“The Profit Puzzle_ Putting Together the Pieces for Financial Success”

Get your FREE Gift from Agent O by clicking this linkAll righty. Hello everybody. Welcome to my podcast today, and [00:01:00] I'm so excited to introduce Olivia. And the first thing I would like to do is I want to read her bio for you because I wanna make sure she gets all the credit she is due. So Olivia. Has over 22 years of experience as a small business owner and profitability specialist.The reason she is here, and she is also a huge fan of the book Profit First by Michael Malowitz. She is the go-to gal for all things profitability. She is passionate about helping fellow small business owners achieve their financial goals, and she loves nothing more than driving into spreadsheets to figure out how to make it happen.I don't understand that, Olivia, but God bless you. We need you. One thing that sets her apart from the rest is that she is very approachable. She is not some stuffy consultant who talks over people's heads, Nope. She is down to earth, easy to talk to and genuinely interested in helping her clients [00:02:00] succeed.Her customized strategies are tailor made to fit your specific situation, ensuring you get the support you need to achieve sustainable profitability and long-term success. And the best part, she has a proven track record of delivering real measurable results for your clients. If you are ready to improve your business's profitability, she would love to chat with you.I know she is excited to get to know you and your business and help you achieve your financial goals. Welcome. Thank you very much, Phyllis. Thanks for having me. I am excellent. Excited to be here. Wonderful. All right. So I have to start out by asking you what's up with Agent O? How did that come about? Well, so one of my clients gave me that as a nickname.So my first name's Olivia and I. I guess the way it started was you know, anything they asked of me, a special project [00:03:00] they wanted to hand off or question they were trying to, to decide, you know, how are we gonna tackle this? You know, for me, I think in spreadsheets, I think I even dream in spreadsheets.So, you know, I would be like, there's a spreadsheet for that. And so they chuckled and said, you know what? You're like our secret. You're our agent O So it became a running joke. And then when I decided to brand this, I couldn't choose anything but that. Right? So I'm everybody's, you know, small business secret weapon. I love that. So tell me accounting and numbers is something that's not my gift, right? So I would love to, you know, we all have gifts, right? And absolutely. Yours happens to be numbers, which. God knows we all need them. So tell me, how did you first get into doing this business? Well for most of those 22 years as a business owner, I had a retail store, a high-end luxury store, and I found that you know, much [00:04:00] to the chagrin of my business partner rather than selling.Our products and services. I was like, so what's your story? How did you get in business? What is it that you do? And then, you know, they were, oh, I have a problem with this employee. Oh, well tell me about it. Or, you know, I need to do this ad campaign. Well bring it in. I'll look at it with you. And I started realizing that I was consulting and helping people with their profitability rather than selling the products I was supposed to sell.But like you said, we all have gifts, right? And mine is not in. Product retail. . And, but it definitely is in numbers and not just numbers, but helping people be able to see and understand their numbers. Without having to, you know, dive into something they hate, like accounting spreadsheet.My job. Absolutely. You know, it's interesting, so, so many times I belong to a couple local networking groups here at Mission Viejo, and I am amazed at the number [00:05:00] of people, small business owners that are not a franchise, that don't know their numbers. It it is amazing to me and or they don't write down their goals.And all of those things. I know in this business that I'm in with my franchising and consulting and coaching, I mean, we know, we know the number of people we have talked to, to be able to find someone who's actually interested and then to talk to that. So, you know, it is, it's a, it's a numbers situation and, and people need to know that.Let's talk a little bit about his book and how did that segue you into what you're doing today? Well, what I'm doing today came first, but Profit first. The book kind of opened my eyes to understanding that I wasn't going to convert non spreadsheet people into spreadsheet people.So, you know, like you said, everybody has gifts and. Almost every single business owner I talk to, if [00:06:00] they started the business, they did it because they had a passion. So they had a passion for woodworking. Now they're a carpenter. They had a passion for helping people. Now they run an at home nursing.Center. You know, most people don't say, I love sales tax reports and QuickBooks and I just can't wait to run a business so I can file those every month, you know, and so my first part of my consulting years was to explain why those things were really important and to help people learn how to do it.But then after Profit first I realized There was a reason that wasn't as successful, right? Because you aren't going to change those folks. Yeah. So what is great about Profit First is even if you never talk to and hire somebody like myself, you can read that book and understand those principles and apply it to your business because there's no getting around it.You do have to know your numbers. There is a very real reason [00:07:00] why the SBA still says that one of every two businesses fails in five years. And almost all of that comes down to not putting emphasis on profit. You do have to have it. You are not gonna have it year one. You can if you follow profit first, I should say.But it is normal for people to experience a couple years without it. But of course you can't do that long term. No. You have to know your numbers at some level. And so I think that's the secret sauce of my passion and the expertise that I have plus incorporating Mikes wisdom from the book.And saying, okay, now, now it makes sense and there's a sustainable way to help business owners that doesn't require them. To ever become a love of spreadsheets. But I know for myself numbers have been something that I have over the years, I got more and more understanding of why it was important to look at my numbers.But [00:08:00] I don't think people realize how much anxiety and stress. Happens with them when they don't know the numbers, when they're trying to not look, I'm very much a non looker and I finally hired a bookkeeper. I had to because I drove, I mean, I spent, I can't even tell you how many days I spent preparing to get my taxes done.And hiring a bookkeeper was, you know, one of the best things I ever did. Cuz that's not my gift. Right? I'd rather have somebody that it's their gift and they love to do it than for me to do it because a hundred percent, yeah. Yeah. Well, it's just like anything else. I don't really love to clean my house.And when I do it, it takes me all day and I don't really have the right tools and I've never been trained. But I like the end result, right? I like a clean house, but if I hire a housekeeper, yes, I have to pay that person some money. But they come in with the right tools. Yep. They come in with the right training and I get that result that I wanted, but it didn't [00:09:00] take me all day.You know, None of us, I think probably like going to the dentist, but we like the long-term result that we get of having a healthy dental care. Right. Keeping your teeth right. Yes. Right. You know, so there's this short-term pain called I have to go to the dentist. I have to maybe, you know, undergo some pain there and a little bit of anxiety.Kind of like what you were talking about. And you have to pay them for their expertise, but you like the end result of having teeth that don't hurt and being able to keep them is a good example. Exactly. So that those life lessons that we learn as adults are no different than those business lessons.You have to hire someone like a bookkeeper if you hate doing your own numbers, because you need to know those, those are important. Yeah, you do. You know, it's interesting in the maid business that's there's a lot of franchise brands that are Yes. Cleaning services. And the reason that they are so successful is because, one, they have repeat customers.Who doesn't wanna have [00:10:00] reoccurring customers? You don't always have to keep looking for the next one. Right? Actually, their biggest challenges you can only imagine is hiring people, of course, and it's getting them to consider it. But what's interesting about that brand is, and one of the reasons I love franchising and you'll appreciate this, is that they not only give them systems to be able to know how to clean the house.Quickly and efficiently and get it all done. Some of them do a rotation where they do certain things each week, but the other thing that they do, which is really key, is they have incentive programs. So someone comes in and they have an escalation of, they start out as just a housekeeper and then they graduate to being maybe, you know, a team leader.And so they have ways for them to elevate themselves. You know, I remember years ago cleaning authority. One of his things was they would all meet like at a. Industrial park, you know, where they have those offices in front [00:11:00] and warehouse in the back. And that would be an office for a typical made franchise business.And because...