Welcome to Small Business Mornings! I'm your host, Pat Miller, the founder of the Small Business Owners Community (SBOC). Today, we need to discuss a critical new financial report that small business owners must file by the end of the year, or you could face fines of $500 a day and even jail time. Have you filed your FinCEN report yet? No one seems to be talking about this, so we're diving in today with Cierra to explain what this is all about and how to avoid penalties. Also coming up, we'll talk about entering a dead zone for client communication, our question of the week about impulse business purchases, and some exciting changes and reminders for the SBOC community.

Happy Monday! Is it the 4th of July yet? Summer is in full swing with fireflies, rounds of golf, and brats on the grill. What did you do this weekend? I played some golf, worked in the yard, and mostly relaxed. In other news, our monthly meetups are moving to the Technology Innovation Center in Wauwatosa, and we’re building partnerships to serve more entrepreneurs. Plus, we're making big changes to the SBOC, including a 200-member cap and a shift to an annual fee structure. Don't forget to check out our Meme of the Week, and remember, these changes go into effect on July 1st. Thanks for joining this episode of Small Business Mornings.

Mentioned in this episode:

2 week free trial to SBOC

There's a new financial report.

2

Small business owners must file by the end

of the year, and if you don't do it, you

3

could get fined 500 a day and Go to jail.

4

Yes.

5

Jail.

6

Did you file this secret

magical new report yet?

7

Do you, like me, have no idea

what we're talking about?

8

Ha ha.

9

That is why I'm glad you're here.

10

Welcome into small business mornings.

11

I'm your host, Pat Miller, founder of

the small business owners community

12

and today we're going to have a

for real conversation that will

13

help you avoid jail because this.

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And jail, not a good strategy.

15

Let me tell you also on today's

show, we are going to talk about the

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dead zone for client communication.

17

This is the week.

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If you don't get ahold of somebody,

you ain't getting ahold of somebody.

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So we'll talk about how to

navigate through this very

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busy week for so many people.

21

We'll do our question of the week.

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What was your last impulse purchase?

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For the business and how did it go?

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And i'm going to share an update on

the small business owners community I

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announced last week that we're raising

the price making a bunch of changes

26

the response has been Phenomenal, we're

going to talk about that and of course

27

our meme of the week, but welcome in

and good morning, suzy moon It's always

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lovely to see you when you join us.

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Thanks for tuning in and i'd love

to shout you out as well So say good

30

morning in the chat and we will do that.

31

It's monday And is it July 4th yet?

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Because I don't know about you.

33

I'm ready to put some meat on the

grill and blow some stuff up and take

34

the brain and put it on the charger.

35

That's how it goes.

36

Brain on the charger.

37

Good morning, Barbara.

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And that's what July 4th is so good.

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Here to avoid jail.

40

Thank you, Barbara.

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It's so good for that because July

4th, similar to Thanksgiving, There's

42

no gifts you have to mess with.

43

Uh, there's no real obligations

besides America, right?

44

And eating a weenie, pretty much a

requirement on July 4th, but outside

45

of that, there's not a lot of rigmarole

that goes around that holiday.

46

So if you're just looking to take a

few days off and charge your batteries,

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July 4th is perfect for that.

48

And summer is in full effect.

49

Fireflies are here.

50

Mosquitoes are here.

51

Brats on the grill are here

and lots of rounds of golf.

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So it feels really good to just kind

of soak in this time around ourselves.

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What do you get done this weekend?

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Did you do anything?

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Did you like take on a project?

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Did you go do something for fun?

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Did you ride your bike?

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Whatever you did, I hope you enjoyed it.

59

I played some golf and worked in

the yard and did some work, but

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mostly just relaxed because we've

got a lot of big stuff going on.

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Here at the house and we're gonna get

into the business stuff in a second,

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but we're just talking here, right?

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We're having our coffee cheers and stuff

Things are getting busy here because we're

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about one week away from a new puppy Oh,

yeah, and we're about eight weeks away

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from our son leaving for college So the

puppy's kind of an emotional support

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puppy for Abby because she's very, very

sad that David's going over to college.

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So for her benefit, we're just

going to gloss right over that

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and we are going to get into it.

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So this is the last week.

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If you want to do any business

between now and really July 15th,

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it's almost a summer siesta.

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You know how, uh, People say, Oh, the

Europeans, they've got it figured out.

73

They take weeks of vacation at a time.

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Wouldn't it be great to be European?

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I think we kind of do the same thing.

76

We just don't recognize it that way

that people just kind of take off for

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a week and a half and they work or

they check in, but they don't really.

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And this is one of those dead zones

because July 4th is next Thursday.

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And if you don't already have something

on the books starting today, you're

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going to start hearing the push off.

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Wow.

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You know, Barbara, thank you for that.

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I really appreciate that.

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Um, yeah, let's get back

to that after the fourth.

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After the fourth, because they're

so busy that that's going to

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start happening as of today.

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And good morning, Aaron.

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Glad to know no jail for you.

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Thank you very much.

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Jail.

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Not good.

92

So people are going to start, you

know, putting you on the back burner.

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Or step one is they're going to

put you in the back burner or

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they're going to need it right now.

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Like, oh my gosh, if I

don't have it by July 3rd.

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And that's where we get

to, uh, queue up the line.

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What is it?

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Your lack of planning doesn't

make it an emergency on my part.

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What's that line?

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That is just such a brilliant line.

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Whatever that line is,

that line, use that.

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And this July 4th happening on

a Thursday is absolutely perfect

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back in the airport world.

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Uh, whenever the new year started, as

soon as we could put in our vacation

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days, I had them all queued up to maximize

them because taking Friday, the fifth

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off course, that's an Insta takeoff and

you can take off Wednesday and Friday.

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So people are going to be maximizing and

flexing all of their time that they can.

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So you got business to take care of,

take care of your business, double down

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on your outreach and your interpersonal

communication right away early this

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week because that gravitational pull

for man, we'll do it after the fourth.

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That is absolutely going to be happening.

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Have you filed your FinCEN report yet?

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Do

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you know what a FinCEN report is?

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Do you know that new government

security report that you have to file,

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or you literally could go to jail.

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You think I'm exaggerating.

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No, I'm not exaggerating.

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Jail.

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Fines.

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Every day.

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Not good.

123

And this report has been kind of wafting

around the small business Community.

124

It's kind of like just in the air,

but no one's talking about it.

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So, because I care about you and I

know that you would not enjoy jail.

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Uh, good morning, Patty.

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Great to see you.

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I thought for sure we should have a

conversation about this and tackle

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it head on because the actual

report doesn't take a lot of time.

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And as we're talking about

taking off time for July 4th.

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It would feel really great

to knock this out before you

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take that time off next week.

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Fortunately, uh, we have someone here

that's going to help us explain it

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because I don't know how to explain it.

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Sierra from Hammernick and Associates.

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Good morning, Sierra.

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How are you today?

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Good morning, Pat.

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I'm well.

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Thank you so much for having me on.

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Uh, it's great to have you

here and I'm not exaggerating.

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Am I?

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I mean, really live, like real jail,

jail, like cell doors and stuff.

144

If we don't put this

in the, uh, old system.

145

Yeah, absolutely.

146

That's what they're saying.

147

That's crazy.

148

Come on.

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I, I agree.

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It's overwhelming.

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The fines are just absolutely outrageous.

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Um, and, and we also have to

remember that those fines, the 500

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a day, that's not just for you.

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That's also for your business too.

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So you've got 500 a day for your

business, 500 a day for you.

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And you're spending two years in prison.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Do you think I could

do the show from jail?

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I don't think so.

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Hey, good morning inmates.

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It's small, small business incarceration.

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That's not a thing.

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All right.

165

So it's great to have you

on the show because you know

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what you're talking about.

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I don't know what I'm talking about.

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What's going on here?

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What is a fin sen?

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And why do we have to do it?

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Sure.

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So FINCEN, that's an acronym.

173

It's the Financial Crimes

Enforcement Network.

174

It's another branch of the U.

175

S.

176

Treasury, kind of like the IRS,

but they're not the same thing.

177

And that's why this is

a new, separate report.

178

It's not on your tax return.

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It's not, uh, when you file

with your Secretary of State.

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It's brand new, something separate

that, just, just one more thing

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for small business owners to do.

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Mhm.

183

And why are we doing it?

184

What's the point of

this particular report?

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So the goal, according to FinCEN, is

to enable them to better investigate

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and prevent money laundering and

shell companies, stuff like that.

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It all started because, um, a global

initiative from, uh, to crack down

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on money laundering and terrorism.

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Financing was recommended.

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And in 2019 we got the

Corporate Transparency Act and

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in 2024 we start collecting.

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Okay, so it gave us five

years of head start.

193

We didn't do anything about it.

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Now we have to do it.

195

So who needs to file a report?

196

Do all small businesses need to file a

report or is it a certain style or class?

197

Right, so the technical definition is

companies that were created by filing

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a document with a Secretary of State.

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Or similar office or otherwise

registered to do business in the

200

US, which is really, really broad.

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If you're an LLC, if you're a

corporation, this definitely includes you.

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But then there's also a list of exceptions

such as banks and, um, Uh, and insurance

203

companies, there's a whole list of

exceptions on the FinCEN website.

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So definitely double check if you need

to file, most small businesses will.

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But if you think you do,

if you think you don't, you

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definitely want to double check.

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Would it be a fair rule of

thumb to think if we have an EIN

208

number, we probably have to file.

209

That's, that's a, that's

a good rule of thumb.

210

You definitely, if you have an EIN

number, definitely go double check.

211

But even if you don't have an

EIN number, There's some, um, uh,

212

what's the word I'm looking for?

213

There's some situations like trust.

214

that might be required to file that you

might not otherwise think would need to.

215

Okay, so there's this new government

report intended for security

216

purposes, et cetera, et cetera.

217

We need to file it by January 1st of 2025.

218

And most likely everyone in the SBOC,

everyone watching this show should at

219

least check to make sure that they should

file it or confirm that they don't need

220

to file it, but just not ignore it.

221

And the fact that it's going on until

222

Scare us straight on this, your slide

on what happens if we don't file.

223

It's kind of ridiculous.

224

Yes.

225

So up to 500 a day in fines

is what they started with, but

226

this Corrects for inflation.

227

So in the first year,

it's already 591 a day.

228

Next year, it's probably going to be over

600 a day when they start enforcing it.

229

200, uh, two years of imprisonment, an

additional 10, 000 in criminal penalties.

230

And like I said earlier, both

individuals and entities are

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separately, uh, held responsible.

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So you're getting 500 a day.

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Your business is getting 500 a day.

234

And.

235

People who are senior officers, owners of

the company may are the type of people who

236

might be required to, to file this report.

237

So you definitely don't wanna sleep on

this, you don't wanna forget about this.

238

The, the fines are just,

it, it's just too much.

239

Okay.

240

So we know we need to do it.

241

Mm-Hmm.

242

. Is it hard to do?

243

Do we need a bunch of paperwork here?

244

Give us an overview of what

it takes to do this report.

245

Right.

246

So it shouldn't be too

hard for a lot of people.

247

You can go to finson.

248

gov and file there.

249

And that's where Hamrick and associates

sent all of our clients at first.

250

Um, they have a 57 page small

business compliance guide that

251

kind of summarizes the answers

to the most frequent questions.

252

I'm there every day looking it up.

253

It's really exhaustive.

254

It's really great information.

255

Um, answering questions for our clients

every day based on that information.

256

Um, it's, it's a really great website.

257

Okay, great.

258

And Aaron asks the million dollar or

five hundred dollar a day question.

259

How do I know if I actually

filed it correctly?

260

How do I make sure?

261

Right, um, I'm not sure if there

is a way to check through FinCEN.

262

com.

263

Whee!

264

I hope, I hope you did.

265

And, um, I would definitely reach

out to them, but I'm not, I'm not

266

aware of a method to double check.

267

Once you file your report,

it's gone on FinCEN.

268

com.

269

Okay, so let's hope we, uh, you

know, let go of that paper airplane

270

in the way that we should have.

271

Okay, so, Thank you for the reminder

that we need to do this thing and

272

that the deadline is January 1st and

jail awaits us if we don't file it.

273

Those are all really, really helpful.

274

I know that Hammernick and

Associates will help us do this.

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Give us the 30 second pitch on

why we would hire you to do it.

276

Yeah, absolutely.

277

So a lot of our clients had

more questions and we weren't

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in a position to answer them.

279

So we created a tool to do so.

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Um, not everyone wants to be

a full time expert like me.

281

So if you want to get this

done as quickly and easily as

282

possible, uh, you can go to C.

283

T.

284

A.

285

B.

286

O.

287

I.

288

File.

289

again, that's C.

290

T.

291

A.

292

B.

293

O.

294

I.

295

That stands for Corporate Transparency Act

Beneficial Ownership Information dot com.

296

And you can file on there.

297

Uh, there's a survey right on the

first page that you can fill out for

298

free that will answer that question.

299

Do I need to file as my business owner?

300

a filing entity.

301

It takes just a minute or two

to answer that question with

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our survey that we've created.

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And then you can jump into the

website and use our portal to file.

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It's really intuitive and streamlined.

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All the answers to your questions are

listed right next to the different

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areas where that's relevant.

307

So you get, you get your answers

where you need them, when you

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need them, on demand chat support.

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You can submit questions if

you have more complex ones for

310

professional answers and review.

311

And then also when your

report is completed, it's

312

then professionally reviewed.

313

So you can move forward knowing and

confident in that your report is filed.

314

It's correct.

315

And you're set to go.

316

Um, there's, there's also two more

things that I want to mention.

317

When your report is accepted by

FinCEN, You'll get a copy of that

318

back, so you'll know that your

report was accepted by FinCEN.

319

You can always double check the portal

to see that your report was accepted,

320

so you're always, you always know you're

compliant, and you get ongoing support

321

for any, uh, opportunities where you

would need to file again, which we

322

didn't get a chance to talk about, but

sometimes you do need to file again.

323

You get ongoing support

to make sure that happens.

324

Okay, I'm going to try and file

once by the end of the year.

325

I don't know about filing again, but

we will, we will see how that goes.

326

I appreciate the information

when we met at the BizTimes Expo.

327

I'm like, oh my gosh, I've been looking

for someone to talk about this because

328

we all need to at least check in

and file or see if we have to file.

329

So Sierra from Hamernik

Associates, thanks for coming on.

330

We appreciate it.

331

Awesome stuff.

332

Okay.

333

So there you go.

334

Jail is bad and uh,

government paperwork exists.

335

And when they combine, uh,

I feel like we need to make

336

sure that we cover that stuff.

337

So you don't get fined 500 a day.

338

That's not a good thing.

339

This is Small Business Mornings.

340

I'm Pat Miller, founder of the

Small Business Owners Community,

341

and we are rambling on and getting

away from government paperwork.

342

Let's talk about buying

stuff for the business.

343

It can be really fun to

buy stuff for the business.

344

Do you think about buying stuff

for the business the way that I do?

345

Oh, well, I'll just, I'll

put it on the business card.

346

Right?

347

Like, oh, that really nice desk chair.

348

I wouldn't buy it on my personal

card, but you know, on the

349

business card, do you do that?

350

Especially at the end of the year,

I totally do that terrible habit.

351

And that results in impulse buys.

352

Oh, that thing.

353

Yeah, of course.

354

I gotta have that.

355

It's on the businesses card.

356

Who cares?

357

So what is the last impulse

buy you had for your business?

358

You know, you have one, you know,

you've got one, an impulse buy for

359

the business, put it in the chat.

360

Now I asked my contacts on LinkedIn.

361

Hey, LinkedIn friends.

362

What is the last impulse buy?

363

And as you would expect, because

it's LinkedIn, I had so many

364

people take the time to reply.

365

I never make impulse buys on the business.

366

I had that over and over and over again.

367

So, okay.

368

Perfect people.

369

Who never make impulse

buys on the business.

370

Thanks for contributing.

371

But then I got some really good answers.

372

So let's share a few of the really

good answers because I think

373

they will resonate with you.

374

Angelica Gallegos, the owner of Savvy

Bookkeeping Services in New York.

375

She said, as a bookkeeper,

impulse purchases are definitely

376

something I try to avoid.

377

My clients rely on me to

be financially responsible.

378

However, I can tell you that some

common impulse buys for bookkeeping

379

businesses include subscriptions

to new software or online courses

380

for the latest tax regulations.

381

They can be great investments if they

improve efficiency or accuracy, but

382

it's also wise to carefully research

them before swiping that card.

383

Isn't that the truth?

384

Oh, I need this!

385

Got a double check.

386

Thank you, Angelica.

387

Jason Henderson, a consultant

in Littleton, Colorado.

388

I haven't done any impulse buys

for the business, but I will say,

389

so here comes the real answer.

390

I haven't done any impulse buys.

391

However, here comes the real answer.

392

I will say that I have yet to

see a marketing program for books

393

that made more money than it cost.

394

So that is my biggest struggle balancing

the cost of marketing with the payoff.

395

I think what he's talking about is

he's releasing a book and promoting

396

a book and you can promote books,

but is the ROI there or not?

397

Steve Mudd, founder in Austin, Texas.

398

I constantly sign up for new AI

tools in an attempt to learn as much

399

as I can about how they operate.

400

My most recent sign up was

for a software called Vidnaz.

401

Great name, Vidnaz.

402

Vidnaz has a few gimmicky AI features,

and I wanted to use the face swap

403

to work on a virtual influencer.

404

Now that's cool, but Vidnaz could have

workshopped that name a little bit, and

405

I'm totally guilty of that as well, Steve.

406

A new AI tool comes out, well I gotta

have that, and then you play with it for

407

30 seconds, it doesn't quite work the

way that it says it's going to work, and

408

then your credit card has been charged.

409

Have you not seen that?

410

You've seen that.

411

Yes.

412

And I've not seen a single impulse

purchase admitted to in the chat.

413

You're all a bunch of liars.

414

What's the last thing that you had an

impulse purchase on in the business?

415

I know you have JB's watching the show.

416

JB we're talking software.

417

I know that you wear out the software

site, buying everything under the sun.

418

Mike Mosel, a founder in

Charleston, South Carolina.

419

He said, I'm not sure if this was

impulsive, but I made the decision

420

quickly to hire an outsourced lead gen

firm to do cold outreach on LinkedIn.

421

It was something that I

wanted to do differently in

422

my business than in the past.

423

And while I regret spending the

money, I quickly learned a valuable

424

lesson about how cold outreach on

LinkedIn, especially messenger.

425

Is likely dead for a number of reasons.

426

Now here's, what's so funny.

427

I completely agree with you, Mike,

that direct outreach on LinkedIn may

428

be dead, but that's how I got to Mike.

429

So I appreciate the input.

430

And uh, maybe it's not efficient,

but it was great to meet you.

431

And thanks for the contribution.

432

Appreciate it.

433

Olivia Jacobus, an accountant in Spokane,

Washington said, my last impulse buy is a

434

height adjustable lamp that you can also

adjust light brightness with as well.

435

as well as the light hue.

436

I would 100 percent do it again.

437

It's nice to adjust the height in case

I want to stand if I'm on a video call.

438

Adjusting the light is great since my

office has a window and the sun moves.

439

I can increase or decrease

the brightness accordingly.

440

I've got those.

441

I've got those.

442

That's what these colored

lights are behind me.

443

Let's see if I can show you.

444

Microsoft Hue lights.

445

They're the greatest things ever.

446

I use them all the time.

447

Let's see.

448

So we've got, let's have

them be white lights.

449

Ooh, white lights.

450

Let's have it be the show lights.

451

Ooh, so much more dramatic, right?

452

I think there's a way here

you can put it on rest.

453

Oh, it's time to rest.

454

And there's a bunch of

stuff you can do here.

455

Like, you can have it look like a fire.

456

Like, it can crackle.

457

It can dance to the music.

458

It's total nerd juice.

459

I know it, but I absolutely love it.

460

Okay, how about you?

461

No one's going to fess up

to an impulse purchase.

462

I can't believe you guys.

463

Fine.

464

My impulse purchases have

been AI software for sure.

465

No doubt about that.

466

And it basically any online software

I end up buying and testing and

467

then realizing I don't need it.

468

And what's so dangerous is when you

buy the software and you're like.

469

I can see a way to use this.

470

Oh, well, the annual is 15 percent off.

471

I'll just buy the annual.

472

And then like three weeks into it, it's

like, Oh my God, what did I do this for?

473

It renews in 11 months.

474

Oh,

475

that's life.

476

And outside of software in the

business, I'm not really impulsive,

477

but I am impulsive when it comes to

golf, the do hickey budget for golf.

478

The thingamajig budget for

golf, very high, very high.

479

I walk into Golf Galaxy, I'm

walking out with something.

480

I didn't just come in here to look around.

481

I came in here to buy something.

482

That happens to me all

the time, the golf budget.

483

Well, there's really no budget.

484

That's why it's impulse.

485

The golf stuff account,

486

pretty ridiculous.

487

Let's talk about a change in the

small business owners community.

488

Two changes.

489

In fact, we just announced,

so we do inside the community.

490

We have our big virtual platform where

all of our small business owners are

491

connecting, which is super great.

492

That way we're always in

touch with one another.

493

We're having a private

conversation that's off Facebook.

494

So we're not one click

away from our clients.

495

We're sharing resources, giving

each other feedback and experience.

496

It's really the unfair advantage

for the small business owners

497

that have decided to join.

498

So we've got that going

on our digital event.

499

And we have our annual

conference in October.

500

But in between those two things,

we do in person meetups in

501

Madison, Milwaukee, and Kenosha.

502

In our Milwaukee chapter, we just

announced that we're moving the location.

503

For the last few months while we were

testing this out, my lovely wife, Abby

504

Miller, allowed us to use her studio.

505

For our monthly meetups.

506

Now we have a proper location.

507

I've just announced that we're going to

partner with the Technology Innovation

508

Center in Wauwatosa to be our host

for the small business community.

509

So the, uh, director there, Mark

Johnson and I have been building a

510

partnership because he's got a building

full of entrepreneurs and we've got

511

a community full of entrepreneurs.

512

So there's got to be a way that

we can bring our community to

513

their community and vice versa.

514

So on July 15th and on

August 19th from 4 to 6 p.

515

m.

516

Those are our meetings.

517

Our upcoming small business owners,

community meetups, we'll be at the

518

technology innovation center, which

is essentially at the zoo interchange

519

and highway 100 in Wauwatosa.

520

Like it is right in the

center of everything.

521

So it's really, really exciting.

522

So if you haven't come to one of

our small business owner, community

523

meetups, uh, we'd love to have you.

524

July 15th is the next date.

525

Thanks to Mark for the

partnership, big space.

526

It's going to be great

and he's buying beer.

527

So

528

you should come.

529

Here's the other thing.

530

This is something I can't really announce

But I can share we have an agreement

531

in principle for another big business

service for our small business owners

532

in the SBOC The vision here is if we

get a big pile of small business owners

533

together How can we give them the

same tools that big businesses have?

534

So we started with a legal advice hotline.

535

Then we built a tech support hotline.

536

Then we built an HR question hotline.

537

All three of those services exist,

so when an employee does something

538

stupid, you've got someone to call to

ask, Hey, how should I handle this?

539

When you get a letter in the mail,

you've got a lawyer that you can call

540

and ask a question without starting

the meter with your own lawyer.

541

That's kind of the vision, right?

542

Because in a big business, you'd walk

down the hall and talk to your HR person.

543

We don't have that.

544

I'm just a devastatingly handsome

guy in his basement, right?

545

And so are you.

546

So we needed these big business services.

547

But there's another big business

service that we're missing.

548

And we have an agreement in principle to

launch this one in the middle of July.

549

Okay.

550

And I've not seen this.

551

Anywhere, anywhere.

552

I haven't seen any group do this.

553

So legal, HR, tech, and one more that's

going to be pretty darn valuable.

554

It's going to help you

get more stuff done.

555

That's all I can share for now,

more stuff done, but it's going

556

to be really, really good.

557

And that is all on top of the changes

that I made that are effective

558

on July 1st inside the SBOC.

559

So I just woke up and realized and

learned from some others, hey, there

560

was some stuff that I was doing that was

not in the best interest of our members.

561

So we made a bunch of

changes, owners only.

562

We are no longer going to welcome

sales reps, business development

563

people, employees of other businesses.

564

If you're not the person that makes

the business decisions, if you're not

565

the one that runs the organization,

this isn't the group for you.

566

So that's the first change

we made, owners only.

567

Second change we made was to cap the

number of people in the community.

568

Because when we have these four big

business services up and running,

569

I want to make sure our members

have room to take advantage of it.

570

So.

571

We have a 200 member cap that's

effective as of July 1st.

572

Then I'm taking away the

monthly payment plan and only

573

offering a one time annual fee.

574

And we're doing that because I want

people to invest in the community.

575

I don't want someone to show up,

take all the goodies and log off.

576

No, I want you to invest and build

relationships with Barbara and Aaron and

577

JB and Susie and others Patty and more.

578

I mean these people are here to

collaborate with you and help you grow

579

The feedback i've received from the

community after announcing these changes

580

has been a hundred percent positive And

if people don't like it, they probably

581

haven't told me so I can still say a

hundred percent positive because that's

582

how i'm hearing it But they're all made

with our community's interests in mind.

583

All of these changes go

into effect on July 1st.

584

So if you're not in the small business

owners community yet, then you need to get

585

into the small business owners community

because it's a thing and I'm really

586

proud of it and you should be a member.

587

Let's do our meme of the week and I

think this might spark some discussion.

588

Sometimes our meme of the week is

goofy and fun and kind of just flip.

589

Not today's.

590

Today is hopefully going to

pump you up a little bit.

591

It's going to help you

say, you're damn right.

592

Are you ready?

593

Here's our moment.

594

When a customer tells you, I

know people who charge less.

595

You say, I know customers who pay more.

596

And the Robert Downey Jr.

597

Picture there is just perfect.

598

Isn't it?

599

Why does this spark discussion in my head?

600

Today, this week, a

member of our community.

601

And maybe you watching this show will

reach out to a potential client and

602

say, listen, I'd love to work with you.

603

It's 10.

604

I'm just using a number.

605

It's 10.

606

And then we'll wait for

them to say yes or no.

607

And sometimes they'll

come back and say 10.

608

I know people who do it for five.

609

When that happens, we, we, many of us,

and sometimes me and sometimes you,

610

we kind of, Ooh, we kind of shrink.

611

We kind of, we kind of step back.

612

We kind of worry, Oh, maybe

I should do it for five.

613

This meme and this reminder and

this little pep talk is kind of

614

coaching you up a little bit to own your

pricing and be worth what you charge.

615

This isn't a negotiation.

616

I'm a service provider.

617

It costs this much.

618

So I would love to have you work with me.

619

And if we're not a fit,

then we're not a fit.

620

Have a nice life.

621

And I find that when someone

questions my pricing and I just very

622

confidently and very securely just

say, uh, thank you for that question.

623

It's one that we get a lot, uh,

but we found that our price of

624

10 is what it takes to have the

resources necessary to give you the

625

service that I intend to give you.

626

Basically, if you want good stuff, pay me.

627

If you don't want good stuff,

there are plenty of people

628

that charge less down the hall.

629

Go find them.

630

Bye.

631

And when I do that, they

go, okay, I just had to ask.

632

And then they sign.

633

And if they don't, then they don't.

634

This question and this challenge

635

really takes hold when someone challenges

you on your price and you say yes.

636

The price is 10.

637

Would you do it for five?

638

Fine.

639

Then what happens?

640

Yeah, you got the business, but

you hate every minute of it.

641

Have you not done that?

642

Have you not taken a client

and then regretted it later?

643

And a lot of the reason why you

regret it is, you know, you're

644

doing it for less than you should,

but you needed the business.

645

So you did it anyway.

646

And then it's just a thing the whole time.

647

And it's just.

648

Ah, I'm so mad.

649

So today's meme of the week, great

work, Abby Miller, director of

650

meme, your friend, the photographer.

651

This is a call.

652

This is a reminder.

653

How much is it?

654

10.

655

Would you do it for five?

656

No, no,

657

no.

658

I'm worth it.

659

I'm worth it.

660

We just raised the price of the SBOC.

661

It was like 6.

662

50 a month now or 6.

663

50 a year.

664

Now it's 7.

665

99 a year.

666

Why?

667

Because we're worth it.

668

That seems expensive.

669

Have you been in it?

670

Do you have a legal hotline right now?

671

Do you have 150 entrepreneurs that can

give you advice at the drop of a hat?

672

Are you walking all alone right now?

673

This is how much it costs.

674

And this is how much it costs for

us to do all these great things.

675

And if you want to keep on figuring

it out by yourself, have a nice life.

676

We're worth it.

677

Do it or don't, as my mom famously says.

678

So that's my little pep talk for today.

679

Hold your prices, be proud of what

you do, get what you are worth.

680

Or when you say you'll do it at a

lower price, you will regret it.

681

And you'll be mad at the client.

682

And you will have no one

to blame, but yourself.

683

That's about all we got for today.

684

Uh, hearing no other questions,

comments, or sarcastic remarks from

685

those of you that chose to tune in

this morning, I want you to go have a

686

great week between now and Friday, go

get some stuff done because next week

687

is going to be a big nothing burger.

688

I'm telling you right now, get your client

communication done this week because

689

next week you'll have plenty of time.

690

To work on your internal projects.

691

Oh, I need to write a few blogs.

692

I need to update the thing.

693

I got to organize the stuff, all

of the study hall kind of things.

694

You can do all that next week.

695

This week, go to lunch, go to coffee,

send the emails, follow up, make, just do

696

the stuff with other people because next

week it's going to be a one player game.

697

I'm Pat Miller, founder of the

Small Business Owners Community.

698

I really appreciate you

tuning in this morning.

699

I hope you go out and have a great

week and don't forget to file

700

your FinCEN because jail is bad.

701

Talk to you soon.