From Startup Uncertainty To Profitable Forensic CPA Practice with Gabi Juba

0:02Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast where we are all about helping business owners just like you achieve success. So we don't do fancy smancy. We don't do flashing lights. We don't do a lot of things that a lot of podcasts will do. These are just real stories about real people and their entrepreneurial and business experiences. We go into their wins, their challenges, and their learnings. So we hope you enjoy it. All right. Welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. I am Cliff McRae filling in for Bill Gilliland with your local business training and coaching firm, Action Coach Business Growth Partners.

0:45I'm excited to have Gabby Juba with Juba Forensics as the focus for our Epic Entrepreneurs podcast episodes today. So, Gabby, please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself and your company and what primary products or services you offer the community. Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me on. My name is Gabby Juba. I am a forensic accountant. I'm a CPA based out of West Carolina in Brevard, actually. And I own my own CPA firm where I focus on forensic accounting and as well as CFO level work, typically for nonprofits. So for forensic accounting, people may not know what that is.

1:23I can find assets that you may not realize are missing, whether that's in your business or personal life. on the personal side of things that can look like elderly fraud and abuse or a divorce where one spouse is hiding funds from the other or on the business side of things, an employee may be stealing money, vendors, people like that. Perfect. Yeah. I appreciate that. Yeah. So if you had to start your business from square one, what would you do differently? Yeah. If I had to start from square one again, I would maybe have a better vision and plan in place. I thought I had my plan and vision in place from the get-go.

2:01And I really had to go with the flow a lot in the beginning. I had to keep tweaking my website, keep tweaking my marketing. And I think you do learn some of that as you go, but I do wish I maybe was in connection with other CPA firms that are doing something along the lines of what I was doing to maybe learn and elevate that growth and grow a lot faster than what I was able to do in the beginning. Perfect. Okay. Yeah, Yeah, definitely makes sense. So what have your biggest learnings been as an owner since you started your business? My biggest learnings, I think, are two different pieces. I think the first piece of that is how to balance my schedule.

2:39When you're an employee, it's very easy to, okay, I've got these 12 things to do, especially as a CPA for a client, I've got these 12 things to do and I'm done. Don't have to think about it anymore. But now that I work for myself, trying to have some kind of structure, but also take advantage of being flexible with my schedule if I would like to take an afternoon off or something like that. So trying to figure out scheduling. And then the second piece of that, I think, I'm sorry, I lost my train of thought there for a second. Could you shoot me back the question one more time and I'll get the second piece?

3:19Sorry. No, you're fine. What have your biggest learnings been as an owner since you started your business? Yeah, this. Okay, there we go. So the second piece of that would be just the back-end work that goes into building your business. So I definitely thought of all the client-facing pieces that I was going to have to have in place, but not really a structure for what does that back-end office stuff look like. When am I going to get that done? How long is that going to take me? What kind of schedule do I need? Do I need to do that weekly or monthly or quarterly? So just trying to really set up good back office systems for myself is another piece there.

3:58Perfect. Perfect. So what are some common misconceptions about running a business? Would you say? So for me, a common misconception, I thought it was going to be very much put my, put up a website and I would magically get clients. They would come flocking to me somehow. I would get elevated on Google and I would be having to just turn people away without having to do a whole lot. Turns out that's not really how that works. Just because you have a website does not mean people are going to find you. And it was actually a lot more of relationship building and networking than I thought it was going to be in the beginning.

4:37So I do definitely participate in a lot of business networking. Building those relationships with people is really important, especially for a business like mine that is service-based. I'm not selling a product. I am face-to-face with people, and they're trusting me with their finances and what they do and their livelihood. So, yeah, building connections definitely makes a big difference. And you sometimes don't really know where your next client is coming from. For me, it has been more word of mouth and who knows who that may need my services. Okay. So digging into that a little bit more, what specific networking groups, or are there any specific networking groups that you'd like to shout out on here?

5:22Absolutely. I would love to shout out FABBA. So that's the Fletcher Area of Business Association. They're one of the very first groups I got connected with in Western North Carolina. I'd also love to shout out Incredible Towns. They host Incredible Business Networking, which is free networking all across Western North Carolina as well. I'm actually a co-leader for one of their meetings. And then the third group that I'm a part of is the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce. I love their leads group and some of the events that they host. So I try to network with a wide range of people. to really get the word out there.

6:06Perfect. Perfect. So how do you handle taking vacations while running a business? Absolutely. So for vacations, I launched my business in April of this year. I have had a couple of vacations, sometimes just a long weekend, other times more like a week or two off. For me, it's being upfront with my clients that I'm working with, what my boundaries are. If I would like to be technology free for four or five days or maybe a week, I need to communicate that as far in advance as I can with my clients to let them know if I think I can spot check emails while I'm on vacation, if that's what I choose to do.

6:45I also want to be upfront with those clients and let them know, hey, for this one week, I'm only going to be able to spot check your emails and I'll get back to you when I get back. but handling vacations also have to be more intentional i find being a business owner i can take a bunch of vacation time if i want to but then my business is not building and growing the way i want it to be so i have to try to find that balance between growing my business working on the business like in the business with clients and then also finding time for myself which is maybe not always the easiest thing to balance that time for yourself.

7:25My brain's always spinning. So there are Saturdays and Sundays that I work, you know, sometimes I work weekends or evenings or mornings, but then sometimes I take afternoons off with just, yeah, trying to find that balance. Okay. And what have you attributed to your growth so far in your business? So what I attribute to the growth of my business, there's a few pieces to that. But I think part of that is just the drive that I have in general. I felt like I never really fit in in an employee sense. Another piece of that is definitely my network. The people that I know, if I knew no one and was just relying on my website to try to bring in traffic for me, I wouldn't have a good day.

8:10So I look forward to the people I know. that helped me get the word out there for people that trusted me in the beginning when I was brand new. And the third piece of that for my growth, I think, is the education that I received. I always love to learn and grow. So I've taken many business classes all over the place, sometimes at local community colleges. I love podcasts where I can learn more about business. I also have a bachelor's, master's doctor in business. And I think that really helps me learn and grow and become who I am as a leader and a business owner as well. Okay. So how would you say you balance your personal life with the demands of running a business?

8:53I know you kind of went into that a little bit earlier, kind of, you know, if you work in the morning, maybe take an afternoon off or something like that. Can you dig into that a little bit more? Absolutely. So for me, it's about being really intentional with my time. The business, This for me can take over if I let it take over. It's really easy to get focused on not only doing the client work, but going to all of the networking events, posting on LinkedIn, doing the YouTube videos. It's really easy to get wrapped up in that. And next thing you know, you're working 60, 70, 80 hours in a week.

9:27And I did that in the beginning. So I try right now to be very intentional. 2026, my goal is every other weekend to take a three-day weekend for myself. so we'll see as we go throughout 2026 how that goes yeah okay okay yeah I like that that sounds like a good plan so what qualities you look for in potential employees I don't know if we talked about you have any place we had not talked about me having employees so I do not have any employees at the moment I have led teams before where I've had 23 or more employees I am open to having employees in the future. So when I'm looking for employees, what I'm looking for is someone that has someone I can work well with as part of it.

10:16And another piece of that is somebody that really has it, if that makes sense, somebody that even if they're not the most skilled, maybe they don't have the most education, but can I train them to get where they need to be? Do they have the potential to grow with the role that I'm providing for them? And of course, I will look at their experience and education as well as a piece of that picture. But yeah, for me, it's a full picture. As far as having employees in my business, I would love to be a fully remote team at some point in the future, maybe offshore as well. A mix of U.S. and Philippines workers I think would be a really powerful mix for the industry that I'm in anyway.

10:59Okay. Okay. So, you know, for, you know, potential employees that you may have in the future, I mean, how would you go about fostering a positive work environment for them? Yeah. So for me, a positive work environment, I have thought this through. What does that look like for my team? I think part of that is being well compensated. A lot of in the accounting industry, at least from what I've seen, people that are coming in, new hires maybe don't get paid a lot at all. So I would love to bring people in at a top dollar, whether they are brand new in the accounting industry or experienced, paid on the top end of the salary range that the industry offers.

11:39I would love to also provide continuing education in person as well as online options for continuing education. So I've got a list of things that I would do to try to create this positive work environment, as well as weekly check-ins, weekly meetings to make it feel like a family, even though we are working remote. How do I bring people together, offer really amazing benefits and make them want to stay and grow with this organization? Yeah, no, that's huge, especially when you're working with a fully remote team, right? You want to check in and make sure that, you know, if there's anything that's on their mind, they can get it out.

12:18And they just don't feel like, you know, kind of like a fly on the wall in the corner. They're just working right. I get what you mean. So now we're going to head into what's called the quick fire round. And what we do here is I'll give you one word and you give me the first thing that comes to your mind. Your answer doesn't have to be one word. It can actually be one idea. But you just give me the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about running your business when it comes to this word. Perfect. First word is education. Okay, when I think education, I think it's important. I think it's important to have education, whether that's with the small business center at your local community college or through podcasts or YouTube videos.

12:58It doesn't have to be formal education, but I do think the more education you have, the better you can run your business. Planning. Planning. The first thing that comes to mind is essential. I plan out everything. So to me, planning will help you be the best in the future. I don't know, I guess grow the best as well. If you have some kind of plan in place, you can always readjust as you go. But without a plan, you are just subject to the whims of whatever comes your way. And yeah, planning is essential. Inspiration. Inspiration, I think, is a need. I think you need to have inspiration from somewhere, whether that is a person, an idea, it's another organization that you're following.

13:46I think you need to be inspired, even if it's to create something that's never been created before. You need to have some kind of inspiration to do what it is that you're doing and stay motivated when you are maybe tired or stressed out or burnt out. Commitment. Commitment. The first thing that comes to my mind is that's hard. Commitment can be hard. It's hard to make what it has to your business, to yourself, to a significant other. Commitment's not easy, but commitment is always worth it in the end. When you really step up, step up as who you are and who you're meant to be and stay committed to the path that you're going down, it will come back to you tenfold.

14:27Perfect. Perfect. I appreciate that. So what words of advice would you offer to other business owners who are looking to grow? I would say for other business owners that are looking to grow, words of advice would be not to give up, not to give up too soon. I've been there. I've launched more businesses than I can count. And I have closed every single one of them because I didn't really have the commitment, didn't really have quite the drive for it. And I gave up too soon before it really got to pay off. So don't be afraid to fail. Don't be afraid to put the idea out there. And if it doesn't work, take it back, but also be willing to stick it out.

15:11If it seems like it's slowly coming together, let it slowly come together. When I launched my business, I worked a part-time job and I told myself I've got six months to get this off the ground. And what off the ground meant to me was I wanted to have it at least start to pay for itself. Didn't have to give me a salary, but I needed it to at least break even in six months while I'm working this part-time job. And I will say within six months it became profitable. It was slow. It took me a long time. I had to figure a lot of things out as I went, but it's, it's worth it to keep going through that in the end.

15:50Yeah. So that's why I guess one of the words of advice is don't give up too soon, but be willing to try again or pivot or change focus as you're going. Yeah. And what's the next big thing for Juba Forensics? The next big thing. So I've got a couple different things in the back of my mind here. So one thing is 2026, I would like to be able to hire employees in 2026 for my business. And in the future in general, five to 10 year plan, I would love to be a multimillion dollar CPA firm providing amazing benefits, not only to my employees, but to the clients that we choose to work with. Okay, great, great.

16:32Yeah, that's awesome. So you're not currently hiring at this time, but you said you're, is that correct? Absolutely. So I'm not hiring right this second, but I'm hoping to be hiring by the summertime frame. Summertime of 2026. Okay, perfect. Yeah, perfect. And lastly, what's the best way for someone to find you or get in touch with you? Yes. The best way to get in touch with me would be my LinkedIn or my website as well. All of my information is on my website, but LinkedIn, I do post on a regular basis. So you can send me a message on my LinkedIn. Perfect. And you said LinkedIn, any other social media other than LinkedIn?

17:07Yes. I'm also on YouTube as well. I try to post on YouTube a couple of times a week too. Okay. And that's under Juba Forensics? Yes. Yes. So YouTube is Juba Forensics, but then my LinkedIn is my full name, which is Dr. Gabriel Juba. Perfect. Perfect. Yeah. Fantastic. Yeah. Thank you so much for being a part of the community and for all that you're doing. We certainly wish you continued success in 2026 and beyond. Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me on. Yeah. Thank you.

17:38Hey, thanks for listening to the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast. Here's three things that you can do. Number one, remember to subscribe to the podcast. It takes very little effort on your part. It's going to help you and your fellow entrepreneurs. Plus, you guys know how it works. The more subscribers we get, the more cool things we can offer to you. Second, to learn more about growing your business, just download my book, The Coach Approach. It's free for you at giftfrombill.com. That's giftfrombill.com. Hey, and if you'd like more info about growing your business and what we can do to help you grow your business, send me an email directly.

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