How Wealthy Business Owners Think About Money with Claudio Gambin

0:01Light that spark fire nation JLD here and welcome to entrepreneurs on fire brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like Marketing Made Simple. Today, we'll be breaking down how wealthy business owners think about money. To drop these value bombs, I am brought Claudio Gambin into EO Fire Studios. Claudio is disrupting the industry that's been stagnant for 150 years. He's a business consultant specializing in unique tax strategy, risk management, growth planning, and exit strategy. And Fire Nation, Today, we'll talk about the difference between growing and scaling our business, unique tax strategies.

0:40We'll talk about how to survive and thrive in volatile times, and so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Claudio and our sponsors. The Gold Digger Podcast, hosted by my good friend, Jenna Kuchar, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. The Gold Digger Podcast helps you discover your dream career with productivity tips, social strategies, business hacks, inspirational stories, and so much more. A must-listen episode is one of Jenna's recents on everything you need to know about affiliate marketing. Listen to Gold Digger wherever you get your podcasts.

1:15It's time to turn your browsers into buyers with the internet's best converting checkout on Shopify. Sign up for a$1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash onfire, all lowercase. Go to shopify.com slash onfire now to take your business to new heights, no matter what stage you're in. Claudio, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. What's up, everybody? Happy to be on the show. You know, I'm not sure if everybody's going to disagree with this, but I know that this to be a fact, the secret of success in any environment, and it's consistency.

1:59I believe long obedience in the same direction is going to drive massive results. Unfortunately, you just have to be patient. Fire Nation, get up every day, put in the reps, be patient, persevere. Good things could happen. And we're talking today about how wealthy business owners think about money. And as entrepreneurs, Claudio, we hear about how we need to grow and scale our business all the time. It's definitely a constant thing that we hear, but there's a difference between growing and scaling our business. Tell us that difference. You know, man, scaling is, it requires a whole different level of intentionality.

2:38You know, you can grow through pure grit and volume and grow through exchanging minutes for dollars. But scaling just requires a whole different level, right? It requires you to pay attention. It requires for you to build. I think most of all, scaling requires you to put your pride, your ego aside, and build something that's bigger than you. Because the whole idea of scaling is that you want something to be exponential. And if you want it to be exponential, you're going to need to do it with more than just you. Anyone can go make more sales and just grow by just working more hours. Fire Nation, I know a lot of people in this audience, you Fire Nation, got into this thing called entrepreneurship for a reason, because you want to have an amazing life.

3:34You're doing something you love, you're impacting the world and you're able to have some kind of joy with a balance that you're creating. And to do that, you need to listen to these things we're talking about here today, because this is how wealthy business owners think about money. And it is different. And Fire Nation, Claudio, loves tax strategies. They love secret hacks for entrepreneurs. And I hear you have a couple unique ones for us today. So when it comes to taxes, we take an approach that follows this one formula. We're going to look at the most impact value driven pieces first. So that's credits, tax credits.

4:12We're going to look at your research and development tax credits, your easement credits, whatever sort of industry you're in, there's likely to be some level of tax credits that's designed to help you reinvest and grow. Credits are impactful because they're dollar for dollar. You have a dollar in tax credits, you get a dollar off of your tax bill. The next most impactful piece is depreciation. depreciation allows for you to create leverage. So for example, we can go buy something, let's just call a piece of equipment, spend$100 ,000 on it and appreciate the entire thing in year one. But that equipment is likely able to be financed.

4:52So maybe it only costs you$10 ,000 to get full$100 ,000 worth of write-offs and depreciation. And depreciation expands past equipment, into real estate, into cars, into different assets that your business can use to make money. For example, if you are growing your business and you are going to purchase a competitor that's likely considered an asset purchase in which it allows for you to likely depreciate all or most of the sale price. So you could probably buy a million dollar business, spend$200 ,000 out of pocket, finance the rest, and get a million dollar in depreciation. And now you just bought an appreciating cash flowing asset that's going to help you grow your business.

5:38So that's the next piece. Then from there, we get into deductions. Where most people get really hung up on is they feel like they need to go spend money at the end of the year to not pay taxes. And what they end up doing is they end up spending a dollar to save 30 cents. Awesome. You spent a dollar and you save 30 cents and maybe you got a discount or when you bought your G-Wagon or your Escalade or whatever it may be. But in reality, is that truly the best financial move? When we get to deductions with our clients, we talk through, if you're going to spend the money regardless, let's make sure it's an investment in your business.

6:14It's required by your business. And let's make sure we book it in such a way that's going to help you not only get the tax value of it and deduct it, but help you move forward towards your vision. And that's really the last piece, John, is alignment. Let's not just do stuff because we're doing stuff. Let's make sure that our tax strategies are in alignment with our vision. Where are we going? What are we building to? Are we going to build this thing to sell? Are we going to simply build it for lifestyle? What is our vision? And let's make sure that the tax strategies that you were implementing not only help you save money in taxes, but are in alignment with your vision.

6:54Because once you do save money in taxes, those dollars you saved, if it's in alignment with your vision, it'll help you reinvest into the right areas to help you get closer and closer to your vision. Are your tax strategies aligned with your vision? That's an incredibly valuable question to ask yourself, Fire Nation, because if the answer is no or I don't know, it's now time to take some affirmative action in that area because we're living in volatile times. And Claudio, I want to hear your recommendations, not just to survive, but to actually thrive in volatile times. There's no doubt about volatility, right?

7:36In today's space, it's everywhere. And we think through what's happening in the economy. We think through what's happening through healthcare, where it's COVID coming back. There's so many unknowns. So even through what we call COVID 1.0, and now looking at and staring at the face of COVID 2.0 and what it may do to our economy, here's a few formula pieces that we really help our clients to. And again, it comes back to alignment. But first and foremost, what we're looking at is where are you spending money, right? Like we look at variable operational expenses versus fixed operational expenses. And right now, if you're going to thrive through a volatile environment instead of simply surviving, like we don't want to just keep our doors open.

8:25We want to make sure that we have enough surplus to buy our competitors, right? So we're going to reduce variable OPEX. We're going to reduce fixed OPEX. But if you had to pick one, pick fixed. The reason I say pick fixed OPEX is because those are the assets that carry an expense on a monthly or annual basis that are hard to move. So if you've got a bloated financial worksheet with a lot of payments, maybe you've got some cars or some expenses, now is the time to lean that out. Two, liquidity is key. You want to stay liquid. And the reason you want to stay liquid is not because the market is an opportunity, but it's simply because there's going to be threats and opportunities that allow for you to take advantage and not take one step forward, but to take 10 steps forward.

9:19So as we think through a potential recession that we're facing, there's going to be competitors in your industry that are going to go out of business. And when they go out of business, your liquidity will allow for you to go pick up their staff, their talent, so that you can serve your current clients better. But more importantly, you can now go serve their clients, right? That's thriving. That's not surviving. So liquidity, OPEX, and then the third piece of that, stay away from shiny objects. Curb your expenses. Curb your wants. Be grateful for what you have and wait for the opportunity to go acquire those wants because they will be at a discount if this volatility continues.

10:06Fire Nation, that's why we say over and over again, focus. Follow one course until success. Don't follow every shiny object that pops up in the distance, you will get distracted. You will not be in a position that Claudio is talking about when the time is right. And we have so many more things to talk about along this line when we get back from thanking our sponsors. Artificial intelligence is at the top of everyone's news feed. So we all know there are plenty of business pros out there benefiting from AI. AI can help you save time, bring some ideas and tackle your to-do list. But knowing about it and putting it into practice are two different things.

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11:22So work smarter, not harder. Head to HubSpot.com slash campaign dash assistant to test drive campaign assistant for free. Great partners in business? We all know that's hard to find. But if you're looking for a great partner to help take your business to new heights, look no further than Shopify. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business, from launching an online store all the way to your 1 ,000 orders milestone. Shopify's there to help. Whether you're selling shower heads or Santa hats, Shopify helps you sell wherever and whatever. Plus, Shopify gives you the internet's best converting checkout, 36 % better on average compared to other leading commerce platforms.

12:02And now you can sell even more with less effort thanks to Shopify Magic, your AI-powered all-star. Shopify powers 10 % of all e-commerce in the US and with their award-winning 24-7 support, they've always got your back. Sign up for a$1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash onfire, all lowercase. Go to shopify.com slash onfire now to take your business to new heights no matter what stage you're in. Shopify.com slash onfire. Claudia, we're back and you believe that taking risks elevated your business specifically. So give us some examples about how you did this and how Fire Nation listening could do the same.

12:43I think taking risks is pure magic, right? Like as entrepreneurs, everybody listening, like you, one day you woke up, you had this amazing idea, and then you've simply just created this business. And, you know, at our organization today, we are responsible for families and, you know, our employees have homes and mortgages, kids that go to private school, they have their own visions and dreams. And it was our risk and our belief that is now helping them achieve their goals. To most people, risk is a scary thing. But to me and really any entrepreneur, I think risk is a byproduct of showing up and doing what we love every day.

13:24Risk elevates you on two different levels. One, it helps you go achieve your most amazing future. But probably the most important thing that risk does is it creates your ability to build self-confidence. Every time you take a leap, right? Some people call it risk. We call it a leap. Every time you take a leap and you land on your own two feet, that just helps you build your confidence. And there's going to be good times in business and bad times in business. And through every single one of my bad times, I lose sleep, but I know for a fact that I'm going to make it through. Why? Because I've made it through in the past.

14:03I've gone through dark times. I know what it takes to survive. And those leaps help me build those calluses and the confidence to know that if I want to take my business today and get it to the billion dollar valuation that we are charging at in five years, it's going to take risks. But I have the confidence to be able to charge at those risks without doubts. And that's something that's very different. Now you have a unique strategy for client retention when it comes to gifting. And as business owners know, I mean, it is really hard to get a client. So it's really heartbreaking when you lose a client.

14:41So client retention, Fire Nation needs to be at the forefront of what you're doing. When you have a client who's paying you, who's already in your world, you must keep them. So share that strategy with us now, Claudio. You just have to get creative. At the end of the day, that's what everybody says, but you know you have to get creative, but you're still sending the birthday gift. You're still sending the Christmas gift. You're still sending the end of the year update cards. Everybody's sending out quarterly updates and reports. You're not sending out from the crowd. You're not at all. But if you could simply think, okay, what can I do differently that nobody else is doing in my industry?

15:22Right? So like in our space, we pay special attention to everything that surrounds our clients. So instead of sending them a gift, we're going to send their dog a gift. Instead of sending them a gift, we're going to send their kids a gift. We're paying attention to the odd holidays, right? So if we know someone's wedding anniversary, we're going to focus on that, not their birthday. If we know there's something special happening in the world of social media, you can really dive in. If we know one of our clients, their kid just won some special award at school or at sports, we're going to go send them something on that.

16:02And then more importantly, we leave our business out of it. No one wants to receive a cup with our logo on it. But if we send them something with their name on it, with their family name on it, they're much more likely to keep that. So like this year, for example, we chose Thanksgiving as one of our major gifts. We're getting a custom butcher board made with like teak or oak, beautiful handmade boards with the client's family name and crest engraved on that board. When they receive that gift, one, they'll keep it. Two, it'll start a conversation and it'll be the topic of the conversation every single time they use it because it's something that no matter how wealthy they are, they're not going to be able to recreate.

16:52Right. Anybody can go get a shirt or a cup or a keychain. But this board is made custom specifically by one person in Florida. They're not going to be able to recreate that. So that's what we're doing to retain clients is we're just staying relevant and showing up where they want us to show up, not just the traditional ways. Speaking of showing up, I'm all about showing up every day and putting in the reps. I've done it for 11 years now with entrepreneurs on fire every day, putting in the reps. And you talk about that too, Claudia. You talk about showing up every day and stacking the bricks. Tell us more.

17:30I grew up incredibly poor, right? And my parents sacrificed everything so that I could have the opportunity to grow up in this country. Born in Brazil, moved here when I was seven years old. My parents gave up family, careers, pretty much everything there is to give up so that me and my sister can show up every day and give it our best. And I'm not going to simply sacrifice that opportunity. Right. So I look at it every single day when I show up, I look at the hardest part of my day and I consider every single day building to my vision and stacking bricks. And the standard in which I operate is defined by my standard of life, not how I feel that day.

18:17So when I show up, I show up ready to attack because if I don't, I'm not going to honor my parents sacrifice. And growing up in that capacity gave me one of the best gifts. And at the time, I'm sure it was incredibly difficult for my parents. But unbeknownst to them, they gave me the best gift of all. And that gift was the gift of having to figure it out. Right. So something that I think through and struggle with today is my kids. They're going to go up in an economically different environment. Right. They're going to be much better off. So how do I synthesize that for them? How do I give them that same gift without them having to go through the hardships that I did?

18:54And I believe we're going to do that by me showing up and living to the standard and being the best version of myself because I want them to see their dad working hard towards passion, towards freedom, towards peace. And that's the standard that we set for ourselves when we show up every single day, when we stack those bricks is in my delivering on the sacrifice of my parents. And am I becoming the man, the father, the husband that my family deserves? So for me, that's the pure standard. If I operate at that standard, John, my employees are going to achieve everything they've ever wanted to achieve.

19:34Our company is going to grow to where we want it to be. And we're going to be able to deliver unbelievable, unparalleled service and value to our clients. And what else could you want? Fire Nation, powerful words that I'll also be thinking about as we bring our first child into this world, because it is so important to go through this thought process. And Claudio, you've dropped so many value bombs here today. what is the one thing of everything we talked about you want to make sure Fire Nation really gets? The biggest piece is where we started, John. We started at what is the one piece? And I said patience.

20:12And you've mentioned it a few times today. I think all too often we see shiny objects and we think that's our next path to success. When in reality, staying in your lane, staying true to your focus and just putting in the work day in, day out, staying patient. And I call it long obedience in the same direction, right? I'm going to go do what I do and I'm going to live to that standard every single day. And I have for the last 14 years. And the results that I get today are not a function of the work that I'm putting in today. It's a function of 14 years of showing up every single day, living to that standard.

20:52So that consistency, that's it. That's the secret sauce. Be consistent, stay patient, and go follow your dreams. Claudio, Fire Nation wants to connect with you, wants to learn more from you. What's your call to action for us today? So we are on social at Claude Gambon. You can get a lot more of this sort of stuff there. GFGSolutions.com is our firm. We're a business consulting firm, shameless plug. And then we also have a podcast, invest the difference. Well, we're talking through this exact same stuff. How can we invest in the difference makers of our business and life? So that's where we're at.

21:30Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You've been hanging out with CG and JLD today. So keep up that heat. For links to everything we talked about, visit eofire.com, type Claudio in the search bar. The show notes page pop right up. And Claudio, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Thank you, sir. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Claudio for sponsoring today's episode. And Fire Nation, over the last decade, I've interviewed more than 4 ,000 of the world's most successful entrepreneurs.

22:06And I've created a revolutionary 17-step roadmap to your financial freedom and your fulfillment. and I put it all into my first traditionally published book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, personally endorsed by Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk. The Common Path to Uncommon Success is the step-by-step guidance that you need to achieve the lifestyle of your dreams. Visit uncommonsuccessbook.com and get your copy today. I'll catch you there or on the flip side. The Gold Digger Podcast, hosted by my good friend Jenna Kuchar, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals.

22:46The Gold Digger Podcast helps you discover your dream career with productivity tips, social strategies, business hacks, inspirational stories, and so much more. A must-listen episode is one of Jenna's recents on everything you need to know about affiliate marketing. Listen to Gold Digger wherever you get your podcasts. Start selling online today with Shopify. No coding or design experience necessary. Sign up for a$1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash onfire, all lowercase. Go to shopify.com slash onfire now to take your business to new heights, no matter what stage you're in.