Tax Planning With Onward Nation and Stephen Woessner

 

Okay got it. So then, let’s take it into the book because that’s such a great way to really illustrate expertise but at the same point, being really, really helpful. You mentioned, like, The 10 Most Expensive Mistakes, and so are there maybe a couple of the mistakes that you may be able to highlight here, just as a way to share with Onward Nation business owners?

Oh most definitely. I would say the biggest mistake, and it’s going to sound a little corny, but is failing to plan. Business owners, they’re so wrapped up in the day to days, and by the time they see their CPA or their accountant, they’re looking in a rear view mirror. Whereas if you take the time to plan, you can look forward and see what you can do differently, and save yourself some money, keep more of what you’re actually working so hard to make. So I would say failing to plan.

Having the wrong business entity, more times than not, there’s no thought that goes into selecting the business entity. It’s the lawyer said, “Form an LLC, form an S corporation,” and everybody’s situation is so different, it can make a big difference in your taxes.

And then, what I talked about before. Maybe it’s the medical expense reimbursement plan, is that something? Or what I kind of like is the home athletic facility. How do you write that pool off? You know, legally?

So, those are a couple of things that come into planning, but the big ones are obviously failing to plan, people spend so much more time looking and researching a car than they do researching ways to save taxes that Warren Buffet does, the President does, people making all this money do. So why shouldn’t we take advantage of the same rules?

Okay, you made me giggle a little bit. I mean, a pool?

Yes, a pool. A pool. If you have a home office and you can have a home athletic facility for your employees. It’s in the tax code.

Oh my goodness, really?

Yes, it is.

Oh my goodness. Wow, okay, so … all joking aside, let’s say that again, an Onward Nation business owner listening to you right now, they happen to have a home office and they have a pool. I don’t know if there’s a garden variety deduction here but how much could that be for somebody?

It could be a couple of thousand dollars, if not more. Then you go into depreciation, you could save significant dollars. They all add up, $3,000 a year in tax, $4,000 here, eventually you hit $200,000 in savings.

Wow. Okay, so thank you for giving us several really meaty chunks there, that’s great, right out of your book, that’s awesome. Great illustration as to why to write a book, again it’s a great establishment of expertise but then also it’s a great extension of your thought leadership.

So then let’s go to the podcast, because you mentioned starting one. So why do you believe so strongly in that?

I think people … changing accountants is very hard to do, all right? It’s hard for people to do. And if you give them a platform where they can listen to you and get comfortable with you and feel more confident with you, it’s going to make it easier for them to make that change, and reach out to you and do something. They may not be ready to buy today, they may not be ready to buy next month, but six or 12 months from now they may be ready. And being out there, and face it, the Internet’s forever, right? So it just keeps you out there, it keeps you more front and center, it gives you more exposure, and it’s another way for people to feel comfortable with, hey I’ve been listening to this guy.

Well, just in Onward Nation not full disclosure, but in our pre-interview chat, that’s the better way to describe it, in our pre-interview chat, Craig was sharing with me … because you’re a guest on a lot of podcasts. You’re sharing your expertise and really enriching the business community in doing so, but … and so forgive me if I get the numbers wrong here, you can correct me, but I think you said in the pre-interview chat that you’re on a particular show and I think you were maybe giving away a book or something, and then after that episode aired there was a 160 requests for that thing. Is that right?

Yes, and that was in late October, early November, and we still get … people are still listening, new people are still listening to that episode, and we’re still getting requests.

Yeah, so to your point, the Internet is always there, there’s a long tail to podcast episodes, and as a show continues to build it’s community and so forth, new listeners will go back to older episodes and listen to those, and then still get in touch with you, right? That’s what you’re seeing happen?

Exactly. And maybe somebody heard me speak some place, and they want to find out more about me, and they do a Google search and they see these other podcasts, and they listen to them, and then they learn about other podcasts. That’s the way it works.

So this might sound a little bit silly, but my guess is this has happened to you, where somebody hears you on an episode, being interviewed, and then that person gets in touch with you. There’s kind of a little bit of celebrity in that, right? When that person’s talking to you, like, “Oh my gosh, I’m talking to Craig.” I mean, that’s probably happened to you more than one occasion, right?

It has happened yes, and it’s just little ole me.

But, all joking aside, from a biz dev perspective, that’s kind of cool, right? That’s like even more added value that you’re putting into the relationship, right?

I’m a celebrity. I’ve been on Onward Nation, twice.

And a bunch of other podcasts, too, but thank you for that. A bunch of other podcasts too. Yeah, so that’s awesome. Okay, great. Thank you for allowing us to really drill in deep there, into not only why is building a platform important but specifically how you’ve done that, for your business, that was awesome.

Thank you.

Well, so before I ask you my last question here, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for coming on this show, being so transparent, generous with your expertise. It is just like you were in episode 178, so that’s fantastic. But I just really appreciate you saying yes a second time. Accepting my invitation, coming on to the show, just really, really fantastic, and in being so generous like I said, but just really, really wonderful. I so appreciate your time, Craig, thank you.

Well, your welcome, and it really is truly an honor to be on your show. Your’s was one of the first I was on, as a guest, and I’ve learned so much from listening to all those episodes in between, and thank you.

It’s an honor and a privilege to have your here. So Onward Nation again, Craig’s first episode here with us was episode 178. Please be sure you listen to that one, as well, because great, great context and expertise and tax saving advice and what not. Just really, really good stuff, so Craig here’s my last question for you, it’ll be a scenario.

Imagine you’re standing in front of a room of business owners who are all striving to get to that proverbial next level with their company. So, these owners, they’re beyond the start-up, they’ve battled their way through the initial fear and they’ve built some fairly decent momentum. What would be two or three strategies you would recommend that they focus on, to help them move off that current plateau and leap onward to that next level?

Oh great, yeah, well, number one is we need to always be marketing. Like I said, it’s like breathing. Need to market. We need to try and always limit our debt, because debt will hold us back. And we need to remember we want to keep more of what we make, we work really hard, we need to do some tax planning,

Indeed. Well, what I love about your perspective is that it’s always forward thinking. In making sure the ball and chain of debt is not hooked to your ankle, right, because that could be an anchor as you described. But then it’s marketing biz dev, forward thinking, right? And keep pushing forward, so I love your point of view, in driving the business forward, that’s awesome, Craig.

Oh thank you.

So, before we go, before we close out and say goodbye, do you have any final advice that you want to share, anything you think we might have missed, and then please do tell us the best way to connect with you, my friend.

Great, well, I think we have to remember we need to, as business owners, we need to use our CPAs and accountants as our ally, we need to communicate with them. If you can’t communicate with them, you need to find somebody else to communicate with that is a CPA or an accountant, because there’s vital information that they can help you with and it’s like the doctor doesn’t call you up to see how you’re feeling today. So you need to communicate with them, so they can help you.

 

YOU SHOULD REVIEW THE THE NEW TAX LAW CHANGES WITH YOUR CPA BEFORE IMPLEMENTING ANY TAX PLANNING STRATEGIES.

Listen to the full episode here.

Get your free copy of my book the 10 Biggest Tax Mistakes That Cost Business Owners Thousands here.