194. Building a Business That Becomes an Asset with Phillip Nembhard

In this episode of the 90 Day Wins Every.Black Entrepreneur of Excellence Series, Coach SandyB interviews CPA, business coach, and strategic advisor 

Phillip Nembhard.  An informative conversation about building businesses that create long-term value, financial freedom, and legacy. 

Phillip shares his journey from bookkeeping and corporate accounting to launching his own advisory firm focused on helping entrepreneurs think beyond compliance and begin operating with strategy and intention. 

Together, they discuss one of the biggest mindset shifts entrepreneurs must make: building a business that becomes an asset, not just another job.

This conversation covers:

* Why entrepreneurs need strategy, not just bookkeeping

* The difference between tax filing and tax planning

* Building cash flow and long-term business value

* Financial systems that support growth

* Why coaching and mentorship matter in business

* Common mistakes entrepreneurs make when scaling

* How AI and technology are changing the accounting industry

* Planning for retirement, succession, and generational wealth

Phillip also explains why many business owners wait too long to seek strategic financial guidance and how proactive planning can completely change the future of a business.

This episode is filled with practical insight and powerful gems for entrepreneurs.

 Connect with Phillip: (862) 757-8559 | Phillip@npmbusinesscoaching.com

https://npmbusinesscoaching.com

Listen now and continue your journey to your wins with 

the 90 Day Wins Podcast and the 

Every.Black Entrepreneur of Excellence Series.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:00

Episode 194. Welcome, new and old listeners. This is your host, Sandy B, and I invite you to enjoy this episode. Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Naughty Day Winds, Every Dot Block Entrepreneur of Excellence series. I'm your host, Coach Sandy B, and today we have another exciting episode, Mr. Philip Nim Hard. How are you doing today?

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Wonderful, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

Awesome. I'm glad to have you here. Before we get started with each guest, I'd like for them to share a little bit about themselves, and then we'll go into our specific questions. So if you don't mind, let us know a little bit about you and the work you do, and then we'll go into my specific questions.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Yes, thank you very much. I am a CPA, operate a small firm in New Jersey for the past five years now. I'm also a business coach.

SPEAKER_02 1:22

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

And um a planner, you know, very strategic and planning oriented kind of CPA, not just uh a regular filer and usual things that most people are accustomed to.

SPEAKER_02 1:39

Okay, cool. Well, thank you for sharing that with us. So let's get started. So, right off the bat, what inspired you to start your business and how were you able to turn that that desire into reality?

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Yes, um, I have always been entrepreneurial-minded uh from very early on in my career. Uh I can remember as far back as uh 2001, you know, after working in a bookkeeping position for a while, I started to acquire clients on this side. I had two clients back in my country. They were bookkeeping clients. And uh there was something about that that intrigues me. And uh fast forward to many years migrating to the United States with my family, acquiring my degrees, accounting degrees, MBA in finance, and my CPA and um other technical training and so forth. I started to explore getting into my own business. I was a corporate controller for a while. I left that job and uh went to another firm before I started my business, and um I learned some good things at that firm, of course. But things didn't work out long term for me. I started to I that very same year I registered my first LLC and um I started to do my own practice. I also had clients before then. I also had some clients because even while I was working a full-time corporate job and other firms job, I also had about maybe 15 or so individual clients and a bookkeeping client. So I was still doing all that stuff before I actually went into business officially.

SPEAKER_03 3:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

And um after starting my firm in 2019, I my vision, my mission, and approach is is what um get me to start. I saw an industry that is broken, um, and also a system that's broken. There are a lot of gaps in the accounting industry, and um what happened is that many small businesses are hurting because of this. They are uninformed, they're not very well trained in terms of how to do their business. They're very good at what they do, of course. For example, a doctor is good at what he does. He can do all the work the work, deliver all the quality work for his patient. However, he's not necessarily skilled in running a business. And um we need business, we need professionals who are also business owners who can guide those business owners into making them successful strategically, not just providing compliance-based services, but strategic services that can grow them.

SPEAKER_02 4:46

Very interesting. And so along those lines, I want to talk specifically about the strategy that you use because I actually agree with you a lot, having over 25 years of experience in corporate accounting and seeing and being around small businesses from my godfather who had his beauty supply store in Brooklyn back in the day where I would go help him with inventory to now me seeing other businesses as well as myself and truly taking the time to understand that, like you said, it's so much more than compliance, right? You want to be able to have a strategy to have that longevity. After looking at your background and the things you've done, one of the things that came to mind for me is growth mindset. So, in thinking about growth and having a strategy, let's talk about what makes your services so unique in the community because you are providing that strategy.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

Yes, what makes me unique is uh mostly my branding, my approach, my personal mission and envision, of course, for what I want to see accomplished. What I do, it's not necessarily unique in terms of only my firm provide it. However, the way how I provide it is unique. My relationships to my clients is unique. And let me go into how some of the services I provide. I'll give you next a few examples of what I provide. One of them is tax strategy.

SPEAKER_03 6:21

I emphasize tax planning, tax and wealth planning highly over tax filing, for example.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

In tax planning, there's a lot could be said, but let me try to be as brief. In tax planning, most people who are who are who are informed as opposed to being uninformed, you will look at tax services in a different light. The people who are uninformed will think that the more they earn is the more they take.

SPEAKER_03 6:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

As opposed to someone who is informed by someone like me, who um take the time to emphasize the value of being strategic, being proactive, and plan for the future instead of being reactive after the year ends.

SPEAKER_03 7:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

During the year, you want to plan with your tax advisor in a very strategic plan. And if you're earning money, if you're making good income in your business and you're exposed to high taxes, you want to sit with your tax advisor and you want to engage in some real strategic planning. There are so many tax strategies inside the codes, and I don't believe in loopholes. The word loopholes is like uh unintended consequences.

SPEAKER_03 7:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

I talk about strategies, things that are built into the codes for investors and risk takers like business owners. If you are a risk taker, the tax law is designed to reward you because it incentivizes various actions, various types of uh investments and actions that stimulate the economy. That's the purpose of the tax code. Okay, not to just burden people with tax costs. Now, the people who don't understand this and who just pay taxes, they are disincentivized to pay taxes because they see it as a burden. And because of that, sometimes you find some people who will evade taxes, they will do all kinds of gimmicks that could put them into trouble. So what I do, I flip that on its head and educate my clients and help them to take advantage of tax strategy. It also not only saves your taxes, it also helps you to do the things in life that you like to do while the tax law incentivizes it. For example, if you want to travel, if you want to do certain kind of investment or business or real estate or certain family planning for your future, future generational planning and so forth, all of that can be done while you're paying less taxes. You're efficient in your tax, um, in your tax burden.

SPEAKER_02 9:11

Got it.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Sorry, I want to give you another um unique one. Um my business coaching services is um it's not like any other business coaching that most people may think it's just you know, it's just the same as everything. We have a system where we provide uh it's a system that uh targets all areas of a business. We call it a 21 silver bullet. And it also targets and addresses all aspects of problems that you can have in a business.

SPEAKER_03 9:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

I provide that also, it's more it's a coaching, so the client would be the person who implements that and learn through the process, while I would be the coach and um hold their hand through the process to guide them to. There's also CFO services which I provide, and that's for clients who have already grown through the process and need um a strategic advisor by them side or an executive um uh financial expert to to help them to maintain cash flow and um grow the business or maintain the viability of the business over time. I provide all of this alongside compliance of bookkeeping and um tax filing, of course, but I emphasize mostly my strategic services over the compliance. On the compliance side, I want to touch quickly on this that bookkeeping services, I don't provide the watered-own bookkeeping services that some people provide. I like to think of it as, for example, it must be industry specific, it must be entity, business entity specific, and also it meets um at least a five-point quality of um completeness, accuracy, timeliness, relevance, and and so forth.

SPEAKER_02 11:10

Got it. Thank you for breaking that down for us. So let's talk about what challenges you faced along the way and how you've been able to overcome them.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

Question Starting out as I would say a novice, accounting business owner, not a novice in accounting, but in doing the business of accounting. There's a difference, big difference. Um when I started out in 2019, even though I've had business before on the side, this was a real deal. I started out with some mistakes first. A few of them had to do with some of the unsustainable practices that I see some firms have, small firms have, you know, for example, over uh overwork, underpriced work. So I started out with some of those, and um it was I saw quickly that this was a recipe for burnout and problems. And I had to learn very quickly. I had to start to change that. I also had some other issues where there were the challenge of growing my business was was an issue. So I had to team up with other uh professionals and uh successful business owners to understand how they do it. And um I also had to do some coaching because I needed coaching. So what I'm offering to my clients is not just me, providing I had to go through that as well to learn from successful owners. But yes, those are some of the main challenges. Pricing was a big one.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

Got it. Yeah, that's something that quite a few business owners face, right? To get that balance. So it's it's important to talk about that journey, right? Because people can see you now, see you in this office, see you with this presence, and think like, wow, this man has it all together, and they have no idea of the journey that you've gone to. That's why it's so important to be able to have these discussions with 90 Day Winds podcasts. I want to talk to those goal getters. That's what I call my guests. So you are a goal getter, but I want them to know that you didn't just start here, right? You talk about coming here, going through learning bookkeeping and moving up, and then deciding to start out. And still, there were still levels, right? Still lessons you had to learn. And as a coach, it's important that we have coaches, right? So the fact that you can share and say, Yeah, I had to get a coach because you desired more, right? And in desiring more, you want to get with those people that help you. So you talked about as we scale our businesses, right? We need professionals like you more than ever and sooner than we think. So let's talk about a business owner that has been doing it theirself and you know, they've had that transactional relationship with a bookkeeper, with a CPA that's just been able to get them the compliance, but they know they desire more, right? They know they need more. So let's talk about how they can change their mindset to understand that it's about having their strategy so I can have that longevity, Glea. Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

Great, great question. So, yes, as a business owner, you're in business to you have a dream, first of all.

SPEAKER_03 14:33

Yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_01 14:34

And um, you have to understand that your business, it may be the only or the biggest asset you'll ever create in your lifetime.

SPEAKER_03 14:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

You're you're spending your whole life and you're building an asset. You're not building a job. Unfortunately, many small businesses they are working a job. They're not working a business. They're not owning a business, they're just working a job. So you want to make your business an asset, not a job. I mean, starting out first, you have to go through the grinds, but your mindset and your your goal is to move beyond that and to get into where your business becomes an asset. And when I say an asset, we're talking about something that has intrinsic value. Something that's cash flowing. An asset and a cash flowing asset at that. Because an asset and a cash flowing asset, when I say cash flowing, I'm not talking about cash to pay the business bills and all that. You want to move beyond that. You want to have the business able to pay for all its expenses, yes, and capital investments and so forth if you need um to expand on whatever. But the cash above and beyond that is called free cash flow. When you get to a point where your business has free cash flow, that's the most valuable point your business can be. One of the most valuable points. Because there you can also um you have to look at the future. Start with the end in mind. When you're starting a business, start with the end in mind. You want to know what you're gonna do when you get to retirement age. Am I gonna sell this business? Am I gonna pass it on to my son or daughter or my family?

SPEAKER_03 16:24

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

What are you gonna do? Are you gonna create a business that you can become you can you can um exit and make it uh become a public entity where it's listed on the stock exchange? What kind of business are you creating? What is your goal? So you have to ask yourself those questions.

SPEAKER_03 16:42

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

And you have to start to think about planning in the future. Exit planning, uh success planning, retirement planning, estate planning, all of those things need to be part of your mindset as a business owner. And you have to align yourself with a partner, a professional partner who thinks that way. And work with someone like that.

SPEAKER_02 17:06

Yes. Definitely. Thank you for that because I think that's a very important point that I wanted to make sure I ask you the question for. Let's talk about how you use AI and technology in your businesses.

SPEAKER_01 17:20

Great question. AI is still a developing topic for most people and for myself.

SPEAKER_03 17:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

I have embraced it, of course. We have to have no choice. But mostly I haven't used AI so much in the bookkeeping area yet.

SPEAKER_03 17:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:41

The the software that we use, we use QuickBooks mostly. I have seen where QuickBooks have now integrated certain AI features to help you with some additional guidance on the side. But mostly what I use Air for currently is for helping me with writing.

SPEAKER_03 18:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Editing. Also, when I'm building certain tools, worksheets and tools.

SPEAKER_02 18:08

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

I tend to use some very sophisticated formulas. And um honestly, not all of them I can build on my own. So AI helps me a lot.

SPEAKER_02 18:18

That's smart. You're working smarter, not harder, right? We are using the tool. I, you know, being a part of Every Dob Plaque, there are so many different opportunities to learn from people who are truly at the forefront of this emerging technology, right? But I'd like to think of AI as an assistant, Philip, right? So that assistant needs you to literally have a job. So because of that, you are teaching it. I love to ask that question because everybody has a different way that they're using it, and there's really no right or wrong way. It's about what you said, adopting it and understanding. So when your clients come to you, you have an understanding of what they're trying to do. Not everything, right? But you can at least give them some help. And I think the more we are able to do that, that's what gives us that leading edge, right? Because not everyone, as you know, is adopting this. And so those who wait, those are the ones that are concerned, like, oh, my job's gonna replace, be replaced. It's gonna be replaced with someone like you and me that understands how to use this technology, whether it's as a partner, like you said, that you come along and say, hey, I want to work with Phillips organization to help me grow. That's the type of work and that's the type of people you want to align with. So the next question for you in conjunction with this is tell me why you decided to be a part of this organization, Every Dot Black.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Yeah, great question. I have um, I can't remember how I stumbled upon it before, or somebody may have invited me.

SPEAKER_02 19:51

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SPEAKER_01 21:02

But ever since I joined, I came on first, like first or second meeting, and then I eventually signed up to be a subscriber. I find it to be a very warm environment. There's there's such a community like feeling, you know.

SPEAKER_03 21:21

But I feel that we are similar people, but you know, we have a lot in common.

SPEAKER_01 21:29

And most like more than importantly, I could say that uh I like the fact that they are entrepreneurial minded. You know, they they're very um the the environment is very oriented towards entrepreneur and business owners. So it's about it's about helping people to to succeed while having that element of um community. Spirit and godliness and so forth, I they they always have some kind of Bible reading and prayer.

SPEAKER_03 22:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

And I think that's very important. I like the community, you know.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

Yes. I must ask you, when you look ahead, what financial trends or changes in tax laws do you think entrepreneurs should be preparing for now to protect? We know things change very quickly, but when you think about the next three to five years, what should we entrepreneurs be thinking about and trying to align with as we want to grow our businesses?

SPEAKER_01 22:37

Yeah, um, that's a great question too. Uh right now, you know, we had this um tax overall this year, 2025. Some of the things that were in place before during the 2018 overall, okay, some of those now have become uh uh have been have been updated, upgraded, make it better. For example, the bonus depreciation where um if if a business, uh certain business will take advantage of this, if you buy certain assets, um you can get that hundred percent write-off instead of um before it was gonna phase out, it was down to I think 60%. Um but now it's back up to 100%. And um there there has been uh quite a few changes where you know um we're talking about restaurants that can benefit from the tax law, the overtime and and um the tips and all that. Now, just scratching the surface, there are several things that within this tax law change, and things that are virtually don't change over time. You know there are some principles that don't really change the way how businesses are taxed, um for example, how you can optimize your entity, whether you want to be an S-corp, a C Corp, a corpse of work there are some universal things that don't really change over time. So those are gonna always be a part of your planning process. And um the things that do change, like the the depreciation, how um you know the various types of vehicles uh that are being manufactured, for example, electric vehicles and so forth, different things that come on the scene and gets different tax treatment, those things will affect your short term. They will affect you for a year or two years or up to maybe five years or so. But there are universal planning principles that don't change. You know, and that has to do with your entity, you know, using um investing in real estate, investing in various vehicles, retirement vehicles that don't really change over time. They have been around since eight decades, and many business owners and even people who does not who do not own businesses are still uh not taking advantage of some of these investments and and tax efficient vehicles that they can use to optimize their personal finance and their personal wealth. So I would say within the realm of planning, um tax planning is not just tax financial planning, and it's planning life planning. So within the realm of that, you have to see what best works for you.

SPEAKER_03 25:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 25:52

It's good to have a professional to go on the journey with you. What are you excited about? Let us know what you're excited about.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

Yeah, uh planning is a year-round thing. Yes. You know, many people always uh some people wait until later on to start to think more seriously. Towards the end of the year, I would say around September um through November. Ideally, I would say September and October should be my cutoff point. I normally like to um try to help clients with their planning process because there are some things that you have to do before well before the year end of the year for it to work. You have to implement some things ahead of time. Um this is the time I'm always looking to wrap up the planning process for some people. And it's exciting because I've I've had uh I remember this gentleman came on late in the year a year ago, um, and uh I was able to help him to optimize his business entity and um help him to get some uh retirement planning that he didn't have and um and a few other things with Tweak. And he was able to save about $28,000 for that year. And it was very, very, very fulfilling to do that. So towards the end of the year, this time is more trying to wrap up tax planning. I don't like to push it to December because there are some things we can't do that late. Business is always business, coaching, accounting is always year-round. Yes, there's no specific time, no specific peak for that. Other than that, people who has to pay estimated taxes before the year end, I like to also nudge them and say, hey, let's do it. You have earned some money over the quarter. I think you should pay some money in ahead of time. Some people do, some don't. So I can't force other people, but I can let urge you to do it because there is penalties when you don't do it. A lot of people don't understand that tax law requires you to pay as you earn, not when you file, as you earn.

SPEAKER_02 28:14

As you earn. Very important information. Thank you so much for being on this show. I appreciate you sharing these gems. It is very important that we make sure we are doing the work and getting with the people. And that's why I love being a part of Every Dot Black, because I get to meet people like you.

SPEAKER_03 28:33

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 28:33

Thank you again for being here. So let everyone know how we can get in touch with you. I will definitely leave your your links, but if you could just tell everyone how we can get in touch with you.

SPEAKER_01 28:44

Yes, you can um you can visit my website uh um npmadvisory.com. Yes. Also, my business coach website is npmbusinesscoaching.com. And uh my email is PhilipMytnpmadvisory.com.

SPEAKER_03 29:07

Perfect.

SPEAKER_01 29:08

Yes. So if we schedule, send me an email first and I can send in my calendar. That's the best way to go about it.

SPEAKER_02 29:14

Awesome. Awesome. Well, I'll make sure that we have all the information so those who are interested in taking their business to the next level, they will reach out to you. And those who are not, don't reach out because this man is busy. So we want to make sure we honor his time and make sure you're prepared to go on that journey because as business coaches, I mean, you know how it's how important it is to make sure that people actually want to do the work. A lot of time we talk about what we want, right, Philip, but it's actually taking that action. You have the tools, but we have to do the work, right? And that's how we're able to achieve the things we desire. So thank you again for being on the 90 Day Wins podcast. And I look forward to seeing you on our mastermind calls. Have a good day.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

Thank you so much and have a great day too.

SPEAKER_02 30:02

Wow. That was a powerful conversation. I hope you're feeling inspired and ready to take action toward your 90 day wins. If today's episode gave you a new perspective or an extra push to go after your goals, I want to hear from you. Let's keep the conversation going. Share this episode on your socials and tag me at 90 Day Wins. I'd love to know your biggest takeaways. And if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, do me a favor, leave a five-star review and a comment. Your support helps more goal getters like you find this podcast and stay motivated on their journey. Remember, every day is a chance to win. Let's make it count. See you next time on the 90 Day Wins podcast.

SPEAKER_00 30:57

Go get your wins every 90 days.