Welcome to the Virtual Antics podcast, where we help entrepreneurs streamline their business to six figures and beyond. These short, sweet and info packed episodes will inspire, educate and leave you feeling motivated to take one more step forward in your business. So put down your never-ending to-do list, because in this podcast we are interviewing the best of the best in the entrepreneurial world as they spill their secrets to success. This podcast is sponsored by Nandora, the all-in-one software for entrepreneurs to grow their business, with unlimited landing pages, automations, emails and text campaigns, and so much more. I'm your host, natalie Guzman. Now let's get into it. Hey guys, welcome back to Virtual Antics podcast. As always, I'm your host, natalie Guzman, and today I'm so excited I have Colin Sandberg with us. He is a multi-business owner and founder of Thin Elevate. This MBA-led strategic finance firms helps business owners use their numbers to make money rather than simply better categorizing their expenses. Colin, how are you doing today?
Speaker 2Doing great. Natalie, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1I'm so excited to have you. One of my favorite subjects to talk about is finance, strangely enough, probably because it's one I least know about, so that always gives me that little bit of challenge. So tell us a little bit more about what you do and how you guys help business owners.
Speaker 2Yeah, so, as you said in the intro, I'm a multi-business owner myself. So everything I do I approach from the perspective of what does this mean to a business owner? And really this was a problem I was trying to solve for myself, which was across having multiple businesses. I was always kind of the finance guy. That was just kind of the way I looked at business, just more of a numbers person. And so as I helped the businesses that I owned, I realized from knowing other entrepreneurs how rare that was, that they really had somebody in the business who was passionate about numbers, knowledgeable about numbers and so.
Speaker 2But I kept running into the same problem every time I tried to address it within my own companies. It just falls into the trap of bookkeeping, which is very low value. That's kind of where you said categorizing the numbers right, that in and of itself isn't really valuable, and so what we've done is built a playbook, and the playbook can basically help any business increase her profit, increase it dramatically, and so we can really help companies by focusing on that. One thing I always say it's similar to you know, if you didn't have anyone at your business focused on sales, you're probably not growing right, and so similarly, if there's no one focused on the profit side who gets to exclusively worry about that, you're probably not growing your profit either.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's such a good point and on the last two episodes we've actually kind of talked about like data and data analytics, but in marketing and then employee retention.
Speaker 1So I'm so excited we're talking about kind of like the data when it comes to finances, because I think it's another thing that is completely overlooked when it comes to business is a lot of entrepreneurs, I feel like, are almost terrified of the subject of finances, especially if they had you know, we're never good with their personal finances and then they started a business and they go down this rabbit hole and they're they don't realize, too that your data when it comes to your finances can really give you an idea of where your business needs to go and what you need to focus on. I know when we, when I started my virtual assistant agency, I ended up opening a marketing agency as well, and I was going from having retainers, which was weekly recurring income, to one time projects, and looking at the data I was able to see you know where my losses are and comparing it, and it was two completely different finance structures. So what are some of the things that me entrepreneurs don't really look at when it comes to your finances and they should be evaluating?
Speaker 2Yeah, so you know, you just really hit the nail on the head with the first one. I always say you got to start with the business model kind of the financial structure that you mentioned. You know I've had project-based business, I've had product-based businesses and I've had service businesses that are recurring, retainer-based and, like you said, each of them you know have different strengths and weaknesses and you really have to understand the nature of the business that you're in and then you have to make the best of it. So if we're in a project-based business, you know I have to fight to the nail to get some portion of that money up front. I've got to get favorable payment terms. I cannot have a project-based business where I suffer all of the costs and incur all the expenses up front and then hopefully someday get paid.
Speaker 2That business model is not sustainable. You can't afford to grow it, you can't afford to survive if there's a late payment. And so really kind of understanding, that's first and foremost, understanding which model you're in and I would say, looking within your business and your industry and maybe even to some similar industries, figure out the best way people are doing that model, because there's kind of good versions and bad versions even within the different models, and so figure out what the best one is, right. And so, in other words, you don't want to have a subscription kind of ongoing model, but you're calling for payment every month. That doesn't make sense, right. And so, better than that is a credit card on file, better than that is an auto ACH, because it doesn't cost you the fees, right. And so, even within that great model, there are multiple different ways to approach it, and so I think that, first and foremost, that's where you've got to start.
Speaker 1Yeah, and I love the whole strategic plan that you get one client once and then they're paying you every month and that's feeding your business. I feel like that's where real growth happened for us and I've done like you I've had the products, I've had the one-time projects. Our new business is passive and monthly recurring, which is super cool, and everything is automated and I am like in heaven. It's like the coolest business structure I've ever had and I sort of as a virtual assistant agency which is not really a thing you can automate completely and be passive.
Speaker 1So yeah, so I've played around with lots of different structures and they always, they all can be really successful. It's like you said you've got to really figure out what kind of terms and conditions you can put in place so you're not eating the costs because I saw that in the marketing agency. We lost thousands of dollars and I had to quickly learn, and the only way I was able to learn was because I was looking at the data. So what are some data points that we should be monitoring when it comes to our finances?
Speaker 2So I'm a big fan of watching cash as often as daily. So, depending on the nature of how much cash you have in your business, what the business model is. Again, if we're talking about a project business or even a product business, those typically don't have as simple of cash flow as that monthly recurring credit card on file type of businesses, and so you need to be watching cash as much as daily. And then, depending on the business this is where it gets a little bit tricky is depending on the business and the style of work is how often you need to be looking at the profitability of the business. So I've got one business. It's a product-based business. It's a cabinet manufacturing business. We know about how many cabinets we're installing and making every single week. We have our payroll structured weekly. We're able to look at the profitability of that business on a weekly basis and that's really really helpful because we get 52 data points instead of 12.
Speaker 2Other businesses that I have that are project-based businesses. Some of these projects span multiple months. Those are a lot harder to really live and die by even a month, and so we really focus quarterly. But I would say, get that period of time down as tight as possible. So cash daily profit ASAP, preferably weekly if not monthly, at a minimum. And then really, I would say once a quarter, do a deep dive. Understand every line on your balance sheet. This is gonna take you two or three hours and it's not gonna be exciting if you don't like the numbers, but it's part of being a pro right, it's part of being a successful entrepreneur. Go through that balance sheet, through that P&L. Focus on all the numbers and really understand what they are and understand what story they tell. That's what I like to tell people about the financials is. It's not just numbers on a page, it really is, represents a story in your business. We all know the story. Tie it back to the numbers and suddenly the numbers will make sense.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's so true, and but also finance is going to be really overwhelming for entrepreneurs, like I mentioned in the beginning, and so I think hiring somebody like yours is really beneficial because not only do you have people that are probably better at you than finances, they know what they're doing and they've probably been in multiple industries and kind of seen all the different trends. Like I said, you're a serial entrepreneur. You've done products you've done, you know all retainer based and there's a lot of knowledge that goes into that, comes from that and comes from evaluating the numbers. So hiring someone like you guys is really really beneficial because better than you, probably most likely, and the accountability aspect too, because it's so easy to be like man. This year, my new year's resolution is to work on my finances and then you never do it, you never check those reports, Like I know. I've done that.
Speaker 1So yeah you're a company to keep you accountable. Do you like meet with your clients a certain amount of time, so how does that work?
Yeah, so typically we have a really structured monthly meeting and then it's just kind of as needed in between those meetings and so, yeah, that that's typically the way to your point. You know, a big part of what we do is is not only the accountability, but it's a second set of eyes, right? A lot of times an entrepreneur has an idea of what they need to do, but they need some validation. They want a second person to bounce it off of. They want to be able to, you know, talk it through. We provide that as well. And then, you know, sometimes there's big decisions that need to be made and so we help kind of coordinate and think through that. So, yeah, I mean that's. You know that's part of what we love.
Speaker 2I'll be honest, I've my first business was selling enterprise into Fortune 500 companies, billion dollar company. I didn't like it because I don't relate to the people in that kind of an environment. I love dealing with entrepreneurs Like that's my passion, that's why I'm in so many mastermind groups, that's why I've all my friends are entrepreneurs. You know the, you know the drill. So it's just once I'm in that mode, it's like I love, you know, helping other entrepreneurs and so that's what I always encourage, even if somebody has a question or they want to just, you know, chat, I love connecting with people. Whether we're going to work together or not, you know, professionally we could still connect and be friends.
Speaker 1That's awesome. I love that once a month because that's not really so overwhelming, right? I know sometimes in the VA agency world it's like we recommend like once a week just because we're doing so much in a business, but it can be overwhelming to people. So having a meeting that's like once a month is really, really cool, and the millennial in me is about to come out a little bit. But one of my favorite things is so I love Taylor Swift as a business woman. She has a really cool structure and one of the things she does is she'll hire lawyers and she'll hire you know all these different specialists within her business, but then she hires someone to keep an eye on that person. So she'll hire a lawyer to watch the lawyer, and I was like, oh, that's going to be me one day.
Speaker 1I was like that is so smart? Because I know as entrepreneurs you know all entrepreneurs we make mistakes and we're especially because we're in so many different baskets. So trying to keep, you know, trying to bring the leads in, trying to keep up with supply and demand, trying to make sure our employees are happy and making sure our clients are happy, that we're getting referrals and we're doing all the things plus the actual job that we do, especially through your service space and or that your product quality or whatever it is. There is so much to business and you I will always say you cannot do it alone. It's just like raising a child right, it takes a tribe, it takes a community. So hiring other businessmen, other businesses, I'm always really encouraging because you really can't do it on your own and you're actually making your business software, I feel trying to do everything on your own.
Speaker 2Yeah, absolutely. I'm a huge believer in that. I always say, you know, no one's success story is like I kept at it again, you know, year after year by myself, and eventually I broke through. That's never the story, it's always you know. And then this person came into my life and then I started working on it this way and into your point. I mean, I think that's a huge, huge thing and I love that. You know, that's part of how we approach people's numbers is we're not in their numbers, we're not moving money around in their bank. We can be that kind of set of eyes on the big picture and making sure that you know things are being done properly and efficiently. So, yeah, no, that's brilliant. Yeah, I mean, you cannot argue, Taylor Swift is brilliant.
Speaker 1Oh my gosh, you just hit billionaire status and I'm so. I can't believe a lot of people. They see her as a singer first and a performer, of course, but just the business moves that she has made are absolutely like mind blowing to me. She's so, so smart. Her and her team and her parents are a huge part of behind that as well. I wish they would come out with like a documentary just on her business stuff. I'd be watching that all day long.
Speaker 2Yeah, no, you're right, because I mean you've got somebody who's obviously known and her original skill is around artistry, right, and that's amazing. But I would argue that you know very few of the things she's doing that we're so impressed by, or her idea per se, but she knew a good idea when she saw it and she got her herself around the smartest people and use the best idea she can come up with. And when you combine all of that, I mean you can. You can go really far, really fast.
Speaker 1Yeah, and she built community too, which is what really pushed her to the fandom. And so I think one of the things I love with that story about her dad giving pizzas to the people that were waiting in line for a meet and greet and I'm like, yes, that's how you serve your community and your audience and your leads Like that's, that's lead nurturing at its finest.
Speaker 2Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1Oh my God, it's just, it's so cool and I could geek out forever. So I love that, you love that too. So I was like I don't know if he's going to like this analogy, but we're, we're going for it.
Speaker 2So hey, yeah, you can't. You can't knock it. I mean the results don't lie right. She is a business powerhouse and I mean she's so young like you can just only imagine where she can take this in the next 20, 30 years. I mean it'd be incredible.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's awesome.
Speaker 2Even her investments, everything.
Speaker 1I could go on and on, but it just shows that you know there's all these different things. When it comes, you know, in fine, in business and in finance. You know, like I said, we have lead generation, we have onboarding, we have employees, but a lot of that can be watched and strategized by looking at our finances. I have actually this really cool like time tracker app so it tracks down all my employees time. It tells me how much budget of my client's budget so I've had, you know. It can tell me the activity level of my employees and I basically get to see how my employees are doing versus where my money is going and how much I'm paying out my employees and how much I'm receiving from my clients. All on one spot.
Speaker 1And I geek out on that for hours because that was one of the reasons we realized very quickly that we were losing money. When we did the marketing agency was because I was the. I could see, oh man, we spent this much of the budget and on this many tasks and it's going haywire and crazy and oh my gosh, which is so scary. But we caught it very quickly because we had the tools to really monitor it.
Speaker 2Do you?
Speaker 1have any favorite tools that you recommend for entrepreneurs? Yeah, so.
Speaker 2I love that. So, to your point, you know I, so we're big fans of QuickBooks online. Just because it's very common, we built our own tools on top of it to kind of you know exactly what you're describing, to really watch. We call it the Finscore. It's a simplified profit formula and so the Finscore will tell you, you know, what's working, what's not. We do a six month look back to kind of see the trend line of what's happening. And because we really do to your point, what we really want is a feedback loop and exactly like you're describing, if you're really smart, you're really on top of it and you're focused on that feedback loop, you will figure out how to get better. You don't have to know before it starts like how you're going to get better. It'll tell you where to focus. It'll say, hey, labor is the problem right now. Right, and so exactly like you're describing. I mean I love that. That.
Speaker 2When you geek out about that, you know some people who maybe aren't as big on numbers or metrics or statistics or whatever. You know they have a hard time seeing how they do that. Well, when you see with your business and you say, man, if that number were only this, I would have made this much money. It's inspiring to go. I'm going to figure this out, I'm going to get to the bottom of it and that's all it is really is.
Speaker 2It's just, you know, following that journey, and that's what I tell people. Look, I'm I'm not a CPA. You know, I eventually got my executive MBA, but it was because I was passionate about, like, the business, the real fundamentals of business, and it was to me just kind of a natural step in my journey. Everybody's on this journey and it doesn't mean that you, you have to want the same things. But I think, kind of going back to your Taylor Swift example, be motivated, you know, get the right people around you and and then you can focus with your business in order, you can focus on your artistry, you can still make beautiful work, you can still be special at what you do, but your business is in order, so you sleep well at night. You know, that's an amazing example for people.
Speaker 1Yeah, I'm just trusting you know your team is a huge. I think it's a huge thing. I think whenever I have a really good team in place, my finances are looking amazing.
Speaker 1And you know my systems, processes, my clients are happy, and so even you know. Making sure that we invest some of our time and our money into our team, I think is really important. Something we did recently is we started investing into training. So whether I was reporting myself training my team, or I was purchasing for a course or some sort of training for them to do so that's something we're focusing on this year because my team has done such a great job that allows the budget to do that, so just investing back into them is really, really important.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's the beauty when you get ahead of things like that. Now you're getting proactive, you're now making investments instead of just being reactive and going what didn't work. Let me try and fix it. The beauty is, once you get everything to where it's in a pretty good, sustainable place you start reinvesting, like you're describing. Now your team is more inspired, they're going to be more motivated, they're going to be more engaged in what the goal really is and then, as they develop, they have more, you know, passion and loyalty to the business. So it's just like a huge win-win for everybody when you get into that mode.
Yeah, 100%. Well, can you tell us where we can find you and your services, because I definitely want to learn more about them as well.
Speaker 2Yeah, absolutely so. I'm on LinkedIn quite a bit just Colin Sandberg, I'm sure you'll have that in the show notes. And then my website is finnelevatecom, and again, that's really where I'm spending most of my time. I do have multiple businesses, but that's where I'm in and I'm really passionate because I'm excited about what we're doing and something I've done for a long time for friends, and now I'm excited to be taking it beyond that and getting it out there.
Speaker 1Awesome. I'll make sure I put everything in the show notes, but thanks again, colin, for coming on. It has been a pleasure and we'll talk to you guys next time on the virtual Antics podcast.