028 — Sonia Rosa, She Helps 7-Figure Business Owners Create Cash Wealth Without Sacrificing Lifestyle

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- Hey, busy business people.

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I am here today with another
Entrepreneur Taking Action,

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Sonia Rosa.

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She helps seven figure business
owners create cash wealth

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without sacrificing their lifestyle.

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And I'm getting the scoop on
how she does it, so stay tuned.

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(upbeat music)

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Okay, so to kick things off,
that is a really big claim

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that you're helping business
owners create cash wealth

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without sacrificing their lifestyle.

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Like what motivated you
to go in that direction

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with your business?

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- Well, a lot of all business
need help with their finances

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and with the numbers.

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And I see a lot of
entrepreneurs really struggle

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that you see them making
good money and revenue

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but then the amount they
get to keep or take home

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whatever you may wanna call it

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it's so small or sometimes nothing.

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- Yep.

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- So somebody needs to help them.

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(laughs)

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- I like that, so finding
a really big problem

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that's affecting a lot
of people in solving it.

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That's a good reason to go that direction.

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That's a smart reason.

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- Yeah.

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- So like, what are some
of the most common mistakes

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that you see business
owners making when it comes

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to their finances?

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Like if they're making seven figures

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and not taking home a paycheck,
what are they doing wrong?

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- Well, a lot of times is
they're not being conscious

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or intentional about their finances.

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Also you know, a lot
of people put it aside

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put it to the end, like it's
uncomfortable, it's icky

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or some people it feels
just plain painful.

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So they don't wanna deal with it.

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And when the time comes that they need

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to deal with it either
because it's tax time

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or they're looking for investors,

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or they're looking for a loan,

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or they're looking to bring in a partner.

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That's when they look at it
and then it's like, uh-oh

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what happened.

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- Yep, yep, I know I'm
guilty of that one myself

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and I know a bunch of
other business owners

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that is the same way.

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I think my four accountant

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we file an extension on our
taxes pretty much every year

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'cause I'm not ready to deal
with it, which is terrible.

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- Yeah, a lot of people
have like the apprehension

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and it's like that, like
I said, like the fear

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or what am I gonna find,
or what am I gonna see?

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But it's worse if you don't
look at it and you keep up

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and then you get to adjust
whatever that you're doing.

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- Yep.

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- And you start heading
towards what matters to you.

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Like why do you start your business?

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- Yep, I mean, it's just one
of those things that it's like

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you're so buried in the day to day grind

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that it's so easy to just like, oh

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well I'll just do that later.

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I'll work on my books later.

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I don't have to work on it now.

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Or like, you know, and you just don't,

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it just gets put off
and put off and put off.

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Like to me it feels like it's
a high mental calorie task.

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It's not something we do every day.

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It's not something that comes easy

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and higher the mental calorie load

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the more likely we are
to wanna put it off.

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And I feel like all things, finances,

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like that's what happens.

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(laughs)

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- Yes, and you cannot, you can put it off

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but not for too long.

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- Yep, or you don't need
to put it off, but yeah.

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So like I know you're
functioning kind of essentially

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as an outsource CFO.

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So let's talk about that a little bit.

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Like when is a business big enough

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that they need to consider
working with someone like you?

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- Well, for an outsource
CFO, it pretty much depends.

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Of course, you more likely you
have to be over six figures,

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but some people it
depends on what direction

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they're heading.

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Like some people they might
be at the 250,000 mark

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or a little less, or
some people wait until

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they're over half a million
to the or even a million

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to get an outsource CFO.

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- Do you think they're waiting too long?

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- So it all depends on
the business and the

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of course the goals that the owner has.

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- Okay, are there any
like commonalities amongst

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people that need to start looking at one?

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So say they're at like the
250,000 a year mark, but they're

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I don't know, looking at getting
a partner or getting loans

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or would it make sense to work
with an outsource CFO then

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to start moving that track or?

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- Yes, I would say so.

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- Okay.

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- Yes.

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And also because the CFO works
more as a strategic advisor.

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So it's gonna help them strategize

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in which direction then they wanna move.

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Cause then as your
business scales, you know

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the bigger your business, bigger problems.

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- Okay, so even if they're
on the smaller side

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if they have big goals

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and they're trying to
really look at maybe going

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from like 250,000 to a
million and like a year or two

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or something like that.

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It would be good to have somebody

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like you in their back
pocket helping with stuff.

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- Right, and like I
said, and you know, the,

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I work more as the
strategic on trusted advisor

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than rather than what you would rely.

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The business owner would
rely on an account,

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a regular accountant or a bookkeeper.

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- Yeah, I know most like accountants

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and bookkeepers that I've
worked with in the past

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they just basically do
the job and that's it.

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They don't really do a
whole lot of advising

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or guiding you on smart
choices or anything like that.

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Their goal is just like with an accountant

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just to help you pay the least in taxes.

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And that's the end of the strategy.

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They don't really work

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with you on stuff like
helping you get prepared

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to qualify for loans or
bringing on a partner

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or any of those other
big financial things.

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So it makes a lot of sense.

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- Exactly.

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- To work with somebody like you.

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So what is it like,

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like if somebody's working
with you on a regular basis.

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I think we kind of
touched on it a little bit

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as opposed to like a
bookkeeper or an accountant.

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Like what does the day to day look like

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if somebody's working with you?

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Like, are you meeting with them regularly?

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What are you going over?

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How does that work?

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- Yes, we meet regularly.

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I mean, again, it depends on
the business and of course,

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so the owner.

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They could wanna meet twice
a month, once a month,

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once a quarter.

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And because it's about
them, it's not about me.

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So it's whatever their needs are.

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- Okay, and what kind of things do you do

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when you're working with them like that,

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when you're meeting with them?

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- Well, we discuss of course

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how the business is going, like what.

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So I focus on service providers.

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So what services are more
profitable than others.

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And of course we discuss, if they're,

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again if they're seeking
financing or investing

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or bringing partner, hiring employees,

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things of that nature

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- Are you able to help them
figure out like which services

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are the most profitable
if they don't know?

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Like if they're not helping,

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if they're not tracking man
hours and stuff like that.

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And service providers,
like they don't know

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that maybe this thing
we charge more for it

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but it takes, you know, 80%
of that's going to employees

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and there's almost no profit
versus this other thing

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maybe we charge less for like

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do you help them work all of
that out to figure it out?

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- Yes.

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- Okay, that's pretty cool.

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So like, do you have
any final kind of tips

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or advice that you'd like
to share with our audience?

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- Well, I will share don't put it off.

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And always reach out

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I mean, I know, like I said before

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like some people are skeptical,

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I have that fear to even share

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like what's going on with
their business, but you have to

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it's not going to the doctor.

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If you go to a doctor because
something hurts in your body

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or you're not sure.

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So they start asking you questions

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and pinching you or
touching here, touching,

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or is it here, is it here

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until you say, okay, yeah,
yeah, that's the spot.

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So it's the same.

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You gotta open up, you gotta
share and then be truthful

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what's going on.

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And when (indistinct) you
always ask, always reach out.

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- What kind of questions
do people come to you with

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when they first start working with you

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and they're like, hey, I need help with

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or I need advice on like,

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what kind of questions
do they tend to ask you?

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- Well, a lot of are about tax planning.

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Cause of course, everybody
wants to pay the least amount

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in taxes in a legal way.

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So that is a big one,
also the business entity.

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They're not sure like what
type of business entity

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they should have.

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And of course, most people
they just jump on into LLCs

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and they don't check certain things

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when maybe they should be a corporation

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or just have a partnership

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or just stay on their Schedule C.

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And that's that sort of thing

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or they see the financials are a mess.

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(laughs)

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Like they've been trying
to do it themselves

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for a long time.

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And they're like, oh no,
I'm stuck, I'm stumped.

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This is what I need or what
I'm looking for to accomplish.

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- Yeah, I know software is a big one too.

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Like, do you have like
any software that you

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recommend people use when
they're working with a bookkeeper

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or accountant or CFO or
like, does it matter?

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- Well, no, it doesn't
matter, but of course

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one of the most commons is QuickBooks.

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Cause it has so many versions

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and it integrates with
a lot of applications.

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So it's the one that you
see out there the most

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but it's not the only one.

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- Yeah, I know I use Xero
for quite a few years and.

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- Yeah, Xero is a good one.

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- Like everybody uses QuickBooks

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but nobody likes QuickBooks,
which is absolutely terrible.

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(laughs)

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- Yeah, it's weird.

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But I think it's because of what I,

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one of the things what I said

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about having so many different versions,

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like depending on the size
of your business and then

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the integration with other applications.

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- Well, what are some other
like really common things

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that you work with
people on typically, like

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I know we talked about hiring

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and if they're trying to hire someone

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like what kind of things
do you help advise them on

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if they're looking at hiring
or scaling up their business?

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- If they're hiring well

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we gotta see what the person is gonna do.

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What are, if they're being
profitable, if they're hiring

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then what is the owner gonna be doing?

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Cause it gotta be cost beneficial.

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I mean, for both make it
attracted to the prospect

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and then be of course
beneficial for the owner.

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- What about as they get,
like, get to be bigger

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and they're starting to
look at like benefits

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packages and things like that.

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Do you help them plan any
of that kind of stuff out?

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- Sometimes it depends for
what they're looking for.

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If not, I just have on my
network, financial advisors

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that then I refer them to.

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- Okay, that makes a lot of sense.

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So I know I've kind of
picked your brain on a bunch

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of different topics and it's
finance stuff, which is tricky.

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But I think the biggest takeaway
is knowing when to bring on

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an outsource CFO.

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So I think we've kind of
covered a lot of that already.

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So tell us more about who it
is that you like to work with

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and how you help them and kind
of where they can find you?

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- Yes, so I like to work
with service providers

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and also a lot with veteran own business

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and military spouses.

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I'm a military spouse myself.

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And they can find me at soniarosallc.com.

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- Really awesome.

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- If they wanna schedule a talk with me.

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- Awesome, great.

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Thank you for coming on and
sharing some information today.

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I think this has been
really valuable stuff

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that I think a lot of people,

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I think they put this
decision off way longer

00:13:34.280 --> 00:13:35.130
than they should.

00:13:36.755 --> 00:13:37.588
- Absolutely.

00:13:37.588 --> 00:13:38.980
- I know I've recently
started working with one

00:13:38.980 --> 00:13:43.750
and just the difference in
the last two to three weeks

00:13:43.750 --> 00:13:45.350
since I started working with them.

00:13:45.350 --> 00:13:47.730
It just changes your whole perspective

00:13:47.730 --> 00:13:50.690
and stress level around
your financial stuff.

00:13:50.690 --> 00:13:52.170
So it's like I highly encourage it.

00:13:52.170 --> 00:13:54.470
Which is why I was excited to get you on.

00:13:54.470 --> 00:13:55.883
So thank you so much.

00:13:56.860 --> 00:13:58.060
- Well, thank you, Christina.

00:13:58.060 --> 00:13:58.989
Thank you for having me.

00:13:58.989 --> 00:13:59.822
- Yep.

00:13:59.822 --> 00:14:02.190
So guys entrepreneurs, this
is your call to take action.

00:14:02.190 --> 00:14:05.040
I want you to join our
community @etatoday.zone

00:14:05.040 --> 00:14:07.060
and learn how to build
a business that enables

00:14:07.060 --> 00:14:10.150
your lifestyle instead
of taking over your life.

00:14:10.150 --> 00:14:11.700
Thank you guys until next time.

00:14:12.607 --> 00:14:15.190
(upbeat music)