Latest / Profit With A Plan / EP333 Hiring Isn’t a Gut Call. It’s a Numbers Call.

Transcript

EP333 Hiring Isn’t a Gut Call. It’s a Numbers Call. · Profit With A Plan

• 0:09
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Have you ever caught yourself thinking that if you could just clone yourself, everything would run smoother? Well, you're not alone. But the real reason is, how do you know when to actually hire someone, or is it not just you being tired?
• 0:24
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: In this episode of Profit with a Plan podcast, we'll break down the signals hiding, or…
• 0:30
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: God, why can't I speak today?
• 0:32
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: It's okay, my dog. Did you just hear the ice that flew off of my roof?
• 0:36
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: No, that's awesome, though.
• 0:37
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Okay, well, that's good then, because… and can you hear my dog barking now?
• 0:40
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Nope, not at all. That's the magic of microphones.
• 0:43
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: That's right. Lovely. Okay.
• 0:45
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Okay.
• 0:47
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Ever catch yourself thinking, if I could just clone myself, everything would run smoother? Well, you're not alone. But the real question is, how do you know when it's actually time to hire someone, or if it's not just you being tired?
• 1:02
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: In this episode of Profit with a Plan podcast, we will break down signals, Oh my gosh, really?
• 1:10
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: My alarm just went off.
• 1:12
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: I did not.
• 1:12
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Booey.
• 1:13
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Okay.
• 1:14
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Good, I'm glad you didn't hear it, because I was swiping to the right, and I should have swiped to the left.
• 1:19
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Third take! We're gonna nail this bad boy.
• 1:24
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Ever catch yourself thinking, if I could just clone myself, everything would run smoother? Well, you're not alone. But the real question is, how do you know when you're actually ready to hire someone, and not just tired?
• 1:36
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: In this episode of Profit with a Plan Podcast, we will break down the signals hiding in your numbers, the first role that usually creates the biggest lift, and how to bring on help without wrecking your cash flow.
• 1:49
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: So if you've been juggling too much and wondering what the next move is, this conversation will clear the fog and show you where to go next.
• 2:00
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Hey entrepreneurs, are you working too hard for too little profit? Well, welcome to Profit with a Plan podcast, where we help you scale smarter, increase profitability, and build a business that's worth more, whether you keep it or sell it.
• 2:13
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: I'm Marcia Reiner, business growth strategist and Profit Booster behind Infinite Profit. I've helped countless entrepreneurs to turn their businesses into highly profitable and sale-ready assets, so they enjoy more income now, and a bigger payday later.
• 2:27
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: So join me for practical strategies, expert insights, and proven steps to make your business more profitable, more valuable, and built to last.
• 2:36
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: By the way, today's episode is sponsored by Infinite Profit, where we don't just talk profit, we deliver it.
• 2:42
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: But before we dive in, I've got something special for you. If you're tired of flat revenue and marketing that just doesn't pay off, the new Profit Booster Growth Map is for you!
• 2:52
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: In this… in just a few minutes, it'll show you exactly how to bring in more qualified clients and plug the profit leaks that are eating away at your cash.
• 3:01
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Go grab your profit booster growth map at profitbooster.biz forward slash growth map, and start turning missed revenue into real money.
• 3:12
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Alright, let's jump into today's episode. Jen Pfizer is the CEO of MKB CFO, and is a champion for small business owners who want real clarity around their money.
• 3:24
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: With more than a decade of finance and operations, she is known for turning complicated financial data into simple, confident decisions that help entrepreneurs to grow without guessing.
• 3:36
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Jen's approach is practical, calm, and action-focused. She helps business owners understand their numbers, stabilize their cash flow, and build businesses that are not just profitable on paper, but profitable in real life. Welcome to Profit with a Plan podcast, Jen! Thanks for showing up!
• 3:53
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Thank you so much for having me.
• 3:55
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Absolutely, so I love the idea of our conversation today, because we're going at hiring from a different angle of
• 4:03
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: the financial side of it, not just who do I put in that seat? But before we get started, how did you get into this kind of space? Because most financial CFOs only work on the numbers and accounting and, you know, getting the decisions going for the company. How did you flip to this side?
• 4:22
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: So, I have a very…
• 4:26
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: diverse background, we'll say, and I've… I've worked in recruiting, I've worked in, operations, I mean, I have a very, like.
• 4:36
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: big picture view of a company, and I've worked in all facets of it, right? So it's… I'm not only tied to the numbers, that's a very important piece of it, obviously, and we need the business… hopefully, the business is profitable and will continue to make money, but…
• 4:52
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: that kind of well-rounded approach is what I help my clients with the most.
• 4:57
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Nice. Okay. Well, I love it. So, having that diverse
• 5:02
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: diversification in your background really gives you that clear view to help the clients make better decisions, which is really what a CFO, fractional or on board, right, you know, as an employee, that's really their role, is to analyze the numbers and help the business owner make better decisions. So I love that aspect that you've got the different variations behind it, and not just
• 5:25
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: numbers. Yeah, and I think I bring a different perspective, because I…
• 5:30
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: finance, obviously, like, there's… it's always competing with different, like, finance and marketing don't always like each other, because they're trying to, like, compete, but I…
• 5:38
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: One wants to spend, the other one wants to…
• 5:40
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Exactly, and so I feel like, and because I've been a business owner myself, and not just a fractional CFO, business owner, like, I've owned other businesses, and so I understand all of the different pieces of that, and how they have to work together, and, like, sometimes finance has to be the bad guy, and just say, no, you can't do that, but my approach is really, like, if this is your dream, and this is… not even a dream, if you're telling me you want to do this.
• 6:06
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: I'm gonna figure out a way to make it happen for you. Mmm. So…
• 6:09
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Love that aspect. And I think that's really important for today's business owners, especially in the new year, looking at, you know, what
• 6:17
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: what initiatives can I put forth in my company that's actually going to move the needle, and more importantly, how do I make it happen financially? Because every initiative has a cost to it.
• 6:29
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: And then get that ROI on the other side. I mean, it's really a challenge that I think a lot of business owners have and don't really know how to navigate. So what are some of the ways that they can, like, look at those numbers and be able to pull that data out properly?
• 6:45
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Well, so the first thing that I would like to point out from what you've just said, like, anything is possible, right? Like, if… it doesn't matter what it is. I mean, we can figure out a way to make pretty much anything happen.
• 6:59
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: But it's all of the other things, the other decisions that are coming to play. Like, you can do anything, you can't do everything, is kind of… I know. Repeat that one. You can do what? You can do anything? You can do anything, you can't do everything.
• 7:16
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Perfect. And I, myself, I am, like, fighting myself on this right now, because I'm like, oh, I want to do all of these things, but…
• 7:23
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: I'm having to prioritize, like, okay, what order do I need to do them in that makes the most sense, and actually allows me to do the next things? Because sometimes you have to take
• 7:35
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Let's say you have 10 different things that you want to accomplish.
• 7:39
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: the order that you do them may be important in whether you actually can get all of those done. So, like, being able to kind of evaluate each thing individually and, you know, is that the right thing for my business or my life? But then also, as a whole, like, what order do we need to do these things so that it can trigger and, like, kind of have that domino effect, rather than…
• 8:01
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Working against each other.
• 8:03
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: I like that, because oftentimes when you get something moving correctly, then it opens the door for the next thing.
• 8:10
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: So, an example, you know, if you're tapped in your capabilities and you can't take on another customer, but you need to increase your revenue, maybe you need to hire somebody to do some of your work so you can then free up time to handle that new customer that you have coming on, right? Yeah. I mean, that's just a real rough, basic example, but I think that's what you're getting at, right?
• 8:33
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Yeah, absolutely, that could be… yeah, that plays into it exactly. And I think… I love hiring, I love, kind of the…
• 8:42
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: all pieces of that as well. And I think when we were originally coming up with the… what we wanted to talk about today, I probably told you this example because I had a client.
• 8:52
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: that…
• 8:53
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: he, from day one, he was like, I need a salesperson. Like, I need a salesperson, need him, need him, need him. And I… I agree with him, he does need a salesperson, so I'm not, like… but I said.
• 9:06
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: alright, so if we hire a salesperson, do you have enough techs that can actually fulfill the orders that are placed? Like, if somebody's just out there selling, like, are you gonna be so far out that people are not going to hire you because, you know, they have to wait 6 months before you can actually fulfill? And he goes.
• 9:24
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Mmm.
• 9:25
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Oh yeah, that… I don't have the right… I don't have the right team to be able to fulfill those orders.
• 9:32
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: So I was like, okay, so let's hire…
• 9:36
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Let's hire another, you know, get the ball rolling on hiring another crew.
• 9:40
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: And so he was going to hire one person, and I was like, I actually think this… and this is probably the opposite of what most people would think. I was like, I think you actually need to hire two. So that was a… I was pushing him a little bit on that, too, because he didn't think he could afford hiring two, but I was like, the chances of both of them working out are…
• 9:58
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: slim, right? Like, they're… So we might as well just bite the bullet and just hire two, get the training started, and if both work out, then awesome. Honestly, then you're miles ahead, but if not, then…
• 10:12
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: You still have one that's trained, and you're not starting from scratch.
• 10:17
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Well, about 2 months later, one of them ended up quitting, and so he had to replace that one, so he was really thankful that we'd hired two at the time.
• 10:25
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: So then, we get those guys trained, and then he's like, alright, I'm ready to hire a salesperson. And I'm like, alright, do you have systems in place in order to be able to hire the salesperson, and they can come in and actually, like, sell?
• 10:38
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: And he was like, no, I don't have that. I was like, okay. I was like, let's hire you an assistant that's going to create the systems, and be support for this future salesperson, too. So we did that about 2 months ago, and honestly, I just had the conversation with him on Monday. I think we're ready, like.
• 10:59
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: early Q1, he's gonna hire a salesperson. Gotcha.
• 11:03
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: he wouldn't have, you know, thought through those whole process, and so he would have hired a salesperson. That person would have, like, it would have failed.
• 11:10
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: And that's, you know, the thought process that I go through when we're making decisions.
• 11:16
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: I think that's a fantastic angle at looking at it. Of course, it's gonna add a little bit of stress financially early on by hiring the two, now three, people, before the salesperson's running.
• 11:28
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: But the worst thing you can do, like you said originally, is hire that salesperson. They've turned on the funnel, it's pouring clients in, and you're failing in delivering your product.
• 11:40
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Yeah, and that's what you don't want to fail with the customers, right? Like, that's the worst place to fail.
• 11:44
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Because you can't replace those, you can always replace something else. But I think, too, you know, with cash flow, right? You know, that was probably the stress that was causing him, looking at the cash flow in the business and saying, okay, do you have enough
• 11:59
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: that you can carry the load a little bit more or tighter for the next couple months while you're onboarding and getting everybody ramped up, so then you could turn on the growth engine. I think that that's the kind of stuff that most business owners miss.
• 12:15
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: they really just go at the, oh, well, my immediate problem is I need more business, so I need to hire a salesperson, versus I really don't have the systems in play to be… or the people in play to be able to accept that new… that new business coming in.
• 12:30
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: And to speak on the cash flow perspective of it, so let's say that he had been, like, let's say hiring a salesperson first would have been the smart move, and that, you know, it could be… for some businesses, that is the right move. They have everything else in place, and that's just the next step.
• 12:47
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: But what I would like to do…
• 12:50
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Sometimes, you know, depending on how their cash flow is, is, alright, you know you want to hire a salesperson in 60 days.
• 13:00
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Let's start saving that money now, like they're already on payroll, and see how it pressures your cash flow. Because that will also tell you, because.
• 13:10
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: you know, obviously a salesperson is hopefully going to bring in some revenue, although let's cross our fingers. Well, and it takes time to ramp up.
• 13:17
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Yes, it's not day one. So we need to have that buffer in there to make sure that that person also is not being brought in under such,
• 13:27
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: the amount of pressure to succeed and fulfill on day one, because that's not fair to somebody that's coming in, either.
• 13:33
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: No.
• 13:34
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: No, it's funny, I was talking to a client of mine, and they were going through, a different aspect. So, they are consultants as well, and so they go in and work for somebody else for a little while, and setting that expectation and that, that…
• 13:49
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: The, the, the ability to succeed?
• 13:52
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Was really important in the way that he goes in and…
• 13:57
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: And proposes the projects to his clients.
• 14:00
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: is making sure that they understand, hey, day one is not the cash register ringing. It's gonna take me X, Y, and Z, you know, to get to that point.
• 14:10
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: then to get the thing going, and as we ramp up, you know, and I think that's a real important factor that we have to understand as business owners when we're running the finances, too, like the cash flow, as you mentioned.
• 14:24
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Do I have that in the budget? Do I understand there's that ramp-up period? Because these are really important things that could derail
• 14:31
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: A business going forward, right?
• 14:34
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Yeah, and I've had this conversation, too, with a lot of people, is that you want to be able to give
• 14:42
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: things, people, new services, whatever it may be, time to succeed. And…
• 14:50
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: so it's not, you know, that first 30 days is just them learning your… learning your systems, learning your culture, learning your… your business, and what you're doing, and how… and the way that you do things. So, let's say, like, a car salesperson, like.
• 15:04
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: they may know how to sell cars, but maybe they were selling GMC, and now they're selling Ford. Like, they have to learn what's different about this one instead of that, right? Like, figuring out the differences and giving them a little bit of time to…
• 15:19
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: learn those nuances and what's different, how they want to sell that is important. You can't just be like, oh, well, this guy sold coffee over here, we're gonna sell coffee over here, like, that's… that's different, you know, even if it's just a little… same industry, but it could be, like, different nuance to it.
• 15:37
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Love it. No, I think it's… I think it's really important that you set everybody up for success, and… and that your business can handle the movement that's going to occur, whether it's the new influx of revenue coming in, or it's the outgo of expenses as everybody's ramping up, and I think that's really important.
• 15:56
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: You know, here's a question for you, and I think this is really, really important in the mindset of the business owner.
• 16:05
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: since you came from the hiring side and the HR side,
• 16:12
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: you know, with the business sense and so on, when does a business owner actually decide that it is time to hire? Is it because they've got the things in place, or they're projecting future
• 16:23
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: future growth, or future challenges down the road. I mean, I know that's always…
• 16:28
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: I know that's always a scary thing, and I think business owners tend to lean on the, I'm not gonna hire yet, versus, yes, let's hire.
• 16:36
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Yeah.
• 16:36
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Yes, and that… and that first tire is always the scariest, right? Like, that's… But I think that…
• 16:45
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: a lot of businesses, myself included, right? Like, we're like, oh, I'll just do it. I can do it. I can take on more. Oh, I'm working 80 hours? What's 85? They're like…
• 16:55
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: That's a few more!
• 16:56
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: You know, it's…
• 16:57
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: What do you mean, take that off?
• 16:59
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Exactly. And it's also, like, a sense of pride in some ways, and, you know, like, oh, you're not working on Thanksgiving? What are you doing? You must be failing, right?
• 17:11
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: I think that's something that we have to be willing to give things up to, because if we're not, then the new hire isn't gonna succeed either, and you're gonna be a terrible boss. Like, there's just…
• 17:24
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: You know, you want to be somebody that somebody wants to work for, and so making it easy for them to do their job. And I think
• 17:32
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: business owners can fall into two categories. They either are a micromanager in the sense of, like, okay, well, I'm gonna give you this to do, but I need to check in with you every 10 minutes and make sure that it's still happening, and that we're doing it the way that I would want it done, you know, like, that kind of management, or they're just like.
• 17:49
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: oh, you did this kind of project, you know, 10 years ago? Here, I'm just gonna dump it on you, you figure it out.
• 17:56
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: And we really need to be somewhere in the middle on this, and making sure that we're giving enough freedom to the new person that they can
• 18:04
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: kind of learn and figure it out on their own, and we want them to want to figure it out on their own. There's nothing more annoying than somebody asking you a question every 30 seconds that you're just like, Google exists, right? Like, can you do that?
• 18:18
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: But…
• 18:19
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: We also need to provide them some support and some level of expectations of what… what do we expect to be happening? What is your job description? We can't just hire somebody and then be like.
• 18:32
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Okay, well, just do all of the things that I'm not doing. Like, that's…
• 18:36
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: clear. So, prior to hiring, knowing
• 18:43
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: what you need done. What is it that, like, on day one, if they're just gonna check your emails and manage your calendar for you, that's fine. But, like, having some, okay, well, this is how I like things to be scheduled, this is how I like to respond to emails, just think through that ahead of time, so that they can…
• 19:01
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: standard procedures, right? Already built out? Is that what you're kind of alluding to? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, like, having…
• 19:07
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: And… and then I… this happens, like, especially in small business, right? Like, job creep happens. And I… I'm… you know, it happens. I'm not gonna say that it shouldn't, because as people grow in your business, they're just naturally gonna learn things and take on more things, and that's fine. But there's this…
• 19:27
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Yeah, like, but having this expectation that, like, that's not on day one, right? Like, they can't come in on day one and know everything about your business and be able to give you all of the advice on how you should do things and all of the different systems, right? Give them some time to succeed.
• 19:42
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: those little wins along the way, and then they can work their way into a bigger role. And that's, like.
• 19:48
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: an EA kind of role. There's other… other ways that job creep can happen in other positions, but, you know, depending on what you're hiring for, if it's hire number one, a lot of times it is an EA, or it is a, you know, another you with whatever you're doing, whatever your fulfillment is, so…
• 20:06
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: You know, just having reasonable expectations.
• 20:08
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: How do we… how do we decide financially, or based on the numbers, that we can decide, or we can hire, and… and… and…
• 20:18
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: you know, I mean, I think that's always the thing that, you know, they know that they're at a stress point, and they want to hire, or they feel like, oh, I should hire because I really shouldn't be doing these things, right?
• 20:29
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: So those are… those are in the mindset, but then when we look at the numbers from a financial side, what does that look like when we're… when we're looking at the numbers to see if that's a good time to hire?
• 20:40
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: So, two questions that usually come to mind is.
• 20:44
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: like, if it's a solopreneur kind of situation, they're the only ones, I'm like, are you even able to pay yourself what you need to be paying yourself right now? I know, crazy, crazy question. Because if you're not, like, let's say your business is not even able to support you at the level that you're at.
• 21:02
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: There may be other pieces that you should be looking at and not hiring first, and maybe that's, like, is your pricing correct?
• 21:11
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Is your… you know, there are… do you have too many subscriptions? Like, look at your expenses and see if there are things that you're overpaying for that you shouldn't be. So, once you kind of had that figured out, like.
• 21:25
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Can I pay myself?
• 21:27
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: You've done a deep dive on your financials, right? Yes.
• 21:29
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Because if you're not paying yourself yet, or you're not paying yourself enough, then hiring somebody is literally just taking money out of your pocket directly. And sometimes that's necessary, but sometimes not. So, first of all, just figure out if
• 21:44
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: If you are not making enough money yourself to support your business, then make sure that everything is dialed in there.
• 21:53
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: If you're not, but you are, like.
• 21:55
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: the reason that I'm not making enough is because I'm doing all of this admin work, or all of this whatever, and I can't actually focus on the things that are making me money. That's a perfect time to hire.
• 22:05
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Especially, like, an admin assistant or something, like, something to take off.
• 22:10
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: low-level tasks from your plate that are not bringing in money to make sure that you are the one that's going out there and getting those… getting those jobs, getting that work, whatever it is, you're actually doing the client fulfillment piece of it that's
• 22:25
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: bringing in the money. So, if you can redirect focus in a way that allows you to take on more work, then great, that's the time to make that hire.
• 22:36
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Right, because if I'm hearing you right, if you're taking work off your plate so you can go do the things that make the cash register ring, right?
• 22:44
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: then, in my mind, I'm gonna suffer for a short period of time in paying this person as I onboard them, but in the near future, that's gonna open the door for me to be able to go get more customers and make more money, right?
• 23:01
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Yes, exactly, yep. And I, you know, there's a lot of people out there that are like, oh, you're doing your bookkeeping, and this is… I'm a bookkeeper, right? Like, we do bookkeeping. So, like, people are like, oh, you're doing your own bookkeeping, like.
• 23:15
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: you should be paying… I am not a believer in, like, you need to be paying somebody to do every single thing. Like, sometimes… especially at the beginning, right? Like, you need to be doing your own stuff, right? You're not bringing in enough money. So, in some level, I think there's this fine line between, like, oh, I'm just gonna hire everything out that I don't want to do.
• 23:36
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: And…
• 23:38
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: doing it all yourself, like, figuring out… So how do you prioritize that, then? How do you… how do you create the priority list of… of who you should hire? Because I've always been a fan of, like, that's one of the early things you should do, and you could do it at a fraction of the price, but high… don't… you should… really shouldn't be doing your own books, because you're just asking for trouble, right? That's not…
• 23:57
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: That's probably a bad exam.
• 24:00
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: But, with that in mind, how do you, how do you, how do you choose which ones you start to hire first?
• 24:06
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Yeah, I think there's a… there's kind of that,
• 24:10
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: I don't know, like, checklist. I'm picturing there's, like, that four-quadrant thing, when it's, like, things that you like to do and you're good at.
• 24:19
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: You know what I mean? Like, if you're really good at marketing, and, like, is it taking time away from your business, possibly, but you're good at it, and you like it. Like, keep doing that.
• 24:32
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Right.
• 24:32
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Until it doesn't make sense to do it anymore. Got it. But if you are terrible with numbers, and you don't like doing it, then yeah, hire that out first, because you can… you can hire a bookkeeper for, you know, a couple hundred bucks a month, probably, and
• 24:47
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: that takes it off your plate, and it's something that's, like, keeping you compliant and making your life easier, right? Do those things. Yeah, absolutely. And then the things in the middle, like, things that maybe you like to do, but you're not good at, like, those you should probably hire out to if you are not good at it.
• 25:04
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: And then, you know, what is the other one? Like, things that you…
• 25:09
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: don't like to do, but you are good at, like, maybe you should keep doing that. Like, it's just kind of finding that balance between…
• 25:16
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Until you get enough of the revenue to offset that.
• 25:19
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Yeah.
• 25:19
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: And to your point, you can hire a growing point, right?
• 25:22
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Yeah, you have to grow your business enough to be able to scale it out and hire those people.
• 25:29
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: You have no revenue, you cannot be high before you scale it.
• 25:32
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Yeah.
• 25:33
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: It's… it's… yes, like, make sure that you're bringing in business, that it makes sense, like, don't overextend yourself, and like, oh, yeah, well, I need a marketer, I need a bookkeeper, I need all of these things, and you're not actually bringing in any money. That doesn't make sense to hire things out.
• 25:49
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Exactly. I have a young company that is doing that, and… and they went in, and they started, and then they hired all these people, and I'm like, whoa, you don't even…
• 26:00
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: hiring fulfillment, and you're not even, you know, you're relying on this one person to go get revenue, let's work on that revenue side for a little while before we hire any more, or let's cut back or redesign, because, man, it was a mess. It was very heavy on one side and very weak on the other side.
• 26:16
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: But then I've also seen other people that come in and they go, well, you know what, I'm just gonna outsource everything, right? And… and so I can focus, but yet they start micromanaging, and then they still can't go out and focus, so…
• 26:31
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: I think it's… it's… there's that fine line and balance of trying to decide what it is that you, as the business owner, or, you know, as your consultant, or as you're the… the kingpin in your company, that only you can do, and I think that's really important. Yeah, and so the self-reflection is probably a good…
• 26:49
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: point here, right? Like.
• 26:52
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: figure out what you… like, you yourself, what are you good at? What do you like? What do you know how to do? And… and then just prioritize what gets farmed out from there.
• 27:03
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Yeah, and I think in today's economy, and with all the off-site
• 27:08
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: help available. Not necessarily, you know, international, but, you know, you can find off-site help here in the States. You know, you can do things that make it more cost-effective, that you,
• 27:20
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: you know, you can also look at, you know, I know leaving… I'm in Vegas now, but leaving in California, it was very difficult to hire somebody,
• 27:29
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: because of the rules and regulations of them having to, you know, you have to pay taxes and all that other kind of stuff on them, unless they have, you know, unless they can prove that they're working for more than one person, you know, and that kind of stuff. But yeah, the regulatory garbage, we'll call it.
• 27:44
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: For hiring can be…
• 27:47
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: reduce dramatically if you do it very smartly, right? And you look at off-sites, and you look at what.
• 27:52
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Absolutely.
• 27:53
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: to grow. Yes.
• 27:54
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: And yeah, to that point, like, hiring out, like, fractional things, or hiring other companies, it's so much cleaner, easier, cheaper in a lot of ways, right? Like, you're not hiring a full-time person and having to pay taxes and benefits and…
• 28:09
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: whatever it may be. Vacation pay, and… Yeah, all that kind of stuff.
• 28:14
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: and each state is getting stricter and stricter on, like, sick time and PTO and expectations of what the employer has to provide. So, yeah, for… as you grow, when you're still in those, like, early stages of… maybe not even early, but, like, as, like.
• 28:32
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Revenue size, if you're at a smaller size, then don't take on more than you need to.
• 28:38
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Mmm.
• 28:38
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: And hire… and I think I'm a real fan of… when you look at your org chart, right? Not hiring the senior-level people. Oh, I need a… I'm gonna hire a VP of sales, rather than hire the salesperson, or better yet, the cold caller, right? You know, I mean, someone that could book the appointments for you and not necessarily close the deal. You can close the deal, but if someone could book the appointments for you, it frees up time.
• 29:01
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: So I think thinking on the bottom side of the org chart versus the top side of the org chart can be very, beneficial and cost-effective, too.
• 29:10
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Yeah, absolutely. And I think…
• 29:12
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: To the beginning hires that you make, you want to make some… make a hire that complements you in some ways, too.
• 29:19
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: So if you are, like, a visionary, I love to come up with ideas, and I love to be, like, make sure you hire somebody that can actually implement your plans. And then, you know, if you're the opposite, you're just like, all I want to do is sit here and work, and, like.
• 29:35
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: knock out the delivery piece of it. Then, like.
• 29:38
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: hire somebody that has some good ideas and, like, some things that they're, like, looking at. Like, what else would be cool that we could add? Or at least have, like, a friend that helps you with that too, right? Like, you… maybe it doesn't have to be a hire, it could be somebody that you're kind of trading…
• 29:53
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: thoughts with, right?
• 29:55
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: coaches, you know, us, consultants, you know, those kind of things can be done on a piecemeal or project-type basis as well, so you don't have to, again, hire on, like, you know, upper-level management and the pay scale that goes along with it.
• 30:10
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Yeah, absolutely, yeah, and it's… because hiring is… hiring is a commitment, right? You are in… I always say this, like, when I'm for… people, they're like, I want to scale, I want to grow, and I'm like, do you love managing people? Because that's…
• 30:23
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: where that goes. But also, like, you're… it's a lot of pressure, too, because the more employees that you have, you are… you're responsible for them, right?
• 30:33
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: having a baby.
• 30:34
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Exactly, you are responsible for making sure they get their paychecks on time. They get angry, you get in trouble, like, things happen if you are not… if you don't have enough money in the bank to be able to pay them.
• 30:45
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: and you're not gonna have them very long, but you could also end up in legal trouble for that. And so making sure, like, I am a big proponent of, like, 1099 outsourcing in any ways that you can, especially when you don't need somebody full-time, do it.
• 31:02
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Love it. Well, well said, and a very, very important point. So, Jen, you've given us some really good, insights on hiring, and the financial side of hiring, and even the operations side of hiring, making sure you're hiring well in that space.
• 31:21
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Where can listeners find out more about you and your company so they can start to kind of figure this out?
• 31:28
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Yeah, we… so we have a website, obviously, mkbcfo.com.
• 31:34
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: And then we have… we're on all of the socials, I think, so MKB, CFO and Bookkeeping is where you can find us on most of those.
• 31:43
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: I am jen at mkbcfo.com if you want to shoot me an email. I love… I will help anybody. So, you know, if you've got just a question, shoot me an email. I'm happy to help.
• 31:55
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Great.
• 31:56
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: And then, did you say you had a…
• 31:58
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Oh, yes, and then I have a cash flow template, so free, if you need kind of help with that planning and being like, I don't even know what cash I'm gonna have in the bank in two weeks, how do I know if I'm gonna have, you know, if I can hire? I have a template that you can download. It's on our website, mkbcfo.com backslash cash flow, and you can download it there. It will be an Excel spreadsheet.
• 32:23
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: you can just… it's got the spots where you plug in your numbers, you'll have to pull a P&L, so hopefully you can do one of those, and just plug in the numbers.
• 32:31
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: There's another email question for you.
• 32:33
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Then you can email me. If you don't have a P&L, email me, we can figure that out. But that way you can kind of project out your 13-week cash flow projections.
• 32:43
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: I love it. And that's… that is a magic number for 13 weeks, because that's just a little over… or it's 3 months, right? Yep. And it's looking at that, like, that's… that's a perfect window to be able to…
• 32:54
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: take a snapshot of your company and understand where you are and where you can go, right? So really super valuable on that, so thanks. And the one… yeah, it's very simple. It's taking your averages so that it will just, like.
• 33:07
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: You know, if everything continues as it is, where is your cash situation in one week?
• 33:14
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: 12 weeks, whatever, so you can make decisions.
• 33:18
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Cool. Thanks so much, I appreciate that. All right, well, thanks for tuning in today. I hope you picked up some valuable insights and actionable ideas that will help you make your business more profitable.
• 33:29
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: But before we go, if you're ready to bring in more of the right clients and keep more of what you earn, then I would encourage you to go grab my new Profit Booster Growth Map. It's actually a GPT, so you can go in and play, it's gonna come in and give you some really great insights.
• 33:46
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: So you'll be able to pinpoint 3 of your top moves to grow your revenue and stop profit leaks fast. You can go get it anytime at ProfitBooster.biz, and it's the growth map.
• 33:56
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: And don't forget to subscribe! You don't want to miss future shows. You can always find Profit with a Plan on any of your favorite podcast players. We're looking forward to more great profitable strategies on next week's show. So until then, make your plans and profit with them. Thanks so much, Jen. Really appreciate you on today.
• 34:14
  Jen Fizer - MKB CFO & Bookkeeping: Thank you.