We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Susanne Mariga a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Susanne, appreciate you joining us today. How do you think about cost-management? Growing a business is always exciting, but often businesses run into issues when costs grow faster than revenue – have you experienced such an episode? Any advice for other operators around how to keep costs in line?

Having a budget and monitoring budget to actual has been crucial to keep cost under control as we have scaled. Although a budget is created annually, we view it as a living document that is visited each month to ensure that we are adhering to it. For us, this means that if an expense is not on the budget, it is not approved unless their is a direct and measurable Return on Investment.

We also adhere to the Profit First methodology created by Mike Michalowicz. Every dollar is told where to go physically. In fact, we allocate money according to it’s purpose to various bank accounts similar to Dave Ramsey’s envelope system. We benchmark our spending against industry averages and use these percentages to establish healthy spending boundaries.

Some other things that we have done is that we monitor our auto renewable subscriptions. When something is coming due for auto renewal within 60 days, we review the subscription for usage and determine if we have a viable lower cost alternative. This alone has saved us thousands of dollars per year.

Susanne, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a CPA and Fractional CFO that specializes in high net worth tax strategies for 7 and 8 figure entrepreneurs using the Profit First methodology. I am also an author of a Kirkus reviewed book and Publisher’s Weekly Book Life’s Editor’s Pick book Profit First For Minority Business Enterprises. I am the host of a podcast called The Profit Talk.

Professionally, unlike many tax experts, who might recommend increasing expenses to save on taxes, I focus on the tax payers ultimate goal. I then align the tax strategies with the taxpayer’s end goal. For example if a tax payer is interested in saving agressively for retirement and they are a closely held business, I might recommend a solo 401(k) plan with profit share and cash balance plan. This allows a tax payer to build his/her networth, while at the same time reducing taxes significantly. We will also evaluate legal entities to determine which is most appropriate for the tax stage that they are in.

I am most proud of helping my entrepreneur clients, realize their life financial goals and pivot their family legacies through sound financial, operational, and tax strategies.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I think the biggest lesson that I had to unlearn in entrepreneurship is “Don’t even try to fit in.”

Coming from a bi-racial background and a underserved community, growing up, the biggest thing that I wanted to do was fit in. Fitting in could range from how one talks, how one dresses, and even how one shows up in the professional world.

What I learned in entrepreneurship is fitting in will just commoditize you. If you compete upon price , it is simply a race to bottom, because when you are in the race to the bottom, the winner is “FREE”. Instead figure out what you do best, and sell on top service, quality, and thought leadership.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think what built our reputation in the market was out beating our client’s previous providers. So many times, clients would come to us and say, “I wish my accountant talked to me more. I wish he/she helped with strategy. I wish he/she helped me be more successful.”

We simply listened to what our clients wanted, packaged it as an offering, and delivered it. A satisfied client never leaves.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://marigagroup.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susanne.mariga/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusanneMariga
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susannemariga/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SusanneMariga
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitfirstwithsusannemariga

Image Credits
Angie Lewis Studios, photographer