Eliminating Cash Flow Problems (with Christian Brim)

Angela Frank: 00:00:00

Welcome to The Growth Pod.

Today on the podcast, we have Christian Brim, who is the CEO of Core Group, specializing in providing creative business owners and marketing agencies with the vital financial services they need, such as accounting, bookkeeping, tax planning, tax preparation, and wealth management. Christian, welcome to the podcast.

Christian Brim: 00:00:19

Thanks for having me. Angela, excited to be here.

Angela Frank: 00:00:23

I am excited that you're here as well.

You're going to share how we can save, set our financial foundations for entrepreneurial success, specifically how we can manage our cash flow and budgeting to set our businesses up to be the best they can be.

Christian Brim: 00:00:37

Yes.

Angela Frank: 00:00:39

But before we get started, you have a pivotal moment from your life where you learned just how important it is to focus on thriving financially. Can you share a little bit more about this and how it shaped your approach to money management?

Christian Brim: 00:00:53

Sure. I was 16 when my family, pretty much everybody in my family went bankrupt.

We had a family business together, so uncles and cousins, and there was a lot of togetherness in small town Oklahoma. And with bankruptcy, pretty much everybody had to go their separate ways to earn a living.

And it wasn't the loss of things or the loss of money that really impacted me. It was the fact that the family disintegrated and that made a very lasting impact on me.

When I started to look at what I wanted to do for a career, I chose being a CPA kind of by accident. I really didn't know what an accountant did, but once I started studying it, I understood.

Oh, okay, this is, this is the numbers of business, the language of business. And I, from, from that point on, my. My desire was to help others not go through what I went through.

Angela Frank: 00:02:19

Amazing.

So you were really able to take this event in your life that really shook up not only your own life, but the life of all of your family members as well and turn it into this thing that was positive. So could you give us a glimpse into how now you manage your finances and what your daily financial routine looks like?

Christian Brim: 00:02:40

Yes, I can. When I read that question, Angela's not going to like my answer.

I have delegated all of the financial responsibilities, you know, bill paying, collecting money, payroll to my team. But I can tell you that we use profit first in our organization, just like it's written in the book.

My financial routine used to be that I was looking at the bank account every day and, you know, sometimes wondering, well, am I going to have enough money to pay, you know, payroll or cover all of the bills? And you, you'd think that a CPA would be good with their money, but sometimes the shoemaker's kids don't have any shoes.

And I, that that was a dark time, having that kind of anxiety, you know, checking the bank account.

It's, you know, it's one thing to check your personal bank account and wonder if you have enough money to spend, but when you're impacting others with employees and their livelihood and their family's livelihood, that's a heavy burden.

So my financial routine now is meeting with my CFO once a month to review the financials, review our plan, you know, how are we doing, how are the numbers stacking up to our plan, and much more high level kind of thoughts around money other than the mechanics of getting stuff done.

Angela Frank: 00:04:28

Okay, so you've been able to take a step back because you found that being involved in that day to day, like constantly checking the bank account caused a lot of stress and anxiety.

And so now maybe taking that step back, do you find that you're able to think more strategically about the finances of your business and in that way it's helpful, or is there another benefit to handing that off aside from just the anxiety?

Christian Brim: 00:04:52

I think the first thing was we started making more money. So that's key. I didn't turn loose of the financials for a long time. I would say only two years ago.

But having someone that you trust that can manage those things is key. I mean, I can't just turn that over to anybody, but absolutely not.

Being in the weeds, as I say, of looking at all of the detail, it allows you to have a different perspective and ask different questions.

Angela Frank: 00:05:31

Absolutely. And so you mentioned that this helps you ask different questions. Does that play into the goals that you're able to set for yourself?

And what are some key financial goals that you believe that entrepreneurs should set for themselves in their businesses?

Christian Brim: 00:05:51

Absolutely. The first thing that it does is it allows you to.

So a lot of entrepreneurs, visionaries, heads in the sky, lots of dreams, lots of, you know, big ideas, and I'm just like them. But the reality, what's actually happening, sometimes we miss. Right. And the numbers, I equate.

I called it the language of business because that's what accounting is. When people find out I'm an accountant, they're like, oh, you must like numbers.

And I'm like, you know, honestly, the most complicated math is arithmetic, and I learned that in second grade. So accounting is not mathematically challenging. It is, however, a language and it's telling a story.

And I think a business owner needs to be able to say the story that I'm envisioning. My business plan Where I want to go, do the numbers line up with it? You know, not just historically, but in the future?

So, like, if we reach these goals, what do the numbers look like? And that's part of that accountability as well.

So you set the numbers based upon the business plan, and then you can look at the actual results and say, are we accomplishing what we set out to? And if not, why?

Angela Frank: 00:07:14

Amazing. So if you're wondering why you aren't achieving something, it could probably fall into many different, different areas.

But what are some of the key financial challenges that you often see entrepreneurs facing and how can they overcome them so they can then achieve their financial goals?

Christian Brim: 00:07:32

I think the overwhelming problem with most entrepreneurs, and specifically those in creative industries, is they just ignore the numbers. It's, I don't know anything about them, I don't want to know anything about it.

And so it's kind of a don't ask, don't tell, whistle past the graveyard, whatever analogy you want. So I think it's first and foremost knowing enough.

So using the language analogy a little bit further, if you're going to go down to Mexico, you don't have to become proficient in Spanish, but you might want to learn a few key words and phrases, right? And that's what a business owner needs to do with finances and accounting is they need to know enough.

I think, and this kind of goes back to your previous question that I didn't answer. The concepts that I think are most important for every business owner, the first is gross profit, which is what you sold less, your direct costs.

So if you sell widgets, then, you know, whatever supplies or parts you had to put into that widget, and then if you had to pay somebody to do the labor on it, you subtract those amounts, those direct costs. So things that aren't direct costs are things like rent and cell phone and marketing. You know, those things are not direct costs.

And you take your revenue less those direct costs, that's your gross profit. Way too many businesses focus on that top line, the revenue, and growing that top line.

But you only make money as a business owner if you're generating gross profit. So that's the first key metric. And then the second would be if you have employees.

This concept of direct labor efficiency, and it's a simple ratio, but it tells you how much money you're making off of the employee's labor. And in most businesses, the largest effect that we can have is with our people. You know, we can't pick up and move all the time.

We can't you know, change a lot of things that are fixed, but how much your employees produce in gross profit is. Is. And that direct labor efficiency measures that over time. So I would say those are the two key concepts that I would put to memory.

Angela Frank: 00:10:04

Amazing.

So if somebody's listening right now and they're realizing, like, wow, I really haven't been paying attention enough to my finances, where do you recommend that they get started in learning a little bit more of the language of business, as you've put it?

Christian Brim: 00:10:19

Well, self promoting, but I think my book's a great place to start. Profit first for creatives. I think that the Profit first system is easy to understand, it's easy to implement, and it works 100% of the time.

It's tried. I think that I would start there.

On our website, coregroupus.com, we have a resource page with a bunch of downloadable ebooks, tons of blog articles on the subjects. I would just start reading and asking questions.

If you have a professional that you're working with, have a conversation, you know, say, tell me what you see in my numbers.

Angela Frank: 00:10:59

I love that. So there's a variety of resources, not only on your website, but also maybe in an entrepreneur's circle already, advising them that they can lean on.

But working with entrepreneurs and helping them transform their financial health is something that you do on a regular basis. Can you share a success story of an entrepreneur that you know who transformed their financial situation using the right strategies?

Christian Brim: 00:11:26

Sure. I've got lots of success stories.

I think the one that's most recent, because I used his story in writing the book, is a gentleman by the name of Kyle.

And Kyle went from a place of disorganization and stress to a place where he has predictable cash flow and he's not worried about his family paying their bills.

And I quote him directly in the book, and I apologize, I don't have the direct quote, but when I wrote that and I heard that, it was like, wow, this is. This is why I do what I do.

If I can help people like him get to that point where they no longer have stress or anxiety about the finances of their business and they know that their family is taken care of, well, that's my why. So thumbs up.

Angela Frank: 00:12:22

That must feel so powerful when you're able to help somebody go from this place of constant stress and worry to being able to feel confident about how their financial health of their business is impacting their life.

Christian Brim: 00:12:35

I would add, you know, a lot of business owners don't have. Well, I'd say most business owners don't have any financial education or background when they start a business. Right.

That's completely understandable, and that's okay. But what happens is your personal financial mindset, habits, all of those things flow through to your business.

And so if you have trouble managing money at home personally, and you start a business, you're going to bring all those troubles with you. So I guess my point is that you can't separate those two. It's really about what your mindset is about money.

Whether you being intentional with your money, whether you're intentionally making a profit.

Angela Frank: 00:13:20

I think that's so important. Understanding that the way that you operate your finances privately will be how you operate them in your business.

And so if you know that you are still working on it in your personal life, you should maybe spend a little bit more time upfront making sure you understand how you can set yourself up for success.

And I think the really important thing there is, the more that you learn about it, the more it will not only benefit your business, but also your personal finances.

Christian Brim: 00:13:49

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Angela Frank: 00:13:52

Well, Christian, you have a lot going on. You are a published author. You're the CEO of Core Group. I'm curious to know what's next for you.

Christian Brim: 00:14:01

We. We actually, as a team, filmed a movie last fall, and we are premiering it later this month. It's a short film. It's like 15 minutes.

I'm very excited to share that with everybody. Not because it's good, but because it was so much fun. The next thing, honestly, I'm working on is I'm writing a script for a movie.

I don't know if I have any interest in it being made, but I'm going to write the script.

Angela Frank: 00:14:30

I love that. Is the script focused on something that you're passionate about outside of finances, or does it all kind of tie together?

Christian Brim: 00:14:38

Oh, no, it has nothing to do with finances. The story is about the Choctaw relocation, the Trail of Tears from Mississippi to Oklahoma. I am Choctaw. My wife's Choctaw.

And it's going to be a love story and a story about home. So I have it here. We'll see what it comes out and looks like.

Angela Frank: 00:15:06

Well, that's so exciting to hear that you are really taking time to pour into something that you are passionate about. I can tell that it's something that really lights you up. So I appreciate you sharing that with us.

If somebody is interested in watching the short film that you have that's coming out, or if they just want to get in touch with you, keep up with you online. Where's the best place for them to do that?

Christian Brim: 00:15:31

The best place is ChristianBrim.com our company website is CoreGroupus.com but Christian Brim has all of my social handles and links to videos and you can order the book as well.

Angela Frank: 00:15:45

Amazing. And all of those links will be in the description.

So if you are listening and you want to check in with Christian and see what he's up to, that along with the resources that he mentioned earlier in the episode, will all be there for you. Christian, thank you so much for joining us today. I really enjoyed our conversation.

Christian Brim: 00:16:01

Me too. Thank you.

Angela Frank: 00:16:03

If you enjoyed this episode of the Growth Pod, please leave us a review. I thank you so much for watching and I look forward to seeing you in the next one.