Are you feeling stuck? Do you feel like you’re just going through the motions, and that there’s no real way out? Well, guess what—you’re not alone. But here’s the thing: there is a way out! And it starts with understanding that you have more power than you think (and less control than you think). In this episode, David Richter shares how being rich does not guarantee financial freedom, especially when the entrepreneur has no self-control on their expenses and finances. David testifies that you can change everything about your life and your business if you want to—but only if YOU are willing to take action. And if you want to take action, but don’t know where to start…well, this episode will help guide you on the road to financial literacy! So buckle up, and enjoy the ride!
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Get Out Of The Entrepreneurial Rat Race And Truly Gain Financial Literacy With David Richter
I am with myself, Gem, Melanie and our very special guest, David Richter. How are you doing?
I’m doing great. Thanks for having me on.
He’s in the wonderful, lovely and beautiful state of Florida where it’s the perfect weather but you are new to our show. Why don’t you go ahead and introduce yourself to our audience and what it is that you’re digging into?
I am a real estate investor by background. I started that a few years ago. I read Rich Dad Poor Dad and it was the off to the races from there. I worked with a company where we did about 850 deals in the real estate world. I got to see a lot in the single-family space. From there too, it sounds cool to do a lot of deals but we were doing about 25 deals a month but spending about 26 deals worth out the door.
That’s where I realized at that point that a lot of people, especially in the entrepreneurial world can make a ton of money but don’t keep a lot of it. They don’t know where it goes and how to manage it or what to do with it. That’s what got me started down the path of what I’m doing with the fractional CFO company to help people know what they make, spend and keep so they can keep more of it. That is a very high-level overview of the last few years of my life in the working world. I went from real estate investor full-time to helping real estate investors full-time because so many people struggle with the cash, making the money and keeping it.
That’s something that a lot of people in life have a hard time managing. It is like, “What is happening to all of my money?” In real estate investing, the dream is to become a real estate investor but you’re helping real estate investors get out of the real estate investing rat race.
A lot of people get into that mindset and this is not just real estate investors. This is people in general plus throw in entrepreneurs in there and you’ve got an even more hectic mix when it comes to finances but a lot of people think, “As long as I make more money, I’m going to be okay,” and that revenue solves all problems. I love Keith Cunningham’s books and he says, “If you scale cancer, the tumor grows.” If you’re scaling something that’s not healthy, then it’s going to be a lot unhealthier as you grow. That’s why we have to make sure we’re not creating the same habits.
A lot of people build their whole business around the hope and pray plan. “I hope I make enough and I pray there’s some leftover at the end of the year.” They’re not even thinking day-to-day or month-to-month. They’re like, “I’m hoping that it’s all worth it someday.” A lot of people build it around that instead of knowing, “This is how much I need to make from the business,” and then attacking that aggressively and building the business plan around that.
It’s more like, “How many deals can I do? How many signed contracts can I have? What’s the most top-line revenue I can have in my business?” They get stuck in this trap of being a marketing salesperson but not ever thinking about, “What do I need to do to be a healthy business,” and to make sure that we’ve got a good bottom line profit.
I talked about it because I wrote a book Profit First for Real Estate Investing and I mentioned the real estate rat race in there but it’s the same rat race if you’re in a W-2 job. You get up, go to a job, get the paycheck and do the same thing. A lot of people in the entrepreneur space want to get out of that and want to be their own boss but then they have the same habits from their W-2 job, the middle-class mindset or the poor mindset or the scarcity mindset they might have had growing up or fed to them from school, their parents or different things in their life. They then become an entrepreneur and they’re like, “Everything’s going to be magically better because I’ll make so much money. It doesn’t matter.”
They make so much money but with bad spending habits and then wonder, “Why in the world am I $700,000 in debt? Where is all that money going?” They trade the W-2 paycheck to paycheck living either deal to deal or month to month as an entrepreneur. That’s where they get into their rat race but now it’s a bigger hamster wheel that they’ve created themselves.
I saw that when we were doing 25 deals a month. We had a good size real estate company but we were spending 26 deals a month. I’ve seen this on a small scale too like someone who wanted to go from a couple of deals a year to 20 or 30 deals a year. They tried that in one year and that almost killed him because he was trying to grow and scale. He thought that more houses, deals or revenue would solve everything.
In that year, his wife started working in the business. She started having seizures. He started going 80, 90 and 100-hour weeks and messing up his whole schedule. He wasn’t able to work out or be with his family as much. It was stressful for him as well. At the end of the year, the CPA says, “Looking at your books, I never get into real estate investing or being an entrepreneur like you.” She also said, “You lost $70,000.”
He did the most amount of revenue and deals he’d ever done and lost more than he’d ever lost. That’s why a lot of people get into that trap because they don’t have the good habits and principles of good and sound money decisions to make sure at the end of the day they don’t get to not only there but they have money in their pocket.
Trying to help people stay away from not only the real estate rat race but just the rat race in general, especially if you’re an entrepreneur because if you are, you have to make sure you’re protecting yourself from the habits that you might have been fed growing up in the mindsets and being able to break free from that, be different as an entrepreneur and have a healthy business.
How do you help people break free from those habits and overcome what they’re used to in terms of their spending habits?
That was a nice tee-up for sure because I can go onto that rabbit trail too but the number one thing is you have to go from the land of hoping to the land of knowing. Stop building a business around the hope and pray plan. Know what you need from your business. There’s a great story in the book Crucial Conversations called Retaking Your Pen. That story is when you’re born with your pen in your hand, that pen represents your self-worth.
You have to go from the land of hoping to the land of knowing. Click To TweetWhen you’re a kid, especially from ages 0 to 10, you don’t care what people think. You’re having the time of your life. You’re writing your story. You then get to be in middle school and high school and you care what everyone thinks. What are they wearing, how are they acting, what do I do and what do I say? They are then writing your story, telling you what to wear, how to act and how to fit in. You then wonder, “Why do I feel crappy all the time?”
It’s because they’re writing your story but as a kid, you don’t know what’s going on. You think, “I want to be accepted. I want to be in the crowd.” If you’re reading this or if you’re an entrepreneur, you probably at some point said, “I want to take my pen back again. I’m tired of living on other people’s terms. I’m starting my business. I’m doing my thing.”
You start writing your story again but then you get into the same habits that we did as a kid. Now, it’s in the entrepreneur world and you’re saying, “What are they doing? How am I going to be accepted into that group? David was doing 850 deals. I want to do that many deals. I want to do millions of dollars of revenue.” They grow and scale and then you get to that guy that I was talking about. His name was Joey and he lost that money from trying to scale his company. You become like Joey.
You are looking at everyone else in these groups and saying, “I need to be doing that.” They’re writing your story again. The first thing you need to do is take back your pen and say, “No. I’m going to figure it out. I’m going to sit down with my spouse or by myself and say, ‘This is what I need to keep from my business for myself, my family or what needs to happen.’” You then build the business plan around that.
That’s what needs to happen first. That’s the first thing I would tell people to do. We give a keep number form. Here are the six questions to ask yourself to make sure you know how much you need from your business, whether it’s real estate or any type of business. You can download that form. I want to make sure that you have an actual step because that’s one of the biggest ways to break free of that mindset. It is thinking it’s not just whatever. Hopefully, we make enough.
Now we know, “This is how much I need to bring to have the lifestyle that we want to have and keep from the business.” That’d be number one. I’ve got not have a whole bunch of points but there are two other points here that I could go into. The second one would be you need a system to know what you make, spend and keep. That’s the Profit First System. I wrote about it in the book. I could give a high-level overview but it’s the modernized envelope system for business.
A lot of people have heard of Dave Ramsey. Whether you love him or hate him, the financial principles, some of them he teaches are very core to being a good steward of your money. One of them is the envelope method. It’s being able to set and give every dollar a name. Do that in your business, only don’t use envelopes. Use bank accounts. Set up different bank accounts that are specifically for you to make sure that you know where your money’s going.
We always tell people to set up a Golden Trio of accounts at least. This will be a high-level overview there without going into the weeds too much but the three bank accounts to open up, I call it the Golden Trio because I love Harry Potter, Star Wars and all the big epic movies. The business that you have in your epic saga. If you’re reading this and you have a business, this is the story that you’re trying to tell. That is what you’re trying to bring to the world. That’s the legacy you will pass on.
You need three main heroes like Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luke, Han and Leia to make sure that good wins in the end. Those three accounts are profit, owner’s comp and owner’s tax. Make sure you’re keeping some money from the business. All three of them help you keep more of your cash. A dollar comes in and the first dollars that you allocate and that you transfer is to those three accounts to make sure that instead of the money comes in and it goes right out or I have one big bank account where everything’s swirling around, I have different bank accounts.
It’s very clear where the money’s going and I’m putting it towards what will make my business and myself healthy first. That would be the second big step. I could go through a lot more but those are the two big things. 1) Find what they need to keep. 2) Set up some of those accounts to give themselves more clarity and confidence and keep more of the cash that will help them get into better habits. Those are wealth habits. From every dollar that comes in, set up another account and start funding that. Don’t touch it until we tell people to touch the profit account. Once a quarter, go in there and celebrate.
Don’t put it to your expenses. Don’t be hiding that you’re going crazy with your expenses like normal. No. Do that and do something fun with it. Buy a car. Maybe the first time buying ice cream with however much is in there. It’s making sure that you’re using the business for what your purpose is. The purpose of the business is to make money. There’s nothing wrong with the business being profitable. You’re running a for-profit business. Please don’t run an accidental non-profit.
You need to make sure the business is profitable because that’s the purpose of the business but your purpose might be different. Your purpose might be to travel the world, have more time with family, give to organizations or whatever it might be for you but you have to have the profitability from the company to unlock more of that purpose for yourself. That’s what we tell people. 1) Get that keep number and build the business plan around it. 2) Get those bank accounts set up as soon as possible to start getting into good habits with your money.
David, you’re already giving our readers so much good information. I hope all of our readers are writing down these books that you’ve provided and these tips because I know I am. That’s for sure. What would you say is the secret weapon in businesses making a massive profit?
I’m biased here but I see it all the time. If you have someone on the team that can help hold you accountable for these actions and help you implement this, it is the secret weapon. A lot of people have a bookkeeper or a CPA but both of those people usually work for the IRS. Do you know how they work for the IRS? It’s because the bookkeeper’s making sure the day-to-day stuff is in there that the IRS needs and the CPA puts it in front of the IRS to say, “How much do they owe?”
That’s where I created the company Simple CFO for fractional CFOs that come in as financial leaders on the team to, 1) Help you build the business plan around what you need to keep. 2) Be able to implement that system and then hold you accountable to, “You said you wanted to have this much money in your bank account for you by the end of the year. I’m going to hold you accountable to that throughout this year and make sure we don’t get off track.”
That’s the secret weapon because a lot of people say, “I’m doing several hundred thousand dollars a year or $1 million a year. I don’t need a full-time CFO.” That’s why it’s a fractional CFO. It’s a part-time CFO at a very low cost and efficiency to make sure that you’re like, “I don’t need a full-time person. I only need someone here as a leader on the team knowing where we’re going.”
If I had to equate them as well too, like the bookkeeper and the CPA, if I’m acquainted with a hospital, bookkeepers are like the nurse. They check on you, go in there and make sure your vitals are good every day. The CPAs are the specialist in the hospital. You might go to a different area for different things or depending on what you’re in there for.
You’ve also got the CFO who doesn’t work for the hospital, sees you at your house and says, “Are you healthy?” I’m going to make a private visit to you to make sure, “Are we working out? Are we doing the things that not only will get you if you’re sick and get you better but also will keep you healthy the rest of the time?” That’s what the CFO is. It’s like a personal trainer or a private doctor for you to come in to make sure you and your business are healthy. That’s what we do and that’s what we make sure we’re trying to help a lot of these businesses.
We’ve worked with over 200 different real estate investors and business owners in different areas. Being able to see the people like Joey that I was talking about, he’s worked with us for years and in 2021, he funded those accounts that I was talking about like in step number two. He funded all of his profit first accounts by June 2021. It means he wouldn’t have had to do another deal the whole year or have any more revenue. He would’ve been set for the entire year and that’s because he has built good habits.
It’s because he has someone holding him accountable to that every other week and making sure, “Did anything come up? Is anything different? Did you have extra revenue? Did you have too little? Are we making sure that the cash is on point?” A lot of people have a CPA and a bookkeeper but those are looking in the rearview mirror a lot of the time versus, “Where have I been? Where am I now? Where am I going?” That’s why I say the secret weapon is because if I say the word fractional CFO, people are scratching their heads like, “What is that?”
It’s only a part-time financial leader on the team because a lot of people don’t know how to manage a bookkeeper or a CPA. They don’t know how to get the most out of the relationship as well too. If you’re reading this and you’re touching real estate investing at all, that CPA should be helping you save as much money in taxes as humanly possible. It’s also utilizing the other financial relationships and streamlining financial processes but that would to me be the secret weapon because then you don’t have to select through this yourself. If you’re like, “That sounds good and I read Profit First but if you’re serious about it and want actual more cash at the end of the day, you might need someone holding you accountable to it.”
What are some of the most common struggles that you see investors have with their finances?
Some of them correlate to numbers 1 and 2. 1) They build a business on hope and prayer. 2) They have one big bank account where everything goes in and out of. There’s no clarity there. They feel guilty about taking money out of their business. They’re like, “Is this going to hurt me? Is this payroll that I’m messing up? Is this marketing but I need money to live?” That helps that.
Also, a lot of people hate this topic. They think with marketing and sales, the different types are the fun sexy stuff. When it’s financed, the fact that people have me on shows like this sometimes it’s okay. Is this going to go well because we hear a CPA or someone from finances and it’s boring as heck? No, this is where on this side if we can make sure that you know where your cash is going. That’s what we’re talking about here because, at the end of the day, that’s what the entrepreneur wants too. They don’t give a rat’s behind about the P&L or the balance sheet. They want to make sure it’s good. “Are we okay?” “Okay, good.”
They have to manage the cash because they’ll know if they’re in a cash crunch, “I can’t pay payroll this week,” or a marketing campaign went out. “Are we getting anything back in? There’s no revenue coming in. What’s happening?” They know if there’s a cash crunch but this is about instead of sticking the head in the sand and saying, “I’m not going to think about the finances until tax time next year. I’m going to give them all my receipts and then walk away. Hopefully, I’ll still be in business next year too.”
This is where a lot of people have to lift their heads out of the sand and say, “I want to take control of my financial destiny because I was this person. I know this feeling.” The same person who starts the business and wants to have financial freedom at some point sticks their head in the sand and buries it and can’t find their way out of it and can’t get that financial freedom that they’ve been looking for.
Lift your head out of the sand and take control of your financial destiny. Click To TweetYou took the leap to become an entrepreneur, learn some of these skills or get the who not how. The people on the team can help you put these systems in place to make sure that you’re getting the dollars at the end of the day. I interviewed someone on our Profit First REI Podcast and they said, “With this system, I don’t have to worry about the recession. Do you know what we’re looking at because we have cash reserves? We’re looking at scaling up this in 2022. Where can we put this money to the best use?” They don’t have to worry about, “Did that deal not close? Am I going to be able to pull money from another account? Am I going to have to go get a loan to pay payroll?”
That’s where we have to make sure that we’re getting that mindset in place. That’s why I go on these shows a lot because I try and get this info out. Please stick your head out of the sand and say, “I’ll do something.” Read Profit First. If you’re in real estate, there’s a real estate investing version. If you’re not, read the original book, the Profit First by Mike Michalowicz. It tells from the entrepreneurial level how to make sure you know where every dollar is going in your business.
You’re going to have to manage it anyway, the ins and the outs and making sure that it’s there. You might as well build a system that’s very simple to put in place and keep more of the money you’re making. That would be number three. People stick their heads in the sand and then wonder why their business doesn’t have as enough cash or why they’re going down constantly.
I have to get a little bit on a personal level with you, David if you don’t mind. What did you do before you got into assisting entrepreneurs with their finances? How did you get the knowledge to where you’re able to help these entrepreneurs?
I was in the real estate investing world doing a lot of those deals but then during that time, many seats I sat in at that company were the finance seat. I sat down with the CPA and said, “Show me how this works,” like the P&L balance sheet and all that. I gained that knowledge and that was very eye-opening because then I could tell not only from the bank accounts but from the financial data where we stood. It told the story of the business. That’s where I realized, “We’re spending way too much. We’re going down,” so we get something here. From there too, once I had that knowledge, then I would hear at different events, podcasts or things like that like, “We’re making a ton but where in the world is all the money going?”
That might be at a mastermind where they say they were doing $2 million but then at the bar, they’re crying later, “We also have to take a loan out to cover our operations.” They’re crying in their beer. That’s where I saw there was a need for this. I moved across the country and started working with another investor through a series of events. The first thing I said to him was, “Now that I’ve got this knowledge, I need to see your books.” His books were a mess, his financial records and everything like a lot of other people. That’s where I cleaned that up and helped him get on his way. That’s where I helped him know what he made, spent and kept.
From there, he was able to refinance his portfolio of properties too where a lot of his money was tied up but he didn’t know where it went. Now, he did. He’s able to refinance some of that. He was able to make better decisions for his company, go out and use that money to buy more properties. He said to me, “This has been life-changing.” To me, there was the spark of Simple CFO saying, “I know with this knowledge and with my background,” and I look like the numbers person. I looked like I should have been an accountant but my background is entrepreneurialism and real estate investing.
That’s where I knew that I could bring this message and talk on the level of the entrepreneurs to make sure that there was also someone out there, not only from this boring numbers perspective, that this is someone who’s been there who’s lived the 25 deals a month but also spending 26 and then seeing this profit for system work over and over again with people to get them out of the hole.
Joey, the guy whom I said lost $70,000, in 2022 sent me a text message. He’s gotten a bank account specifically to give to other people. That’s one of his life’s purposes. He said that at the end of the year, he funded it with the last transfer and there was $75,000 in that one account to give to other people. I’m like, “This is what the power of the system is.” He went from $70,000 in the hole to having 75,000 extra in one account to give to a camp for children.
It didn’t touch his profit, his owners pay it, his taxes and to operate the business. I see a lot of people and I’m like, “That’s the spark that I wanted to generate in a lot of these businesses and give them that clarity to be able to have stories like that.” We’ve been working with him for years because the compounding effect of those habits has helped more of his life’s purpose and being able to fund these things and do more of what he wants to do.
That’s my story from real estate investing, seeing it and being in it, helping that first investor and then it snowballed into, “I want to help more and more.” It snowballed into we’re working with over 100 real estate investors and different business owners. We have a team of about 30 CFOs on the team trying to help as many people as possible. The people and the clients that we work with are prepared for the recession and the next things that are to come. They’re looking to grow and scale when other people might be looking to throw in the towel.
That’s what I’m trying to get to and what I saw in the power of this system when I first was introduced to it. When I first started the business, I called one of my mentors and said, “I am thinking of starting this business.” He said, “Have you read Profit First?” I said, “No. Let me read it.” I read that book in one night and said, “This is a great framework.” That’s what snowballed into helping so many people with that system and then writing the actual real estate version of that book as well too.
I love the fact that you see the passion and confidence in everything that you’re communicating and relaying to us and our readers. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to help people in the way that you’re helping them, especially business owners at any level of their business or in their entrepreneurial journey. You’ve given us so much knowledge. Imagine the viewers who are going to be reaching out to you. Reach out to him. Imagine how much more value you can get from David. Melanie, did you have any other questions?
If I would, it would go on for another two hours probably because I could sit here and listen. I love the information. It’s numbers and it’s exciting.
It’s trying to get that across without being dry. That’s what drew me into the system because I’m an entrepreneur. I would rather shoot myself in the foot than sit through an accounting class or something. That’s why it appealed to me and that’s why I’m trying to get it out there because so many people struggle with this area. They either don’t want to confront it or stick their head in the sand and say, “There’s nothing better that I could do but hire people and abdicate this responsibility.”
I am trying to get it out there, make it fun but then also have the experience and the clients and be able to see that it does work. Even if you don’t work with us, pick up the book and get this done in place. I’ve heard so many people how this system has helped them avoid catastrophe and also prepare them for a fabulous future too and a fabulous now that they can enjoy.
How you’re helping people and the book that you’re communicating is relatable for everybody, not only entrepreneurs. If you want to own your business, everybody needs to learn how to get a grip on their finances. “Where is my money going? How can I spend it wiser and not have to be living paycheck to paycheck, dollar to dollar?” Also, gain financial literacy, which a lot of people don’t have. They think they do but all they’re doing is paying bills.
I wrote a little Profit First for Personal. There is a little sheet in there, plus a little video of how to fill that out. If you’re like, “This sounds great but I need this in my personal life too.” Many people asked for that. I created a little something for everyone there as well because this is not only for business. This is could be for your personal life. This is the Dave Ramsey methodology but on steroids for business to make sure the business knows where every dollar’s going. It’s also a good system. If you’re like, “Dave Ramsey’s great but a lot of that stuff is antiquated and I want to update all this.”
Here’s a great system to be able to say, “Where’s my money going? Here are the bank accounts I have set up. Here are the goals I want with my significant other. This is what we’re going towards together.” It’s going to be good for you no matter what if you have a business or don’t have a business. If you have a business, make sure you get the Profit First book. If you don’t, put the Profit First for Personal in place if you want more money in your personal life too.
In your journey of entrepreneurship and assisting entrepreneurs on their financial literacy journey, would you say that there was any person who influenced you the most? If so, who would that be?
That’s a hard one because there’s been a lot of good people in my life like Mike Michalowicz. He wrote it first so I have to give him credit for this whole concept and for writing the original book but then there’s been a lot of people. A lot of the people we’ve worked with have been inspiring. They’ll take the information we have and then run with it.
They are rewarding, the rewards that come from them putting it in place.
There’s been a lot of people on this path. I’d have to say my family too. My wife has been supportive of this. I’ve got a daughter. We have a great relationship and my mom and dad. I have no excuse not to go out there and help other people because I felt like so many people have helped me along the way. This is another way to give back because there’s been a lot of good people pouring into me. It’s hard to pick one person who’s been influential to me because it’s been quite the army.
You have no excuse not to go out there and help other people, especially when so many people have helped you along the way. Click To TweetThere’s been so much information and value that you provided to us and our readers but if there was one more piece of advice that you could leave our viewers with, what would you say that would be?
I’ve already said it but I’m going to beat it home because I want to make sure that it is in everyone’s head. Find that keep number. Make sure you download that form and fill it out. If you have a significant other, fill it out with them. Make sure you’re on the same page with your money, especially if you have a business. Number two, set up some of those bank accounts. Set up the profit account. Get into the habit of making profit a habit.
In your personal life, it might be a freedom account or whatever it is. Another account that isn’t a part of where all the money goes in and out of so that way, your money comes in. You put some in there and you’re not touching it. It’s for a specific use, whatever that is. Whether it’s in your business and its profit. You take it out quarterly or freely because you want to buy a house or a course or you want to invest in whatever it might be. Make sure that you set something like that up. Build good habits, take something from here and put action behind it.
David, thank you so much. You’ve given so much valuable information. I appreciate it. As Melanie said, we could be here all day. Everybody, connect with David and get more details. It would benefit you at any stage of your life. I want to say thank you so much again, David. It’s been a pleasure and hopefully, we can have you on our show again.
Thanks for having me.
Important Links
- FullerWalletMedia.com/SimpleCFO
- FullerWalletMedia.com/YouTube
- FullerWalletMedia.com/Podcast
- FullerWalletMedia.com/Facebook
- David@SimpleCFOSolutions.com
About David Ritcher
David Richter is an active real estate investor who has been essential in closing over 850 deals over the last 10 years. He has experience with wholesale, turnkey, BRRRR, owner finance, rentals, lease options, and any other exit strategy you can think of.
While growing and building a real estate business from 5 to over 25 deals a month, he realized that as much money was coming in, it was all going right out the door. With the unique opportunity of being in every seat as a real estate investor, he found a calling in the company’s finance seat to help businesses see where their money really went.
David has helped real estate companies completely turn around from going out of business to building cash reserves by using the Profit First cash flow system. He has been featured on Biggerpockets, Real Estate Disruptors with Steve Trang, and many other podcasts, shows, and stages.
To help even more people, he wrote Profit First for Real Estate Investing – a derivative of the original Profit First by Mike Michalowicz that is tailored specifically to Real Estate Investors.
His goal is to completely transform the Real Estate Investing industry by helping real estate investors make and KEEP more money in their businesses. As the founder and owner of SimpleCFO Solutions, he wants to bring investors true financial clarity and freedom and help every investor stop living deal to deal.
