1738 – Unlock Financial Success with Advisory Services with Jessica Zoraida

0:28Hey there, thoughtful listener. million in revenue. Just head to upmyinfluence.com and watch my free class on how to create endless high-ticket sales appointments. You can even chat with me live and I'll see and reply to your messages. Also, don't forget, the thoughtful entrepreneur is always looking for guests. Go to upmyinfluence.com and click on podcast. We'd love to have you.

0:58with us right now it's jessica zoraida jessica you are an entrepreneur speaker angel investor and the ceo of big picture results you're found on the web at big pick results.com jessica thank you for joining us thank you josh it's a pleasure to be here absolutely well i'll let you fill us in on the work that you do particularly with big picture results? Yeah. So big picture results is our services-based business. We are an accounting, tax, and advisory company, and we really look to meet small business owners on what is currently an unmet need by bringing in accounting and tax professionals, advisory, whether we're looking to have a chief financial officer or COO, and basic HR compliance all under one roof so that we're starting the conversation with strategic goal setting that is very holistic in nature, setting the business up for success and also protecting owner income.

2:02Yeah. So let's break that down just a bit when you talk about advisory level. So I think a lot of us, particularly those of us who have been early stage are familiar with hiring a tax person, hiring an accountant, and those are the biggies, right? We got to get those things, make sure we got those things locked down. And then we want to start making decisions, you know, big financial decisions, make big decisions about our company. And that's where, you know, if you're interpreting your numbers, that is valuable data. Let's talk maybe about the life cycle of a business and when it's appropriate to start thinking about, you know, bringing in someone that can not only do the numbers, but help you interpret and make decisions based on the numbers.

2:46Absolutely. And you hit the nail on the head, Josh. Business owners, they might have an accountant. Maybe they have a bookkeeper. You know, they're doing the bare minimum with regards to filing taxes. But typically, these professionals tend to be scattered, and they're not necessarily speaking the same language, which leads to a lot of wasted time, as we know, is such a resource that we don't have enough of, especially for entrepreneurs. the beauty of what we do, we like to say that we meet clients at all life cycles of their business. We like to meet them where they're at. So even if you're a startup, it is never too early to work with a service organization such as ours that holistically is going to get after, okay, let's set you up financially with a good infrastructure so that your accounting is not only meeting the bare minimum, but putting you in a position of how are they get good financials on a timely basis that allows you to understand the drivers of your business.

3:48What's working? What's not? I'm not profitable. The CPA is not going to give you that answer. We've really peeled back the layers of the onion to understand, well, is there an issue with regards to maybe you're not pricing enough for your services and we need to drive income up, or perhaps your people at an operational level aren't really process-minded. And that's where our operational consulting comes in to just really build good process, build some budget hours, accountability, standard operating procedures. And what's wonderful about fractional or outsourced services, you can do this at a fraction of the price without hiring a full-time advisor, which unless you're a mega enterprise level organization, you don't need that.

4:40Well, right. And I think what we're talking about too is that's a huge leap. Can you talk about where that may be appropriate? And I think if we were to start thinking about bringing in someone that's a little bit more full-time on that side, what that investment might look like or engagement might look like? Oh, gosh. Yeah. So, you know, taking a startup into consideration, we really like to, you know, sort of land and expand. So we're never going to push anyone beyond where they're currently having their needs. We'll set up basic accounting. We'll start educating you on what financial statements mean, working with the business owners to get comfortable with key metrics, building those out.

5:23And over time, as you need the nature in which we work, even if you're not hiring us as an outsourced advisor, we're going to give you that thorough and quality level of analysis, because that's the way we operate with our team. We're made up of accountants, CPAs, CFOs, controllers, and the financial statement analysis that we provide our clients, whether they're startup or a$10 million business, we're going to have that thoughtful commentary so that when you're reviewing your financial statements, we're ready proactively answering those questions that will come up for you. Yeah. Let's talk maybe just for a moment about trends or things that you've seen, something that would be valuable for, I would say, mostly like an SMB founder audience, but folks that have been at the helm for quite a while, right?

6:18What are some things that you're observing in terms of, I don't know, maybe it's related to the market or maybe recent trends in accounting or financial decision-making. Maybe you're seeing this across the clients that you work with, but just what might be super valuable for this audience to be aware of in regards to the numbers side of the house? Yeah. So I think the biggest trends that we're seeing with regards to employees and our teams is their desire to have a healthy work-life balance, put themselves first, right? Long gone are the days of putting in a 40-year career for your corporate job and putting your home life sort of second and then maybe enjoying your livelihood once you retire.

7:07The beauty of our model, we're 11 years young. We began this business as a remote organization long before the days of COVID. And I really take a lot of pride as a leader to recognize, hear and see the talent that make up our organization. Because if people feel heard and seen and valued, and we're having stay interviews instead of exit interviews to really get a feel for, well, what are the skills? What are the passion that I have as an employee? And what are those things that are outside of my current ability that I want to grow into? We take that into consideration so that our team not only is close knit and collaborative, but we're promoting you up within the organization.

7:59So we have a few on our staff that started out with us as just junior accountants. And now they're cleanup experts. They're managing a staff and really not only getting trained up as far as working in a corporate organization, but they're empowered and motivated because we see and hear them first. We're not just looking at them like a set of skills. And if people are happy with the work that they're doing, they're going to be productive. One of my favorite things that I really practice what I preach for everyone on our team, if you're not having a good day, right? We're not doing life-saving work.

8:41We're not like cutting someone open on the operating table. If you're not in a good place, please take care of yourself first, stay home. They're going to show up that much more engaged when they do return. And because we're so organized with how we do work as a team, everyone on our team touches the financials produced to the client, enabling us to jump in at any time without skipping a beat. So that client service is not compromised. Yeah. So for someone that's listening to our conversation, Jessica, and they're like, okay, I'm interested, but I'm still nervous that it's going to be disruptive, or I'm nervous that the investment in even bringing someone in on a fractional basis might still be a pretty big engagement.

9:27Can you maybe talk about what that process is like and How might someone get ready for this sort of backup and assistance? And who's just kind of an ideal client to work with? Sorry, that was a lot of questions rolled into one. I can roll with that. Yeah, so the best way in order to get ready is definitely for the owner or leader of an organization to get crystal clear on who their market is, who their customers are, what are the services that they're providing? and then literally just jumping in that conversation with us, regardless of whether they've begun accounting or financial analysis, or maybe they've been doing it for a few years and they realize they need to clean up.

10:10The biggest criteria that we look for is just being humble human beings, right? And we're here to help. We're the experts. We don't expect our clients to be the ones to lead the charge. That's what we're here for. and just communicating to us what their overall mission is as far as an organization, who their people are, their current org chart. And we literally take it from there as far as setting up both their accounting and their operational infrastructure and just good communication, right? We don't always want to hear the bad stuff, but it's important on a regular basis. we're constantly exchanging.

10:51I want to hear two goods and two bads on a regular basis so that we're constantly improving. The one thing that has gotten us this far as an organization that I started as a stay-at-home mom 11 years ago, change is a constant. There is not one week that passes in this organization that we're doing something different, that our tech stack evolves into something that's more productive. So I think the ability and willingness to communicate and be receptive is going to be a game changer, you know, that ability to get out of your own way. And talking to that, one of the things that I sort of cringe that I hear all the time from thought leaders is, oh, there's no fear, just do it, like have no fear.

11:37Like, you know what, But I have fear all of the time and all of the things that we're doing to grow this organization and make a bigger impact. Do it anyway, right? Your wiggles and nervousness is going to catch up with you. And just marry that with a big dose of courage so that you're continually improving and putting yourself in a position of power as a leader to not only create a bigger now for yourself, but a bigger and better tomorrow for the communities and tribes in which you operate. Yeah. And so when that engagement, because let's say, Jessica, someone's listening to our conversation, they found you, they found this podcast, now they're listening to our conversation.

12:19What are those initial steps? How do you figure out if you're a great match? Yeah. So it all starts with our initial sales call. That's where I'm essentially the gatekeeper. And I love that you're really bringing attention to, is it a match? Because at the end of the day, we want to work with people that are aligned and really open to the nature of the work that we do, because we are going to push you to strive for excellence, to make improvements. We show up sometimes in person and work with organizations, teams, and it's really important to let them know we're not here to take your job away.

13:00We're here to improve your function so that you're more productive. Our motto is we enable business owners to make and do more in less time so that that's the crux of entrepreneurship, right? Being able to really be successful in your wheelhouse, but do it in a really productive, efficient way so that you're focused on the business, not in the business. And after that initial lead call, I really, you know, get down and dirty and get a feel for what are their goals? What are the things to date that haven't worked? Where are they looking to bring their organization? And really coming up with a thoughtful game plan.

13:42This is how we can help. And we kick off pretty quickly. Next steps, get them in the queue. We have an onboarding call with them and their teams and literally take it from there, regardless of whether they're setting up accounting for the first time or, you know, a$5 million business that's been rolling for several years. You know, the construction and industry space is a really good one as an example, because a lot of times they come to us, they're profitable, but they have no idea how they got there. They're essentially profitable despite themselves, which is a thing of beauty because there's so much more room for improvement and profitability.

14:23So we're really going to have the conversation in the language that they're comfortable with and take not our time, but really at a pace that's comfortable for them. Because, right, you know, more than anyone, if you throw too much at someone, it's going to scare them. They're like, oh, my gosh, like maybe I'm not ready for this. So we literally divide and conquer across a timeline in order or priority. Jessica, your website is BigPicResults.com. When somebody goes there, what would you recommend, particularly if they're just kind of getting to know you for the first time? Absolutely. So if they want to get a flavor for the type of services that we offer, definitely check out the services page.

15:10We're happy to have you add yourself to the contacts page. We put together every single month except August. That's when we all sort of take a break before the busy season. We put together a really thoughtful newsletter, chock full of resources, quick tips, mantras, tools, such as a financial checkup, the questions that you should be asking as a CEO. and crucial for any business owner, the bottom of this newsletter is always going to talk about capital access. So what are those resources available to us if we're looking to finance and grow our business further? A very important subject. I'll tell you, I wish we had more time because that's a topic that doesn't get talked enough about, about, you know, how to do, you know, when there's opportunity, how to know, So should you take financing?

16:03Are you undercapitalized? Are you overcapitalized, right? There's so much bad money out there that you could take that has just really aggressive factoring in this. Oh my gosh, boy, we'll save that for another conversation. That's a huge other conversation. One quick tip there, Josh, though. Yes, you can bootstrap your business, but we all know capital is the lifeblood of any organization. And the more well-capitalized you are, you're going to have a runway to really allow yourself to take off. And if you're looking at outside investors, you're bang on. It's not just about the money that they can give you.

16:40You want to make sure that this individual is necessary in order for you to grow your business, whether they're going to mentor you, tap you into their network and resources, or really bring skills to the table that you're missing in your C-suite. Yeah. All right, Jessica Zoraida, your website, once again, bigpickresults.com. Jessica, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, Josh. It's been a pleasure.

17:10Thanks for listening to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Show. If you are a thoughtful business owner or professional who would like to be on this daily program, please visit upmyinfluence.com slash guest. If you're a listener, I'd love to shout out your business to our whole audience for free. You can do that by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or join our listener Facebook group. Just search for The Thoughtful Entrepreneur in Facebook. I'd love, even if you just stopped by to say hi, I'd love to meet you. We believe that every person has a message that can positively impact the world, we love our community who listens and shares our program every day.

17:54Together, we are empowering one another as thoughtful entrepreneurs. Hit subscribe so that tomorrow morning, that's right, seven days a week, you are going to be inspired and motivated to succeed. I promise to bring positivity and inspiration to you for around 15 minutes each day. Thanks for listening. And thank you for being a part of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Movement.