Latest / Big Talk About Small Business / LLC vs Corp: The Costly Setup Mistakes Founders Make with ScherriePrince

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LLC vs Corp: The Costly Setup Mistakes Founders Make with ScherriePrince · Big Talk About Small Business

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Before you start the business.
0:01
SPEAKER_00: You know, to borrow this from Stephen Covey, begin with the end in mind.
0:05
SPEAKER_00: You know, you never be hungry and say, I'm going to the grocery store and not have a destination.
0:10
SPEAKER_00: So I tell folks to look at what your exit is going to be and then reverse engineer it.
0:14
SPEAKER_00: So the type of business, maybe you're selling widgets and you know that you want to exit that business five, seven, or 10 years and you want a seven, eight-figure exit, you just reverse engineer that so you can get that exit.
0:27
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes that will get you to market quickly, but it just may not be the best structure.
0:32
SPEAKER_00: So when you start to grow and expand, that's when you start seeing the complications and maybe the text.
0:48
SPEAKER_02: Hello, Eric.
0:49
SPEAKER_02: How's it going, buddy?
0:50
SPEAKER_03: Good, Mark.
0:50
SPEAKER_03: Marcus, thank you.
0:51
SPEAKER_02: Very good.
0:52
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for having this hosting this here in beautiful podcast videos.
0:57
SPEAKER_02: You're welcome.com studio.
0:59
SPEAKER_02: You're welcome, my friend.
1:00
SPEAKER_02: I'm glad to have you on my show.
1:01
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thanks.
1:02
SPEAKER_02: I'm glad to have you on my show.
1:05
SPEAKER_02: And I'm also glad to have Sherry Prince on our show.
1:09
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:10
SPEAKER_02: And what show is this, by the way?
1:12
SPEAKER_02: This is Big Talk about SmallBusiness.com.
1:18
SPEAKER_02: Uh hey Sherry, how are you doing today?
1:21
SPEAKER_00: I am doing fabulous.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: I'm much better now that I'm talking to y'all.
1:25
SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah, that's nice.
1:26
SPEAKER_02: That's a good attitude, isn't it?
1:28
SPEAKER_03: We that is an excellent.
1:30
SPEAKER_03: I'd like Sherry talking.
1:31
SPEAKER_03: Ready?
1:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, right out of the gate, man.
1:33
SPEAKER_03: This is gonna be the best show we've ever had.
1:36
SPEAKER_02: It is.
1:37
SPEAKER_02: It is.
1:37
SPEAKER_02: Well, we're talking about stuff that it's to me is very interesting, and it's a big problem area for a lot of small businesses.
1:45
SPEAKER_02: Sherry's an attorney.
1:46
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
1:47
SPEAKER_02: And she knows all about legal forms of operation and organization and problems associated with those.
1:55
SPEAKER_03: Especially problems.
1:56
SPEAKER_03: And I'm not going to put words in your mouth, Sherry, but problems that new entrepreneurs make, new founders, or really entrepreneurs, is entrepreneurs is our audience, not founders, right, Marcus?
2:08
SPEAKER_02: Well, and small business owners.
2:10
SPEAKER_03: Small business owners.
2:10
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
2:11
SPEAKER_03: Like you're excited, you see a vision, or you see an opportunity, you start going for it, you do a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
2:18
SPEAKER_03: You get your divorce attorney to do some corporate setup, and you get your uh brother.
2:25
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you get your brother-in-law that's that did really great in math in high school to be your accountant.
2:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I know.
2:33
SPEAKER_03: So a lot of those things can happen.
2:35
SPEAKER_02: And your wife's um sorority sister who does Wells Trace and estates to negotiate your employment agreement with your create your handbook.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: Sounds like a perfect storm for disaster over there.
2:52
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
2:53
SPEAKER_02: It's all it's all about specialization in my experience when you start talking with lawyers.
3:00
SPEAKER_02: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
3:02
SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, I'm I'm calling in from the beautiful metropolis of Flowwood, Mississippi.
3:07
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: So born, you know, um in Durant and then eventually lived on a 150-acre farm where we had our first probate battle in my 20s with my grandparents, and that kind of sparked my curiosity about the law.
3:19
SPEAKER_00: Fast forward, had two failed businesses, the last one in 08 with the big mortgage debacle.
3:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so now it is my mission to help other entrepreneurs not to suffer the same fate.
3:32
SPEAKER_00: And I specifically help entrepreneurs merge their estate plan with their business plan to put a moat around their assets.
3:39
SPEAKER_02: I see.
3:39
SPEAKER_02: That's really cool.
3:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's just a fancy way of saying that um I help you not lose everything you worked hard for and build a legacy for your family.
3:47
SPEAKER_03: You know, that that I like where your passion about that stems.
3:51
SPEAKER_03: I mean, you how how old were you when in uh when when you went through that probate um situation?
3:57
SPEAKER_00: So I must have been like maybe in my 20s, like maybe 25.
4:00
SPEAKER_00: But and and just to give you some context, my mom passed away when I was 16.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: So I went to live with her parents on their farm, and when they passed away, they did not have a will or a trust.
4:11
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
4:11
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, we pretty much know that when you die, if you don't have a will or a trust, the state will tell you where your assets go.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: Well, had an aunt and uncle who had some other thoughts, and so that was kind of ugly for a few years.
4:24
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's and that hey man, that's like one of the the the worst experiences in life, it has to be, you know, when you have that kind of stuff because you have a lot of contention, a lot of emotions.
4:34
SPEAKER_03: I mean, everybody wants a little something, I hate that.
4:37
SPEAKER_03: But it is applicable for like you mentioned for business owners because I mean, I consider my businesses my estate for sure.
4:45
SPEAKER_03: You know, and if if I was to pass, what is my wife going to be left with?
4:48
SPEAKER_03: How does she deal with it and all that kind of stuff, right?
4:51
SPEAKER_03: And make sure that she has clear ownership and all that type of stuff, right?
4:54
SPEAKER_03: Because it is an asset.
4:55
SPEAKER_02: And what about like personal guarantees that you have to sign up for with bank loans?
5:01
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
5:02
SPEAKER_02: Does that pass your spouse, right?
5:04
SPEAKER_00: Well, and even taking a step back, um, because some entrepreneurs don't consider disability.
5:11
SPEAKER_00: You know, we think about okay, if we die, what happens?
5:13
SPEAKER_00: But what if we're incapacitated?
5:15
SPEAKER_00: What happens to our business?
5:16
SPEAKER_00: Who can actually step in and run the business in our absence?
5:20
SPEAKER_02: That's probably even a more likely occurrence than death.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: It is.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: It definitely is.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, we'll have this widget that we are great at making.
5:30
SPEAKER_00: We'll open up a business, go, you know, grab an LLC from the Secretary of State.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: But in the event that we're unable to run the business, what happens?
5:39
SPEAKER_00: And that's the step that I really love working with entrepreneurs is actually getting their estate plan together so that there's continuity and your investors, your partners, um, your employees, and even your clients feel secure if you were not there every day to run the business because you have a plan in place.
5:56
SPEAKER_02: You know, that's interesting.
5:57
SPEAKER_02: One of the companies I serve as an outside director on their board um recently passed a resolution that if anything happens to the CEO, I become the interim CEO.
6:10
SPEAKER_02: And it's spelled out what my powers would be.
6:13
SPEAKER_02: Do you have all the power?
6:14
SPEAKER_04: I have all the power.
6:18
SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
6:19
SPEAKER_02: I mean, the truth is I'm probably more likely to keel over before him.
6:24
SPEAKER_02: But no.
6:25
SPEAKER_00: You look mighty fit to me, Mark.
6:26
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you're going anywhere anytime soon.
6:28
SPEAKER_02: That's what I was saying, man.
6:29
SPEAKER_02: He's he's been dropping the poundage lately.
6:31
SPEAKER_02: I've already smoked like a half a pack of cigarettes today and had about four cups of coffee.
6:36
SPEAKER_02: So looks can be deceiving.
6:38
SPEAKER_02: There goes his life insurance.
6:40
SPEAKER_02: My life insurance is already gone, dude.
6:43
SPEAKER_02: I got a I got a bill from State Farm the other day that said uh like my I passed like a 20-year uh fixed uh term life deal, and my and the insurance went from like whatever I had, it was like 20 times higher.
7:01
SPEAKER_02: You were Nikki Snow.
7:03
SPEAKER_02: Like, no, no, we're gonna end that one.
7:06
SPEAKER_02: But uh, but no, um, so yeah, that is a problem.
7:09
SPEAKER_02: I'm sure a lot of companies make it never even think about that, probably the majority of them.
7:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like my first business um ended horribly, not because the business went bad, but because we started the business with a handshake.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: So my partner and I, you know, it was an ad agency, had employees, we had contracts, it was great.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: And one day his wife walked in and said, you know what, I'm your new business partner.
7:34
SPEAKER_00: Right, but what can I do?
7:36
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, Lady, I don't know you, I don't like you, this is not gonna work.
7:41
SPEAKER_00: So we split the partnership, but it wasn't anything dealing with business.
7:46
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
7:47
SPEAKER_03: That's right.
7:48
SPEAKER_03: That's right.
7:49
SPEAKER_03: And like in all those things that you set up on your operating agreement or your, you know, your bylaws or whatever, spell those things out and we take those for granted in the beginning.
8:00
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we would like have a provision typically in a buy-sell agreement that says the spouse can't be the owner, that the company has to buy it back.
8:08
SPEAKER_03: But now you know that, don't you, Sherry?
8:11
SPEAKER_03: You know that.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: Look, when I tell you now, that just really fuels a lot of the conversations that I have with entrepreneurs.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: If they're already in business, or like maybe they get married afterwards, you know, I make sure that they consider a spousal consent agreement, which is like a prenup between their spouse and the company that functions like that buy-sell agreement and gives certain certain rights to the business and the current stakeholders.
8:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, divorce is a big problem.
8:38
SPEAKER_02: A friend of mine, he's got a lot of businesses, recently got divorced, and his wife or ex-wife tried to step in before the divorce was finalized and act as if she was an owner.
8:50
SPEAKER_02: Same, same kind of deal.
8:52
SPEAKER_02: Now, in the end, she didn't get any ownership of those businesses.
8:55
SPEAKER_02: A lot of times it comes down to, and I speak from experience here, same, as either you're gonna get this income or you're gonna get this asset, but you can't have both because you know, you know can't provide you the income on that asset.
9:13
SPEAKER_03: On that thread, Sherry, Mark and I often recommend that entrepreneurs they don't need to be really great at marriage.
9:19
SPEAKER_03: They need to be really great at divorce, right, Mark?
9:22
SPEAKER_03: Mark said that a lot of times.
9:24
SPEAKER_03: He's like mentioned that it's really just kidding.
9:29
SPEAKER_03: I'm kidding, but it does happen to us quite a bit.
9:32
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's happened to me a couple times.
9:34
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
9:36
SPEAKER_02: Sherry's like, what the So Sherry, though, let's take let's take this back to you now.
9:42
SPEAKER_02: So you gotta how do you how do these clients find you in the first place?
9:48
SPEAKER_02: Is it always, I mean, some of them might be thinking preventatively, but probably more often than not, you're trying to untangle the mess that they've already created, right?
9:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and and here's the thing.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: Let's step back to the original conversation when we started and we talked about your estate plan because that's like your foundation.
10:06
SPEAKER_00: That's the umbrella for everything that you do.
10:09
SPEAKER_00: If you set up, and I recommend a trust-centered estate plan, I really do not like a last will and testament.
10:15
SPEAKER_00: You know, you have to pay an attorney to draft it.
10:17
SPEAKER_00: And then when you go on to glory, your family has to pay an attorney to go spread it over the public record and fuss and fight with folks in court.
10:24
SPEAKER_00: But if you have a trust-centered to state plan that clearly sets up ownership of all your business interests and your personal assets, then when you pass on, they're just having a home going ceremony and it's very clear what happens in terms of business continuity.
10:40
SPEAKER_03: Can you can you kind of demystify that a little bit?
10:42
SPEAKER_03: I mean, even for me.
10:43
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I'll just ask in all humility for the audience, right?
10:46
SPEAKER_03: Because this stuff I'm sure I need to revise all that stuff, honestly.
10:49
SPEAKER_03: Well, I've gone through the whole trust.
10:51
SPEAKER_03: I have to several times.
10:53
SPEAKER_03: And like, I'll be honest with you, I'm like at some point, I'm like, whatever.
10:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I know.
10:58
SPEAKER_02: You know, this is surely better than nothing.
11:02
SPEAKER_02: Thank God my wife worked in law firms for years, so she actually reads all this stuff.
11:07
SPEAKER_02: But most people don't have but is that good?
11:09
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
11:10
SPEAKER_03: Is that good that you don't know and your wife does, Marcus?
11:12
SPEAKER_00: It's it's good for the wife.
11:15
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no.
11:16
SPEAKER_02: But so, yeah, how do people find I mean I'm not trying to get you to have yet another divorce?
11:20
SPEAKER_02: They they got how do they find like competent legal advice that understands the business aspects of all this stuff?
11:29
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
11:30
SPEAKER_03: No, I and then how does an entrepreneur have the you know, the understanding, the capacity?
11:37
SPEAKER_03: Because all this stuff gets really like it gets very complicated.
11:42
SPEAKER_03: You know, when you're looking through this trust document, it's 30, 40 pages long.
11:46
SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's brutal.
11:47
SPEAKER_03: Right?
11:48
SPEAKER_03: I mean, how do you how do you coach and guide your your your clients on that?
11:52
SPEAKER_00: It's almost like looking for a doctor.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: You know, if you stump your your big toe, you're not gonna call an oncologist.
11:57
SPEAKER_00: And so just at a very basic level, I would look at trade organizations that attorneys belong to that specialize in trusting estates.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: Because, yeah, you know, anybody that has a a license to practice law can do it, but would you want them doing it?
12:14
SPEAKER_00: And so that's the first thing that I say.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: Look at the types of trade organizations that they belong to and just do a deep dive.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: I do not recommend someone with a general practice, even though someone possibly could do it.
12:26
SPEAKER_00: But if you want your trust done properly, you just need somebody who lives in that world.
12:31
SPEAKER_03: So why though?
12:32
SPEAKER_03: Like why why is a specialization matter?
12:34
SPEAKER_03: I mean, like, just give this give us a few examples.
12:38
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
12:38
SPEAKER_00: One thing that I do, um, before I design an estate plan or put together a business structure, I consult your tax planner and your tax preparer.
12:47
SPEAKER_00: Because what I can do on the legal side may be beautiful.
12:50
SPEAKER_00: It may give you all these legal protections, but you may have some adverse tax consequences.
12:56
SPEAKER_00: So that's why you need somebody who understands both.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: Now, I do not give tax advice, even though I understand all of it that goes with a trust.
13:05
SPEAKER_00: An entrepreneur doesn't necessarily have to know everything, they just need to know who to call.
13:09
SPEAKER_00: So if you have a very strong tax planner and or tax preparer and your attorney working together, we can put you on the right path and get everything worked out for you.
13:18
SPEAKER_03: Can you give a little bit of a horror story of not having that kind of yeah, yeah, give a couple examples because that like where does the rubber meet the road in that?
13:27
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I have one client that had about 400 single-family homes divided across four LLCs.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: Got a default judgment against one of those.
13:38
SPEAKER_00: And you know, the judgment runs with the land, which means that everything in that LLC is attached to that judgment.
13:45
SPEAKER_00: He found out about it when he went to a closing, and there was like, okay, yeah, we have to pay this off so you won't be getting this big check you thought you were gonna get at closing.
13:53
SPEAKER_00: We've been able to kind of bifurcate all of those things, um, look at the different asset classes and the use of the properties.
14:00
SPEAKER_00: Put some, put some in a land trust.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: Most that have tenants um have been put in single family, I mean single member LLCs.
14:08
SPEAKER_00: So I have to really bifurcate your legal liability and then your tax liability.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of what I do day to day, it's not just me working in a silo, it's me working with people that are your strategic advisors and primarily your accountants, because sometimes it's counterintuitive what I do versus what they do.
14:26
SPEAKER_00: But if you have a strong attorney and a strong accountant, you don't have to know it all.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: You just got to know who to call.
14:31
SPEAKER_03: Just so I'm clear on that that that case study you just talked about, different entity structures, they have to kind of they have to be a special, like you mentioned land, and then you have a tenant on on that side.
14:44
SPEAKER_03: There's different tax implications, and that LLC or that entity needs to be just 100% focused on, hey, I am a land LLC.
14:53
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
14:54
SPEAKER_03: And I am a like a rental or or tenant-based LLC.
14:58
SPEAKER_03: So and then whenever I file taxes, I is that is that correct?
15:03
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, I've had that, I experienced problems with that myself because I put every single thing into a corporation that I had real estate with.
15:13
SPEAKER_02: Everything, like like all my real estate um investment properties were all owned by Marksweig Inc.
15:20
SPEAKER_02: Correct.
15:21
SPEAKER_02: Okay, and that had tax consequences for me.
15:24
SPEAKER_02: Like what does that mean though?
15:25
SPEAKER_02: What do you mean by tax consequences?
15:27
SPEAKER_02: Like, meaning that there were times I would have been better off from a tax standpoint if I had done what Sherry said, had individual LLCs owning each one of these properties that we had.
15:40
SPEAKER_03: Why is that?
15:41
SPEAKER_03: Just because of the way the I guess the law's designed and it taxes certain things that are.
15:45
SPEAKER_02: I couldn't capture certain losses and things that should have been able to write off on my return.
15:51
SPEAKER_03: And can you not capture those losses though, in just like accounting in the bookkeeping?
15:56
SPEAKER_03: Or is it literally like how you how their entities are filed and set up and what the intent of that entity is, right?
16:03
SPEAKER_00: Kind of depends because, okay, in this instance, Mark, um, if you and your wife are filing a joint return, another reason we try to separate some of the entities, like one of you may have a lot of losses and one of you may have a lot of tax liability.
16:17
SPEAKER_00: So I have one couple, um, she is a licensed real estate agent, but her and her husband are very active in real estate.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: So he can qualify as a real estate professional who is unlicensed under the R under the IRS tax code.
16:31
SPEAKER_00: And so there's an offset there.
16:33
SPEAKER_00: And so you kind of just kind of do it strategically and have the conversations.
16:37
SPEAKER_00: Now, I will not have known that unless I was working with their accountant.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: So from a legal standpoint, I had initially designed something that was great, but it didn't give them all the benefits until I knew that he was actively, you know, renting property and buying property and doing other things.
16:53
SPEAKER_03: Right.
16:53
SPEAKER_03: Gotcha.
16:54
SPEAKER_03: Because really everything, I mean, it's either by the tax employment identification number.
17:00
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
17:00
SPEAKER_03: But all that stuff is kind of tapped into even your personal social security number, right?
17:06
SPEAKER_03: And so in your profession might matter.
17:08
SPEAKER_03: Like you have there's a lot of tax laws and regulations against like a real estate, licensed real estate professional.
17:15
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, stuff we don't even know about.
17:16
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we we have no idea.
17:17
SPEAKER_03: There have been laws that have been written forever or like the thousands of pages.
17:22
SPEAKER_02: That's why we need to call Sherry for God.
17:24
SPEAKER_02: I know.
17:25
SPEAKER_02: What have I been doing?
17:26
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
17:26
SPEAKER_00: What have you been doing?
17:28
SPEAKER_02: I have no idea.
17:29
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
17:29
SPEAKER_02: Sign documents?
17:31
SPEAKER_02: We're not worried about that.
17:32
SPEAKER_02: Paying taxes.
17:33
SPEAKER_02: We're just trying to get more revenue coming at.
17:36
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
17:37
SPEAKER_03: That's all we care about.
17:38
SPEAKER_03: All that's been going in my head is sales today.
17:40
SPEAKER_03: How do I do that?
17:43
SPEAKER_02: It's all I know.
17:44
SPEAKER_02: That's where I am.
17:47
SPEAKER_02: Sherry, do you work across state lines or do you only work in Mississippi?
17:51
SPEAKER_00: So I'm licensed as an attorney to give legal advice in Mississippi.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: But I work with people all over the world as like the quarterback for your money team.
18:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, all your strategic advisors, that's your money team.
18:03
SPEAKER_00: So I basically look at who you have that you're currently working with and kind of put together a playbook for what everybody should be doing.
18:10
SPEAKER_00: Because honestly, most of them are working in silos.
18:13
SPEAKER_00: They don't talk to each other, they just talk to you.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: And I get them kind of on the same page and working together.
18:20
SPEAKER_03: 100%.
18:21
SPEAKER_03: Because, like, I mean, even if you're a small starting out business, right?
18:24
SPEAKER_03: I mean, you're going to have a I mean, you you uh uh a CPA or an accountant for your personal taxes and your tax returns, or maybe you're doing them from turbo tax or something, but then you get I would always have my regular accountants that do all my businesses, also personal.
18:40
SPEAKER_03: Would you?
18:41
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I I've been in a situation where I had different entities with different CPAs and a different one doing personal.
18:48
SPEAKER_02: Not good.
18:48
SPEAKER_03: Really?
18:49
SPEAKER_02: Run it all through one company.
18:51
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
18:51
SPEAKER_02: That's my experience.
18:52
SPEAKER_02: I don't know what you think, Sherry, but I found that uh they gotta know what each other is doing.
18:59
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, right.
19:00
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and so like the and then you might have an attorney, you know, your family attorney, your state attorney, you got a business attorney, corporate HR.
19:08
SPEAKER_03: All these things are all over the place.
19:10
SPEAKER_03: Your bank, yeah, your investors, if you have investors, right?
19:14
SPEAKER_03: Uh all that stuff.
19:14
SPEAKER_03: And so you're you're right.
19:16
SPEAKER_03: They all work in silos, and all of them are working for their own paycheck.
19:20
SPEAKER_03: I mean, let's be honest, right?
19:21
SPEAKER_03: I mean, everybody's just working to get paid for what they do.
19:24
SPEAKER_03: And they're not, I would I mean, I tell you what, it's always driven me crazy in the in the economy, right?
19:30
SPEAKER_03: Like I've if I pay you for service, I'm like expecting you to be the expert and make a phone call if you see that something needs to be done.
19:37
SPEAKER_03: You don't find many people like that on the planet.
19:39
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
19:40
SPEAKER_03: Period.
19:40
SPEAKER_03: Right?
19:41
SPEAKER_03: That are just like self-starting, I'm doing my job the right way, and I'm gonna go the extra mile to help my client win.
19:49
SPEAKER_03: That mentality doesn't really exist majority-wise.
19:52
SPEAKER_03: And so somebody like you, Sherry, you come in the picture and you just wrangle these folks up.
19:57
SPEAKER_03: You try to understand the big picture, you're talking to myself as the you know, as your client, and then you and and you're just making sure everything is is lined out and ever and and things that need to be adjusted.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: Also identifying gaps, because you may have a tax preparer, but not a tax planner.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: Your tax preparer is looking in the rear view window, but your tax planner is looking ahead.
20:21
SPEAKER_00: And so you're wondering why are you paying all these taxes every year?
20:25
SPEAKER_00: Because you don't have tax planning.
20:28
SPEAKER_00: And so that's just like one example of people working in silos, and you are missing all of the benefits.
20:34
SPEAKER_03: Do you have folks like contractors that you work with, like a tax, like you if you if I didn't have a tax planner, you could say, Hey, Erica, you know, I got somebody that that I would recommend that you talk with that that actually does good planning.
20:46
SPEAKER_03: You've seen them work and all that other kind of stuff.
20:48
SPEAKER_00: I've been I've been so fortunate to meet so many great people who are excellent at what they do.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, my goal is really to work with who you have first, because those existing relationships, they have the historical knowledge about your business.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: But if you don't have somebody, there's like a network of names that I can give you to say, hey, see if this is a good fit.
21:06
SPEAKER_02: All I know is after I got rid of all my investment properties, all we do is pay taxes.
21:12
SPEAKER_02: All you do is pay taxes.
21:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we lost all our tax shelters through all that depreciation.
21:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
21:17
SPEAKER_02: And now it's just horrible.
21:19
SPEAKER_02: And trying to get off the real estate merry-go-round is horrible.
21:22
SPEAKER_02: I it's interesting, right before this um this podcast today, I was talking with a guy I know who is doing these 1031 exchanges, but basically the 1031 is you get like a micro share of a Pepsi Cola warehouse building, and you don't have to manage it at all.
21:44
SPEAKER_02: So it's not like I'm trading my 23 bedroom townhouse condos for a 41 bedroom, 40 unit one bedroom apartment complex, which is the way a lot of these 1031s go.
21:55
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
21:56
SPEAKER_02: And I never understood that.
21:57
SPEAKER_02: It's like, I know my property.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: And I know what's good about it, what's bad about it, what the maintenance history is, how the historical occupancy is.
22:06
SPEAKER_02: Why do I want to trade that off for a property?
22:08
SPEAKER_02: I that's like it.
22:10
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
22:10
SPEAKER_02: I don't e that I don't even know anything about.
22:13
SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
22:13
SPEAKER_02: So I cannot have the gain on it.
22:15
SPEAKER_02: Right.
22:16
SPEAKER_02: But this seemed like a really creative way.
22:18
SPEAKER_02: Have you looked into any of those yet?
22:19
SPEAKER_02: Have you seen any of those deals?
22:21
SPEAKER_00: A lot of those like are passive income strategies for real estate.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: So you don't have to worry about the maintenance and things like that.
22:27
SPEAKER_00: And you have a piece of it, but you don't have all the liability for it.
22:30
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
22:31
SPEAKER_02: I like the sound of that.
22:33
SPEAKER_02: If I had known about that, that might have been an attractive vehicle for me to maybe not lose all these tax benefits.
22:40
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's like a fund.
22:41
SPEAKER_02: It's like a uh like a mutual fund of real estate.
22:44
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's like a read or something.
22:46
SPEAKER_02: You've got a little piece of it.
22:49
SPEAKER_03: And you can 1031 that over?
22:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, evidently you can't.
22:52
SPEAKER_02: It's I did not know about that.
22:54
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
22:54
SPEAKER_02: But anyway, I've had you know, I'm just a classic case, and Eric, you probably are too, though you probably had better advisors than I did.
23:02
SPEAKER_02: Of all these siloed people out there and ignorance and not worrying about it.
23:08
SPEAKER_02: No, they don't worry about things.
23:09
SPEAKER_03: That's the thing, is like I'm not worried about it.
23:11
SPEAKER_02: That's the problem.
23:12
SPEAKER_03: Well, I mean, okay.
23:14
SPEAKER_03: They're not worried about it.
23:15
SPEAKER_03: I'm not worried about it.
23:16
SPEAKER_03: Well, I mean, like as an entrepreneur, you like we mentioned earlier, I'm I'm just thinking about sales.
23:20
SPEAKER_03: What's my next, how do I get my next sell?
23:22
SPEAKER_03: How do I get how do I build a business, can protect myself from competition, you know, gain my market share.
23:29
SPEAKER_03: That should that's legitimately requires 100% capacity on my end, right, as the entrepreneur.
23:35
SPEAKER_03: I mean, what what we don't have the capacity for is this expert, like reading tax laws, understand the burdens.
23:41
SPEAKER_03: How do you protect, how do you produce shelters, how do you set up entities correctly?
23:45
SPEAKER_03: What's my wealth advisor doing that my bank's not doing, and vice versa, and all that kind of stuff.
23:51
SPEAKER_03: And, you know, and I I think that the like I don't know, I'm just kind of going back on your your statement as quarterback because I can just see such a huge need for that.
24:01
SPEAKER_03: You know, and that's actually a really great value, I feel like, for an entrepreneur, because they're gonna be you're gonna be moving so fast forward, you're not gonna have time, and you need somebody that is gonna be looking out for your best interest to kind of collect all that and feel the burden of that responsibility.
24:19
SPEAKER_00: Definitely, because once you get all this set up, you really move from being operator to owner architect.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: Think about it.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: Before you have this set up, you're just working in the business all the time, and you don't have as much time to work on the business because now you're having to set aside separate time to meet with these people, to give them directives, to follow up, that they do what they're supposed to do.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: And I try to, you know, the first meeting is always the most difficult one.
24:43
SPEAKER_00: And I advise that they meet at least once a year, but if possible, once a quarter on Zoom.
24:48
SPEAKER_00: And maybe for 30 minutes to an hour, you have everybody at the same place, same time on Zoom, and you were putting together the mission for the company and checking benchmarks.
24:57
SPEAKER_03: So are you talking about in your in your role as quarterback, you bring in the the the tax planner, the tax preparer, the wealth advisor, all that, all those people into a Zoom or a digital virtual meeting once a quarter.
25:13
SPEAKER_03: And and you can you can facilitate that role as bringing all those parties together, including the founder and the business owner.
25:20
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
25:20
SPEAKER_00: And part of it as well, after that first meeting, um, I encourage the founder to um execute conflict waivers.
25:29
SPEAKER_00: You know, there may be some limited things that you want to allow them to talk about just outside of that meeting because as the year goes on, they should be talking to each other and you don't need to be present every time if the goal is just to get the work done.
25:40
SPEAKER_02: Good point.
25:41
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I would never think to do that.
25:44
SPEAKER_02: I you know, so how do you you do you just charge hourly for your services?
25:49
SPEAKER_02: I mean, is that typically how you do things or how do you bill?
25:52
SPEAKER_00: It depends.
25:53
SPEAKER_00: So I have a few packages that say, hey, you're gonna get X, Y, and Z depending on the size of the company, and then we can go into hourly engagements.
26:01
SPEAKER_03: What if I already had a trust, all my people like helping, and but you could you just assume that quarterback role and then you just you get paid on an hourly basis or whatever that arrangement is, and that you you you're just kind of the wrangler of everyone.
26:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I would still need to review it because here's the thing you know, the trust is not set it and forget it.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: You should be looking at your trust and all your documents once a year, or like, you know, once every divorce or once every marriage.
26:32
SPEAKER_02: So she's divorced.
26:34
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the stuff goes out of date quickly if you're people like us who are buying and selling things.
26:39
SPEAKER_02: Okay, it really does.
26:40
SPEAKER_02: It goes out of date really fast.
26:42
SPEAKER_02: I wonder if, yeah.
26:43
SPEAKER_02: I wonder if mine's even in date right now.
26:45
SPEAKER_02: I I don't think mine is.
26:46
SPEAKER_02: I know I need to deal with it.
26:48
SPEAKER_03: You have to list like every major asset in that trust, like so it specifically says, hey, this vehicle or you know, this whatever it might be, this this asset is going to this place.
27:01
SPEAKER_00: I would say it's gonna depend on the use of the asset.
27:04
SPEAKER_00: So if it's something that's personal, a lot of states have transfer on death.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so you literally can just let them know when I pass away, this is who I want to have my vehicle.
27:13
SPEAKER_00: It this is for personal use, and I recommend this.
27:16
SPEAKER_00: And they just bring your death certificate and they'll change the title.
27:18
SPEAKER_00: And that's like, I think here is like$26 to do it.
27:22
SPEAKER_00: So I mean, that's something, especially for an asset that may only be in use for less than 10 years, you don't necessarily want to put it in the trust.
27:29
SPEAKER_00: It just really depends on your use for it.
27:32
SPEAKER_03: But like in the case of your companies and all that stuff, like if I if I started another company, an LLC, I'd want to list out specifically what that LLC or that entity on my trust and what needs to happen with it.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: Yes, but always have a layer between your trust and your operating company.
27:52
SPEAKER_03: Sherry, I mean, that's such a disaster, okay?
27:54
SPEAKER_00: Right.
27:55
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, okay.
27:55
SPEAKER_02: Let's talk about that.
27:57
SPEAKER_03: That's the best question so far, Sherry.
27:59
SPEAKER_03: Listen, would you judge us if we sent you over like our disasters?
28:05
SPEAKER_00: Well, you just be my next case study.
28:07
SPEAKER_00: So when I'm on my next podcast, like, yeah, head of client.
28:11
SPEAKER_03: I'm not gonna call Mark's name, but um Mark Zwag, he's the co-host of an extremely great uh big uh talk, talk, talk show.
28:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's like this stuff, it's I don't know what it is.
28:25
SPEAKER_02: It just seems like everything is so damn complicated.
28:28
SPEAKER_02: I know, right?
28:28
SPEAKER_02: You know, get in.
28:30
SPEAKER_02: Why does it have to be so complicated?
28:32
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
28:34
SPEAKER_02: Because it is it's go ahead.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: Well, I will tell you this, um, and this is for every entrepreneur.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: The first thing you need to do as soon as you get off the podcast is go check your beneficiary designations.
28:45
SPEAKER_00: No, seriously.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: I had one client who passed away.
28:48
SPEAKER_00: His wife came to see me about settling his affairs, and she was wife number three.
28:52
SPEAKER_00: There were still assets titled in wife number one's name.
28:55
SPEAKER_00: And we know he did not want wife number one to have it.
28:58
SPEAKER_03: Hell no.
28:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I don't have that problem.
29:00
SPEAKER_02: I've I've done that, but yeah, that is a problem, I'm sure.
29:04
SPEAKER_02: You got these 401ks or whatever that are just sitting out there and you just throw money at them for years, and then you don't even know your beneficiaries.
29:12
SPEAKER_03: Could wife one really get the asset, even though wife three's married?
29:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
29:17
SPEAKER_00: I mean, she's that's who he designated.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's no different had he designated a charity for it.
29:23
SPEAKER_02: Or life insurance policies.
29:25
SPEAKER_02: How pissed off would Sonia.
29:27
SPEAKER_02: Oh my god.
29:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, wouldn't that be?
29:30
SPEAKER_03: I mean, thank God we'll be dead.
29:32
SPEAKER_02: Whoa, no kidding.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: Right, otherwise they'd kill you.
29:38
SPEAKER_03: But my wife or something like that.
29:40
SPEAKER_03: But yeah, what's it my problem?
29:42
SPEAKER_02: Right.
29:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
29:43
SPEAKER_02: It's a I mean, that's a really good point.
29:45
SPEAKER_02: I'm sure there's stuff like that that happens all the time.
29:48
SPEAKER_03: Guarantee it, man.
29:49
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
29:50
SPEAKER_03: So much to do.
29:51
SPEAKER_03: My God.
29:52
SPEAKER_03: Why is it so complicated, Sherry?
29:54
SPEAKER_00: Let's see, what you call complication, I call job security.
29:59
SPEAKER_02: You're not gonna get uh legal zoom's not gonna replace what you're doing.
30:04
SPEAKER_00: It will not replace it, but there are some attorneys that um advise people to use legal zoom to supplement what they do if they cannot afford the services.
30:15
SPEAKER_00: And so I see both sides of it, but you really do need a human component to make it real for your business.
30:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
30:21
SPEAKER_02: I I mean it's every time I look at anything done by LegalZoom, I'm like, uh, that ain't right.
30:28
SPEAKER_02: So, and I'm no attorney, but anyway, it seems like there's a lot of that out there.
30:32
SPEAKER_03: All right, so we've talked a lot about the setup of entities, right?
30:35
SPEAKER_03: And kind of what you need to do as a as a business owner to, you know, safeguard yourself, protect yourself when you establish a company.
30:43
SPEAKER_03: And, you know, I don't know, like here's one point to that, Sherry.
30:46
SPEAKER_03: Like, I'm of the mindset of, okay, I have an idea.
30:51
SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna go buy a domain for this, I'm gonna call the company, give it a brand for this.
30:55
SPEAKER_03: I'm definitely gonna set up an LLC for this if I'm gonna really go after the business, right?
31:00
SPEAKER_02: Why are you setting up an LLC instead of a corporation?
31:03
SPEAKER_02: It's my first question.
31:04
SPEAKER_03: Uh it's just geez, okay, Mark.
31:09
SPEAKER_03: Did you know that?
31:10
SPEAKER_03: LLC is not best for everything.
31:11
SPEAKER_03: Well, no, I understand, but I'm just thinking like a quick get to market, start start getting out.
31:16
SPEAKER_02: No, people do this.
31:17
SPEAKER_02: You're right.
31:18
SPEAKER_02: They do it all the time.
31:19
SPEAKER_03: I think that uh in my brain, I guess I've been taught somewhere that it's just a lot faster and easier, and I can get it done.
31:24
SPEAKER_02: It is faster and easier, maybe, but it doesn't mean it's the right thing, right, Sherry?
31:29
SPEAKER_02: Let's talk about the differences.
31:30
SPEAKER_02: Okay, yeah, okay.
31:31
SPEAKER_03: But but I mean, but my my statement was I have an idea.
31:34
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
31:35
SPEAKER_03: I buy a domain.
31:36
SPEAKER_03: Like this is what my I'm just talking about how my brain operates.
31:39
SPEAKER_03: Sure.
31:39
SPEAKER_03: I see something, I'm like, oh, that's a good idea.
31:41
SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna go capture that market.
31:42
SPEAKER_03: I can immediately get a uh, you know, a um articles in corporation, I have my LLC on copy and paste, boom, uh, boom, buy the domain, set up a bank account, I'm in business, and I start selling.
31:55
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
31:55
SPEAKER_03: Right?
31:56
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
31:56
SPEAKER_03: That's kind of my mentality.
31:58
SPEAKER_03: Now that's very typical, I would say.
32:01
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, very typical, right?
32:02
SPEAKER_03: And so, I mean, but at the same time, I'm not gonna immediately go run out to the trust.
32:08
SPEAKER_03: I'm not gonna think about the organization of the company and the S is it a C Corp, S Corp, any of that kind of stuff.
32:14
SPEAKER_03: I'm not gonna be worried about investors.
32:16
SPEAKER_02: Neither, it's an LLC, so it's not a corporation.
32:19
SPEAKER_02: But anyway, go on.
32:22
SPEAKER_03: This is what he does to me all the time.
32:24
SPEAKER_03: He just breaks me down in public, like shaming me.
32:29
SPEAKER_03: And so, like, I think the weight of trying to start something and get it to market, like, I don't want to sit around and contemplate and consider.
32:37
SPEAKER_03: Like, I just want to start, I want to see if this thing can sell, but I also don't want to sell something and put it into a different bank account.
32:44
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you know what I'm saying?
32:46
SPEAKER_03: Like, smart enough to at least keep things.
32:49
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
32:50
SPEAKER_03: And I do have to have a QuickBook subscription.
32:52
SPEAKER_03: I have to have all these things little separated so I don't cause a bigger mess later, but I also don't want to like make it this exacerbated circumstance.
33:01
SPEAKER_03: Is that okay?
33:02
SPEAKER_03: And then you can kind of like at some point, like, like I would say if I started collecting, you know, building some momentum, like a few thousand bucks in revenue first month and then the next month, I'm like, okay, now I need to legitimize this thing.
33:14
SPEAKER_03: That's when I would probably do the the the corporate conversion or something to that effect.
33:20
SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
33:21
SPEAKER_03: But do I have to put that in my trust account?
33:23
SPEAKER_03: Is that something you'd want to know as a quarterback?
33:25
SPEAKER_03: Like, Eric, did you start another business today?
33:28
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
33:29
SPEAKER_00: Well, really before you start the business.
33:31
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, to borrow this from Stephen Covey, begin with the end in mind.
33:35
SPEAKER_00: You know, you never be hungry and say, I'm going to the grocery store and not have a destination.
33:39
SPEAKER_00: So I tell folks to look at what your exit is going to be and then reverse engineer it.
33:44
SPEAKER_00: So the type of business, maybe you're selling widgets and you know that you want to exit that business five, seven, or ten years, and you want a seven, eight-figure exit, you just reverse engineer that so you can get that exit.
33:56
SPEAKER_00: Um, because sometimes that will get you to market quickly, but it just may not be the best structure.
34:02
SPEAKER_00: So when you start to grow and expand, that's when you start seeing the complications and maybe the tax implications.
34:09
SPEAKER_03: I could probably be the worst client you would ever have.
34:12
SPEAKER_03: Because my my You'd be the best.
34:14
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'd be rich off you.
34:17
SPEAKER_03: You'd be my best client.
34:19
SPEAKER_03: That's awesome.
34:20
SPEAKER_03: Well, I mean, one thing is it's like I would like maybe like, Sherry, like, I don't know if this business is gonna be a success or failure.
34:27
SPEAKER_03: I'm not trying to put much time into the exit plan.
34:30
SPEAKER_03: I just think it's a good idea.
34:31
SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna go grab the market real quick and and and test the waters and see what sales.
34:37
SPEAKER_02: I wish I could say I've got a business idea and I'm gonna exit in eight years and it's gonna be worth this much money.
34:43
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but I mean no, I'm just saying it's just we're not that far down the road.
34:47
SPEAKER_02: We have no idea where this thing's gonna go.
34:49
SPEAKER_03: Now, there are some companies, like when I look at podcast videos or ad fury, there's a lot there.
34:54
SPEAKER_03: And I do, I would, and I did take it a little bit more seriously when it brought it.
34:58
SPEAKER_02: They've already got a trajectory, though, that's even like in the in the origination idea.
35:03
SPEAKER_03: Like I could see the scale, you know what I'm saying?
35:06
SPEAKER_03: But there's some of these micro businesses like, dude, like I don't see an end to this, but I want to participate in it, and I want to own that.
35:14
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like you know what I'm saying?
35:16
SPEAKER_03: Like big talk about small business.
35:20
SPEAKER_02: Like Inc.
35:20
SPEAKER_02: or LLC.
35:21
SPEAKER_02: I don't know what's grammar it is, you know.
35:23
SPEAKER_02: We got it set up as a separate entity.
35:25
SPEAKER_03: It is oh, it totally is.
35:27
SPEAKER_03: We're 50.
35:28
SPEAKER_03: I'm 51 and you're 49.
35:29
SPEAKER_03: Wait a minute.
35:30
SPEAKER_02: What what?
35:32
SPEAKER_02: I thought I was 51 and you were 41.
35:35
SPEAKER_03: No, bro, that's not what you saw.
35:36
SPEAKER_03: I don't know what we're 50-50, but that's a good point.
35:40
SPEAKER_03: Like, we have no exit plan on it.
35:42
SPEAKER_03: We don't care, yeah.
35:42
SPEAKER_03: Because we're freaking getting stupid rich right now on cash flow from all of our sponsors.
35:48
SPEAKER_02: So we don't be a sponsor.
35:51
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna send every listener to Sherry, okay?
35:54
SPEAKER_03: That's the would you would you uh give us a testimonial if we send all of our listeners to you?
36:03
SPEAKER_03: We're just gonna like let's do that.
36:05
SPEAKER_03: Let's promote the hell out of Sherry.
36:07
SPEAKER_02: I'm telling you, that's it.
36:08
SPEAKER_02: Okay, Sherry Prince.
36:09
SPEAKER_02: You got a question, Sherry Prince?
36:11
SPEAKER_02: Yes, look, I receive it.
36:12
SPEAKER_02: I receive it all.
36:13
SPEAKER_02: Prince, Sherry Prince.
36:14
SPEAKER_02: Okay, but no, Sherry, please.
36:16
SPEAKER_02: Let's step back for a minute, though.
36:18
SPEAKER_02: I do want to bring back to this thing.
36:20
SPEAKER_02: My, my um, one of my pet peeves is I think everybody sets up LLCs and they don't really think about uh, first off, they're not set up properly.
36:30
SPEAKER_02: They have no valuation methodology in there, they have no way to get out of it, they've got no buyback provisions, whatever.
36:38
SPEAKER_02: And and then they want to start raising outside equity capital.
36:42
SPEAKER_02: So, how you know, how do you decide which is better to start with, uh LLC or a corporation?
36:51
SPEAKER_00: So I have a four-part framework that I work with founders on.
36:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, and the first one is deciding whether you have a will-centered or a trust-centered estate plan.
37:00
SPEAKER_00: Everything starts with your personal stuff.
37:03
SPEAKER_00: I propose a trust-centered estate plan.
37:05
SPEAKER_00: That's like your umbrella, your foundation.
37:07
SPEAKER_00: Then considering is this going to be um e-commerce or brick and mortar?
37:13
SPEAKER_00: Because now we're we start talking about different laws, rules, and regulations depending on where you're actually, where your feet are in the ground.
37:20
SPEAKER_00: Okay, third step.
37:21
SPEAKER_00: Do you require anonymity or is it public facing?
37:24
SPEAKER_00: And we do all this before we even talk about structure.
37:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, like if your last name is Kardashian, you probably want your business to be public-facing and let everybody know that you own it so that that brand recognition, people will go out and support what you do.
37:37
SPEAKER_00: Because most of the things that they do have the brand recognition.
37:40
SPEAKER_00: But if you want anonymity, you want to be incorporated somewhere like Delaware, Nevada, or even Wyoming.
37:46
SPEAKER_00: And Wyoming has become real sexy in terms of what they offer for entrepreneurs.
37:51
SPEAKER_00: Then only then, step four, do we talk about your business structure?
37:56
SPEAKER_00: Because all of that is going to inform where we incorporate and how we incorporate.
38:01
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
38:02
SPEAKER_02: I know, right?
38:03
SPEAKER_02: I step one, two, and three.
38:05
SPEAKER_02: I don't think I've ever taken.
38:10
SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, because there are so many things you have to consider.
38:13
SPEAKER_00: Like, okay, from a legal standpoint, um, where you incorporate at determines where you can be sued at.
38:19
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
38:20
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you have a real estate company, you want to be sued some, you or you're going to be sued where the ground is, wherever that house is.
38:27
SPEAKER_00: Even though I'm in Mississippi, if my house is in Georgia, then the law that's going to run with that lawsuit is going to be where the actual house is.
38:34
SPEAKER_00: But if I have an e-commerce business, it may be more advantageous to be in Wyoming because now the filing fees and the protections are greater than Delaware and Nevada.
38:43
SPEAKER_00: So there, you have all these different decisions based on what you have.
38:46
SPEAKER_00: Like if you're selling a product instead of a service, there are things that go along with that.
38:51
SPEAKER_00: And so you really need to know all of that before you talk about entities because the LLC could be a pass-through.
38:57
SPEAKER_00: You may need to take an S election.
38:59
SPEAKER_00: Well, depending on if you're selling products and you have inventory or you don't have inventory, maybe you need a C Corp.
39:06
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
39:07
SPEAKER_02: I get that.
39:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and what your exit strategy is.
39:11
SPEAKER_02: Um, man, I'm a big fan of C Corps right now, personally, because they got a lower tax rate associated with them.
39:17
SPEAKER_00: Not only do they have a lower tax rate, but are you guys um familiar with an accountable plan?
39:23
SPEAKER_02: No.
39:24
SPEAKER_02: I don't know anything about that, do you?
39:26
SPEAKER_02: Of course I do.
39:28
SPEAKER_00: Well, Eric, look, we're gonna we're gonna tell Mark about our accountable plan.
39:31
SPEAKER_00: There are all these things that you can get, um, like this gym membership that you're paying for out of your pocket and all the different benefits that an employer would have for you, are so easily set up with your accountable plan with a C Corp.
39:45
SPEAKER_00: And so that's like a tax strategy.
39:47
SPEAKER_00: But if you set it up properly and you have multiple entities, a lot of things that you're personally paying can be tax deductible or can be benefits from that company and considered income tax at that 21% rate.
39:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
40:00
SPEAKER_02: I'm I never think about anything like that.
40:03
SPEAKER_02: Hell, half the time I just use my personal credit card for business expenses.
40:08
SPEAKER_02: Don't you?
40:10
SPEAKER_03: I'm tired of you know why?
40:11
SPEAKER_03: Here's why, Sherry.
40:12
SPEAKER_03: I'll tell you why.
40:13
SPEAKER_03: Because I freaking hate tracking, I hate taking a picture.
40:17
SPEAKER_03: Like all I have to do, my uh my bookkeeper, Connie, she's awesome.
40:21
SPEAKER_03: But we got a deck system and all this stuff for everybody else.
40:25
SPEAKER_03: But she just says, Eric, just take a picture and email it to me.
40:29
SPEAKER_03: But I hate that.
40:30
SPEAKER_03: I know.
40:30
SPEAKER_03: I hate that with all the lives.
40:32
SPEAKER_03: So I'm just like, I'll just spend a hundred bucks out of my personal.
40:35
SPEAKER_03: All the time.
40:35
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
40:36
SPEAKER_03: Oh.
40:36
SPEAKER_03: It's like this could be written off, but yeah, but I just got it's a pain in the butt.
40:40
SPEAKER_03: It's such a pain in the butt.
40:41
SPEAKER_03: I don't have time.
40:42
SPEAKER_03: I don't either.
40:43
SPEAKER_03: I have no time.
40:44
SPEAKER_03: Anything like that, Sherry.
40:45
SPEAKER_00: Well, they have so many apps, you guys.
40:47
SPEAKER_00: Grab one of those like free apps on the at the Apple i store.
40:51
SPEAKER_02: Sherry, we're typical, okay?
40:53
SPEAKER_02: We are typical.
40:56
SPEAKER_02: We're so normal.
40:57
SPEAKER_02: We are probably like 95% of the clients that you deal with.
41:01
SPEAKER_00: And you know, honestly, I just I really love working with even like I would love working with you guys because it seems like I'd have so much to do um and so much fun figuring it out for you.
41:11
SPEAKER_02: You would.
41:12
SPEAKER_02: You'd have a big bill, though, or we would.
41:14
SPEAKER_02: We would have a big bill, yeah.
41:15
SPEAKER_02: It's probably worth it, though.
41:17
SPEAKER_03: I think so.
41:18
SPEAKER_03: I mean, there's you know multiple things that she's already mentioned just in this short time span.
41:22
SPEAKER_03: They're like, oh, we're like, what?
41:24
SPEAKER_03: I wonder how much I can save and tax on my God.
41:27
SPEAKER_02: Just doing it that way.
41:28
SPEAKER_02: I mean, kind of my gym memberships, my country club memberships, okay?
41:32
SPEAKER_02: Your country clubs probably write all that off through this whatever she called it program.
41:38
SPEAKER_02: Accountant plan.
41:39
SPEAKER_02: Accountability.
41:40
SPEAKER_02: Accountable plan.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: And if you Google it, I mean, they that's one thing that ChatGPT can do for you, is put together an accountable plan that won't get you in too much trouble.
41:50
SPEAKER_00: But just mention it to your accountant.
41:52
SPEAKER_03: Like accountants, that my accountants just typically are just like a um, you know, they just file taxes.
41:58
SPEAKER_02: I like a bigger firm because I like having the idea that there's some experts in there.
42:05
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
42:06
SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
42:07
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
42:07
SPEAKER_02: Not I I mean, I always start out with like the one-man band, and then it's the five-person company, and then, you know, and eventually I I do like I think from accounting um standpoint, it's better to deal with like a regional firm at least.
42:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
42:22
SPEAKER_02: That's got some horsepower and different areas of expertise.
42:25
SPEAKER_02: What do you think, Sherry?
42:27
SPEAKER_00: I think this really depends on specialization, um, and just making sure that you have the right people.
42:33
SPEAKER_00: Because it sounds like, Eric, you may just have a tax preparer and not a tax planner.
42:38
SPEAKER_00: And so one person can do both, or you can have multiple people.
42:41
SPEAKER_00: I like the idea of having multiple people because it's almost like a checks and balances.
42:45
SPEAKER_00: If your bookkeeper is different than your tax preparer, one they can point fingers like, uh, she's not doing what she's supposed to do, or she missed something.
42:52
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's so true.
42:55
SPEAKER_02: I had a mistake like that that really cost me a lot of money one day.
42:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
42:58
SPEAKER_02: Where I had a$500,000 injection into one of my businesses.
43:02
SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
43:03
SPEAKER_02: And I took the loan out in the name of the company instead of personally, and put it in there.
43:09
SPEAKER_02: And that kept me, that actually cost me like a couple hundred thousand dollars.
43:14
SPEAKER_02: Okay, that$500,000.
43:16
SPEAKER_02: Because of the way it was treated then.
43:18
SPEAKER_02: It wasn't equity injection, even though in both cases I'm really borrowing the money.
43:24
SPEAKER_02: There was no other owners of any of these entities.
43:27
SPEAKER_02: You see what I mean?
43:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
43:29
SPEAKER_02: But if I had to borrow it personally and put it in there as equity as opposed to borrowing it through the company and personally signing for it anyway, huge tax implications.
43:41
SPEAKER_03: You know, the the great thing though, Sherry, for Mark is that he's so freaking rich.
43:45
SPEAKER_03: That five that 200 grand is not a big deal to me.
43:48
SPEAKER_02: No, I used to be, okay.
43:52
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's that's like bubblegum money for Mark.
43:54
SPEAKER_02: Couple divorces in there.
43:56
SPEAKER_02: Did you used to be rich?
43:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I used to be.
44:02
SPEAKER_03: Are you happier now that you're not rich?
44:05
SPEAKER_03: No.
44:05
SPEAKER_02: Not at all.
44:06
SPEAKER_02: Not happier.
44:08
SPEAKER_00: But are you are you happier that you're divorced?
44:10
SPEAKER_02: Well, oh, from that?
44:12
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
44:13
SPEAKER_02: I guess.
44:13
SPEAKER_02: Was it worth the money?
44:14
SPEAKER_02: Oh my god.
44:15
SPEAKER_02: Oh my god, yes.
44:16
SPEAKER_02: I mean, you know what they say about divorce.
44:17
SPEAKER_02: You know why it's so costly?
44:19
SPEAKER_02: Why?
44:19
SPEAKER_02: Because it's worth it.
44:21
SPEAKER_02: Um, no, that was no, I'm fortunately I'm married to a fantastic woman who's my best friend, and and we've been friends for a long time before we got married.
44:33
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
44:33
SPEAKER_02: So that's worked out great.
44:35
SPEAKER_02: But no, there's a lot of things.
44:37
SPEAKER_02: I mean, look, all this stuff, half the time you don't even know how well off you are, truthfully.
44:42
SPEAKER_02: Until your accountant at the end of the year goes, you owe this much money.
44:45
SPEAKER_02: You're like, I thought I was doing good.
44:47
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
44:48
SPEAKER_02: Are you kidding me?
44:49
SPEAKER_02: It's like, you know.
44:51
SPEAKER_02: Well, they do say like what the They they call you up and say, I need$300,000 in your account in the next 48 hours, okay?
44:58
SPEAKER_02: Because it's going to be drafted anyway.
45:00
SPEAKER_03: I mean, like the the name of the game is interest, right?
45:04
SPEAKER_03: And then taxes.
45:05
SPEAKER_03: Or like your two either working for you or against you.
45:09
SPEAKER_03: Right?
45:10
SPEAKER_03: And and like, are you borrowing debt?
45:12
SPEAKER_03: Did you is that money is that$100,000?
45:14
SPEAKER_03: Is it better to take debt or take on equity or to give up equity and something that could be worth 100 X times that in them in as little as a year?
45:24
SPEAKER_03: You know, so that's what the entrepreneur has to really navigate a lot.
45:28
SPEAKER_03: And to be honest with you, it goes back to that principle, Sherry, of where look, I've got to sell.
45:34
SPEAKER_03: I have got to lead the team, I have to push the vision, I have to talk to clients, I have to convince people.
45:41
SPEAKER_03: Like an Make sure the service is good.
45:44
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, man, 100%.
45:46
SPEAKER_03: Like, that's the problem with all this.
45:47
SPEAKER_03: And like, and then as my experience as an entrepreneur has been, I try to pay people to just, for the love of God, do what you say you can do and help this machine get off the ground and this rocket ship going.
46:03
SPEAKER_03: But the experience that I can that I literally have had most of the time is that doesn't, it's like I might like a maybe a 15 to 20 percent of that actually happening.
46:13
SPEAKER_03: There's been a handful of people over my entire career that have, I'm not saying that haven't that have done their job.
46:20
SPEAKER_03: Most people do do their job.
46:21
SPEAKER_03: I'm talking about the folks that are like looking out for the best interest of myself and the company as we're putting everything we have into it.
46:30
SPEAKER_03: You know what I'm saying?
46:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I do.
46:32
SPEAKER_03: And so, you know, I and you know, and so speaking of that, right?
46:37
SPEAKER_03: So we talk about setup.
46:38
SPEAKER_03: Let's go, let's move into like the there, like you you have to set up all the things to consider there.
46:45
SPEAKER_03: And then you but you let's say I have a company, things start growing, and there's scalability that's starting to happen, right?
46:53
SPEAKER_03: I'm having to hire more people, I'm having to buy more inventory, make more investments, take on shareholders, take on more debt.
47:01
SPEAKER_03: Like, have you seen what are the pitfalls in those things?
47:05
SPEAKER_03: Like in the in the second, what we would call the second phase growth cycle.
47:09
SPEAKER_02: Where the legal aspect goes uh awry.
47:12
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, when stuff starts getting real.
47:14
SPEAKER_03: Because here's the thing Biggie Smalls, greatest statement ever, more more money, more problems.
47:20
SPEAKER_03: It's so true.
47:21
SPEAKER_03: It's so true.
47:22
SPEAKER_03: The second that your company starts doing well, like I actually, when I hear about Seven Brew right now, I always listen to Ice Cube on the way here, head today.
47:31
SPEAKER_03: That's looks good.
47:32
SPEAKER_02: That's looks good.
47:34
SPEAKER_02: Hell yeah.
47:35
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
47:36
SPEAKER_03: Were you smoking?
47:38
SPEAKER_03: Probably.
47:39
SPEAKER_03: Hell yeah.
47:40
SPEAKER_03: So the uh, but I mean, like, I actually like Seven Brew is a big is a coffee franchise.
47:47
SPEAKER_02: It's really one of the hottest in the country.
47:49
SPEAKER_03: It's one of the biggest, fastest growing in the country.
47:51
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
47:52
SPEAKER_03: Everybody, like, as I'm actually as the as an entrepreneur of me, I'm like, man, I don't know that I want to even be in those shoes as that as that person because the amount of freaking sharks and werewolves and snakes and rats that are coming after that company, I'm sorry, that are like approaching that company and all this attention, like you don't even know who to believe.
48:13
SPEAKER_03: Everybody wants a piece of that, right?
48:16
SPEAKER_03: And so that's when I think a lot of the the jeopardy happens from a legality standpoint, like all these things you're talking about, like when you're not set up correctly, you're not, you don't have a quarterback, and so you know what I'm saying?
48:29
SPEAKER_03: So I've I've talked for 10 minutes about that, and it's just a question to you.
48:33
SPEAKER_03: Do you agree with me, Sherry?
48:35
SPEAKER_00: Yes and no.
48:37
SPEAKER_00: So, no, seriously, you know, the I the favorite thing that attorneys like to say is it depends.
48:41
SPEAKER_00: So it depends.
48:42
SPEAKER_00: But um, if Sevenbrew is set up properly, it should not be a problem because some of these things you can anticipate.
48:49
SPEAKER_00: It really goes back to that moat.
48:51
SPEAKER_00: Give you an example nursing homes.
48:54
SPEAKER_00: Today, if you sued a nursing home, you would have to sue about 13 different entities because there's one entity that owns the land, then another entity leases the leases the building that the land sits on.
49:05
SPEAKER_00: All of the employees are leased.
49:08
SPEAKER_00: So if you sue the company, they don't have any employees.
49:11
SPEAKER_00: If it was an equipment malfunction, there's a separate C corporation that probably owns all of the equipment.
49:18
SPEAKER_00: So you have all these different companies, and then you have someone else who owns the intellectual property, which is the name and any marks.
49:25
SPEAKER_00: Well, same thing with Sevenbrew.
49:27
SPEAKER_00: As they grow, I'm sure that they have separated their assets from their operations and done other things in terms of legal protections and really things within the company to help ward off those internal and external threats.
49:42
SPEAKER_00: Because I haven't heard anything negative about them other than just they're growing very fast, which is great for them.
49:48
SPEAKER_02: Hey, listen to this.
49:49
SPEAKER_02: This is on another subject that I heard yesterday from a client of mine, um, and he's just an old friend of mine, really, that um they were hacked by Russian hackers.
50:02
SPEAKER_02: They demanded a million-dollar ransom because they had control of their computer system.
50:08
SPEAKER_02: It's a good-sized company, all right.
50:10
SPEAKER_02: I'll tell you that right now.
50:12
SPEAKER_02: And anyway, within 24 hours on LinkedIn, there were attorneys representing a class action lawsuit against his company because they'd been hacked and there was a data leak.
50:28
SPEAKER_02: Now, can you believe that?
50:30
SPEAKER_02: Within 24 hours, okay.
50:34
SPEAKER_02: So if he pays the hackers the ransom, then that gives these attorneys with the class action lawsuit the ammunition they need to come after him on behalf of their data of those whose data was lost in this deal.
50:53
SPEAKER_02: Pretty crazy.
50:54
SPEAKER_02: That is crazy.
50:56
SPEAKER_00: It's crazy, but if he's set up properly, he should be judgment proof.
50:59
SPEAKER_00: That's why you have to separate.
51:00
SPEAKER_00: Like you could sue his company, but if his assets are separated from his uh operations, there's he there's just whatever the insurance is gonna cover, and there's nothing else in the company.
51:11
SPEAKER_03: You know, I'm gonna make a statement, Sherry.
51:13
SPEAKER_03: Like and I know you'll back me up on this one for sure.
51:19
SPEAKER_03: That was that's called leading the witness, isn't it?
51:22
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, sort of kind of hey, business is extremely risky.
51:29
SPEAKER_03: And we talked about this before, Mark.
51:31
SPEAKER_03: I'm always harping on it, right?
51:32
SPEAKER_03: But the last thing I want to see is somebody that's not equipped to be an entrepreneur try to become an entrepreneur because they will find themselves like, how would you handle a situation like that?
51:42
SPEAKER_03: Like, that's my point of emotional intelligence about the entrepreneur, that there is something different.
51:48
SPEAKER_03: Like, you don't have to be a straight A student or a genius to start a business and be successful, but you do have to be able to go through periods like that because you're in a very risky scenario, and it's not just money risk, it's like you could be at the top of your game, everything's going freaking great, and I've seen stories like that, and then all of a sudden overnight something like that happens.
52:13
SPEAKER_02: One PR, a bad PR event can sink the whole company.
52:17
SPEAKER_03: And then it's ruthless, nobody cares.
52:19
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and so I like the conversation, Sherry, because it's really making me think even deeper and and more protective of what we're building here, because it's not as a business owner, it's not just my assets.
52:34
SPEAKER_03: It's the team that I have, right?
52:36
SPEAKER_03: Like we actually have a responsibility to protect our team members, even from a even from a team member.
52:43
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
52:43
SPEAKER_03: You said internal and external threats.
52:45
SPEAKER_03: That's what I'm thinking that you mean, right?
52:48
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
52:50
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
52:51
SPEAKER_00: Because I mean there are things as simple as um I know here in Mississippi, you are not mandated to have workers' comp insurance unless you have five employees.
53:00
SPEAKER_00: I tell my folks, if you only have one, get it.
53:03
SPEAKER_00: Because one lawsuit can sink your entire business depending on where you are in your stage of growth.
53:09
SPEAKER_00: So that is an internal threat.
53:12
SPEAKER_03: Speaking of quarterback, and again, I have so many problems, I feel like.
53:16
SPEAKER_03: But like insurance.
53:19
SPEAKER_03: That's just a whole nother matter.
53:21
SPEAKER_03: Like the the keeping up with who is insuring what.
53:25
SPEAKER_03: Am I really protected?
53:27
SPEAKER_03: How much is it costing?
53:28
SPEAKER_03: What am I paying for?
53:30
SPEAKER_03: Right?
53:31
SPEAKER_03: And they and the insurance cut carriers send you 500 pages to review.
53:36
SPEAKER_03: Like everything's just massive, everything's just built around all this legal.
53:40
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, just trying to get like this IT business continuation insurance and all that.
53:45
SPEAKER_02: Even trying to answer their questionnaire is difficult.
53:48
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
53:49
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
53:50
SPEAKER_03: Really is.
53:51
SPEAKER_03: Can you help to organize that and make and insure, is that what you're doing?
53:56
SPEAKER_03: Insuring all there's not any leaks around the castle on the stone wall?
54:02
SPEAKER_00: It's one thing that I do as well is I request copies of all your insurance policies, your personal vehicle, your home, all that.
54:09
SPEAKER_00: And we look and see if we have gaps.
54:11
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes you're overpaying for insurance.
54:14
SPEAKER_00: I try to reduce your premiums, okay?
54:17
SPEAKER_00: So if you had an extra$1,000 a month that you were paying in insurance premiums, what can you put that back into your marketing budget?
54:24
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you need to hire a new employee or maybe somebody part-time, because there are things that we can set up for you legally that will offset some of your risk and you don't need as much insurance.
54:34
SPEAKER_00: I'm a proponent for having the state minimums.
54:36
SPEAKER_00: Whatever the state minimums are, that's what I try to get for y'all.
54:39
SPEAKER_00: And then try to structure your businesses and your day-to-day operations to kind of reduce your risk so you have more money in your pocket every month.
54:47
SPEAKER_03: For a while, we know what I'll do with that money.
54:49
SPEAKER_03: I just let Sherry keep it.
54:50
SPEAKER_00: I'm and I would accept it.
54:52
SPEAKER_00: I would, I would, yes.
54:55
SPEAKER_00: Definitely would, yes.
54:56
SPEAKER_03: You found an extra grand?
54:57
SPEAKER_03: Sherry, you can have it.
54:59
SPEAKER_02: But she just opened up another principal Pandora's box.
55:02
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
55:03
SPEAKER_02: I gotta see your personal insurance now.
55:06
SPEAKER_02: I'm there.
55:06
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I just want the biggest liability umbrella I can get and I'll max everything.
55:12
SPEAKER_02: That's the way I'm set up.
55:13
SPEAKER_02: That's how we roll.
55:14
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
55:15
SPEAKER_00: You don't need that.
55:16
SPEAKER_00: Do you know that some of your home insurance policies will pay for um a suit if somebody defames your character?
55:21
SPEAKER_02: No, I had no idea.
55:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, if if you have that coverage.
55:25
SPEAKER_00: I mean, there are just so many things.
55:27
SPEAKER_00: And insurance agents, especially those that work on a commission basis and not a flat fee, everything they sell you pads their pocket.
55:35
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
55:35
SPEAKER_03: And you know we're going there, Bart.
55:37
SPEAKER_03: Because here's our mentality.
55:39
SPEAKER_03: I get an eight right now.
55:40
SPEAKER_03: Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna like the mentality of the entrepreneur is it's like, yeah, okay, okay.
55:45
SPEAKER_03: Well, just give me the best you have so that way I'm protected.
55:48
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I sign it.
55:49
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
55:49
SPEAKER_03: I'm out.
55:50
SPEAKER_03: Boom.
55:50
SPEAKER_03: Hey, I'm not worried about that.
55:52
SPEAKER_03: Send this to this email, we'll pay it.
55:54
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
55:55
SPEAKER_03: I'm I'm worried about selling something.
55:57
SPEAKER_03: Then I that's right.
55:58
SPEAKER_03: Then I look the next month and like, what the hell is this cost?
56:01
SPEAKER_03: Well, is it because you signed up for that big oh well, yeah, gosh dang, we need to move our targets up for sales then.
56:06
SPEAKER_03: That's my answer.
56:07
SPEAKER_03: Not, hey, will you go review this and bring this down as little as possible?
56:10
SPEAKER_03: No, sell more.
56:12
SPEAKER_02: I'm telling you, it's it's it's a it's a minefield out there.
56:15
SPEAKER_02: I mean, my God, uh everybody needs to hire Sherry at this point.
56:20
SPEAKER_02: It's clear.
56:21
SPEAKER_02: It's absolutely clear.
56:22
SPEAKER_00: Everybody, their mom, their dad, their grandma, everybody.
56:25
SPEAKER_00: Let's let's not leave anybody off the list.
56:27
SPEAKER_02: Everybody.
56:28
SPEAKER_02: So we got to wrap this up.
56:29
SPEAKER_02: But Sherry, if people do want to reach out to you, where's the best way to connect with you, find you, interact with you?
56:36
SPEAKER_00: If you if you're looking for some great interaction, check me out on LinkedIn at Cherie Speaks.
56:42
SPEAKER_00: But I also do a quarterly webinar where I break down a whole lot of this stuff and you can actually talk to me, ask questions, and hear questions from other people.
56:50
SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's on my website, um shereprints.com.
56:54
SPEAKER_00: And for you guys, I have a special treat.
56:56
SPEAKER_00: Are you ready?
56:56
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
56:57
SPEAKER_00: I have my first book coming out in October, and all these things that we talked about are just sprinkled all in the book.
57:03
SPEAKER_00: And it's not a lot of legal jargon.
57:05
SPEAKER_00: It's just, you know, do this, do that.
57:07
SPEAKER_00: And anybody can read it over a weekend, not alone read it all.
57:11
SPEAKER_02: What's that book gonna be called?
57:13
SPEAKER_00: Build the moat first, moving from operator to owner architect.
57:18
SPEAKER_02: I like it.
57:19
SPEAKER_02: I do too.
57:20
SPEAKER_02: Build the moat first.
57:21
SPEAKER_02: Okay, well, we'll be looking for that on Amazon.
57:24
SPEAKER_02: But um, so it's sherryprints.com, S-H-E-R-R-I-E.
57:30
SPEAKER_00: Well, you're close.
57:31
SPEAKER_00: You're close.
57:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, my mom named me after one of the Supremes.
57:34
SPEAKER_00: It's S-C.
57:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, S-C-H-E-R-R-I-E.
57:38
SPEAKER_03: It was there.
57:39
SPEAKER_03: Mark could I just it was written out from Mark.
57:42
SPEAKER_03: He just misread it.
57:43
SPEAKER_03: Sorry about that.
57:44
SPEAKER_02: I I blew that.
57:45
SPEAKER_02: S-C H E R R I E.
57:50
SPEAKER_02: Prince?
57:52
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
57:53
SPEAKER_02: No middle initial, just sherry prince.com.
57:57
SPEAKER_02: Prince spelled just like you think, like the little guy that did Purple Rain.
58:02
SPEAKER_00: The artist formerly known as, yes.
58:05
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
58:08
SPEAKER_02: He was one of the greatest musicians that ever was.
58:10
SPEAKER_02: But anyway, little red corvette.
58:14
SPEAKER_02: Um so we're gonna wrap this thing up.
58:17
SPEAKER_02: Uh, Sherry, we really appreciate your time today.
58:20
SPEAKER_02: You're a lot of fun to talk with.
58:21
SPEAKER_02: You are.
58:22
SPEAKER_00: Well, I've had a blast.
58:24
SPEAKER_03: Good, good.
58:25
SPEAKER_03: And maybe you'll get at least two clients from being on the show.
58:28
SPEAKER_02: It's a it's clear, it's clear you're doing stuff people need, including us.
58:32
SPEAKER_02: So we we really appreciate um your sharing with us a little bit about what you do and your approach to dealing with some very complex and thorny stuff that entrepreneurs and small business owners really don't want to deal with.
58:47
SPEAKER_03: And I'm gonna leave with one comment.
58:49
SPEAKER_03: What's that?
58:50
SPEAKER_03: Just to shed more light into Sherry's mind about the animals that we are as entrepreneurs, right?
58:57
SPEAKER_03: I don't trust anyone.
58:58
SPEAKER_03: I think that's part of my problem too.
59:01
SPEAKER_03: I don't trust like really, like every like, you know what I'm saying?
59:06
SPEAKER_03: The insurance companies, my providers, like I'm always feeling like that if if like if something bad happens, like who's gonna be there for me?
59:15
SPEAKER_03: And so, but that in turn makes me hope to God that someday I can find somebody that I can trust.
59:24
SPEAKER_03: So I think your business has a lot about empowerment, is like that trust factor.
59:28
SPEAKER_03: Like, can you be that confidant, you know, for the entrepreneur that they can call?
59:33
SPEAKER_03: And that you, you know, like whenever we get off the phone, Eric, you need to do this and that.
59:37
SPEAKER_03: Okay, sounds good.
59:38
SPEAKER_03: Can you do it?
59:38
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Sherry, I'm on it.
59:40
SPEAKER_03: Sherry's on it, and then it gets done.
59:42
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
59:42
SPEAKER_03: And like the blue ink gets signed, you know, and it's officially, and then it's sent to the state of Arkansas.
59:48
SPEAKER_03: Which I just had a problem recently by a small clerical error from a vendor for payroll taxes that they didn't close down a previous entity or notify the state that we were no longer paying for.
1:00:06
SPEAKER_03: The state was still going, where are our taxes for this entity?
1:00:09
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
1:00:10
SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, this became a huge threatening issue.
1:00:14
SPEAKER_03: And I and we were all we paid our taxes every time.
1:00:16
SPEAKER_03: But I mean, it's like because somebody that that's my point.
1:00:19
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
1:00:19
SPEAKER_03: Somebody somewhere who, by by the way, doesn't want to say it was my fault.
1:00:23
SPEAKER_03: No one wants to be accountable.
1:00:25
SPEAKER_03: Sure.
1:00:25
SPEAKER_03: You know, and it's always left in your hand, my hand, the entrepreneur's hand, as that's my problem.
1:00:32
SPEAKER_03: Let's throw it at Sherry.
1:00:33
SPEAKER_03: Make it hurt.
1:00:34
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, can we throw it at you?
1:00:36
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna I'm gonna throw it back at your money team when we have our quarterly meetings.
1:00:39
SPEAKER_00: So that's not gonna happen because we're gonna address that at the quarterly meeting.
1:00:42
SPEAKER_00: How about that?
1:00:43
SPEAKER_02: Okay, hell yeah.
1:00:45
SPEAKER_02: All right, sounds good.
1:00:46
SPEAKER_02: Well, hey, Sherry, thanks for being on our show.
1:00:49
SPEAKER_02: It's been another episode of Big Talk About Small Business.
1:00:56
SPEAKER_02: See you next week, folks.
1:01:03
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Big Talk About Small Business.
1:01:07
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1:01:21
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1:01:25
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