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Black Entrepreneur Experience
BEE 527 Profit First Success: Building Wealth with Susanne Mariga
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Suzanne Mariga
Foreign.
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Podcast Announcer
Welcome to the Black Entrepreneur Experience Podcast Inside the business buzz and brilliance of Black Entrepreneurs. Here is your host, Dr. Francis Arlene.
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Dr. Francis Arlene
Before we dive into today's conversation about building a resilient and successful business, let's talk about the foundation. Every high growth venture require a plan for the unexpected. Is your family structure as protected as your business plan? The best contingency plan for your home life is our DIY Legacy planning toolkit. Grab this simple roadmap right now at the link in the show notes and let's secure your legacy. Now on to the show. What happens in Vegas goes all over the world on Black Entrepreneur experience, episode number 527. Thank you for joining us at as we elevate the Black Entrepreneur experience by interviewing CEOs, thought leaders, innovative thinkers and black entrepreneurs across the globe. I'm your host, Dr. Frances Arlene. She's back and ready to inspire Profit first, certified master CPA and bestselling author of Profit first for Minority Business Enterprise, Suzanne Moringa. Thank you for coming back. She's returning after her powerhouse appearance in episode two. Welcome.
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Suzanne Mariga
Thank you, Dr. Francis. I am excited to be back.
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Dr. Francis Arlene
I've given our audience such a brief bio. Why don't you fill in the gaps, share with us what you want them to know about you and what has evolved since the last time we spoke.
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Suzanne Mariga
Well, Dr. Francis, a lot, you know, has evolved from the last time we spoke. But before I even begin to go into that, let me just so everybody knows who I am, right? I'm a CPA by background and a CPA for goodness. I stopped counting after 20 years. Right. I guess we should keep counting. But you know, I stopped counting. But for over 20 years I've been a CPA and I'm actually a fractional cfo. So I help seven to nine figure entrepreneurs scale profitably. Right? Because I think a lot of time as entrepreneurs we say things are going to change when I hit seven figures, my life is going to be different. And the reality is when we have certain habits, those habits come with us. When we're seven figures, when we're eight figures. And until we do differently, we will not have profitability. So I specifically work with entrepreneurs and I help them implement the Profit first method.
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Dr. Francis Arlene
Talk about the Profit first method. What is that method in case they have not heard.
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Suzanne Mariga
So Profit first is a little bit different. What it does is it re engineers your bottom line. So re engineers your bottom line. And why this is important is because a lot of time when we entrepreneurs start our business, we start our business because we have a passion for what we do.
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Dr. Francis Arlene
We absolutely love what we do.
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Suzanne Mariga
And most of the times we would actually do it for free because we love what we do so much. And unfortunately, that's what happens a lot of times in entrepreneurship is we end up doing it for free. In fact, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics tells us that in a first year, 18% of small businesses will fail by getting year five, half of them won't be there. And by year 10, 65% of these small businesses will have closed their doors. So a lot of entrepreneurs are doing what they love, but they're not seeing the fruits of their labors. And what we do at profit first is we literally create our bottom line. So you're not waiting for your financial statements to be done to go, how much money did I make? You're not waiting until tax time to figure out how much do I have that I owe or did I even make any money? You know, as you're going, because we are creating that profitability. And what happens is we do this through the use of bank accounts. And so what that looks like in practicality is, you know, as an entrepreneur, you're going to have multiple bank accounts and all your money is going to come into one bank account. So all your deposits are going to come into your one bank account called the income account. So whether you're getting direct deposits, Whether you're getting ACHs or credit cards, everything's coming into this one bank account. And then what happens is twice a month, on the 10th and 25th of each month, you're going to allocate to different bank accounts according to your pre designated purpose. So one of the bank accounts that you're going to allocate to is going to be your profit bank account. So you're going to have an account that you're literally allocating money to profit. And your profitable day one, because it's physics, you've literally transferred money from one bank account to another. You've moved it. If you don't touch it, that is your profit. You have created profitability on day one. So you, even if you've been running your business at a loss for the last five years, you're profitable on day one because you physically move the money into a profit bank account and you're not going to use it for the business. The next bank account that you're going to fund, it's going to be your owner's pay account. You know, I have so many times met owners and they celebrate when they reach their first six Figure salary, you know, like, oh, my gosh, Suzanne, I've reached $100,000. I've made it to my goal. And then 10 years later, they're still at $100,000 10 years later. And even though their business revenue has grown, their compensation has stalled. And what we're going to do in profit first is we're going to allocate a percentage of money to this owner's pay account. So as your business grows, as you get better at your marketing, better at your sales, you're going to be compensated based upon the performance of your business. And so your owner's pay is going to grow as your business grows. So that's the next bank account that you're going to fund. That third bank account that you're going to fund is going to be your tax account. And you're like, why do I need to put away money for taxes? Because as a cpa, I have seen plenty of people come to me and be like, okay, so how are we going to pay these taxes again? You know, we're going to get a financing agreement from the irs. You know, do I need to drain my IRA account, by the way? Don't do that. What you're going to do is you're going to fund this tax account as you go. So a set percentage of your money is going to be transferred not only to your profit account, but your owner's payment, but to a tax bank account. So at the end of the year, no matter what happens, you have money to pay your taxes. Now, you're going to use tax strategy in order to reduce your tax obligation, but you're not going to be, like, crying or sweating, how am I going to pay the irs? Because you're going to have that money set aside and that last bank account, after you fund your profit, after you have compensated yourself with owner's pay, after you have funded and put away money for your tax account, that last bank account is going to be your operating expense account. I like to call that the OPEX bank account. And this is the money that you're going to budget with. You're going to decide, okay, do I have that money to hire a new administrative assistant? Can I afford to upgrade into a bigger office space? Right? And this is the money that you're going to decide, you know, why? How am I going to spend this money that I have available to spend? And this operating expense account is so important, Dr. Francis, because we as humans, we are efficient, right? The more you give us, the more we're going to spend Right. There's something called Parkinson's Law, right? You know, I like to think about it as, you know, when I go to a buffet versus an order of dinner. If I go to a buffet, I'm at the Golden Corral, I am never going to leave, you know, proud of myself. I'm going to do the walk, the slow walk of shame out, right? Part of it because I don't feel very good when I'm leaving. And part of it is I'm never proud of myself for going to a buffet, right? Because all those options, salad, bread, main course, desserts, you know, you got to try all of it, right? And so you're never going to leave, proud of yourself. But if I go to order dinner, I'm going to eat a lot differently, right? There's that social pressure. The plate is like 5 inches small. You can only fit so many skewer sticks. So I'm going to eat a lot differently than going to the buffet. And that's exactly how it works in business. You know, when, when, when money is raining, right? When we're like, okay, I just won this huge contract and I can predict my revenue, I'm going to spend a whole lot differently than I'm like, wondering, are we going to get paid tomorrow? Right? Because of everything that's happening in this economy, we're going to create this OPEX account, this operating expense account, because we want to create an illusion of scarcity. So instead of all of our money being available to spend in one bank account, like most of us have it set up today, we're only going to spend what's in that operating expense account. And so we're going to make different decisions because our availability of funds is going to be different.
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Dr. Francis Arlene
So, Suzanne, on that, you're literally having four different bank accounts. Is it at the same bank? Different banks. And this is in conjunction with your other personal bank accounts and credit unions and IRA accounts.
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Suzanne Mariga
Exactly. So this is just your business account. So you always want to have your business account separate from your personal. Because if you're an LLC or if you're a corporation, there's a certain amount of liability protection that comes with having those accounts under that. And so you want to keep those business assets separate from your personal assets. And I would say those first five bank accounts, you do want to keep them in the same bank because you want to make it easy to transfer funds. That's the reason why you want to keep them in the same bank account. Now, when we get into advanced profit first, when we're hiding Money from ourselves. That's when we might have a separate bank that's far away, that's, you know, in a remote part of your town that you live in that's really makes the money really inaccessible. But for now, those first bank accounts, I would keep them internally. We actually do have a referral. Profit first has a preferred bank, we call that relay bank. And Dr. Francis, I can share that link with you so that if you have any listeners that want to start Profit First, Relay will actually give them the bank accounts for free. And because Relay works in Profit First Corporation, they're expecting you to have five plus bank accounts so you don't have to go to your bank embarrassed or ashamed for asking for more bank accounts. You can actually have up to 20 bank accounts for free with Relay Bank.
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Dr. Francis Arlene
Absolutely. And would love that that link to include in the show notes. And the reason I say that, and I like what you said about the free because I was going to. You parlayed right into what I wanted to talk about. Someone's listening to this. And you opened with the failure rate of businesses. And when we talk about access to capital or capital and actually funding your business and someone is sitting there saying Suzanne is talking about five bank accounts. I am barely making ends meet. How do I do this? How do I get to that point? And one of the things as a business owner for many years that I've seen, and it's interesting when you talked about the multiple accounts because I've had to close certain accounts because of expenses coming in each and every month. So talk about that in reference to small businesses or businesses trying to get to that seven, eight figures.
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Suzanne Mariga
So first of all, I think that it's important to give ourselves permission to be flexible. I think we all know right now we're going into a very different economy and I can't think of a better time to start Profit first because first of all, you know, it's having that vault account that retained earnings, that cash on hand to make payroll when sales don't happen is going to be extremely critical. So there's never been a better time to start Profit First. And now and I also think that it's important to be flexible. Like, you know, there's some recommended target allocation percentages that we have. And I can share that link with your viewers that may be interested in finding out what percentage should I be allocating a profit to Owners Pay to tax. ProfitMap Co will give you those that free download where you can actually download what your percentages are. And I'll share that with Dr. Francis so that she can put that in the show notes there. But, you know, it's okay if you don't start at those percentages. You know, start with 1%. You start with 1%. And you'd be surprised, like, you know, people that have been running their business at a loss. If you go from 1%, you might, that might be a 10% improvement in profitability on day one. Right. But start with 1%. And if you've been doing well all this time and, and you've been, let's say, able to make those percentages and you have to scale back because of the economy. Right. And you're, you're, you're feeling like this economy is going to change pretty fast for you because in some states it may pivot quicker than others. Then in that case, you know, for a temporary time, go ahead and adjust your percentages if you need to because you're holding on to your team. But I think it's also important to put on a boundary too, because, you know, maybe you give yourself 90 days. 90 days. I'll go ahead and reduce my percentages for now. But if it doesn't happen in 90 days, we're going to have to make some different decisions. Course correct. Get back to our regular percentages, and we may have to make some significant adjustments in our operating expense account.
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Dr. Francis Arlene
You've been at this for a while, and I want you to talk about a success story. You don't only share what you can share, but it's more around how you are making impact each and every day. Absolutely.
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Suzanne Mariga
Absolutely. So, first of all, I have an amazing book, Profit first for Minority Business Enterprises. And you can get that book anywhere that books are sold. And I do share many stories of successful minority business enterprises that are in that book. And I love that book because first of all, a dollar for every book goes to Hope Worldwide, which is a nonprofit organization. That's. And where our money goes is we actually send girls to school in Zimbabwe. So if you're buying a book that a dollar from that book, proceeds goes to her satin every year since the book is launched. Since 2021, we have filled up a classroom of young girls in Zimbabwe that have been going into high school and being funded throughout their high school career. So definitely for that. But you know, I think of, in terms of impact on this, I mean, it's not uncommon for me to start working with a business that may be running at a loss. You know, there's a client that I work with and she's A manufacturing company. When I started working with her, $50,000 was all she was bringing home. Seven figure business, bringing home just $50,000. And I'm like, you know, that's a lot of work you're doing for $50,000. I mean, I hate to say this, but most of us can make more in a W2 job, right, than $50,000. And you and I know how hard it is to make a million dollars in revenue and to take home $50,000. You know, there are easier jobs to do than that. And within working with me for one year, you know, she was at 250,000 take home and now she's at a half a million take home. So Profit first does work. You just have to be committed to the system.
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Dr. Francis Arlene
We talk a lot about structure, but think about this. If you couldn't access your phone or computer right now, who would step in? Don't leave a guessing game for your loved ones. Our $120 DIY toolkit takes the guesswork out of an uncertain time. It gives you the step by step process to finally organize your digital assets, your financial accounts, and your family directives. Stop worrying. Find the link in the show notes to purchase your toolkit and get started today. That is an awesome story. And talk about that aha moment when you knew Profit first was going to be successful because you have a lot of content and you also have your own podcast. Feel free to share that information. But I was listening to some of your videos and I don't know if this was a TED Talk you were doing regarding your own personal story. So share with the audience who they. Someone may just be introduced to. You have not consumed a lot of your content, but you've been very transparent about your journey.
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Suzanne Mariga
Absolutely. So, you know, it's interesting because part of the reason why I started Profit first was for me, you know, I was reading Mike McKenzie Talwood's book Profit first, and I was like, you know, looking left, looking right for you guys that are watching on video. And I was like, you know, I kind of need this book because I was like every entrepreneur. I love what I did. I love talking accounting, I love talking tax, I love talking financials. And at the end of the day, you know, I wasn't prioritizing my bottom line. And so I was working a lot of late hours. I was couldn't afford to hire anybody because when you don't have margins, you can't afford to hire anybody. And the only person that'll work for free is you. And so I was literally in this ped of working and working but not getting anywhere. And I knew that profit first was needed because I saw the changes in my life. You know, I remember my first profit distribution. I ended up buying a piano. You know, I wanted my kids to learn how to play the piano because I had been given that gift growing up, and I wanted my kids to learn how to play piano. So I bought a piano for first profit distribution. And one of the things that I did not realize, and I realized it, but not really the impact was, you know, one of the things is your business is an asset, and one day you're going to be able to sell that asset. And the thing is about a business is it's not value based upon just your revenue. It's also valued based upon your profit. And so the higher you're able to get your ebitda, right, your profit and comparison to your revenue, the higher your valuation is going to be. And I was actually able to sell my accounting practice in 2022, and I was technically able to retire at the age of 46. That profitability as minority entrepreneurs is so important because we're creating legacy, we're creating wealth. You know, my daughter, I started my business when I had my daughter. And you know, before I had my daughter, I had this wonderful career where I traveled back and forth across the country every week and even to Canada. And I realized that I wasn't going to be able to do that now that I had my daughter without being an absentee mom. And I remember, like when I put her into daycare or was interviewing different daycares, and I just couldn't, I couldn't put her in. You know, she was like 8 weeks old, teeny weeny one. And I was like, oh, I can't put her in there. I remember calling my, my office and I said, you know, I hate to tell this to you, but I'm not coming back. I'm not coming back. You know, they were telling me all the work they had to do and I had to say, I'm sorry, I'm not coming back. And I remember I couldn't even afford daycare when I had her. You know, I had to. She had, she used to come with me to all the women business meetings, you know, and I would nurse her there and she became like the, the organization's pets. And I would hope that she would not throw french fries when she got a little bigger, you know, and be well behaved, but I couldn't afford any babysitter for her. And profit first was pivotal because you know, you know, by the time my son came around, you know, you know, he was able to get a nann and things like that. But it was so pivotal because it allowed me to start to see the fruits of my labor and I mean, to build a business that's allowed me to retire at age of 46 and only do what I want, that's able to cash flow my daughter's college education that, you know, she doesn't qualify for financial aid. You know, I mean, like, what gift of legacy is that? And only through entrepreneurship, but doing it the right way and prioritizing not just customer service, because customer service is important for every business, right? Because you're not going to grow if you don't have a great product or service, but you also have to have the business mechanics behind it too, to produce the results that you deserve as a business owner.
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Dr. Francis Arlene
What problem exists in the world today that you'd like to solve?
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Suzanne Mariga
So I think there's a lot of problems that exist in the world that I like to solve. And I think the first one is really just wealth and our communities of color, right. I think is. Is really important. And I feel like the profit first method and realizing that education that we need in order to do that, but also us stepping into the fact that we deserve it. We deserve it. And not just deserve it, but we need to create wealth in our community. That's the problem that I like to solve, right? Because when I make money, I hire someone and I spend money, right, that helps somebody else. So, you know, even like with the book Ascending Girls to School in Zimbabwe, you know, again, if I don't have the results that allow me to do that, that can't happen, really. It's eradicating entrepreneurial poverty in our communities of color.
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Dr. Francis Arlene
Talk about in reference to advice you wish you had followed, that is a good one.
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Suzanne Mariga
I would say realizing that, you know, and I did follow it eventually, but it's a hard thing to do. I think it's standing in your own for what you deserve. And this is a big one because like, as entrepreneurs, at some point we're not able to do everything ourselves, and so we have to hire. But a lot of times what you're going to find is the first person you hire isn't going to be the right person. And it's easy to get PTSD when that happens. Like, I'm never going to hire again, or you let that person stay on too long, you know, and they're like, hey, it's five years later. Why are you Firing me. And you're like, because you never did a good job from day one. And really it's about having convictions for yourself about what do I need and what do I deserve, but not only having convictions, but acting on those convictions and holding everyone to a different level.
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Dr. Francis Arlene
When you talk about profit first and let's think about what is your goal, what would you like to see happen? Fill in the blanks. Suzanne would be over the moon if what happened?
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Suzanne Mariga
Every business implemented profit first, right? Every business implemented that would be like, wow, that's awesome.
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Dr. Francis Arlene
And what I'd like you to talk about, you did talk about your ideal client. What is the best way for your ideal client? And just share who your ideal client is. What is the best way for them to connect with you?
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Suzanne Mariga
So I work with seven to nine figure entrepreneurs and as a fractional cfo. And so I help them implement profit first as well as scale in a way that's profitable. The best way to connect with me would be to go to suzannemariga.com or marigagroup.com and my contact information.
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Dr. Francis Arlene
Is there, is there another book on the horizon for you?
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Suzanne Mariga
You know, not at this time there isn't. Maybe another business one day we'll be talking about, maybe Dr. Francis will have me back later on to talk about that, but not at this time, there's not another book.
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Dr. Francis Arlene
And what was that moment when you shifted from being a CPA to become a fractional cfo? Why that decision?
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Suzanne Mariga
You know, I love being a cpa. I still am a licensed cpa, but I think what it was was, you know, over and over again when people came to me, they were like they were complaining their accountant never talked to them. And this is an important lesson in business is to listen to why people are coming to you. Why are they leaving their other provider? And that's the message that you want your next product or service to offer. And it was interesting because when I sold the practice, people told me that's what I liked about you, that you talk to me, you talk to me, you explain. And you there was a relationship there versus just a bean counter.
- [24:03]
Dr. Francis Arlene
And that's huge because when we speak about capital, money, the business, sales, all of that is so important. But what I find is that that's the area that most new entrepreneurs, minority entrepreneurs avoid. Talk about how to face that, that whole when, you know, I don't know if it's around their money story coming from working a 9 to 5, going into entrepreneurial ship, talk about how to get all of that finances together. How to face profit first.
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Suzanne Mariga
Personal finances, business, your own business finances is always the hardest thing. You know, I always think of like, the cobbler's children has no shoes, Right? And it's not that the Calvert doesn't enjoy making shoes. It's just that it's. Everybody else needs shoes before he needs shoes, right? Everybody else has an urgent need before you take care of what's at home. And I'll tell you this, even as a cpa, my tax return is probably the last one to get done because one is like, do I really want to see. Because it's an emotional thing, like, oh, my gosh, I have to face this, I have to look at this. And really, the best way to do it, I would say, is to hire a coach, hire a help, hire somebody that can hold you accountable. If it's something you don't like or it's not your gift, have them do it too. That's probably the best way to do it, is what I would say. But I don't think it's not normal that people don't want to face the monster in the closet, because looking at business finances can feel like that. But the reality is, if you don't face it, what's coming, you don't want to be at that point where the pain is forcing you to make decisions. Because usually at that point, it's too late, right? It's too late the course correct. The bills are too far mounted, the debt is too high. And so the quicker you can find the way that helps you, whether it's partnering with a coach or partnering with, you know, a fractional CFO that can actually do the work for you, I think that the sooner you do it, the better.
- [26:11]
Dr. Francis Arlene
Talk about vetting, finding a financial coach, finding a cpa. What advice would you give someone listening?
- [26:19]
Suzanne Mariga
So I would say start with your friend group, your peers. Who's help, who's happy with their cpa? Who out there is happy with their CPA that is having good results. That's where I would start with.
- [26:33]
Dr. Francis Arlene
That's good. That's good. What book would you recommend and why?
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Suzanne Mariga
I would say Profit first for Minority Business Enterprise. It's a. It talks about profit first. It also talks about tax strategy, government contract. I know that that area is a in limbo right now, but the concepts are still the same. The concepts are still the same. In fact, I think we're at a bigger advantage because we've got the experience to do the work right. And if we're truly using a bidding system, a bid Tabulation, and you've got the experience. I think you actually have the advantage.
- [27:06]
Dr. Francis Arlene
As a fractional cfo. Talk about artificial intelligence, AI and how do you use it and why?
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Suzanne Mariga
Oh, I love my chat. You know, chat is like my best friend these days. It's amazing for just running concepts back and forth, strategic decisions, what you're thinking about. I think it's great for consolidating data into a way that makes it easy to look at. AI is it makes all of us faster and more powerful at what we do. I would say run a chat, run your AI and embrace it, because, you know, yes, you can do the work yourself, but the reality is you're going to get there a lot faster using AI.
- [27:46]
Dr. Francis Arlene
Absolutely. What is the best decision you've made as a leader?
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Suzanne Mariga
Giving myself permission to pivot would be the best decision. You know, I think a lot of times we allow people to pigeonhole us into certain roles. I think that a lot of times we allow ourselves a pigeonhole. It's like, I'm just not good at this, or, you know, I'm good at this, but not at that. And the reality is, think about the Renaissance men, you know, way back in the 1800s, who did so many different things, or 1700s, right? They did light bulbs, they had farms, they did everything. We have that capacity. God gave us a left side of brain and right side of brain. We just have to embrace it. So give yourself permission to pivot. Dr. Francis, I don't want to talk about my new company that's in progress, but it's a manufacturing company of all companies. I can't tell you exactly what it is yet because it's. We're going to launch it in November. Maybe Dr. Francis will have me back.
- [28:41]
Dr. Francis Arlene
But they come back and share it first here on Black Entrepreneur Experience Podcast. Thank you.
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Suzanne Mariga
I appreciate it. But it's a manufacturing company, and it's completely different than accounting. Now, accounting did help me, because I'm telling you, because I understand margins, I understand cost of goods sold. It definitely helped inventory control. It helped probably take me places 20 years ahead than most companies starting out. But it's a completely different, different thing. You know, it's completely. It's. But don't allow the world to pigeonhole you. Give yourself permission to pivot.
- [29:14]
Dr. Francis Arlene
You know, Suzanne, one of the bigger stories that I see in this interview is the ability that you started a company, you sold your CPA firm. Talk about that. A lot of us, we don't get an opportunity to sell. Talk about what was that decision to Sell. How did you come to that? And why did you sell when you sold?
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Suzanne Mariga
So, first of all, I did not expect to sell. I had no intention of selling. You know, our revenue was strong. Our profit was great. There was no intention to sell. I had met a broker five years before. I had sold my practice. And every year he called and said, you know, are you ready to sell? And every year I said, no, I'm building this consulting practice, but I'm not ready to let go of my accounting practice yet. And, you know, during COVID we had a tax manager who had experienced some life things, and she stepped down. So I had stepped back into that role, and it was fine. It was a lot. But I think he caught me on a day that he happened to call the day, are you ready to sell? And I was getting ready to hire a recruiter who was going to expect a compensation of like 20%, 30% of that person's salary. And he called it a day. I said, you know, it might be nice to be paid versus paying someone for a chance, right? Because I'm an accountant, my financials were always in order. He goes, send me your profit and loss last five years running, month by month. And I said, okay, I'm gonna send this to you, but I need to go because I'm catching a cruise. I'm going on a cruise, and here goes. And I got back from the cruise, and four weeks after I got back, you know, when I got back, I literally had four offers on the tables. And again, it's building a business that's sellable, a business that you're not involved with daily, right? It's important because nobody wants to buy a job. So making sure that you price adequately to be able to cover the overhead of hiring people that are going to demand benefits and vacation, having not just the revenue, but the profitability. Because people want an asset, right? They want to be able to recoup their investment, and that creates a sellable business.
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Dr. Francis Arlene
And when you built the business, was it your expectation to eventually sell?
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Suzanne Mariga
I had always toyed with the idea in my mind that I might sell. I always build a business that could sell at any minute. And that was a goal. Creating a business that could sell at a drop of a dime if you wanted to. Because reality is, life happens. You know, you might wake up one morning and not be able to work anymore. Having a business that's desirable, that people want to buy is very important at any point.
- [31:47]
Dr. Francis Arlene
Absolutely. That is huge. That is huge. Let's talk about legacy. When it's all said and done, how do you want to be remembered?
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Suzanne Mariga
I want to be remembered as someone that helped change people's lives for the better.
- [32:00]
Dr. Francis Arlene
And I know we're not going to talk about the new venture. Will you continue to work as a fractional CFO or will you step away from that completely?
- [32:11]
Suzanne Mariga
For now, I'm continuing to work as a fractional cfo. We are very picky about the clients that we take. We want to make sure that they are good fit. We limit the number of takes that we do with that. But, you know, I love helping people change their lives and their legacies. I love that. So I think that that will always be a passion. I think that that will always be part of what I do.
- [32:33]
Dr. Francis Arlene
What do you need right now that you don't have to move the needle forward?
- [32:38]
Suzanne Mariga
I don't think I need anything. I think that God gives us everything we need to move the needle forward.
- [32:44]
Dr. Francis Arlene
Let's talk about your top two influencers. What lessons did they teach you?
- [32:52]
Suzanne Mariga
I would say the first was my dad. Being able to watch him build an accounting firm and see him do it, show me the possibilities of what I could do. So I think that was really important. And I think that was a rare gift that I had a dad that was a CPA that could show me the ropes. You know, he hired me when I was 14 and I got to work in his company. Being able to see that not just a tax write off, but I got good experience. And so that was a very rare gift from that perspective because I got to see a business run successfully. I got to see a business that stayed open for 40 years. And I got to see what it looked like to even sell a practice one day. That was a real gift from that perspective. In terms of other people, I mean, there have always been different people have come into my life that have shown me different things that have influenced me in different ways. I can't think of a particular person because everyone has in some way has left a little bit of their essence with me. Whether it's decisions that they made in their business, boundaries that they have set in their business. Everyone has has really influenced me one way or another.
- [34:01]
Dr. Francis Arlene
If you lost everything and you had to rebuild in 30 days, what industry and why?
- [34:09]
Suzanne Mariga
The great thing about what we have as entrepreneurs is we never lose what we've learned. And your second business will grow much faster than your first business. Your third business will grow much faster than all your businesses. Because that capital that you have will never, ever be something that you lose. Right. You Know, I think the easiest thing would be building what I've already created before. That would be the easiest thing to do if I need to create capital within 30 days. But I don't think there's an industry that I couldn't step in and do. Because of what you've learned.
- [34:46]
Dr. Francis Arlene
That is huge. Let's talk about your why. Why do you do what you do?
- [34:51]
Suzanne Mariga
I love helping people create a better legacy for themselves and their families. That's my why.
- [34:58]
Dr. Francis Arlene
That's your why. And let's talk about becoming Suzanne. How do you feel about who you have become and what you have accomplished?
- [35:10]
Suzanne Mariga
I feel good. I feel like there's more work to do in the world, but I feel good about what I've accomplished. It's just really a matter of, you know, I just always feel like there's more. There's always more that we can do. So it's. It's kind of strange. I don't know.
- [35:28]
Dr. Francis Arlene
We talked about capital a little bit, and I want to step back for your new business, raising capital. How are you raising capital for the new venture?
- [35:41]
Suzanne Mariga
So I like to be debt free. Right. As much as possible. So this has been infusion of capital of my own capital for this one. My seed money has been my own.
- [35:52]
Dr. Francis Arlene
And when you started the first the CPA firm, was it the same? Did you. It was your own fund?
- [35:58]
Suzanne Mariga
I started with 500 bucks. I bought a printer and I incorporated it, and then I eventually got tax software and.
- [36:06]
Dr. Francis Arlene
And it took you from starting the CPA firm, how long did it take for you to become profitable?
- [36:14]
Suzanne Mariga
The first year we made negative $2,000. I remember my dad, I shared with him my tax return. He goes, how did you make negative $2,000? And I said, well, I only had one client and I bought a printer and I bought some tax, and I bought a computer eventually because it's service based. And I said, yeah, but that's where the money went. I bought a desk that was negative $2,000. The next year we were profitable. Not a lot. It was like 30,000 that first day, that first year, so. And then after that, you just continue.
- [36:44]
Dr. Francis Arlene
To build on excellent. If you could spend time with one person, living or not, who would you have dinner with? And what would that conversation be? And name that person?
- [36:57]
Suzanne Mariga
I would say Michelle Obama. Right. That would be an amazing dinner to have. Right. And I'd have so many conversations like, you know, like, what was it like being a first lady with being so brilliant and supporting a brilliant man and standing behind, you know, questions like, how Was it to continue to get up every day and have the influence that you had, knowing that half the country was hating you? It would be questions like that.
- [37:24]
Dr. Francis Arlene
I would say if you conducted this interview, what is the one question you would have asked yourself? I'd like you to ask the question and answer it.
- [37:35]
Suzanne Mariga
Dr. Francis. You ask good questions. It would be, what's the piece of advice that I'd give people if they were an entrepreneur? What would that piece of advice? What would it be? And I would say start with your why. Start with what's important to you and then create your next actions and your next steps based upon building upon that why and accomplishing that why.
- [38:00]
Dr. Francis Arlene
We've come to the part of our interview, it's called the rapid round of fun. I'm going to ask you a series of questions and I'd like you to give me very quick answers. If there's something you desire not to answer, feel free to say pass. Are you ready for the rapid round of fun? Sure. What is your favorite comfort food?
- [38:22]
Suzanne Mariga
French fries.
- [38:23]
Dr. Francis Arlene
You relax. Doing what?
- [38:26]
Suzanne Mariga
Reading a book or audiobook nowadays.
- [38:28]
Dr. Francis Arlene
Audiobook. Your favorite singer or rapper?
- [38:32]
Suzanne Mariga
I like so many of them. I don't think I have a favorite. I'm gonna have to pass on that one.
- [38:38]
Dr. Francis Arlene
Your favorite dance song?
- [38:40]
Suzanne Mariga
I don't have a favorite of that either. I like all. Sorry, I'll have to pass.
- [38:46]
Dr. Francis Arlene
What food you eat every week, no matter what.
- [38:50]
Suzanne Mariga
Probably spaghetti.
- [38:52]
Dr. Francis Arlene
Your ideal car.
- [38:54]
Suzanne Mariga
Probably an suv. But I don't have a brand.
- [38:57]
Dr. Francis Arlene
That's okay. Work out or hit the couch.
- [39:01]
Suzanne Mariga
I should work out but I often hit the couch.
- [39:03]
Dr. Francis Arlene
You look amazing. Suzanne Marenga, thank you so much for joining us on Black Entrepreneur Experience podcast. And I do want to say if you want to catch her previous episode and then come up to date it's episode bee224. But we want to thank you so much and we are absolutely going to invite you back when you get your new company. I think that is amazing but share with our audience before you leave us. The best way for them to connect with you, the best way for them to do business with you, all your social media handles and where they can purchase profit first for minority business entrepreneurs.
- [39:44]
Suzanne Mariga
So the best way to connect with me is probably to go to either Suzanne Mariga.com or MarigaGroup.com are probably the best ways to to connect with me for the book. Anywhere that books are sold is a great place to go. Amazon, wherever you want to go for a book. Barnes and Nobles, they, they they will all have it in terms of social media handles. I think I'm the only Suzanne Marie on most of them.
- [40:08]
Dr. Francis Arlene
Thank you, Suzanne. That's a wrap. Thanks again to our incredible guests for sharing their insight on building a resilient business. And remember what we discussed. Resilience. Start at home if you're ready to protect the legacy you're building, not just the income, make sure to check out the DIY Legacy Planning Toolkit. You can find the direct link in the show notes. Go get your peace of mind now.
- [40:37]
Podcast Announcer
Thank you for listening and subscribing to Black Entrepreneur Experience. We would love for you to leave a review and rating on itunes and share with your friends. For show notes and more episodes, go to www.beepodcast.com. join us next Wednesday. And remember, green is the new Black, so keep your bank accounts and your business in the black.