Grace Pontes: Build Wealth While You Build Your Business | The Business Blast Podcast #604

Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite makes the process of becoming a published bestselling author as simple as sipping your morning cup of coffee. You can learn more about Authors Unite at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode. Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Grace Pontes with us. She is a CPA, CMA, business coach and consultant whose focus is to help entrepreneurs build wealth while building their business. So welcome to the show.

Thanks Tyler, I'm glad to be here.

Of course, grateful to have you on Grace. We'll jump right into the first one. The first question I have for you today is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

Yeah, this is a great question. And I— it really makes you look at your life and all the things you've learned along the way. And one story popped right into my head right away. And that story really changed actually the way I look at life. After that time. So I have a special needs daughter and she has balance and coordination issues. She has arthritis. She has a series of challenges that she overcomes every day brilliantly. But when she was little, like most parents do with their children, they want them to ride a bike. You know, so we get her a bike, we put on the training wheels, and we're trying to get her to ride this bike. And it's taking a long time, which is fine. It takes her a little longer to learn things than other kids do, and that's okay. But my daughter is tall. Like, in kindergarten, she looked like she should be in grade 4. So she's quickly outgrowing bikes that are appropriate for little people with training wheels. So now we're not even getting a bike that can fit her properly to teach her how to ride this bike. And she's not enjoying it. She's really hating it. And I can't tell if she's hating it because she just doesn't— she can't do it. I can't tell if it's the bike. I just don't know. This is what you do. You get your kids, you get this bike, you get these training wheels, you put them on, you put them on, you put your kid on the bike and away you go. And I finally thought to myself, this isn't working. So I stood back and I thought, how can I approach this problem differently? And I thought, you know what? What if we got a 3-wheeled bike? Like, what if we got a true 3-wheeled bike and see if that supports her better? And so in Niagara Falls in Toronto or in Ontario, I found a purple 3-wheeled bike. And I put her on it. And part of it too is as a parent, you don't want your kid to be different. You don't want them to stick out. You don't want them to be different and not doing the things typical kids are doing. But I thought, what the heck? So I got her this bike, we put her on it, and she loved it. She rode that bike, she rode it to school. And again, as a parent, I'm cautious about and concerned about how she's going to be received. The other kids thought her bike was fantastic. They loved it. They asked if she could, if they could take turns riding it. So that was a huge lesson to me in don't approach the problem the same way that everybody else approaches it. If it's not working, if it's a square peg in a round hole, step back and take a look at it differently from a different angle. And you could come up with a better solution that's way better received. And so that was, you know, that's now how I take a look at other problems. I step back and don't look at it conventionally anymore.

Definitely. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that with us. The next one I have for you, Grace, is what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?

So I've been in business a long time, and as you know, I'm a CPA, CMA, and was a financial planner. So in the financial area is sort of where I hang my hat. And one area that I find that many business owners try to skimp on is getting experts into their business. And when I'm talking about experts, I'm talking about their lawyers or their accountants. I have come across many an entrepreneur who has probably lost a lot of money by not paying that little tiny bit of money they need to their accountant or lawyer upfront, just to get some good stable advice upfront. I ran into one guy who probably spent $10,000, paid $10,000 too much in tax just because he wouldn't see an accountant for 10 years. That's $100,000 he's probably paid in too much tax because he wouldn't get an expert involved in his business.

Yeah, I think that is a big problem. I think there's like a limiting belief around it 'cause there's like, so many like business expenses. So people are like, well, now I have to pay somebody to just like tell me what I have to pay the government. You know, I think I've been very fortunate. My dad is actually an accountant. So I feel very blessed because I think too, another thing, and maybe you can speak on this, but I think it's a little bit of a trust thing too, you know, like, I didn't even actually realize that some people did it without any advice. Like, I thought everybody had an accountant, at least. But I think it's a trust thing as well to like hand over like your essential, like your finances and be like, hey, tell me what's the best thing to do with these? You know, it's kind of, I don't know, it feels funny. So I, but I've never had to experience it because literally my dad is the one who helps me with it.

Yeah, and you're so lucky. It's so true to have a trusted family knowledgeable advisor, you know, that you can go to and get that information. But I also find You don't know what you don't know. And I find some, you know, many entrepreneurs, as we all are, we know our business and we're kind of arrogant about it. I know my business, I know how to make this widget work. Yeah, you do, but you don't necessarily understand the implications that, you know, creating that or that contract or the tax implications that the fallout of making that widget and And they're vast and the rules change regularly and it's important to keep on top of that. And so, yeah, I think you're right. I think it's trust. I think it's a bit of arrogance on the part of the entrepreneur. And also you're right, expenses, you know, it's one more expense I have to pay. But I think I can do this, right? I can figure it out. As an entrepreneur, you're used to figuring it out, right? We can juggle all the balls. I can figure it out. Well, You know, these, as you know, from your dad going to school for as an accountant, accountant takes years. Oh yeah, years and years and years. This is not, you know, they didn't just get a ticket off of the back of a cereal box, right? They know a lot of stuff. So it's important to get that advice.

Yeah. What's one last thing on that? What's crazy too is it changes all the time too, because I know every year you have to like take, I believe it's every year, you have to take another exam to keep your CPA license. So at least in the US, I see my dad with a huge tax book at the end of like every year. And I'm like, oh my gosh, they keep changing the rules too.

Yeah, they change, you're right. They change the rules and we continually have to do upgrading. Like I have professional development credits that I have to earn every single year in my profession, whether it's ethics or whatever specialty that I'm focused on. And my legacy designation is Certified Management Accountant. Accounting. So that's where my professional background is, is in sort of the business management piece. So I continually have to keep learning. And why wouldn't you want to spend the $2,000 a year to make sure that you're doing everything right? And like, in this gentleman's perspective, in this one gentleman's case, he was blowing $10,000 to $12,000. He could easily pocket $8,000 if he spent, you know, it'll save you money.

It'll save you money over time for sure.

It will.

So yeah, and thanks for diving deeper in that. I just think for a lot of— I know it's a thing with the small business, like entrepreneur world. So thanks for just elaborating there. The next one I have for you is, what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.

So, and it's funny because I— when I saw these two questions, for me, that's why, you know, I asked you for clarification because because for me they kind of overlap. And one of my best piece of overall business advice is don't forget about the finances of the business. Because once again, I call it the front of the house and the back of the house. So the front of the house, you know, is the entrepreneur, you know, making his widgets. He's out there, he's selling it, he's hawking it, he's, you know, getting it made, he's talking to people, but he's forgetting about, you know, the dollars at the back end. What is the cost of that widget? You know, how much money is coming in? What is the profit of that? Particular item. Are your financial goals being met at the same time as your other goals, your strategic goals? So I always tell my clients, make sure your strategic goals and your financial goals are aligned. You know, one example is one of my clients. I said to her, we're talking about her goals and she was meeting with a client and we're going through some of the goals. And I said, well, how does that align to our financial goals that we wanted to meet for this month? And she said to me, "Well, I didn't have time to put those two together." And I said, "If you continue to ignore those financial goals, you will find that you are not going to be making money because you're knee-jerking it." We always assume we're making more than we are and we're spending less than we are. But the reality is most businesses are spending way more than they are and making way less. And, you know, lots of my clients come to me saying, "I wished I met you a year ago," because they're finding themselves in a bit of a hole. And it's hard to, you know, find the money to now pay for people to help you save your business.

Yep. And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?

Just do it. Just do it. There's so many things that I was really passionate about and wanted to do, but thought I was too young or thought I didn't know enough or thought I didn't, or maybe embarrassed or intimidated. But you know what, there are people out there that'll help you just just keep taking the little steps towards the big goal.

And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?

You know, I don't like the word happy or happiness. I feel like that's a superficial cultural word. I like the word joy. And joy to me is, you know, that soul-filling, you know, just, you know, enriching type of experience. And I think that, you know, and that's paying attention to what's happening internally, right? When you've got joy, I'm paying attention. And that is doing all the little things throughout the day that make you happy, right? The little things that bring you that joy that, you know, whether it's making sure there's no dishes in the sink and making sure that there's flowers on the table. It's once you continue to do all those little things and you gravitate to those joy fulfilling activities, I find that that just snowballs into more and more of those types. You're drawn towards those types of activities and away from those that are those negative or joy killer type of things.

Yeah. You know what's funny is it's in the last few episodes I've done, I've been actually getting a similar response to that, that people that leaning more towards joy, especially like happiness is a feeling that's like fleeting. So I'm finding that to be interesting. I may change my question there soon.

So We've got you almost convinced.

Yeah, yeah, you got me almost there. I'm getting close. So next one I have for you, Grace, is what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?

You know, this is a challenge for me because I read a lot and I read a lot across a lot of genres, right? You know, nonfiction, fiction, business, and personal development. And so what I got gleaned from your question was what are the things that I— best things that impacted me from those readings. And so I've got a couple, and one from a business perspective is called Profit First, and it's written by Mike, and I don't know how to pronounce his last name, so sorry, Mike, but it's Mike Michalowicz or something like that. I can't remember, or I don't know, but I really love his philosophy on the way that businesses need to look at their financials. And he talks about a profit-first mentality. So it's kind of like pay yourself first. So in the business, it's pay, pay, take your profit first and then look at your expenses. Because as you know, business owners tend to like spend it all and go, where's my profit? Well, let's flip that on its head and take your money first and then look at your expenses. And that really helps companies really focus on how am I spending my money rather than just using money to plug the hole that's just sucking money, you know, and taking all their money with it. So I really like that book. Another book that really had a really impactful way on the way I view the world is The Four Agreements. I found it was so wise, so easy to implement, and really helped me shift my mindset in the right way to help with my relationships and the way I view the world. And then another book that I wrote is called— or read Broken Open by Elizabeth Lesser. In that book, she talks about it's not life or death, it's not good or bad, it's both. It's life and death, it's good and bad, and that we need to accept both sides. And I thought that was really powerful.

Yeah, I, I've read Four Agreements. I really like that.

And the—

do you say it's called The Prophet?

Prophet First.

Prophet First. That I have to read because again, a couple people have mentioned that one. So I gotta read I'll leave that one. Next one I have for you is, what is your favorite quote and why?

Okay, my favorite quote, it's a Chinese proverb, so that's all I know about it. I don't know who wrote it. And it's the best, it says, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. And the reason why I like that quote is that it reminds me that it's never too late. I haven't missed the boat. Yeah, I didn't plant my tree 20 years ago, but I can still do it today. So if I want that tree, it's essential that I get planting today. No more excuses or putting things off. You know, the second best time is now. And that also the results require patience, time, attention, and nurturing. Right. A tree doesn't grow overnight. A tree does take, you know, a good 10 to 20 years to grow. So that the— so for me, that's the most powerful part of the quote is that, that need to be patient and have a long view. Take the long game. We're so into the quick and impulsive and then right now, um, so, and that tends to be me. I can be impatient and disappointed if I don't see instant, uh, instant results quickly. So it helps me remember to keep my eye on the long game.

Yeah, I love, love, love that quote. Um, so thank you so much for coming on, really appreciate it. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place people to find you online?

So www.boostpreneur.com. So that's B-O-O-S-T preneur, P-R-E-N-E-U-R dot com.

Perfect. Thanks again for jumping on.

Great. Thanks, Tyler. Have a great day. The podcast you just heard was published with Anchor. Got something you want to say to the creator of this show? Send them a voice message using the Anchor app, free for iOS and Android.