The Local Voice with Special Guest Steve Mann of SDP

Hey, good morning and welcome to another episode of the Local Voice. My name is Jeff Harris. I'm your host. I own a company called Swing Point Media here in the Coachella Valley. We help service local business owners who need help with digital marketing. A couple, couple things that are very unique about today's Local Voice. One, it's live, normally our shows are recorded. And two, it is a video podcast. We normally do audio podcasts. And then there's a bonus third, I have a guest today and he is a local gentleman who is in part of a group that I'm in called the BNI Group. And he focuses on helping small businesses with their payroll and HR issues. And I'm really excited to have him on the show today. Let's invite on the show Steve Mann. Hey, Steve, how you doing this morning?

I'm doing great, Jeff. How about yourself?

Good. I see you get to your Cal Berkeley sign up there. Is that a fan favorite?

It's actually my alma mater. And my apologies, Jeff, I didn't know where we were going to go live right off of the bat. So otherwise I might to remove that from the background. But hey, you know, that's okay.

I don't, I don't think anybody's gonna, I don't think anybody's gonna sign off because there's a Cal Berkeley bear on the wall. So I think we're good to go. So how are you doing today, Steve?

I'm doing great. Jeff had just came back from, from an HR HR breakfast. So it was, it was really interesting.

Oh, fantastic. Hey, before we get started, just take a couple minutes and tell us about you and then. And exactly what you do with Southland Data Processing and how that plays into local business owners.

Okay, well, just a little bit about myself. Been a resident of the. My wife and I, Patricia, have been a resident of the Coachella Valley for nine years now.

No children. However, our pets are children. We have two cats and a horse. Hobbies, if you, if you aren't seeing me in the office in the summertime would be golf and in the wintertime would be skiing. Let's see, I've been with Southland Data Processing for about a year and a half now. So Southland Data Processing is locally based payroll and HR services company based in Upland. And so we help businesses streamline payroll processes, improve HR compliance. And my role really being a resident of the Coachella Valley is just to help increase.

SDP's visibility in the Coachella Valley and really by reaching out to smaller businesses. Our target market is really businesses with employee size of 1 to 100 employees. So we try to cater to the smaller businesses that maybe don't have dedicated people doing payroll and hr, and we try to remove that headache for them, to allow them to pursue their passions, do what they love.

Well, so often, Steve, small business owners will try to have probably their CPAs take care of their payroll. And I know from having that done with my account accountant we've had for 25 plus years, he makes an exception because both my wife and I have a corporation and we are single employees. So he says anything more than that, he won't do it because it's such a headache and it really takes specialized knowledge. So, you know, for those of you who may be listening and saying, hey, I have my payroll done by my accountant, there's probably a better path, isn't there, Steve?

Yes, there is. Just as you, I would say your experience and your, you know, the circumstances under which you had your CPA do your payroll is very, I would say.

It'S symptomatic or emblematic of how most people have a CPA do their payroll. And so thinking about it from the CPA's perspective, they often do it because their clients have asked them or expected them to do it. And so it was kind of a path of least resistance. Maybe the CPA thought that by doing it it would facilitate access to payroll information come tax time, doing filings and things like that. But the reality is, much like small business owners, CPAs do not enjoy.

Doing payroll processing. And not to say that CPAs are all in it for the almighty dollar or anything like that, but the reality is it's for someone that isn't doing payroll for a living. It's not profitable for most CPAs, and it's time consuming. So I would say that most CPAs that I know.

They would appreciate a way to maybe offload that burden. I would say I've not run into any CPAs that are actively taking on new payroll clients.

If you had to compare an accountant doing their job as taxes and make and whatnot and payroll, is it like almost, if you think about math, it's like, it's like algebra and geometry and it really takes specialized knowledge in both.

That's a really good, that's a really good analogy, Jeff. And I would concur with that, that it does take specialized knowledge. And so again, for that reason, it's not something that CPAs really.

Really appreciate doing. I, I'd say it's more of a. If, if they're doing it, it's more of A sense of duty to, to their, to their clients.

Yeah. And I'm not definitely want to put you on the hot seat and say, hey, if you're a cpa, you shouldn't be doing payroll. I'm not saying that, you know, there's a lot of people out there who do that. Right. But just understand that, that both have their specialties. And Steve, you work with those. You said between one and a hundred, and those sounds like, you know, it sounds like 100 employees. Sounds like a lot. But when you put it in most major businesses, that's not a lot of employees, is it?

Not really. I mean, if you think about, you know, even though I say that that's our target market, you know, our largest client is, is over 3,000 employees operating in multiple states. And there certainly are, if you think of like say Fortune 1000 companies, you're talking about businesses that tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands. So yes, you are right that 100 employees, well, certainly.

Maybe large to a business that only has, that has less than that is maybe not, not huge in the overall scheme, I think.

Well, the reason I wanted you on today is a couple reasons why, to get to know you a little better and let the, let the people out there understand that, you know, they have choices out there. Because we hear of, we hear of some, some organizations out there that have been around a while or whatnot with other three letter acronyms for their names. But you do something a little different, you know, tell us a little bit about ADP or excuse me, SDP instead of adp. And, and because I think you do something, I, I really like it. The first time I met you and you told me about this, I'm like, wow, that is a unique, unique characteristic. What is that?

Well, that is that we, we commit that we will tailor our solution to the specific needs of each, of each client. And maybe the folks out there that do know something about payroll might say, hey, big whoop, Steve, you know, you know, what, what, what is there, what subtleties are there to payroll? You know, you're, you're, you're cutting checks and you're paying taxes. But.

We, there are quite a few variables that, and maybe we don't have time to go in today, but just suffice to say that there are a lot of things to take into account. So we take the time to adopt a consultative approach, listen to the client, just try to understand what they're doing today, what they might like to be doing, what they see themselves doing in the future, and come up with an appropriate solution. So really the idea is that they'll only be paying for what they need. And by contrast, some of the larger houses are very fond of offering a prepackaged bundle of services and their pitch by doing that. And hey, I'm, I'm be the first to say it is popular among a large demographic because, because what they're saying is, hey, this is everything that you need for, for your, for your payroll or your HR needs. And that might be true, but sometimes, you know, nobody wants to be given a big toolbox of 100 different tools when they only need 10 of them. And then, and then maybe the thought might be going to someone's head that hey, am I paying for stuff for services that, that I don't really, that I don't really use? And so yes, I think that that is something we take some pride in that every one of our clients can say is, say that they have a solution that, that is specific to the needs of, of their, their organization.

Well, you know, that's, that's interesting you talk about that because it kind of flips the idea of customization being expensive on its head. You're saying instead of, hey, just get this whole toolbox of things you don't, you know, 90% of it you may never need, but you're paying for it. Instead of saying, let's just get you the 10 tools you need and know that if you expand and you grow, we have those other tools as you need them. And so the thought of customization sounds expensive, but it's, it's probably going to save you money and let's face it, stress and anxiety of trying to figure out what to do with, with all these extra tools. Is that fair to say?

I think that is fair to say. I couldn't have said it better myself, Jeff and I, and I would say too that to your point, that part of listening and understanding where a business is looking to go is being sensible about what, what services we're, we're putting together with an eye with, with an eye towards the future. And you know, just another thing about Southland Data Processing, we've, we've been in business for over 38 years. We're in our 38 year business, so we're pretty good at this. Over 2,000 clients, you know as well. So we do a lot of the partners that we use to, that have, you know, integrated services. You know, everything works, everything works seamlessly within our, within our platform. So when something can get, something needs to get added in later on, it's A very seamless process.

Well, you know, you mentioned something yesterday in our meeting that really got my attention and it really comes back to that, that, well, if I work in that environment all the time, I have, everything's going on. There is an under a microscope and if it affects my clients, I can tell them. And you said something yesterday and I'm not going to try to reinvent because I don't remember the specific, but it was about a violence, it was, it was about a violent code or a new program that we as business owners, if we have employees, it's no longer even an option. And the fact that not only will you help put this in, but you'll also expose us and help us understand what that is. What exactly was that, Steve?

That's.

So that's.

That. That's true. So it, the.

Appropriate name of it is the Workforce Violence Prevention Plan. So this is, and this is something I'd say again, you're indicative of the general public. Not a lot of businesses are aware of it. But the reality is starting July 1st of this year, most businesses are going to be required to have a written workplace violence prevention plan, maintain a violent incident log and provide workplace violence prevention training to its employees. So this is, this is not something that was made up by. It's a Cal OSHA.

Regulation and this requirement applies to nearly all California employers.

Wow. You know, to me when you say that, and I'm glad that, you know, my wife and I are both one person, one employee. I'll sit down with her, she'll sit down with me, we'll get this thing covered. But for the most part, it's like, oh, here comes another regulation that as a business owner, I don't have time to understand it. I don't have time to put it together. And now I have to train my employees for that. How can Southland Data Processing help with that?

Okay, so we have two options available for businesses out there. The first option is a self guided, user friendly template that can be customized to many. Again, of these smaller businesses, I would say for this maybe think of maybe under 15 or 20 employees should do a very good job of being able to meet that business's needs. So the second option would be a little bit more of a customized plan that would involve some live consultation and support with our HR professionals that would work directly with, with the business to create and customize their Workforce Violence Prevention Plan. So two options to meet maybe two different types of needs. And these are be clear, these are a la carte options. Someone does not need to be an existing SVP client. They aren't required to sign up to become an SDP client in order to take advantage of these. It can be a one and done and can be on their way if they so choose.

Well, that is a great option. I didn't know that. I know you only had 60 seconds to talk about it yesterday, but that's an interesting play saying, well, I don't have to change my payroll company or if I don't have a payroll company, but I can enlist Southland Data Processing to help me roll this program out to my existing staff. I think that's a great idea. What's the. Do you know the timeframe? It comes out July 1st. But what's our adoption period before there's probably fines and you things of that nature that pop up. Do you know that?

Great question. I'm sure that's probably the first question that any business owner would, would ask. So if you want to be to the letter of the law starting July 1 is when that requirement takes place. So that would could technically be the time that a business, if it did not have this plan in place, could potentially be subject to fines. And now let's, let's not talk about the reasonability of the level of fines, but they just, just say that they are, that they can easily run into the thousands of dollars, tens of thousands of dollars.

Now the reality is, let's face it, like a lot of things, maybe, maybe a lot of smaller businesses, if there are small business owners listening to this and saying well, I can fly under the radar and, and very well could. I think that I want to make a generalization and hope and maybe nobody from OSHA will actually listen to this. But it's my understanding that if history is a teacher, what, what OSHA sometimes will do in a circumstance like this is they'll find a somewhat high, medium to high profile business, one that people know about. You know that if you could say hey, so and so if you name the company, a lot of people in the area would know about them and they might go audit them and check on them and see if they have it and if they don't have it, they're going to find them. And so it can be, so it can be like hey, they're doing this, they're actually checking and this could happen to you. That tends to be their, their approach. I, I think would not be correct to say that they're going to have people canvassing every, every tiny business immediately starting July, starting July 1st. So I would say that.

I Think the, the good news is there is time. But I would say at the same time, don't use that. If you want to think about it as, as a bit of a cushion, don't just waste that thinking. Well, they're never going to come to me, you know, take some steps to at least research, you know, what your options are. And you know, you might find that I feel like our, our services are very reasonable. I'll even just, just mention the price here.

Yes, please do. Yeah.

For the template it's $500 and for the more customized plan with the involving our HR team, it's $1500. So that's, that's a one time fee. Oh, I will say $1500 per location. Sometimes the, you know, the, the more complex needs, you know, have we have multiple locations. So that, that is 1500 per location. But, but that's it. And I think relative to the, if the businesses are always thinking, basing decisions on risk reward or if you're talking about a fine that could easily run into the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, I think that is pretty, that that is a pretty good.

Represents a pretty good investment in terms of protecting your business.

Yeah, Steve, I think, I think $500 for that self guided template, if you will, is a, is a great option for those real small business. Maybe they have four or five employees but they still have to have this in place. Right? There's not, there's not an exception.

Yes. Well, so since we do have a little more time, let me give you the exceptions. It's a very narrow band so I will lead by that. So the exceptions include healthcare, employers who are covered by the state's workforce violence prevention plan standard. It would be remote employees working at a location not controlled by the employer and work sites with fewer than 10 employees that are not open to the public. Now that's a key phrase. Some business with fewer than 10 employees might stop reading after they see that first part. But not open to the public. So that means that if you, maybe you say that you're not open to the public, but if you exist in a strip mall or an office space that can have visitors or workers from other businesses walking by your front door, then you are going to be.

You need to, you need to get the plan.

Well, before I let you go, Steve, I want you to do me a favor. First of all, I think, I think the $500 option of the 1500 dollars per location with you coming in and customize it for those, those locations, I think that's a screaming deal. Not only because if there was a $15 fine or $15 training program that you customize, I would take the 1500 dollars training all day long because one, it has no stress, the other one is nothing but stress. When you get that, that fine in the mail or somebody knock on your door and says, by the way, you don't have this in place, here's a fine that's extremely stressful and it disrupts the whole, the whole program for the same fee or probably half or a quarter or a tenth of it, you can control it. You can be the captain of your ship and have Southland Data Processing come in and have that handled. Do me a favor. And as you do this, I'm going to add this to our if you could do me a favor and just tell me how do we get a hold of you and Southland Data Processing?

Sure. My, my contact information. I'll give you my direct number, which is 909-239-2653. That's my mobile. I'm available via email at Steve Man m a n n@sdp payroll.com those are the two best ways to get a hold of me.

Sdp payroll.com all right, so let me, let's put that. So it's 909-239-2653 or steve.man@sdppayroll.com Correct.

That is correct. And looking at there. Yes. You got it.

Great.

Hold it.

I see. I see. I spelled payroll wrong, didn't I?

There you go.

Let's swap out a actually, my, the first letters of my first and last name are not capitalized, so everything's lowercase.

Okay. Let's get that right. Well, Steve, is there anything else? You know, I'm going to have you back because I know there's a lot going on that we want to talk about, but.

I want to ask you if there's anything else we missed today about that particular new thing coming because let's face it, that has a short fuse on it. That's just a few weeks away. Well, it's less than two weeks away. Right. Hey, we have to be compliant with this.

That is true. So maybe the last thing that I'll say is one of the other things that we're known for is a complimentary consultation. So like everything that if you are, maybe you're a small business that would like to believe that somehow you're not subject, that you aren't that this is not a requirement that applies to you. I would say reach out. Give me a call anyways if I agree with you, I will tell you that there's, you know, I think one of the things with.

Being a smaller business is at least what I feel. I can't afford to have one unhappy, dissatisfied customer out there who is saying, Steve, man, misrepresented, you know, misrepresented services was a little fast and loose with the facts, anything like that. I mean, I want to under promise over deliver at every turn. So I would say if anyone, we, we will always offer our first meeting with anybody and probably even the second would be complimentary to just be sharing information. So you have that just so you know what your options are.

I think that's great. It's like, it's like test driving a car. You know, we did. We don't have to buy the car before we get it and test drive it. Let's test drive it, find out if it really works for us. Let's move around, make sure the seat belts are comfortable. Same thing with Steve Mann and Southland Data Processing is it's an opportunity to say, hey, let's find out if we're a good fit. And I think the other thing that you mentioned is with this particular thing coming down the pike, if you will, July 1st, this may be a great opportunity to say, hey, let's, let's schedule that even though I'm not a current client and find out if I'm, if I'm compliant the way I am because of my pay or my staffing situation or if I need to get this in place and give myself a little bit of time. Please do not try to be like all I can think about is you're in a building and you're trying to stop a bomb and you're under five seconds and you're trying to figure this out. Don't do it. Get it. Get a, get a BOM specialist. That's, I guess if that's the case. Steve Mann with Southland Data Processing and have that handled. Steve, I just want to thank you so much for being here today. Again, you can get hold of Steve at 909-239-2653 or if you want to give him an email. Steve.man M A N N D P.

M Steve, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Hey, thank you, Jeff.

Hey, it was another great show here with, with Steve Mann. And you know, this is a place where you can come as a, as a small local business owner and say, hey, what can I. You know, a lot of times I talk about marketing, but this is about keeping your business in line. With some of the state regulations and federal regulations that you have to comply with. California's full of them. We know that. This is a new one coming down the line. You need to know what? What is violence in the workplace? What is it? Is it because somebody pointed finger at you? Don't guess. Get a hold of Steve Mann at Southland Data Processing, 909-239-2653 or give an email at steve mandp payroll.com hey, thanks for joining me again. Again, my name is Jeff Harrison. We'll see you again next week. Take care.