39,520 pre-acquisition you know even before he 1110 00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:41,440 was planning on really selling uh the 1111 00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:43,599 the business had grown the cash flow was 1112 00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:45,599 strong and it was it was probably the 1113 00:42:43,599 --> 00:42:50,240 best few years my dad had ever had in 1114 00:42:45,599 --> 00:42:52,079 his life Um and we were approached by a 1115 00:42:50,240 --> 00:42:53,520 financial adviser a financial planner a 1116 00:42:52,079 --> 00:42:55,200 fee only guy who's a friend of mine from 1117 00:42:53,520 --> 00:42:57,280 from church at the time And he said "Hey 1118 00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:58,880 you know have you ever considered like a 1119 00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:01,280 retirement plan like a 401k or something 1120 00:42:58,880 --> 00:43:02,880 for your dad's business?" And at that 1121 00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:04,480 time I'm thinking like 401k I didn't 1122 00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:05,839 really know what a 401k was but I knew 1123 00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:07,280 it was like something more for like a 1124 00:43:05,839 --> 00:43:09,440 big company I was like I don't really 1125 00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:11,680 know And he said "Let's just talk I I'm 1126 00:43:09,440 --> 00:43:13,040 glad to just draw up a proposal let you 1127 00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:14,720 look at it answer any questions you 1128 00:43:13,040 --> 00:43:16,000 have." Well he probably didn't realize 1129 00:43:14,720 --> 00:43:19,200 what he was getting into because I can 1130 00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:21,520 come up with a lot of questions And so 1131 00:43:19,200 --> 00:43:23,599 many conversations and phone calls later 1132 00:43:21,520 --> 00:43:26,400 uh I presented this to my dad the CPA 1133 00:43:23,599 --> 00:43:28,000 our accountant and I think uh our our 1134 00:43:26,400 --> 00:43:29,359 somebody else But anyway I I just 1135 00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:30,400 presented this idea and I was like "Hey 1136 00:43:29,359 --> 00:43:32,880 I think this could be a really great way 1137 00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:36,480 for us to save money." Now the plan was 1138 00:43:32,880 --> 00:43:38,240 predicated on my dad maxing out his uh 1139 00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:39,760 maxing out his you know his his limit 1140 00:43:38,240 --> 00:43:42,720 right his his annual auditions limit of 1141 00:43:39,760 --> 00:43:44,319 I think at the time was like 60 5,000 1142 00:43:42,720 --> 00:43:47,119 something Now it's like 70 or whatever 1143 00:43:44,319 --> 00:43:49,359 But um that or 59 whatever it was that 1144 00:43:47,119 --> 00:43:52,240 the point was he was over 59 and a half 1145 00:43:49,359 --> 00:43:54,079 or over over 55 rather for over 50 for 1146 00:43:52,240 --> 00:43:56,240 ketchup I'm getting confused Point being 1147 00:43:54,079 --> 00:43:59,680 he could sock away a lot of money and 1148 00:43:56,240 --> 00:44:01,599 that was the huge lynch pin for the 1149 00:43:59,680 --> 00:44:03,280 whole plan to make sense The owner gets 1150 00:44:01,599 --> 00:44:04,880 to put a lot of money away All the 1151 00:44:03,280 --> 00:44:06,800 employees get a benefit And here's the 1152 00:44:04,880 --> 00:44:08,319 global tax savings Mr or Mrs client 1153 00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:09,359 instead of writing a check to Uncle Sam 1154 00:44:08,319 --> 00:44:11,599 for this amount you're going to write a 1155 00:44:09,359 --> 00:44:14,400 check to you your employees and you know 1156 00:44:11,599 --> 00:44:17,240 your your team And doesn't that sound 1157 00:44:14,400 --> 00:44:20,960 better so the problem 1158 00:44:17,240 --> 00:44:23,040 was it was not implemented fully because 1159 00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:26,720 he never actually contributed anything 1160 00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:28,079 to the plan because he just didn't know 1161 00:44:26,720 --> 00:44:30,640 what he had to do He thought somebody 1162 00:44:28,079 --> 00:44:32,319 else was handling it I guess the adviser 1163 00:44:30,640 --> 00:44:34,160 thought I was handling it I thought the 1164 00:44:32,319 --> 00:44:37,760 accountant was handling it No the ball 1165 00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:40,000 totally dropped And so instead all he 1166 00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:42,800 did was just give money to his employees 1167 00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:44,720 and you know match and struck a nice big 1168 00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:46,160 check for the setup fee and all like it 1169 00:44:44,720 --> 00:44:47,440 was still great It was great for all the 1170 00:44:46,160 --> 00:44:49,119 employees Everybody loved it It was 1171 00:44:47,440 --> 00:44:50,880 great for morale and retention and all 1172 00:44:49,119 --> 00:44:54,000 that but it didn't deliver the benefit 1173 00:44:50,880 --> 00:44:56,240 it was supposed to to the owner and 1174 00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:58,800 because of that I mean the whole case 1175 00:44:56,240 --> 00:45:00,480 for the plan kind of ended up falling 1176 00:44:58,800 --> 00:45:01,760 apart and nobody really caught it So it 1177 00:45:00,480 --> 00:45:04,400 just sort of you know it happened and 1178 00:45:01,760 --> 00:45:05,839 and it was just a part of you know a 1179 00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:07,280 part of the process that I don't think 1180 00:45:05,839 --> 00:45:08,640 anybody ever really caught until I just 1181 00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:09,760 caught it a few months ago even I 1182 00:45:08,640 --> 00:45:11,000 reached out to my dad I was like "Hey 1183 00:45:09,760 --> 00:45:13,520 did you 1184 00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:14,640 ever recently after I literally just 1185 00:45:13,520 --> 00:45:16,400 caught it?" Cuz I asked him I was like 1186 00:45:14,640 --> 00:45:18,240 "Do you do you remember this?" He's like 1187 00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:19,599 "Yeah." I said "Did you ever roll that 1188 00:45:18,240 --> 00:45:21,760 over?" He's like "I never did." Like I 1189 00:45:19,599 --> 00:45:24,160 never put anything in Like you never put 1190 00:45:21,760 --> 00:45:25,319 anything in Like Dad the whole plan was 1191 00:45:24,160 --> 00:45:28,640 for you 1192 00:45:25,319 --> 00:45:30,359 to sterning years to maximize this thing 1193 00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:32,960 Yeah 1194 00:45:30,359 --> 00:45:34,640 So that's part of the story I carry with 1195 00:45:32,960 --> 00:45:36,640 me all the time Little little examples 1196 00:45:34,640 --> 00:45:38,079 like that I got I got 50 of those 1197 00:45:36,640 --> 00:45:40,800 examples Barrett that I can give you of 1198 00:45:38,079 --> 00:45:43,119 just like if somebody had been there 1199 00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:47,280 with a financial planning mindset to say 1200 00:45:43,119 --> 00:45:49,440 "Hey um you know Mr Graph let's just 1201 00:45:47,280 --> 00:45:51,440 make this one or two small changes so 1202 00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:53,599 you have a bit more of a plan a little 1203 00:45:51,440 --> 00:45:54,560 bit better of a structure." Um you know 1204 00:45:53,599 --> 00:45:58,000 something else we talked about before 1205 00:45:54,560 --> 00:46:00,880 the show bear it was like the post sale 1206 00:45:58,000 --> 00:46:02,960 income gap problem for entrepreneurs 1207 00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:05,760 right so you're you're company's making 1208 00:46:02,960 --> 00:46:07,640 5 million you're taking home 500,000 Uh 1209 00:46:05,760 --> 00:46:11,119 you're going to sell it for like you 1210 00:46:07,640 --> 00:46:12,560 know whatever 4x IBIDA and so you're 1211 00:46:11,119 --> 00:46:14,079 going to sell it for for two or three 1212 00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:19,880 million and now you're going to have you 1213 00:46:14,079 --> 00:46:22,400 know 80 or 120 grand a year in 4% 1214 00:46:19,880 --> 00:46:25,200 income What are you going to do because 1215 00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:29,319 you just took a 70% pay cut from your 1216 00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:31,440 500 grand a year income down to 1217 00:46:29,319 --> 00:46:32,560 120 What are you going to do like you're 1218 00:46:31,440 --> 00:46:34,640 going to go start another company You 1219 00:46:32,560 --> 00:46:38,560 going to work at Walmart you like you 1220 00:46:34,640 --> 00:46:42,400 know shoring up that gap with a decade 1221 00:46:38,560 --> 00:46:43,240 and a half of of 15% savings can do a 1222 00:46:42,400 --> 00:46:45,920 whole 1223 00:46:43,240 --> 00:46:47,839 lot But it takes planning in your 30s 1224 00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:49,520 40s 50s so that when you're in your 50s 1225 00:46:47,839 --> 00:46:52,720 60s and 70s you don't run into that 1226 00:46:49,520 --> 00:46:55,040 problem like so many other people do 1227 00:46:52,720 --> 00:46:57,119 Yeah I know And you're in this to 1228 00:46:55,040 --> 00:46:59,920 prevent other people from doing this So 1229 00:46:57,119 --> 00:47:01,680 you know hindsight's 2020 but I also 1230 00:46:59,920 --> 00:47:03,359 would think the number that your dad had 1231 00:47:01,680 --> 00:47:06,000 in mind when he approached you and your 1232 00:47:03,359 --> 00:47:08,960 brother would have been a lower number 1233 00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:12,400 also had he been able to put money into 1234 00:47:08,960 --> 00:47:14,000 retirement uh outside of the company So 1235 00:47:12,400 --> 00:47:15,359 this is why you do what you do in 1236 00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:18,480 financial planning why you work with 1237 00:47:15,359 --> 00:47:20,480 small businesses So talk now to somebody 1238 00:47:18,480 --> 00:47:23,599 who is a seller who's listening to this 1239 00:47:20,480 --> 00:47:25,680 who thinks that their payday is an 1240 00:47:23,599 --> 00:47:27,359 external acquisition or even an internal 1241 00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:31,119 acquisition and just talk to them about 1242 00:47:27,359 --> 00:47:32,800 the both and uh approach for a minute 1243 00:47:31,119 --> 00:47:35,599 Well one thing we didn't even mention is 1244 00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:38,400 is the deal tax right and this isn't a 1245 00:47:35,599 --> 00:47:40,720 tax conversation I'm not a tax expert 1246 00:47:38,400 --> 00:47:43,040 but you are 1247 00:47:40,720 --> 00:47:44,720 Uh the deal tax is a real problem 1248 00:47:43,040 --> 00:47:46,480 because if you're going to have someone 1249 00:47:44,720 --> 00:47:49,119 in your company buy you out you're 1250 00:47:46,480 --> 00:47:50,640 having to pay them wages that they're 1251 00:47:49,119 --> 00:47:51,920 paying taxes on that they're then going 1252 00:47:50,640 --> 00:47:53,440 to turn around and pay you that you're 1253 00:47:51,920 --> 00:47:56,200 going to pay tax on to then give them 1254 00:47:53,440 --> 00:47:59,280 the business 1255 00:47:56,200 --> 00:48:01,119 Um I mean I've seen figures that the the 1256 00:47:59,280 --> 00:48:03,280 total deal tax can be as high as like 1257 00:48:01,119 --> 00:48:06,720 50% 1258 00:48:03,280 --> 00:48:08,079 even higher Um and you can you know do 1259 00:48:06,720 --> 00:48:10,160 some discounts and stuff like that But 1260 00:48:08,079 --> 00:48:13,359 like working with an adviser is not just 1261 00:48:10,160 --> 00:48:15,680 paying somebody $20,000 down the drain 1262 00:48:13,359 --> 00:48:16,960 for some you know PDF document It's 1263 00:48:15,680 --> 00:48:19,880 working with somebody that could save 1264 00:48:16,960 --> 00:48:23,440 you hundreds of thousands of 1265 00:48:19,880 --> 00:48:25,359 dollars may maybe more Uh I mean if your 1266 00:48:23,440 --> 00:48:27,040 if your business is doing a few million 1267 00:48:25,359 --> 00:48:29,839 dollars in revenue and you're hoping to 1268 00:48:27,040 --> 00:48:33,720 sell it for a few million dollars then 1269 00:48:29,839 --> 00:48:36,160 your tax implication could be a million 1270 00:48:33,720 --> 00:48:38,559 dollars If your business is doing 10 or 1271 00:48:36,160 --> 00:48:40,920 20 or $50 million you can just add zeros 1272 00:48:38,559 --> 00:48:43,599 to those numbers So 1273 00:48:40,920 --> 00:48:46,079 like and I'll I'll we'll probably 1274 00:48:43,599 --> 00:48:49,000 mention this in a second but like I I 1275 00:48:46,079 --> 00:48:51,839 see a lot of times that 1276 00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:53,520 uh there's this reluctance to bring in 1277 00:48:51,839 --> 00:48:56,559 outside advisors because we have an 1278 00:48:53,520 --> 00:48:58,480 aversion to being sold Um we think 1279 00:48:56,559 --> 00:49:00,800 especially like when you think taxes you 1280 00:48:58,480 --> 00:49:02,319 think advisor sort of relationship You 1281 00:49:00,800 --> 00:49:04,400 don't think well my CPA is trying to 1282 00:49:02,319 --> 00:49:05,920 sell me something When you think CFP 1283 00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:07,280 when you think financial advisor you 1284 00:49:05,920 --> 00:49:08,640 think oh you're trying to sell me a 1285 00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:09,680 shares or some investment or something 1286 00:49:08,640 --> 00:49:10,960 like that that you know you're gonna 1287 00:49:09,680 --> 00:49:12,640 make a commission on some insurance 1288 00:49:10,960 --> 00:49:15,079 policy It's just a life insurance play 1289 00:49:12,640 --> 00:49:19,359 isn't it like no not at all Like my job 1290 00:49:15,079 --> 00:49:21,920 is you know to look out for you and to 1291 00:49:19,359 --> 00:49:23,680 make sure that a deal is structured in 1292 00:49:21,920 --> 00:49:26,000 such a way that you're not just leaving 1293 00:49:23,680 --> 00:49:28,800 loads of money on the table and that 1294 00:49:26,000 --> 00:49:31,640 you're not also banking on that one 1295 00:49:28,800 --> 00:49:34,079 number coming from an acquirer 1296 00:49:31,640 --> 00:49:37,200 Because well you mentioned this but if 1297 00:49:34,079 --> 00:49:38,880 if my dad had had you know a a 1298 00:49:37,200 --> 00:49:40,720 significant retirement savings cushion 1299 00:49:38,880 --> 00:49:44,559 already sucked away from the last 20 1300 00:49:40,720 --> 00:49:47,280 years of savings the stress of the 1301 00:49:44,559 --> 00:49:48,960 process would have been way less The 1302 00:49:47,280 --> 00:49:50,720 requirement of a certain number would 1303 00:49:48,960 --> 00:49:52,160 have been much softer Not to say that he 1304 00:49:50,720 --> 00:49:54,160 shouldn't have still pushed for a good 1305 00:49:52,160 --> 00:49:56,640 sale number but it his whole life 1306 00:49:54,160 --> 00:49:58,880 wouldn't have been riding on it right um 1307 00:49:56,640 --> 00:50:00,319 and you know if I talk about this a lot 1308 00:49:58,880 --> 00:50:01,680 too of like you don't know what the 1309 00:50:00,319 --> 00:50:02,880 economy is going to be like or what the 1310 00:50:01,680 --> 00:50:04,160 interest rate environment is going to be 1311 00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:05,839 like or what your health is going to be 1312 00:50:04,160 --> 00:50:07,280 like or what your family dynamic or your 1313 00:50:05,839 --> 00:50:09,280 business or your biggest customer 1314 00:50:07,280 --> 00:50:12,319 relationship is going to be like 1315 00:50:09,280 --> 00:50:13,760 tomorrow next quarter next decade So if 1316 00:50:12,319 --> 00:50:15,520 you're planning on just building up a 1317 00:50:13,760 --> 00:50:16,960 company and then just selling it because 1318 00:50:15,520 --> 00:50:18,880 everything is always going up and to the 1319 00:50:16,960 --> 00:50:21,280 right that may not be the case You may 1320 00:50:18,880 --> 00:50:22,720 have a really hard economy year the year 1321 00:50:21,280 --> 00:50:25,280 before you want to sell So your profits 1322 00:50:22,720 --> 00:50:26,960 may dip 25% and then you're taking the 1323 00:50:25,280 --> 00:50:28,559 haircut because you planned on selling 1324 00:50:26,960 --> 00:50:29,760 it right after a down year and the 1325 00:50:28,559 --> 00:50:33,920 acquirer is like "Well your sales just 1326 00:50:29,760 --> 00:50:35,920 went down 20%." So you know there's so 1327 00:50:33,920 --> 00:50:39,200 many factors in selling a business that 1328 00:50:35,920 --> 00:50:42,800 have to go just right for it to go just 1329 00:50:39,200 --> 00:50:44,559 right And as many as we can uh reduce 1330 00:50:42,800 --> 00:50:47,440 the pressure on with just some simple 1331 00:50:44,559 --> 00:50:48,880 common sense planning moves uh I mean 1332 00:50:47,440 --> 00:50:50,400 that's that's what I like to do I like 1333 00:50:48,880 --> 00:50:52,640 to keep things simple It's not about 1334 00:50:50,400 --> 00:50:54,960 making it complicated Uh it's just about 1335 00:50:52,640 --> 00:50:56,720 simple common sense steps toward you 1336 00:50:54,960 --> 00:50:58,720 know removing some of the complexity 1337 00:50:56,720 --> 00:50:59,839 removing some of the pressure of what 1338 00:50:58,720 --> 00:51:01,599 could be the biggest financial 1339 00:50:59,839 --> 00:51:04,559 transaction of your life selling selling 1340 00:51:01,599 --> 00:51:07,200 business I mean at the at a high level 1341 00:51:04,559 --> 00:51:10,400 it's diversifying that portfolio right 1342 00:51:07,200 --> 00:51:12,640 and we as entrepreneurs are so bad at 1343 00:51:10,400 --> 00:51:15,599 diversifying because it has taken a 100% 1344 00:51:12,640 --> 00:51:18,640 of our focus and energy in this company 1345 00:51:15,599 --> 00:51:20,720 for as long as it has in order to make 1346 00:51:18,640 --> 00:51:22,800 it sustainable But now you're telling me 1347 00:51:20,720 --> 00:51:24,400 take some of that money and don't 1348 00:51:22,800 --> 00:51:27,839 reinvest it back into your company Put 1349 00:51:24,400 --> 00:51:30,079 it somewhere else Um so to anybody who's 1350 00:51:27,839 --> 00:51:32,720 like "Oh I just reinvest my profits." I 1351 00:51:30,079 --> 00:51:34,880 would beg you print off a list of your 1352 00:51:32,720 --> 00:51:37,599 expenses from last quarter from last 1353 00:51:34,880 --> 00:51:39,599 year and look at them and tell me how 1354 00:51:37,599 --> 00:51:40,440 many of those you swear you couldn't 1355 00:51:39,599 --> 00:51:42,800 live 1356 00:51:40,440 --> 00:51:44,240 without Because what I see way more 1357 00:51:42,800 --> 00:51:46,400 often than not Barrett is not that 1358 00:51:44,240 --> 00:51:48,640 you're reinvesting in capital equipment 1359 00:51:46,400 --> 00:51:50,640 and hiring new salespeople and going 1360 00:51:48,640 --> 00:51:52,240 into new territories No you're just 1361 00:51:50,640 --> 00:51:54,160 actively growing a company from 1362 00:51:52,240 --> 00:51:57,280 investment You're just We're just really 1363 00:51:54,160 --> 00:51:59,520 good at spending a lot of money 1364 00:51:57,280 --> 00:52:01,760 We I mean that's just we're just really 1365 00:51:59,520 --> 00:52:03,440 good at spending and you know maybe you 1366 00:52:01,760 --> 00:52:05,520 don't need to do free lunch you know 1367 00:52:03,440 --> 00:52:07,680 twice a week maybe you don't need to you 1368 00:52:05,520 --> 00:52:09,520 know have the the new equipment maybe 1369 00:52:07,680 --> 00:52:11,680 you don't need etc like go through find 1370 00:52:09,520 --> 00:52:14,680 it yourself like chances are you could 1371 00:52:11,680 --> 00:52:17,520 cut 10 to 15% out of your expenses 1372 00:52:14,680 --> 00:52:20,079 tomorrow and be fine and that's all 1373 00:52:17,520 --> 00:52:22,160 money you can start saving today Just 1374 00:52:20,079 --> 00:52:24,319 the the thing about the economy shifting 1375 00:52:22,160 --> 00:52:27,040 and your trade whatever whatever you're 1376 00:52:24,319 --> 00:52:29,280 in shifting too This is why we do what 1377 00:52:27,040 --> 00:52:31,280 we do why I do what I do at GW is I've 1378 00:52:29,280 --> 00:52:33,440 had too many companies that say "Oh I'll 1379 00:52:31,280 --> 00:52:34,640 just work here and then sell it 1380 00:52:33,440 --> 00:52:36,319 someday." And they get to the end and 1381 00:52:34,640 --> 00:52:39,359 they find out they're basically selling 1382 00:52:36,319 --> 00:52:40,960 their equipment you know on Facebook 1383 00:52:39,359 --> 00:52:43,040 Marketplace because that's the only 1384 00:52:40,960 --> 00:52:45,040 people who are going to buy it They you 1385 00:52:43,040 --> 00:52:47,599 know they stopped innovating They just 1386 00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:49,920 kept doing the work They didn't change 1387 00:52:47,599 --> 00:52:52,119 the technology They didn't hire or 1388 00:52:49,920 --> 00:52:56,160 weren't able to find people to come in 1389 00:52:52,119 --> 00:52:58,400 and keep the business model actively 1390 00:52:56,160 --> 00:53:00,640 engaged in the prof in their trade or 1391 00:52:58,400 --> 00:53:02,960 their profession And so they get to the 1392 00:53:00,640 --> 00:53:04,920 end and you find out it's not worth 1393 00:53:02,960 --> 00:53:07,520 anything You you've 1394 00:53:04,920 --> 00:53:09,839 invested 30 40 years into this and 1395 00:53:07,520 --> 00:53:11,680 you've made good money along the way but 1396 00:53:09,839 --> 00:53:13,760 at the end of the day that's what you 1397 00:53:11,680 --> 00:53:15,920 have you have the 30 or 40 years of cash 1398 00:53:13,760 --> 00:53:17,599 flow and if you're not putting that away 1399 00:53:15,920 --> 00:53:19,760 into retirement you get to the end and 1400 00:53:17,599 --> 00:53:21,680 that and that company's not worth 1401 00:53:19,760 --> 00:53:25,280 anything then it's just it's a shame It 1402 00:53:21,680 --> 00:53:28,240 it breaks my heart It makes me get up 1403 00:53:25,280 --> 00:53:31,040 and do what I'm going to do Um I 1404 00:53:28,240 --> 00:53:33,839 couldn't say it better Yeah So I really 1405 00:53:31,040 --> 00:53:34,880 couldn't Well that's exactly why I mean 1406 00:53:33,839 --> 00:53:36,720 that's why we do what we do isn't it 1407 00:53:34,880 --> 00:53:39,200 that's why we do what we do Yeah Because 1408 00:53:36,720 --> 00:53:42,640 dude there's something about the 10 15% 1409 00:53:39,200 --> 00:53:44,880 savings rule If you just follow that you 1410 00:53:42,640 --> 00:53:47,760 will solve so many of these problems You 1411 00:53:44,880 --> 00:53:50,240 won't have to like it won't all be 1412 00:53:47,760 --> 00:53:51,680 hanging on how good of an economic 1413 00:53:50,240 --> 00:53:53,040 engine did you really build in your 1414 00:53:51,680 --> 00:53:54,640 business Because if it's just a service 1415 00:53:53,040 --> 00:53:57,040 company and you're really good at 1416 00:53:54,640 --> 00:54:00,400 building decks or laying concrete or you 1417 00:53:57,040 --> 00:54:02,079 know whatever doing taxes like that's a 1418 00:54:00,400 --> 00:54:04,000 service that's not an economic engine 1419 00:54:02,079 --> 00:54:06,960 someone can buy for the cash flows and 1420 00:54:04,000 --> 00:54:09,280 pay you a nice multiple on And even if 1421 00:54:06,960 --> 00:54:10,720 it is a great economic engine you still 1422 00:54:09,280 --> 00:54:13,079 have that income gap problem we talked 1423 00:54:10,720 --> 00:54:15,760 about earlier of like is it 1424 00:54:13,079 --> 00:54:17,520 worth enough to pay you what you're 1425 00:54:15,760 --> 00:54:21,480 currently making and continue the 1426 00:54:17,520 --> 00:54:24,000 lifestyle that you have right now Yeah I 1427 00:54:21,480 --> 00:54:25,920 mean I I really couldn't say better I'll 1428 00:54:24,000 --> 00:54:29,119 stop trying to improve upon it That's 1429 00:54:25,920 --> 00:54:30,480 all right Um Nick before we jump into 1430 00:54:29,119 --> 00:54:32,319 the lightning round here was there 1431 00:54:30,480 --> 00:54:36,240 anything that uh you wanted to add that 1432 00:54:32,319 --> 00:54:39,440 we haven't covered yet anything I missed 1433 00:54:36,240 --> 00:54:40,800 you you know this show is a a show for 1434 00:54:39,440 --> 00:54:42,960 entrepreneurs right it's a show for 1435 00:54:40,800 --> 00:54:45,119 anybody in in a business interested in 1436 00:54:42,960 --> 00:54:46,400 selling or acquiring or or having 1437 00:54:45,119 --> 00:54:48,800 already been through that process I 1438 00:54:46,400 --> 00:54:49,800 would just say uh you don't have to do 1439 00:54:48,800 --> 00:54:54,000 this 1440 00:54:49,800 --> 00:54:56,520 alone don't don't try um you know 1441 00:54:54,000 --> 00:54:59,680 entrepreneurship can be such a lonely 1442 00:54:56,520 --> 00:55:02,240 journey don't don't make uh business 1443 00:54:59,680 --> 00:55:04,400 exit planning a similarly lonely journey 1444 00:55:02,240 --> 00:55:07,680 you don't have to so bring in adviserss 1445 00:55:04,400 --> 00:55:10,319 you uh who who uh have been there who 1446 00:55:07,680 --> 00:55:12,280 know the the journey who know the ropes 1447 00:55:10,319 --> 00:55:15,480 and let them walk alongside 1448 00:55:12,280 --> 00:55:18,960 you Yeah this is the one for most 1449 00:55:15,480 --> 00:55:20,720 businesses most people this is the one 1450 00:55:18,960 --> 00:55:22,880 time this transaction is going to happen 1451 00:55:20,720 --> 00:55:26,160 in your life 1452 00:55:22,880 --> 00:55:29,920 But for someone like you someone like me 1453 00:55:26,160 --> 00:55:32,400 this is one of three one of 10 one of 50 1454 00:55:29,920 --> 00:55:35,280 depending on you know how many how many 1455 00:55:32,400 --> 00:55:39,440 deals you do uh in a year that that I 1456 00:55:35,280 --> 00:55:40,720 might deal with So um yeah good stuff 1457 00:55:39,440 --> 00:55:42,960 All right so you ready for the lightning 1458 00:55:40,720 --> 00:55:45,599 round Nick i'm ready Let's do it All 1459 00:55:42,960 --> 00:55:48,240 right Uh coffee or tea and how do you 1460 00:55:45,599 --> 00:55:52,319 like it coffee with a little bit of 1461 00:55:48,240 --> 00:55:55,680 heavy cream Okay Um pie or cake and do 1462 00:55:52,319 --> 00:55:58,400 you have a favorite kind apple pie Um I 1463 00:55:55,680 --> 00:55:59,920 think you just shared it but what is a 1464 00:55:58,400 --> 00:56:01,359 what's a common belief among 1465 00:55:59,920 --> 00:56:02,960 entrepreneurs that you would want to 1466 00:56:01,359 --> 00:56:04,880 challenge 1467 00:56:02,960 --> 00:56:07,119 oh man that your business has to run 1468 00:56:04,880 --> 00:56:11,119 your life I mean embellish on that just 1469 00:56:07,119 --> 00:56:12,960 a little bit Um if you got into business 1470 00:56:11,119 --> 00:56:16,240 it wasn't so that you could work 90 1471 00:56:12,960 --> 00:56:18,720 hours a week and at the expense of your 1472 00:56:16,240 --> 00:56:21,040 family and friends What is your favorite 1473 00:56:18,720 --> 00:56:23,119 holiday and why 1474 00:56:21,040 --> 00:56:24,720 oh man that's a tough one Uh toss up 1475 00:56:23,119 --> 00:56:27,280 between Christmas and Easter Uh 1476 00:56:24,720 --> 00:56:29,440 Christmas for all the family Uh kid 1477 00:56:27,280 --> 00:56:32,799 reasons but also u you know as a 1478 00:56:29,440 --> 00:56:35,280 Christian celebrating the birth of Jesus 1479 00:56:32,799 --> 00:56:38,240 is only improved upon by celebrating his 1480 00:56:35,280 --> 00:56:39,920 his resurrection Um are you a morning 1481 00:56:38,240 --> 00:56:42,480 person or a night person and do you have 1482 00:56:39,920 --> 00:56:45,440 a favorite routine morning all the way 1483 00:56:42,480 --> 00:56:47,680 Yeah I love an early morning with you 1484 00:56:45,440 --> 00:56:50,799 know a cup of coffee a good round of 1485 00:56:47,680 --> 00:56:52,960 exercise probably on my mountain bike Um 1486 00:56:50,799 --> 00:56:54,319 and you know hopefully hitting a couple 1487 00:56:52,960 --> 00:56:57,440 hours of work before anybody else is 1488 00:56:54,319 --> 00:56:59,440 even up Um what is one thing that you 1489 00:56:57,440 --> 00:57:01,520 would want your successor to remember 1490 00:56:59,440 --> 00:57:03,119 you for 1491 00:57:01,520 --> 00:57:04,760 man you know in Proverbs it says "What's 1492 00:57:03,119 --> 00:57:06,640 attractive in a man is his 1493 00:57:04,760 --> 00:57:08,799 kindness?" And those are the words that 1494 00:57:06,640 --> 00:57:11,920 my father-in-law told me when I asked uh 1495 00:57:08,799 --> 00:57:13,200 if I could marry his daughter And uh I 1496 00:57:11,920 --> 00:57:16,480 hope more than anything Barrett that 1497 00:57:13,200 --> 00:57:19,040 people would remember me for my kindness 1498 00:57:16,480 --> 00:57:23,280 I I want to treat people the way I would 1499 00:57:19,040 --> 00:57:23,280 want to be treated myself And if I'm not 1500 00:57:24,280 --> 00:57:28,400 kind I'm not sure what else really 1501 00:57:26,400 --> 00:57:30,720 matters 1502 00:57:28,400 --> 00:57:33,680 Um where are you finding creativity 1503 00:57:30,720 --> 00:57:36,079 right now 1504 00:57:33,680 --> 00:57:39,599 different work environments 1505 00:57:36,079 --> 00:57:41,920 How so i've worked at home for 5 years 1506 00:57:39,599 --> 00:57:44,000 So getting out to other work spaces 1507 00:57:41,920 --> 00:57:46,000 helps me to clear my head think 1508 00:57:44,000 --> 00:57:47,599 differently Are you using like 1509 00:57:46,000 --> 00:57:49,280 co-working spaces for that are you just 1510 00:57:47,599 --> 00:57:51,920 talking like Panera Bread Starbucks 1511 00:57:49,280 --> 00:57:54,079 stuff like that yeah the Starbucks 1512 00:57:51,920 --> 00:57:56,319 Panera isn't ideal Uh so mainly 1513 00:57:54,079 --> 00:57:58,400 co-working spaces or even like uh 1514 00:57:56,319 --> 00:58:02,000 driving to a pretty place and sitting in 1515 00:57:58,400 --> 00:58:05,440 the truck and or outside and working 1516 00:58:02,000 --> 00:58:07,280 Awesome Love it Used to do that myself 1517 00:58:05,440 --> 00:58:09,760 Um what do you have coming up that's got 1518 00:58:07,280 --> 00:58:11,520 you really excited for this next year 1519 00:58:09,760 --> 00:58:13,839 well we're expecting a baby in September 1520 00:58:11,520 --> 00:58:16,799 so that's pretty exciting 1521 00:58:13,839 --> 00:58:19,920 All right I'll take it Congratulations 1522 00:58:16,799 --> 00:58:23,280 again Thank you Um and Nick where can 1523 00:58:19,920 --> 00:58:24,839 people go to find out more about you 1524 00:58:23,280 --> 00:58:26,760 yes you can go to 1525 00:58:24,839 --> 00:58:29,839 openheadedwealth.com You can check out 1526 00:58:26,760 --> 00:58:32,280 my social links there Instagram Nick 1527 00:58:29,839 --> 00:58:35,680 makes sense 1528 00:58:32,280 --> 00:58:37,599 Um I've got some free offers for anybody 1529 00:58:35,680 --> 00:58:40,559 listening as well Um just go to 1530 00:58:37,599 --> 00:58:43,680 openhedwealth.comresources 1531 00:58:40,559 --> 00:58:45,280 um got some really helpful handouts for 1532 00:58:43,680 --> 00:58:46,880 building your first cash flow plan for 1533 00:58:45,280 --> 00:58:48,960 investing with purpose I do biblically 1534 00:58:46,880 --> 00:58:50,880 based investing for my clients Uh some 1535 00:58:48,960 --> 00:58:53,440 tax saving ideas business planning stuff 1536 00:58:50,880 --> 00:58:54,880 like that So uh but yeah opened.com is 1537 00:58:53,440 --> 00:58:56,559 where you can find me Feel free to reach 1538 00:58:54,880 --> 00:59:00,079 out I would love to I'd love to meet any 1539 00:58:56,559 --> 00:59:01,599 of your listeners Uh but yeah I do uh 1540 00:59:00,079 --> 00:59:04,079 most most everything I do runs through 1541 00:59:01,599 --> 00:59:07,760 there Awesome And do you also have a 1542 00:59:04,079 --> 00:59:10,960 podcast Nick i do So you can find me uh 1543 00:59:07,760 --> 00:59:14,000 one degree by Nick Goff on uh anywhere 1544 00:59:10,960 --> 00:59:15,920 you listen to podcasts Awesome Well 1545 00:59:14,000 --> 00:59:17,280 thank you Nick I I I really appreciate 1546 00:59:15,920 --> 00:59:19,599 you coming on and just sharing your 1547 00:59:17,280 --> 00:59:21,440 passion for small business owners and 1548 00:59:19,599 --> 00:59:22,720 sharing your story walking alongside 1549 00:59:21,440 --> 00:59:24,559 your dad through this whole thing I 1550 00:59:22,720 --> 00:59:25,839 appreciate it Barrett My pleasure Thank 1551 00:59:24,559 --> 00:59:27,200 you so much for having me It was a a 1552 00:59:25,839 --> 00:59:28,880 pleasure to be here I appreciate you 1553 00:59:27,200 --> 00:59:30,160 extending the invitation uh and giving 1554 00:59:28,880 --> 00:59:32,720 me a chance to come on the show and tell 1555 00:59:30,160 --> 00:59:34,720 my story I I appreciate and really love 1556 00:59:32,720 --> 00:59:36,240 what you're doing Uh so keep up the good 1557 00:59:34,720 --> 00:59:38,240 work I think it's a great show and and 1558 00:59:36,240 --> 00:59:40,240 the great work that you're about Thank 1559 00:59:38,240 --> 00:59:42,240 you so much You've been listening to the 1560 00:59:40,240 --> 00:59:44,240 Art of Succession podcast with your host 1561 00:59:42,240 --> 00:59:46,079 Barrett Young Twice a month we'll bring 1562 00:59:44,240 --> 00:59:47,520 you interviews sharing the successes and 1563 00:59:46,079 --> 00:59:49,760 challenges from business owners with 1564 00:59:47,520 --> 00:59:52,799 their own succession stories The Art of 1565 00:59:49,760 --> 00:59:55,359 Succession is sponsored by GWCPA and is 1566 00:59:52,799 --> 00:59:57,280 provided forformational purposes only 1567 00:59:55,359 --> 00:59:59,119 Before engaging in any transaction you 1568 00:59:57,280 --> 01:00:00,799 should consult your own adviser If 1569 00:59:59,119 --> 01:00:03,680 you've enjoyed this episode please share 1570 01:00:00,799 --> 01:00:03,680 it with others