Tell me about your vision. Sure. So I guess about
a little over a year ago, I started my own practice.
And the practice is I offer CFO advisory services
to small business owners, small to medium sized
business owners to help them grow and add value
to their business. in addition to that i also
offer c -suite services they're fractional as
well which just means part -time and basically
at a fraction of the cost so that small business
owners can afford them but the vision in the
purpose in doing this is to help the small business
owners have be able to afford and have the same
type of leadership in their business, strategic
leadership that the large companies do so they
can be successful the same way the large companies
are. That's an amazing point, Teresa. Why did
you target only small business owners in this
case scenario? What inspired you to go that route
instead of medium or large corporations? Good
question. I've spent the last 25 years in the
corporate world working at the corporate ladder
like many people. And I decided what gave me
the most enjoyment and what's the most fulfilling
was when I started working with the smaller companies
and I helped them grow. So I wanted to go back
to that. I think in doing this, what happens,
what I know is with the small business owners
is, you know, we all know they wear all the hats
in the company, right? And they're overstressed
and overwhelmed. And they can't adequately or
efficiently or successfully, you know, manage
all aspects and all parts of their business.
And the large corporations don't do it that way.
They're not successful in having one person do.
So they do it by offering, they have chief officers,
if you will, that lead and direct all aspects
of all areas of the company. The small business
owners don't have that mainly because they can't
afford in -house, you know, direct officers for
every area of their business. So the concept
is to be able to provide them, you know, accessible
and affordable chief officer positions, leadership
positions in their company so that they can grow
and be successful, just like the large corporations.
But how would they afford something when they
can't afford those positions anyway? So that's
to me where the fractional part comes in. So
fractional is a fancy word, if you will, for
part time. But it's also a part time cost. So
they don't have to pay for a full time, you know,
chief financial officer, chief, you know, marketing
officers, sales officer. They they they bring
in these part time officers and pay a part time.
I'm sorry, a fraction of that cost. That's awesome.
I want to ask you this question. I think this
would probably give you more, our audience will
get more insights on all this. Through your business
model, what are some of the biggest challenges
you're facing right now when you're trying to
help these small businesses out? either stops
them from hiring you or it stops them from seeing
that they should hire you. That's right. Or there's
something in their head, yeah. Yeah, it's, first
of all, it's the perspective, right? And I like
to challenge, you know, the small or mid -sized
business owner to think bigger. Think about the
end in mind, where you want to be, where you
want to go. How are you going to get there? You
know, who do you have on your team? Trying to
do everything all by yourself is not going to
get you there. That's too big of a challenge.
It's too overwhelming. And most smaller midsize
business owners are not successful going that
route. And so I like to challenge them to. Surround
yourself, you know, with resources and experts
in those areas. Bring those in so that you can
focus on the area of the business that you're
good at, that you enjoy doing, that will make
the business successful. I couldn't agree more
on your statements about why small businesses
are failing. I mean, I don't know if you've read
the book E -Myth or not. I'm about to read that
book. Oh, it's a great book. Yes, I just got
it and I'm about to read it. Yeah, so there's
a stat in that book. Spoiler alert a little bit
for you. In that Michael Gerber states a stat
like 96 % of businesses are failing within the
first 10 years in the United States. And that's
a pretty bad number. If you really think about
it, how many people have actually had successful
businesses to how many times they have failed,
that actually makes sense. And how many small
businesses are actually just getting by and they
have... Instead of having a business for themselves,
they have a job for themselves. So there's a
staggering number against the business owners
that people don't, they fail to see. And it costs
them a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of
effort. And the return on their investment is
very, very less. They'd be better off putting
that money into S &P 500 and forgetting about
it for 25 years. then there would be the time
they wasted on a business that they don't know
what they're doing about. And it's not to put
anyone down, but to help them see that you need
experts to succeed or you need to know what it
takes to succeed. And if you don't think you
can do that, you need to go to a different path,
maybe an easier path for you. I meet people all
the time. Most of them are business owners. But
some of them are not meant for business, but
they're doing business. And I know a few people
in my circle myself, they could be great business
owners, but they don't do business. And some
people that are not great business owners, but
they are doing business. They're probably surviving
in Gen Mai and struggling. And their family gets
struggled through that. But why put that much
stress on yourself? And most people fail to see
that. So for you, Teresa, what would you say
that, How did you come about this? I mean, like,
do you have a story that pertains to your why?
Like, why did you leave the corporate world?
Why did you leave the corporate ladder and go
and start helping small business owners? Well,
like I said before, I mainly left because I lost,
you know, my passion, my drive. Working for the
large corporations kind of feel like, you know,
I've kind of been there, done that, if you will.
And so I wanted to go back. And I think the other
thing is. You know, it's OK. So it's exciting
and rewarding to me at this point in my life
to take a small business owner and truly help
them and watch them grow, be able to give them
some strategic guidance, you know, financial
planning, make sure their company's financially
healthy so that they can maximize on opportunities,
you know, address any red flags that they have
so that they have. they have more flexibility
and more freedom out of their business, right?
So they can focus on the business, like you said,
as opposed to working in the business. And the
way you do that is by surrounding yourself with
those experts and those resources. That's just
critical. And it's very fulfilling to me when
I see a company that I've been able to help.
Right. To give them a new perspective, to show
them how this works, why this works, and to watch
them accomplish their goals and their dreams.
That's awesome. Well, thank you for sharing that
with us. Yes. I have one more question for you.
And this is a. I don't know if there's no right
answer to this question. But Teresa, with you
and your services that you offer and the vision
that you see, where do you see yourself going
in the next maybe two, five, ten years? Well,
I'm on a goal to add a certain number of clients
to my. client base, both locally and virtually.
The bigger goal is when I first launched this
practice and showed up on LinkedIn and Facebook,
I've had... previous employees that have worked
for me that have reached out to me and said,
Hey, Teresa, do you have room for one? Can I
come work for you? And that was so rewarding
to me. And I have two daughters that want to
come work for me. They're both, they have worked
for me in the past. And I think that's probably
the. the biggest compliment, if you will, to
have people from your past that reach out to
you that want to come work with you. And so I'm
trying to grow my business so that I can bring
them in, work with them again, and we can all
help as many small business, mid -sized business
owners as possible. Thank you for being here
today. I'm really happy that you tuned in to
Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward to seeing
your reactions as these episodes continue to
move forward. This is going to get more and more
fun. We'll have more and more engagement as well.
We'll invite people to participate in the show.
And thank you for giving us your time and attention.
Have an excellent time building out your vision
and becoming a vision pro yourself.