TAX SOLUTIONS

What's up, guys! 

Welcome to another episode of THE CALLING COLLECTIVE! Where we showcase different paths and callings so you can better understand and discover yours!

In this episode, we highlight Mr. Jere Mebane of JERNIK Tax Solutions. He is a financial thought leader and holds a wealth of wisdom on tax laws and regulations!

Mr. Mebane also is a husband and father of 2. Also, he served 20+ years in the United States Army! Check out his website to get your taxes done! @https://jernikfs.com/

If you think God may be calling you into the area of Finances, then THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU! 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

We have been conditioned to think we're supporting to get

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a

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refund. And we're not. What we're supposed to do is correct our withholdings accurately and break even at the end of the year. So when you file tax, it should be zero.

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Are you willing to do whatever God called you to do? What's up, guys? My name is Emmanuel Butts, and this is The Calling Collective, where we showcase different past and callings so you can better understand and discover yours. We got a great, very special guest today, Mr. Mabane. I mean, really just a man with a wealth of wisdom on finances, military life, and we're just grateful to have you on today. How are

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you doing

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today?

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I'm

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doing good. How are you

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doing? I'm doing well. How was your morning? Man, it was fantastic. Fantastic. Yeah, I just shared with the wife, did a couple of taxes and some credit profiles for another

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client. What is that like doing that on a regular basis? I know you built it over time. Just a small shot. What

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do you mean, what is it like?

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Yeah, how do you like it?

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I love it. I love it. I love it because, you know, I initially got into it Because I've always had businesses, right? And then I was seeing where it's a lot of money that was being left on the table. And then I felt, you know, we actually work hard for our money and we should get as much of that back as possible.

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That's so true.

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So I decided to, you know, learn taxes, got some classes, got registered, set up with the IRS, and then... I went full-fledged with

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it. Now we got what? Jernick Tax

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Solutions. It is Jernick Tax Solutions, which is a hybrid of my name and my wife's name.

SPEAKER_02 1:41

That's awesome. Yes, sir. And I mean, he did my taxes this season. Got me a great return. And I usually only get like$100. I mean, he gave me well over that. And just thankful for it. And we actually go to the same church. But it's just a blessing to see people in the house of God helping other people in the house of God. And so we're going to go way back though we're not gonna start here we gotta go back when there was no journey tax solutions there was no uh you know private med veins okay so for your first time right i was the first time yeah it's a first time maybe we gotta go back to all the way to probably 18 year old uh maybe a little younger than that you know i want to know how you got started and uh where are you from and what was your family life like

SPEAKER_01 2:24

all right so um i'm from greensboro north carolina okay my dad was in the We ultimately traveled a lot, but I'm from Greensboro. Played sports, wrestling, baseball, football. Man, everything. Soccer, martial arts, a lot of my life.

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Okay.

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Never played basketball, except in the hood. In the hood, all right. You know, I was short, so I went out on the... Oh, and I also ran track. Oh, man. And then, you know, I mean, I was... Early in the years, I was quiet. Didn't say a lot, you know. Probably not the most confidence early on.

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Yeah, I feel

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that. Then there was a point where I really focused on confidence and then I built that. Yeah. And I've never turned back from it. Wow. Ever since I could remember, I've always been an advocate for, you know, self-esteem, self-worth. Yeah. Positive. And most of the time... Anyone that know me from the day know I might have gotten in a couple of altercations. I like to tell people I always had a laying hands ministry. Now I just lay them in a different fashion. I never began the fights

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though.

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I was always, you know, taking up for the one being bullied or something of that nature. Which, fighting isn't a good thing, but You know, I mean, we came up, we had to do what we had. Yeah, do what you got to do. Then, you know, moving along, graduated high school. Okay. And I, my now wife, then girlfriend, we had our first child, and I joined the military. Wow. You know, I wasn't always, you know, doing the right thing. So I made a decision. I needed to do something different, get away from the, neighborhood, no cares, me being one of them. So I joined the Army, never intended on keeping in the Army. Wow. As a matter of fact, I never intended to go in the Army. And that's usually how people are, you know, the people that stay in the longest. I was an Army brat. I never intended on joining, even up until the day I went and joined. I was like, I ain't joining the Army. But I went, joined, and you know, ultimately, it was the best decision that I made, cause, cause. I like to tell or everyone now, it's probably not for everyone for the long term. But it's for everyone to begin, get on your feet, get yourself situated. And if you take advantage of what the Army or the military, whether you're in the Army, Air Force, whatever it is, if you take advantage of what it offers, you can't go wrong. Because it will help you get on your feet, get a little money, and you know, Now they offer a TA, so if you take advantage of it, plug. If you are in the military, and if you are offered TA, use it. But more so, the 401K. TSP, as we like to call it. Get the TSP and max it out. Max it out. It is no reason why you should not be maxing out your TSP because every soldier now, you come in there, the Army's now matching up to, I think, your first 5%. Yeah, yeah. So that's free money. Yeah. So if you max it out, If you're in the Army for any amount of time, you will have a nice little nest egg when you get out.

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Yeah, and I'm telling you, that money will grow because I'm in the military. That money grows so fast. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. That 5% means a lot.

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It means a lot. That's free money. That's free money. And then, you know, TA, take advantage of it. The Army is going to get what it's going to get out of you. We're going to go in the field. We're going to do PT. They're going to take your time. But it's great. institution. Yeah. Okay? I mean, you had your brothers and your sisters that you count on. Race doesn't matter because we are all there to do a job.

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Yeah.

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Look out for each other and combat our left and our right. And I've been in the combat several times.

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Yeah.

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Okay? And you have to depend on the people that's on your left and right.

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Yeah.

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So, you know, but anyway, but I'm a little biased. I absolutely love the military and I think it's awesome for anyone and you should definitely... Take advantage of it. Don't just get in there boo-hoo-hooing. It's always going to be some negative. It's going to be some positive. Because the worst and the best thing about any organization is what? The people. So if you have some great ones, it'll be great. If you have some terrible ones, it'll be terrible. But the beautiful thing with the Army is you can always PCS.

SPEAKER_02 7:10

That's true. So what was that decision for you to join the Army? What was that crossroads for you to make that decision?

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As I said, at the time it was my girlfriend we had our first she was pregnant

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yeah

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and so um um so i i made a decision to get out of the nonsense to hanging out the action of fool yeah join the army to get away and you know try and give them something good something better yeah i mean and and i was in the army i did um my first enlistment

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okay

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and then i was a bravo so that That enlisted me to six years.

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And what is a Bravo?

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A 25 Bravo is an information analyst operator. Okay. Basically, IT. Okay, IT. Make it short, IT. So I've actually been in commo or communications my entire career when I was in. Okay. I was on the IT side, then I went to the networking side. And in the last few years, obviously, I was a first sergeant. So I went in the Army. Okay. Got out of the army after my first enlistment.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Wait, hold up. In the army, did you start the tax business in the army or tax solutions? Not at this point.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

Oh, I thought you were here. Oh, okay. No, no, no, no. I did, but not at the time we're at now. Not when I was first in. Okay. I've had several businesses. I have a few businesses. Wow. But I began in business in... When I think I was a PFC or E4 when I first began business, it was multi-level marketing. ACN, it was American Communications Network. That was actually the name of it. It's an awesome business. But I like to tell everyone, even now, and I hold this to be true, you have to have a business. You must have a business. And the reason I say that is people actually look at online businesses as, oh, that's a pyramid scheme, this and that, so and so. Well, first of all, you have to understand what a pyramid scheme is. That is literally when you are signed up in something and you get paid to just bring people in. It's numbers, people on top of numbers. Any business that offers products and or services is not a pyramid

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scheme.

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Because if I didn't bring in anyone, I could sell those products and services myself.

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See

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what I'm saying? But This ain't even about network marketing, though. The whole point I'm making is in having the business, it wasn't about, and I didn't learn this immediately. This was later on.

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Yeah.

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It isn't about just getting in the business to make, make, make, make, make money.

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Yeah.

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Although you can do that. The business thing is about being able to have a business to take advantage of those hundreds of tax write-offs that the government allows us to do as ordinary taxpaying citizens. Yeah. Just like the businesses. Wow. Okay. So we actually look at like Amazon. Mm-hmm. billions and billions of our earnings pay zero taxes. We actually look at Trump, which I know, Trump in the high seat at the moment, I got it. This ain't even about politics, but when we look at Trump and the fact that he doesn't pay any taxes, everyone is in a uproar. But if you understand the tax laws, the business laws, the system, You really can't be upset at them because you too can take advantage of the same things. You understand? Yes, sir. In order to play the game, you have to know the rules of the game.

SPEAKER_02 10:54

Yeah.

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And that's where we are falling short at, okay, is financial literacy. Yeah. And I am very big on that. I advocate for that. You have to know what you need to know to take care of you. Yes, sir. So... In the Army, I had that business and I had a few other ones. I actually got into real estate investing.

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Yes, sir.

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Buying and selling houses, fixing up houses. Great. I love it. I am going to get back at it here this year. It is my plan because I really haven't done any of it here in

SPEAKER_02 11:32

Tennessee. Tell us a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

Real estate investing is awesome because And there's several ways of doing it. Okay. Um, I mean, I mean, man, you can actually go to, you know, um, um, for closure auctions. Okay. Um, or you just have money and you go and go and purchase something and then immediately flip it or you purchase, buy or rehab and sell it. Or you can do creative financing, which is, Everyone's hearing of it, but I don't think they really understand that you can get real estate without banks, without coming out of your pocket, without, you know, having to go in debt over it. Wow. Okay. There's things called subject to's. Okay. Where you basically, you assume the actual mortgage of a person. Okay. And then you offer... they actually want a price and then you get it that way. Or you can do, um, um, lease to, to own options. Okay. Um, there's

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plenty of ways to get

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it. Plenty of ways. There's plenty of ways. There's plenty of ways. There's plenty of ways. Um, I mean, so, you know, just, just you, you just gotta be willing to do the work you have to, and then, you know, learn it.

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Yes, sir.

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Um, so that's real estate. Love it though. It is a, Great. It is a great industry. Yes, sir. Okay. And if I can share one thing about real estate is you don't make money at the time of sale. And I think that's where people are messing up. You make money at the time of purchase. Because if you purchase it at the right price, you can always make money. Wow. If you purchase it, say the house is... needs some work and you were able to get it for, let's say 70, 100,000. But after you fixed up, that same house is worth 400,000. Now you have, you know, 300,000, 300 plus thousand dollars in equity, which you can take out the equity and you can sell the house or you just rehab and then sell it for top end. Okay. So it's a number of

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ways. That comes from the beforehand. You know, not the after.

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You make money at the time of purchase. Wow. If you purchase it right, it doesn't matter what the economy is doing. If you purchase a house at the right price, you can get rid of the house. Wow. Because if it's purchased well below what it's valued at, you'll be able to sell it. You'll be able to sell it. Or at the least, rent it out.

SPEAKER_02 14:19

Yeah. Dang, that's, that's pretty good. So, okay. So from going to real estate, did that shape your, uh, the journey tax solutions?

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So the real estate had a part in it.

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Okay.

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Um, but, but, but it was really just, you know, through trial and error cause I've, I've done a lot of business.

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Yeah.

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Some of them great. Some of them worked out awesome. Some of them, Not so awesome. I have some now. I mean, you know, other than, you know, tax office. But through all of the businesses, I just got focused on learning about the tax write-offs and deductions and shelters that I could get because I always had a job still. So I was like, man, you know what? I worked this hard. I'm making this right here. Where's all my money going though, you know? And then I used to think, like most of America probably, we should get a big refund. And that is the biggest, biggest misconception out there. That is so wrong. We have been conditioned to think we're supposed to get a refund. And we're not. What we're supposed to do is correct our withholdings accurately and break even at the end of the year. So when you file tax, it should be zero. You don't want a refund or you want to get a small refund. Because if you get a humongous refund, you have to understand what refund is, right? You are being, okay, getting your funds, okay, refunded. It means what? Again, right?

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Yeah, yeah.

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Again. Okay, so you have overpaid on your taxes all year long. Yeah. So if you get a huge refund, you have been giving Uncle Sam a no interest loan for the whole year. And then you actually get a piece of it back that's also taxed again.

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Wow. So, yeah, because your

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return is taxed. Absolutely. Oh, my goodness. So once you understand that a refund isn't free money, it's your money, but you still don't get all of it. So we teach you, okay, wouldn't it be better to correct your withholdings? Yeah. Okay. Correctly. Break even or just a little refund so that now the overhead you were paying, you actually get during the year. Yeah. So if your check went up an extra$200,$400. every two weeks, wouldn't that benefit you more than waiting until the end of the year? And then you wait on that to catch up things that you're in debt with. Wouldn't it make sense to get an extra$200 or$400 every single paycheck pay cycle so that you can do what with it. See, where we mess up is, though, we going to make it rain now. We going shopping. It's crab legs. I'm not even talking about the refund. I'm saying, if we correct our withholdings, Right now, if I sat with you and I said, hey, let's actually fix up, boom, boom, boom, and you were to get$200 to$400 more every two weeks. Wow. Okay? Most people, I'm not saying you, most would actually say, oh, man, I can eat out more. Go out here and get me some more shoes. Get some more rims on the car. This and that. We put a$20,000 system in our vehicle, and the car's worth$500.

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Mm-hmm.

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Doesn't make sense.

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It doesn't, no.

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But see, what we should do with that$200 or$400 is, okay, take it and now let's eliminate debt. Let's actually make some principal only payments to our debt. Eliminate debt as soon as possible. Now that$2,000 a month you are paying out just in debt payments is back in your pocket. Household. Now you haven't even gotten another job, but your pay went up$2,000 a month.

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Wow.

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That's huge. That will change lives.

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Yeah.

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It's all about financial literacy.

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Wow. Yeah. People not talking about that. It's just because I know, especially in the black community, you hear about that refund. And that's really like all people want to talk about what you're saying. You're talking about. every time you get paid making more money. Right. Yeah, and that makes all the world of a difference, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

Because you got to realize, right, that refund, right, if you got back$6,000, that means that you overpaid probably... If you don't have any kids, you overpaid about$6,000, okay? So if you take that$6,000, break it up over 12 months, okay? That's how much monthly I go back into it. Break it up, divide it by two. That's every two weeks now. That's how much money you'll actually get minus how, you know, taxes, okay? Now, if it was six and you have kids, you have to realize all the refund is is an overpayment of taxes and or credits that are also applies. Credits are huge. Earned income, child tax credit, solar, EV, charging stations. All those are credits. Even teachers get a$300 credit on taxes that probably most of them for the most, haven't even been- Yeah, they weren't even aware. Because the IRS assumes teachers throughout the year will spend about 300 bucks or less buying extra things, crayons or little pencils or gifts or something for their class. So they actually give them a$300 credit.

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Wow.

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Some of these are refundable, some of them are non-refundable. Non-refundable credits simply mean it comes off of your taxable interest, okay? A refundable such as your EIC and your CTC, right? Okay, those are, you are credited$2,000 for kids, right? Okay. If you don't have a tax liability, meaning that you don't owe any taxes, the refundable portion is$1,700 this year. So they will get back$1,700. Wow. A non-refundable just simply meant that too goes on to it. That's it. Even if you didn't have any, you don't get that. But that's a refundable one that you get$1,700 per child. Wow. Okay, so that's what makes refunds, right, is your overpayment of taxes and your credits. So I tell everyone, adjust your W-4 correctly, which is that form that you actually fill out when you're first hired on something. Now, most of the time, the problem isn't that people are just ignorant. That's not it. The problem is we get lazy and complacent. Because if you ever read the W-4, it says on there, you would be best served to correct your withholding, get your money through the year to put it on debt, so on and so forth. So the form tells you that. The form tells you. So what we're supposing to do with our W-4, a lot of people, and for some, it's an accident, right? They don't know, right? So when you get hired on a job, through life, you are probably going to change jobs, probably get married and or divorced, probably, I mean, you know, a number of things. Yeah, life changes. You're supposed to, when you have a life altering a... a major event happened, a life event, you're supposed to go back to your W-4 and correct it and change it. So you can literally update your W-4 every year if it's needed.

SPEAKER_02 22:24

Yeah. So what do you think? Because I feel like no one's ever even brought this up to me. What would you say that, what would you accredit that to? Just like people not having the knowledge or like...

SPEAKER_01 22:34

Probably just not having the knowledge or just not reading the whole form.

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Wow. People just signing with, you know.

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Even if you read it, the first time.

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Yeah.

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And you were on a job for 10, 20 years. You probably didn't understand. Yeah. Remember it. Yeah. Oh yeah. Okay. But, and then we're not getting that financial literacy that we should, we should be each one teach one. If I know something, why, why won't I share?

SPEAKER_02 23:02

Yeah.

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So I'm saying so, so, so every significant life event, you should revisit your W4. It even tells you on the form.

UNKNOWN 23:11

Hmm.

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Cause things happen. Cause if you get married, that changes your finances, right? Revisit.

SPEAKER_02 23:18

Yeah. And nobody's, nobody's ever told me that. I remember when we were doing our, uh, my taxes, you were saying like, did you update your domain for me? You got, and I, maybe they did it through deers, but like, honestly, I didn't know. Yeah. So like, I didn't know. And then I went into, uh, my pay and I did it. I was like, no, I would have never known. I do not say anything. So, you know, it's awesome to have people like you that know the tax rules and, um, know the systems. Do you have any other, um, what other services does journey tax solutions offer? Um,

SPEAKER_01 23:47

So we do tax preparation, counseling. You know, we actually come up with a tax planning session. Okay. Okay, cost, cost. Doing the taxes, I mean, it's at the end of the year. It is what it is. You're going to give me information. But I don't just simply get information, okay? Yeah. Once I get the information and I put it in, I'm going to ask you a series of questions. Yeah. Things that I think of that you may not think of. And... I'm saying, all right, hey, give me that too. Give me this right here. Do you do this? Do you da-da-da? So on and so forth, right? Because I am... I am trying to capture all of those things that are obvious. We do them, but we just don't think about it making it count. Such as one of the biggest things I ask everyone, do you own a business? A lot of people say no. So then I hit them with a follow-on. Do you have anything that you do consistently with the intent to make a profit? You offer services or products. You actually do it consistently with the intent to make a private. Magically, people are like, well, yeah. I braid hair. I do nails. What is confusing for them is they feel you have to have an LLC. You have to have a corporation. That's not what the tax law said. The tax law classifies you as a business of you offer products and or services with the intent. It didn't say you have to make it with the intent to make a Yeah. Mm-hmm. Basically, the business name is your name, and your social is it. But with a sole proprietor, you can also get an EIN, and you don't have to use your name. You can just simply get a DBA, doing business ads, or it's also called a fictitious business name. So now you don't have to write your name. You can write the business name, but it's a pass-through, meaning that all of the income, so on and so forth, ties in with your regular W-2 income. You will simply... do a Schedule C to capture the income and the expenses, which lowers your taxable interest. So if I have, let's say,$20,000 in deductions from my business, and let's say I make$60,000 from my W-2 job. That's my regular job. My taxable interest is$60,000. Let's say this is my first year in business. I haven't made any money. Yada, yada, so on and so forth. I am buying all of my supplies, whether it's a truck, whatever. Let's hypothetically say it equals up to$20,000. What happens is my taxable interest changes from$60,000 to$40,000 now because those deductions, that 20 minus it from the 60. So now Uncle Sam can only legally tax me on$40,000. Wow. That's why you have to have a business. That's why you have to have a business. We have to turn all of our regular stuff into business expenses. Yeah. Such as, okay, our phone usage. If you're using it for business, you write off that actual portion of it. One of the biggest write-offs is your home business use. If you have a business, I don't care what you... I don't care if you have a brick and mortar, you should always... also have a home office. Because you take the home office square footage by the rest of your home, that percentage right off the household bills. That's huge. Right off mileage. I mean, things you buy. Like on a regular basis? As long as it's used for a business. Absolutely. Such as, if you were going, we like to take trips, right? I mean, just people in general.

SPEAKER_02 28:05

Yeah.

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Trips. Let's say that you were going to Florida. Where y'all going? Chicago. Yeah, we're going to Chicago. Okay. Let's say that you own a business, which I know you do. Let's say before you went to Chicago, you set up a business meeting with someone over there.

SPEAKER_02 28:26

Yeah.

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Okay. Let's say that you are going on Thursday, Friday through Sunday. As long as you do some business on Thursday and Friday, you can write the entire trip off. Wow. Hotel, meals. Wow. The tickets to get there. All that stuff. So you turn your normal stuff into business expenses. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:47

Your normal life. Yeah, yeah. Completely legal. And that's pretty much like what you guys try to do at Journey Tax Solutions, right?

SPEAKER_01 28:53

That's it.

SPEAKER_02 28:53

Yeah. That's it. Your everyday life into write-offs.

SPEAKER_01 28:56

As long as you have a business. Yeah. We are going to teach you and show you and... coach you through, okay, let's maximize these business deductions. As well as, right, you have a lot of things that you can take advantage of. HSAs, okay?

SPEAKER_02 29:14

What is a HSA?

SPEAKER_01 29:15

That is a health savings account. Basically, it's money you're able to set aside for, you know, medical things. But it's completely tax-deductible. You actually write it off. Okay. Then all depending on how much money you make is not always the best move to get a Roth IRA. Maybe you need a traditional cause you can write off the interest side of it.

SPEAKER_02 29:37

Wow. But if you don't know the rules, you won't know. Then you can't play the game. Yeah. You went to college for business, but you didn't feel like it matched real life? No, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

How much

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did it match?

SPEAKER_01 29:50

I have degrees. Okay. Degrees. Yeah, yeah, yeah. My last one was in business, though.

SPEAKER_02 29:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

Well, my last one was in business and IT.

SPEAKER_02 30:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

But, I mean, it was good. But it wasn't what I thought it would be.

SPEAKER_02 30:11

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

And a lot of it was kind of unborn. I mean, I was like. I felt that too. When you get into economics and like. Once you've been doing it, I mean, you actually kind of like want to actually learn more of that, you know, but you don't. You actually learn like the theory books, the laws and so on, which is all interesting. Not all of it, but a lot of it is. And it's useful.

SPEAKER_02 30:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:33

But some of it. we're real world applications is where it's at. Right.

SPEAKER_02 30:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:39

You don't have to get a degree to be a business owner. You don't have to, to, to get to say you just have to have a, a willingness to learn. Yeah. So I believe that.

SPEAKER_02 30:52

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

But yeah. So that's, that's how we actually got into the tech side

SPEAKER_02 30:57

of the tech side.

SPEAKER_01 30:58

Okay. Yeah.

UNKNOWN 31:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:01

How would you, would you give any advice to anybody who wants to get into the financial realm or like, you know, maybe they feel like they're business minded like you, would you, what advice would you give them? Well, you know what? I,

SPEAKER_01 31:12

I believe this right here as far as a business. Okay. You, you should do something you have a passion about.

SPEAKER_02 31:18

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 31:19

Cause if you have a passion with it, it's not like, It's not work. It isn't work.

SPEAKER_02 31:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:24

You'll enjoy doing it. Right. And then, you know, um, any business out there, most of the time is nothing new. Someone just sees a flaw in something and they come up with a better way to do it. So I'm saying, so, but as far as anyone that's driven and that wants to own a business, I absolutely say do it. I will always tell you, absolutely get a business. You know what I'm saying? But, um, When you're getting a business, make sure you take the time to understand and learn the business. Learn the backside of the business, which is the admin side, the back office.

SPEAKER_02 32:05

Do you feel like when you first started, that was something you really had to take time and learn? Absolutely. Or a lot of it come natural to you?

SPEAKER_01 32:14

A lot of things come natural, but I won't lie to you. There's a lot of things I had to learn.

SPEAKER_02 32:19

Yeah,

SPEAKER_01 32:20

yeah. I mean, because... If I wasn't never in that circle, then I can't possibly know him.

SPEAKER_02 32:25

See

SPEAKER_01 32:26

what I'm saying? So a lot of things I had to learn. I learned from some good... people, then there was some bad ones who were actually teaching, right? But you can take lessons from anyone, okay? Then you actually know what not to do, right? So even in the military, good leaders and you got bad

SPEAKER_02 32:47

ones,

SPEAKER_01 32:47

okay? You have your two bag. Put what's useful in your two bag, whatever's not, and you cast aside and don't do it. But a lot of, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 32:56

No, I was going to say, how did you get those mentors? I know some come just from life, but I remember you said you were talking to millionaires. How did you get in contact with those type of people? I'm just trying

SPEAKER_01 33:07

to paint the picture. In the business circles. Wow. Yeah, I mean, because if you're in business, there's probably a millionaire that launch it or I'm on it. And if it's a good one, you'll eventually meet those millionaires. Whether it's like pancreas or war ceremonies and isn't that so and so forth. So

SPEAKER_02 33:30

you really got to get into it to really start meeting the people that you, you know.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

Well, you got to seek out knowledge.

SPEAKER_02 33:36

Yeah, yeah. So you can't just sit and just hope for it to happen.

SPEAKER_01 33:39

You can't just sit and hope and wish and, you know, think and all that. You have to go and seek it out. If you want to know how to make a million dollars go ask a millionaire wow if you want to know how to how to how to actually build a house go ask a prisoner builds a house

SPEAKER_02 33:54

yeah

SPEAKER_01 33:55

you

SPEAKER_02 33:55

yeah yeah yeah i get what you say that's it so what would you say for i mean the first steps like what can they do to really start um i know walking in that maybe that financial or the real estate you know that type of lane what what are the first steps they can take to beginning to beginning yeah to get you know what Because we want to break it down so people don't have no excuse.

SPEAKER_01 34:18

The first thing that I would tell you as far as trying to do anything, whether it's business or if it's your calling in life, is first you got to know what that calling is. First you got to know what what that purpose is

SPEAKER_02 34:43

you

SPEAKER_01 34:45

actually want to do. Then you should have a why. That why is key. Because when things are failing, when things aren't working, when it's not panning out, when you've tried one and it failed, you're either going to give up or you're going to dig in deeper. You're going to try again. So that why is what it says. That why is that fuel. Why am I willing to go through this suffering and this pain?

UNKNOWN 35:10

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 35:11

Mine is my family. Mine is always my family. I don't work for me. I don't build businesses for me. You know what I'm saying? I do it. I didn't join the Army for me. As I said, I wasn't never joining the Army. I did it because I wanted better for my family. And then if I can work hard and build something to leave them, why wouldn't I give them a leg up? Why wouldn't I have my kids set up so that when they get older, they don't have to work as hard, but they should have a work ethic. They should know what work is, right? But I would say, man, first of all, man, you have to have a belief in you, first of all. You have to have a belief in you, okay? You have to have a drive. No quit. But as far as beginning businesses, it's really not hard. Decide, first of all, what you think you want to do. Then you have to create your entity. If it's going to be a sole prop, it's easy. Done. If it's an LLC, then you need to create an LLC. If it's a corporation, you need to create a corporation, which is simple. Go on the Secretary of State site. And it'll walk you through it. Yeah. You can actually set it up. Or you can pay the companies out there and they'll... And they'll do it for you. Okay. But it's like, there's really no excuse. It really isn't. It really isn't. So then after you actually set up your LLC or your corporation or you actually do it as a sole prop, okay, you want to have your business bank account. You want to separate your personal money from your business, okay? Make sure you have your EIN, okay? These are all things... That are pretty much free. No, no, no. I'm sorry. The entity costs.

SPEAKER_02 37:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:07

In most areas, it's about$300. Yeah, but it's not. It's not.

SPEAKER_02 37:10

It ain't that.

SPEAKER_01 37:12

For the sole prop, it's free. Business account, well, what?

SPEAKER_02 37:18

Maybe$250. Yeah,$250. Not$2,500.$250.$250. Something

SPEAKER_01 37:23

like that. So it's really... very inexpensive to get started.

SPEAKER_02 37:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:29

All depending on what you want to do. Now, if it's like a trucking company, then you obviously need a truck. You need this and that, so and so forth, okay? But it's very simple, okay? Know what you want to do. Set up your entity, okay? Go online, knock it out, set up your business accounts, all right? Then... Get to, you know, learning all of this stuff. You should be learning this stuff prior to them. You know what I'm saying? Once you figure out you actually want to do something, now you kind of want to know something about it, right? So then you just get in that thing, you know? And then take off running. Take off running. Take off running. But understand, so many people get held up with business when I tell them, well, get you a business. One, it's like, well, I'm going to pay this right here. What if it don't work out? What if it don't work out? That's one answer. Two, if it's online, such as a multi-level marketing or something, you have the fee to get in, which is usually TV, probably about anywhere from like$39 to$100 usually, then you have your monthly membership, right? Okay, and they're like, man, I'm paying this monthly. But if you understand business, that membership fee monthly, the amount cost you get into, you write it off at the end of the year. It's a business expense, so it's really free. Yes, you pay it up front, but it's free. So if you understand that, you quit fussing over that, right? Short-sighted. You got to look at the bigger picture. Look down... Down the road.

SPEAKER_02 39:13

So you got any last words for those that want to start the business, don't know what their call is, but they want to get into that. What would you say to those people?

SPEAKER_01 39:24

I would say that they should definitely look at getting into something. Don't be afraid to fail. Look and see what they have an interest in, a passion in, and just begin there. All the rest of it can build off of it. Then realize that the first one that you enter may not, and it's usually not going to be the last one that you get into, right? But definitely take a risk on yourself. Take a chance on you, okay? But you have to have a focus. You have to have a why, all right? And then just... Do it. Yeah. Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it. Yeah. Take advantage of it. How

SPEAKER_02 40:15

would you say your faith is, you know, inspired you in this business?

SPEAKER_01 40:18

Man, you know, man, I know that God has brought me a very long way. Yeah. I know that without him, I wouldn't be able to do anything. I mean, you know, even when I was in the Army, going to combat several times. Yeah. I mean, I always made it... back home. He always had his hands on me. Even when I was younger, being a knucklehead, he always had his hands on me. So I know that without a doubt, it's because of God and his grace and his mercy that I'm even able to do the things I'm doing. I'm blessed each and every day. I mean, it may not be absolutely Where I envision it

SPEAKER_02 41:12

yet. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:14

Yet. I'm going to say yet. Yeah. But I know as long as I just keep on moving forward, keep keeping first, understand that life is going to happen.

SPEAKER_02 41:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:29

We're going to have good days. We're going to have bad days. Things are going to come up. If I just continue to be faithful and, And trying to be a better version of myself every single day and lead my family that way,

SPEAKER_02 41:44

then

SPEAKER_01 41:45

I know the rest of it will work out, you know,

SPEAKER_02 41:47

because

SPEAKER_01 41:48

we often get caught up in entertaining all of these worldly things, you know. But once you realize that's really not the goal,

SPEAKER_02 42:00

you

SPEAKER_01 42:01

know, then the rest of it, I mean, yes, it's cool to have. Yes, he will bless us. with it because he wants us to live as kings and queens here.

SPEAKER_02 42:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:12

But we have to do some work too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:15

Right. You

SPEAKER_01 42:15

know, so faith without works is dead. Yeah. So we got to have faith and we got to put in the work.

SPEAKER_02 42:21

Yeah. Facts. So we're going to pray it out and then, uh, and that'll be it. So, uh, God, we thank you for this time. We thank you for allowing, uh, Mr. Memane to come on this podcast and share some wisdom with us. Father, there's anybody that wants to go down the finance route that wants to be an investor, wants to be in that, that sphere. Father, I pray that you would just, uh, put the right people in their paths, Lord, and help them Lord, to have faith, but also put in the work, Lord. And we thank you for him coming on the podcast. Pray that you would bless him and his family and the endeavors that you've given him to do, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 42:56

Amen. We appreciate you coming on. Hey, I appreciate you having me. No doubt.