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Announcer 0:02
Welcome to dad cents a podcast for folks looking to grow their financial future. This podcast is hosted by Jason Fuchs, a dad, a husband and managing director of sage path financial advisors. Jason's goal is to help you grow your financial future, the right way. Now, your host Jason Fuchs.
Jason Fuchs 0:25
Greetings everyone if you're new here, I'm Jason Fuchs married Amber's father to a two and a half year old girl jewel. I'm also the managing director of sage path financial advisors. And at Sage path. We're here to help you grow your financial future, the right way. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for being here. Joining me is friend and entrepreneur Jeff Haney. Jeff, welcome to the show, brother. Thanks, Jason. Glad to be here. Glad to have you. So ladies and gentlemen, we'll introduce Jeff later. But what I want to do is I'm going to throw out a term and I want to know what you think Jeff? socially responsible investing.
Unknown Speaker 1:03
Wow, socially, no press sponsible. And I think what comes to mind is investing in companies or in industries that are not taking advantage, or sort of unduly depleting the world's resources. That's a good way to put it. Yeah. Your close. Is that close?
Jason Fuchs 1:27
Absolutely. Yeah. Some individuals believe that returns on investments shouldn't be the only criteria for how they invest their money. For these folks, the social impact of investing is just as important, perhaps more important, but what exactly is socially responsible investing? I received a question from one of our dozens of listeners regarding the topic, and we're gonna get to the bottom of it on today's show. And Jeff, you had a question as well, right? Yes. Okay. So you had asked about continually getting new business keeping costs low, maintaining adequate updated technology. Right. That's it. All right. So great questions. And what we're going to do, we're going to cover the keeping costs low portion of the of the question that's on Okay, great. So ladies and gentlemen, I am going to share with you five ways you can cut business expenses. I have so many more. But for the sake of time, we're not going to cover them all today. And remember, folks, I'm answering financial related questions in each episode. How do you get those questions to me? Well, I'm so glad you asked. The best way to do that is through email Jay Fuchs at Sage path FA comm You can also reach out to me at 904-366-9388 you reach me no assistance, no machines, you get me Jason Fuchs. All of that info can be found in the description of the podcast. I'd like to take a moment now introduce our guests. Jeff and I met through church speeches vineyard in Atlantic Beach here in Jacksonville, Florida. Now originally from Georgia, just outside of Atlanta, Jeff moved to Jacksonville, Florida in 2004. And from then until 2017, Jeff worked as a full time staff attorney at Jacksonville area Legal Aid Inc. jhala. For short, yes, handled a wide range of cases including guardianship landlord tenant civil rights, consumer protection. Now, while at gela, Jeff served as one of two co leaders of a statewide group of attorneys advocating for low income tenants in state and federal courts throughout Florida. And before the Florida Legislature. Here's where things get really neat though. Jeff open his law office his own office in January 2018. A huge leap. Jeff's approach to practicing law it's personal client centered. Jeff spends the time necessary to understand his clients and their needs. He values quality over quantity very similar to what we do. Here at Sage path. Jeff isn't always practicing law folks. Jeff volunteered for 10 years as a big brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Florida. He currently serves on the board of directors of beam and he volunteers in all kinds of roles at beaches vineyard in Atlantic Beach. When Jeff is not working when he's not volunteering. He enjoys surfing, loves to play tennis and Florida. Got a lot of Sunshine here, folks. Yes. Thanks again for being here. Thanks for having me, Jason. It's fun. Yeah, yeah, we're happy to have you. What is new and exciting in your world these days?
Unknown Speaker 4:33
new and exciting. Well, on the surface level new and exciting includes the weather. Summertime.
Jason Fuchs 4:40
Yeah, we're almost there. Right.
Unknown Speaker 4:41
I know I'm considering it summer. The The ocean is warm. The air is warm. sun's out.
Jason Fuchs 4:46
So you've gotten in? Yeah. All right. It feels really good. I dipped my toe in a couple weeks ago and I ran away.
Unknown Speaker 4:51
No, it feels good. I was in the water yesterday morning. Oh, are you really good?
Jason Fuchs 4:54
Nice. Have you been surfing yet? Yeah. Now this weekend and yesterday morning. Really? Yeah. I saw the report today. Looks really good, but it's been fun. All right Game on. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 5:03
So that's all at the top of the list of excitement. I do not like winter. Yeah, summer. Yeah. back to life now. Do we even have a winter here in Florida? That's the sad thing is still in Florida. I'm crying in the winter cuz I'm cold
Jason Fuchs 5:17
60 and I'm in a parka. It's 30 up in DC where we're from, but I still don't like it. I don't like anything below 60 Yeah, now, are you a winter surfer? Are you in your full wetsuit?
Unknown Speaker 5:27
I used to now, this winter. I don't think I served once. Yeah, now it's like the older I get the wimpier I am. I'm right there with you. And I'd rather have on my sweatshirt and sweatpants than be in a way
Jason Fuchs 5:39
to watch somebody else go out. I gotta tell you, I like waiting. Because I think it makes the season that much more special or enjoyable. It's almost like the the eagerness the anticipation of when that weather finally warms up, the water is finally warm. People are jumping in without their full body wetsuits. That's what I look forward to. That's a good way to look at it. So what exciting things will you be doing? Oh, man.
Unknown Speaker 6:02
Well, I mean, one, one thing I'm working on right now is hiring part time help at my office. All right.
Jason Fuchs 6:09
Yeah. Congrats. Thank
Unknown Speaker 6:11
you The big step. It is it doesn't sound like a big step. And I never thought it would be a big step. But it's funny how once you become a business owner, things that seem little are a big step. Yeah. It's hard to find the time to get around to it to sift through, you know, candidate. Oh, my goodness, yeah, just figure all of that out to stop working to do this other work. But
Jason Fuchs 6:31
yeah, we're still looking for another assistant stage path. And we've been on the search for two months. It's it's tough right now.
Unknown Speaker 6:38
There are kind of some special or unusual forces in play that might not always be there.
Jason Fuchs 6:44
So how are you prospecting for new assistant?
Unknown Speaker 6:46
You know, I tried a route, that's probably not the most common I actually just went through a friend of mine, okay, my friend's wife is super connected. She just this fantastic woman, but really well connected, especially at the beaches. And so I thought, you know, what, instead of going to all these online sources, and kind of reaching out into the the web where you don't have an actual human being? Yeah, I said, You know what, let me run it past her, because she probably already knows, you know, 10 people, good candidates. Sure enough, she did. She just put something I think she posted something on on a private facebook page of hers, or maybe a Facebook, really. And within a few days, she sent me this email with several people who had expressed interest and I've got a few resumes to look through and people to contact and talk to you for you. So I thought, Man, this is such a better waiting. Wow. Maybe I say that. Yeah, well, to get the candidates, right. Let's see how it works.
Jason Fuchs 7:36
We did two rounds, sage pads, we did two rounds on LinkedIn, the first round, we used the word executive, which was probably not the best route to go. The salary requests were in the six figures. Probably not a fit for what we're looking for right now. Yeah, no, not criticizing anybody, but not not where we are in that in that regard. And then the second round was the exact opposite kids out of college. And I gotta tell you, we like to see people work from home, we've we've found at Sage path that people are more productive at home. So we're not going to open the office again, we're going to let people work from home. We do meet once a week at the beaches to talk about what's going on with the company. And that was a prerequisite of the position. And the pre screening went well, I was left with two candidates, and neither one wanted to drive to the beaches for an interview. Wow, knowing that once a week, they would be required to drive to the beaches for a meeting. So that's what we're dealing with right now.
Unknown Speaker 8:37
It's tough. You think you make things clear? And then things get lost? And you think, how did I? How did we miss that?
Jason Fuchs 8:43
Yeah. So ladies and gentlemen, Jeff is looking for a part time assistant part time, full time, part time, part time, Jason and sage pad, we are looking for full time. So if you're interested reach out to either one of us. We'd love to talk to you. So tell me about your journey to the start of your company, Jeff.
Unknown Speaker 9:04
I'm sure they're all unique. I'm sure everybody comes to their own company from a you know, a different place a different angle.
Jason Fuchs 9:10
I've heard all kinds of stories.
Unknown Speaker 9:11
I bet I was gonna love them all. Yeah, I know. That's part of what's what's fun about it. And you hear so many different stories. I was never an aspiring entrepreneur. I did not, you know, grow would never thought that writing of this or anything. It I was forced into it either. But I sort of was forced into the idea because my old job was great. But I needed to leave because I just was no longer getting challenged enough. It just wasn't enough anymore. It is Yeah. And so when you realize that you think okay, I need to I need to bring back some challenge to my work. And so I noticed that But then I also noticed I wasn't seeing any other jobs out there that I wanted. Yeah. And I would look I would look and I just know I don't I don't want to do these jobs. You want to give your life away and work 70 or 80 hours a week. Get law firm will gladly take you. Yeah, I don't want to do that. And so the more I looked and thought I don't want to do these jobs, I thought, well, maybe I need to make my own job. Wow. And that was, I mean, it was as simple as that.
Jason Fuchs 10:10
I think you said a very complex decision, but simple at the time.
Unknown Speaker 10:14
Right, exactly. I like that. So I mean, it was it was kind of nice, because it just sort of I decided to push myself over that ledge and think Well, let me try this. Nice.
Jason Fuchs 10:23
Well, congratulations on your success. Thank you. It sounds like it worked. It did. I mean, we're standing right. It's working. So tell me about the clients that you're working with. Now.
Unknown Speaker 10:35
I would put them in two categories, it's hard to really boil it down. Because I since I've worked for myself, I do what I want, thankfully, you know, I take the cases I want I help the clients I want that I am, you know, confident that I can to be able to choose who you want to work with. Yes, very, very nice. But I would probably put them in two categories, one, people who have been cheated. I mean, everything from you know, handled cases against car dealers who have ripped people off not all car dealers are bad, you know, that that cheat? somebody doesn't give them what what they paid for what was promised that kind of thing. So that's, that's sort of one category of clients, they usually have. And then the other category is business or property owners need help with either reviewing or preparing contracts or handling contract disputes. It's broad, but I like that I don't want to do the same. I see
Jason Fuchs 11:21
every day. Got it. Okay. So which are you enjoying the most or which,
Unknown Speaker 11:26
you know, it's hard to say they're both rewarding in different ways. The first category, what what attorneys call consumer protection is very rewarding, because you know, when someone's been clearly cheated, and you're able to, you know, get that wrong righted in court, or wherever it may be, it just feels good. You know, you're, you feel like, you're the good guy, you're doing the right thing. So that's obviously always a good feeling. But it's also rewarding for something that doesn't not as dramatic, but just helping a business or property owner, navigate some kind of legal situation or problem or dispute. You know, it's rewarding in its own way. Because the law is complicated. It's too complicated to just help people navigate those things and come to a solution.
Jason Fuchs 12:04
Very neat. So what I guess cases, what problems what issues? Have you seen recently, maybe one, two, even three, that you can warn our listeners about? Or give them a heads up?
Unknown Speaker 12:17
Good question. There are a lot of construction disputes these days. And that that can range anywhere from like, just little remodel jobs. Okay, in your house, to just huge, you know, building a new house,
Jason Fuchs 12:34
tear it down, rebuild it back up.
Unknown Speaker 12:36
Exactly. Yeah. And it's, frankly, it's a hard thing to avoid at the outset. Because, you know, nobody plans to do bad work. But it's just it's frustrating to see there just are a lot of contractors and a lot of their customers locked in these disputes over the quality of work that was done. Things like that. And, you know, partly it's due to the housing market, we have, I mean, it's it's booming right in here. And it's just really crazy. And so, you know, maybe it's just a sign of the times, you know, maybe with a huge housing market and a huge boom, of course, here come calm down a little bit of problems. But yeah,
Jason Fuchs 13:12
so what pointers Can you give our listeners to make sure that they're avoiding this sort of thing? Because nobody wants to go to litigation? right?
Unknown Speaker 13:21
Exactly. Nobody, I tell people all the time, nobody is happy in litigation. I don't care which side you're on. I don't care if you win. I've had plenty of clients throughout my career who won in court, and were not happy at the end of the day. I mean, it needed to be done. They were glad they won and didn't lose. Yeah, but nobody's hurting you either. So
Jason Fuchs 13:39
in reality, I mean, some people like that sort of thing. But for the most part, I would think you want to avoid it as much as possible.
Unknown Speaker 13:44
That's right. I mean, honestly, it starts I mean, with the example of construction disputes, it starts with a contract. You know, that's why contracts are so important. You know, that as an individual and as a business owner. contracts are important. They're not just formalities that we just signed left and right everywhere. Yeah. You're
Jason Fuchs 13:58
talking paper in hand signature contract, right. not terrible. Not a text. Not an email. Yes. Something. Yes. Official thing construction, please get a written contract. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 14:10
I don't know, any contractors who aren't doing things with written contracts, but it's probably out there. But absolutely. I mean, so it doesn't mean, you need to hire a lawyer to review every contract you sign in your life, right? I mean, some things we just have to sign around through not going to get to use the product, product or service. Yeah. But for a big huge expense in your life, like building a new house, make sure that the contract reflects what you've negotiated, because a lot of times you can negotiate, you can have these conversations in person on the phone by text, email, whatever, and then sign the contract and only find out later when there's a problem that actually the contract didn't say what you said it was the conversation you had offline. That's right. Yeah. You've got to make sure that what you sign reflects what you negotiated because a lot of contracts have a clause that says that, this that what's in this written Contract are the only terms between the parties. And there, there will be no reliance on any oral representations, you know, basically disclaims everything that it was, you can talk
Jason Fuchs 15:08
to the person 40 times on the phone and it means nothing, because the contract because you sign this thing that says this is it, this is the whole deal.
Unknown Speaker 15:15
Yeah, that's why it's important to make sure if you've negotiated for x, y, and z and x, y&z are very important to you read that contract and make sure those things are in there. It's not asking too much of somebody to put in writing what they have told you.
Jason Fuchs 15:27
Yeah, if they're willing to do something they said via text or on the phone, then they should be willing to put in the contract. Right, exactly.
Unknown Speaker 15:34
Okay. Sounds basic. But another thing that I've seen recently where some, some people just didn't do because somebody was, you know, really persuasive when they talked and they talked slick, and they talked a good game, but they didn't check references, you know, they didn't check. This contractor you want to talk to you want to ask for references just like, you know, when you go apply for a job, or once references you go apply for if you're gonna rent a house, they want references from prior landlords, same thing, if you're gonna hire a contractor get references from prior customers of theirs, and you want to find out, you know, specific talk to those people. What kind of job did they do? How were they on the timeline was was what was promised, delivered all those kinds of things. And obviously, look online. I mean, I'm kind of cynical, I don't, you know, I hear all these things about how half of Amazon reviews are fake. And yeah, but you can, you know, like with a contractor, for example, and a lot of a lot of occupations that are licensed in Florida, you can search online, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Okay, anyone more times slower? Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Perfect. Thank you. That's who licenses a lot of different occupations in Florida, okay. Doctor, for example, if I'm gonna hire a contractor, I can look up their license on the State's website, and I can search complaints, the No way. They're licensed really.
Jason Fuchs 16:52
So and that's outside of the Google Yelp.
Unknown Speaker 16:55
I mean, you could use your Google, but it's not a Google review.
Jason Fuchs 16:59
Yeah. Okay. So you could you could take the Google reviews or the Yelp reviews, you see, and then, you know, coordinate that with what you're talking about here as a separate third party reviews. Doc.
Unknown Speaker 17:09
Yeah. also searched the State's website do, sir, yeah, search their license, and then search any complaints. I
Jason Fuchs 17:15
like that. Okay.
Unknown Speaker 17:16
Okay. You know, these are not perfect ways, but they're just ways to maybe head things off at the past and and, you know, sort of notice if you've got somebody that might have been like that.
Jason Fuchs 17:25
Okay. So ladies and gentlemen, if you're thinking about doing any sort of work, painting the house, building a new house, just make sure what you have is in writing some form of contract. If you're texting, if you're emailing, if you're talking on the phone, make sure everything discussed is incorporated in the contract. And don't feel bad Ladies and gentlemen, for trying to ask for a contract. The chances are if the person you're working with is willing to talk to you about things over the phone or through text, that same individual be willing to put in in a contract to. And next tip would be to just make sure that you're searching online, check the Google reviews, you can check Yelp. And then one more time, Jeff, that organization you mentioned,
Unknown Speaker 18:06
yeah, it's the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Perfect.
Jason Fuchs 18:10
Check those guys out, too. You'll get separate third party, quote, unquote, reviews, just make sure you're doing your due diligence before you get into business with these people check references. I mean, I typically call two or three, usually after two, I feel pretty comfortable. So ladies and gentlemen, make sure you're doing that as well. So great tips. Jeff, thank you very much. In the beginning of the podcast, we talked about all of the fun things you're doing. Jeff, you do a lot, you stay really busy. And my eyes I look at you as a successful entrepreneur. But I'm wondering how does Jeff measure success? How do you measure success?
Unknown Speaker 18:48
That's such a good question. I've thought about that. Not, you know, not for today, but but in other contexts, because you have to, especially if you're going to own a business I think you have to decide on that what what does success mean? Because otherwise you're going to be chasing some moving target all the time. I it may sound corny because the business I'm in I'm a lawyer but i i think lawyer as Justice plus righteousness Oh, and what I mean is that that that comes from Scripture, I mean, I'm a Christian I want my work to be you know, congruent with with my faith as much as possible. That's the goal I'm far from it but you know, you try to be an integrated person and that's the goal that justice obviously meaning administer justice, you know, have have right results and not wrong ones and make you know, make wrongs right and yet that, but I say justice plus righteousness because there's there's a way to go about justice. And frankly, there's a lot of it in our legal system. It's not pretty and it shouldn't be pretty. I mean, you know, when you have to go to battle, it's it's not pretty, but it shouldn't be so nasty and so underhanded. And so it should be more straightforward. Yeah, there's a way, you know, there's, there's, there's winning, and then there's winning the right way. You know, there are a lot of there's a lot of people out there that want to win at all costs. And that's sort of the pressure because it's expensive to get into a legal dispute. And to get into court and do all this stuff. It's so fast paced
Jason Fuchs 20:26
to so many moving parts to it. So
Unknown Speaker 20:29
there's pressure to just win at all costs, no matter what corners you have to cut, no matter who you have to step on, or how you have to do it. And I obviously want to win, I want results for my clients. But I want to do things the right way. Yeah, you know, I don't want to I heard recently, somebody from the civil rights era, saying that one of the differences between then versus now is that in their time, one of the things they were trying to do was to win over their opponent. And I thought nobody does that anymore. That's just, yeah, it was to smash our opponent into bits. I want to I want to work in such a way that even the opponent will be persuaded I see, okay, I'm wrong here. Or at least in this area. Yeah. To give or, you know, there's a way of winning that, I think, is more humble
Jason Fuchs 21:21
approach. That sounds like
Unknown Speaker 21:24
humble, and just and just doing it the right way. Yeah. Which I know, we can all have different opinions about what that is. But anyway, that's sort of my my definition of success is getting a good result and getting it a good way.
Jason Fuchs 21:36
And do you feel that with the cases and with the clients that you're working with, you're able to achieve that success?
Unknown Speaker 21:43
A lot of times I am thankfully, I mean, obviously, there are things that come up that are not in our control. They're, you know, situations that the other party refuses to resolve outside of a, you know, protracted court battle and all this stuff. But I'm finding Usually, we can get to a good solution.
Jason Fuchs 22:01
I know you're looking for a part time assistant. Yes. What is on the horizon for you and your firm? I mean, what is the next big thing our listeners should be listening for?
Unknown Speaker 22:13
That, that is the big thing, hiring and just just growth. I mean, the the point of hiring somebody is to allow some growth, I'm at that point where, you know, you can only do so much, I can only do so much. And so I'm kind of cutting my business short. If not, don't bring in help.
Jason Fuchs 22:30
Yeah. I imagine you're, you're transitioning from the high level activities or the vision of your firm, because you're you're doing those daily tasks that that otherwise somebody else might be able to do
Unknown Speaker 22:44
exactly, exactly. Yeah, I could, I could help a few more people. And I could work more efficiently if I had that help. And so it's really just, it's about growing. I don't have any desire, just like I was never an aspiring entrepreneur, I don't have a desire to build some Empire. Yeah, but I want to grow it a little bit, you know, build a business that provides for a few more people besides me.
Jason Fuchs 23:02
Yeah, the great thing about the assistant is it's not that you're paying someone for the job mean, obviously you are. It's it's that time that they're freeing up for you. I mean, I can't wait to get the second assistant just so I could have more time to focus on the vision of sage path. The long term goal is a kind of higher level thinking as opposed to pushing paperwork. So I understand where you're coming from. That's the goal. So you had a question for today's show, right? Yes, we were talking about trying to continually get new business keeping costs low, maintaining adequate updated technology, right? That's right. All right. So we're gonna jump into that now, ladies and gentlemen. And like I said, we're going to cover the cost portion. So I'm going to give you five solutions to cut business expenses. Let's get into it now.
Cutting business expenses is a fantastic way to improve your bottom line. And guess what, it's something you can do without bringing in more revenue. Ladies and gentlemen, take your time with this test. You need to figure out what you can appropriately cut without impacting your operations to drastically make your best effort to prioritize what's important to you, your employees and your overall business first, lean on your team for help. Everyone should be on board and supporting one another. Now, what we're going to do is we're gonna talk about five solutions to cut business expenses. These have worked for several my clients and I think they make work for you as well, ladies and gentlemen, and perhaps you too, Jeff. Excellent. You ready to go? Yes, let's do it. All right, feel free to jump in anytime, Jeff. solution. Number one, review the responsibilities of all of your staff. payroll is your most significant expense. What if your employees aren't in the correct positions? What if they aren't doing their share? before hiring new talent business owner should thoroughly review the workflow of their existing staff. In some cases, changes may be required, which can prolong the necessity to hire new talent. Plan and make sure your infrastructure is strong forecast your sales to ensure you have enough employees. You don't want to be in a situation where you just have too many employees. And make sure you understand new laws, new wage increases, you can always reach out to Jeff for help in that regard. You need to have a plan that lays out how to deal with increases in your payroll. All right, solution number two adopt virtual technology. And Jeff, I believe this answers another question that you had. Now a lot of business owners adopted virtual technology as a result of COVID. Many of us are getting vaccinated and the world starting to open up again, we're starting to get back to that norm, whatever that really means. That doesn't mean you have to get rid of virtual technology do though you should continue to embrace it. If you have tasks the company complete can complete using computer or automation, you may not need to hire another employee. In my mind, if a task doesn't require human fingers. Automated automation, virtual technology can help increase employee productivity, which in turn will help save you money. All right, on to solution number three, how are you feeling so far? Jeff?
Unknown Speaker 26:29
Good. these are these are good. The my challenge with number two is I need help just to figure out what I can figure
Jason Fuchs 26:34
out what can be automated. Like I said, if you are doing a task, and it doesn't necessarily require you to move your fingers on the keyboard too much or use a pen or pencil. That is a task that can probably be automated. For example, calendars. Now we've all been experienced, but the whole Hey, let's meet next week. Okay, what's your schedule like? Well, I'm available Tuesday, Wednesday, well, I'm not available Tuesday, Wednesday, what else? What I've done to stop this back and forth wild goose chase eN eN pinpointing meeting days and times, is I use a service called calendly. calendly allows me to set up meetings, I can send the link directly to prospective clients or to clients. And those people can pick the exact day in time they want to meet, they can pick phone calls, zoom, we can meet in person, they have a list of locations to choose from. So what's really neat about that is it saves me time because I can just send Jeff the link, Jeff can pick a day and time that he wants to sign up to do this podcast, boom. Not only that, but Jeff is gonna get email reminders, Jeff's gonna get text reminders, alerting him and reminding him of when we're gonna meet.
Unknown Speaker 27:50
Can I ask you a question about calendly? Of course, I have been nervous about giving other people control of my calendar. And so I haven't used something like that yet, are you able to sort of give them a limited part of your calendar? In other words, here are five options. Pick from those.
Jason Fuchs 28:07
Yeah, the really neat thing about calendly is you can customize it so you can set your working hours, you can set your availability. So I have a link on our website, www dot Sage path FA comm and the right upper right, you can click the calendar icon and people can schedule time with me directly. And that is limited. So I've input my hours of availability for prospective clients. I have certain hours that I work with my clients, and then I have certain hours where I'm doing the you know, office type work. Does that make sense? It does. So the really neat part of calendly is just the ability to customize it. I mean, you can really get what you want or what you don't want out of the program. So let's just see a LENDLY calendly. Any other questions? No, that's great. All right. That's the best way to start. Alright, solution number three, review your office supply costs. You might not be aware, Jeff, but supplies can count account for a significant portion of your budget. And this is an area that business owners often overlook. Ladies and gentlemen, do you need the best pens? Do you need the best paper? I mean, how much paper Do you really need to be using? So do you use digital storage in place of paper storage? start tracking, supply usage at your office, actually write it down figure out what you're spending your money on. This is going to allow you to see what you're spending money on. shopped around for better prices. If you can, you can find great deals by shopping online at places like Amazon. You can also buy in bulk which might save you money as well. Ladies and gentlemen, that leads us to solution number four, review your insurance. If possible, renegotiate those contracts, insurance rates and coverage can change from year to year. reevaluate your insurance program on an annual basis. Ces and try to make this a best practice, you want to ensure that you're getting the most comprehensive protection at a fair price. In some situations, business owners may allow insurance contracts to renew automatically. Well, I'm gonna blow your mind right now, Jeff, please don't do that. Make it a best practice to not renew your contracts automatically, probably annually. Instead, review them annually with your insurance professional, take time to adjust the coverage to you may not need as much as you think you can raise your deductibles value your office space your equipment differently, you can analyze previous claims to see if insurance is something you need for specific business items in the first place. And you might be able to bundle policies, for example, auto homeowners key man, etc. Sometimes when you bundle policies, you can save yourself a ton of money. The most common bundle I've seen is a business owners policy and business owners policy pairs general liability coverage with commercial property coverage as well. Any questions about solution? Number Four? Jeff comments? No, I
Unknown Speaker 31:13
just think that's a really good one. I honestly hadn't thought about it, I'm now thinking I need to go look at my professional liability, because I probably pay too much.
Jason Fuchs 31:21
And you know, it's funny, Jeff is is people don't know that they can negotiate bills in medical bills, credit card companies, loans, sometimes you can renegotiate and restructure these things. Insurance is one of those items. So it's very important to make sure that you're getting the best price, or the best value makes sense. It does. Alright, that leads us to the last solution I have for you today. Number five, hire an experienced professional. Sometimes it's better to hire help, it can save you a ton of time those folks know where to cut expenses most efficiently. There's almost always a place in your business where you can save money and reallocate, you might not see it. But guess what someone else might be able to see it. It might be beneficial to hire an accountant or a CPA to check the books. And if you have you already have one of those on staff, Jeff, make it a best practice to have that individual cut unnecessary business expenses whenever possibly, or excuse me whenever possible, at least on an annual basis. All right. What do you think, Jeff? end of the stick out to you?
Unknown Speaker 32:31
Yeah, I think they're all good. Jason. I think for me that number for reviewing insurance policies. I think that's a big one. I also think number two is a big one. I like your idea about the calendar solution, but also just automating more generally. Who are that's possible.
Jason Fuchs 32:46
Yeah. And the trick with automation is you don't want to lose that human touch.
Unknown Speaker 32:49
That's part of why I've been a little bit slow on that part is Yeah, I don't I don't want to lose the personal touch.
Jason Fuchs 32:56
And that's why I give out my number and my email address willingly. You know, I want prospective clients, I want clients, ladies and gentlemen, I want people like you to be able to talk to me directly. Yeah, I run Sage path. I'm a busy guy. But I am freely giving of my time. I want people to be able to get in touch with me directly. The last thing I want is some answering service overseas. So let's wrap up this portion of the show, ladies and gentlemen, as part of what I do, it is imperative that I give back to the community. I mean, look at the work that I'm doing with the Surfrider Foundation, trying to keep our beaches or oceans clean, or the work with middle schoolers at beaches, vineyard or church, Jeff, I'm even helping families get out of the financial rut they fell into as a result of COVID What's my point? I have expertise in financial matters. I've been doing this for a long time. Ladies and gentlemen, if you have pressing fears or questions, all I need to do is go to our website www dot Sage path FA comm click the calendar link at the top of the page. And schedule time with me. I said this earlier and I mean it I am freely giving of my time. Let's conclude today's episode with a bit of q&a sound good Jeff, that was great.
I received a question from someone we're gonna call him James to protect his identity. James asks, I'm interested in socially responsible investing what stocks or funds should I choose? Where can I find more information? Great question, James. And I'm happy to help. I actually published an article that discusses this topic in detail. You can search for investing with your heart on our website, www dot Sage path FA comm if you'd rather read it, or just email me call me I can send it to you via email, whatever you need. Some individuals I said this earlier, Jeff, some individuals they believe that return on investments shouldn't be the only criteria for how they invest Is there money? for them? The social impact of investing is just as important, perhaps more important, the history of socially responsible investing stretches as far back as the mid 18th century, but it's more modern form began taking shape in the 1960s amidst the fight for civil rights in the emerging Vietnam War protests. How much money Jeff, do you think, in the US is invested in these socially responsible strategies could be stocks funds,
Unknown Speaker 35:32
are you saying how much as a percentage or how much? How
Jason Fuchs 35:34
many dollars? Oh, man, I would have had a guess on the percentage. But it's more than all this stimulus that we're pumping into the economy. Oh, well, I've lost track of that number. More than $17 trillion is managed under sustainable and responsible investing principles. That's according to the forum for sustainable and responsible investment. He believed that that's a lot I like it. That's a lot of money on Yeah, yeah. Now this includes mutual funds, endowments, even venture capital funds, what is socially responsible investing, the definition of socially responsible investing, it's evolved, it may be referred to by different names like sustainable and responsible investing, values based investing. Whatever term is used this investment discipline, it's usually characterized by a set of principles that govern how investments are selected. One widely use framework includes environmental, social and corporate governance criteria, we refer to this as ESG. Now what is ESG ESG criteria of good corporate governance, positive environmental impact and responsible community involvement are a guide for making investment selections akin to other investment related criteria, like price to earnings ratio, or revenue growth, for example. Now we're going to wrap this up. The ESG criteria of good corporate governance, positive environmental impact and responsible community invest involvement, are a guide for making investment selections akin to other investment related criteria, like price to earnings ratio, or revenue growth. Let's go ahead and wrap this portion of the show up, Jeff, the underlying belief with ESG is that good corporate practices may lead to better long term corporate performance. I hope this helps James now to answer your question about how to find these investments. There are all kinds of websites out there, you can start with Google. But Ladies and gentlemen, use me as a resource. I'd be happy to make myself available to you, you can call me email me, I will steer you in the right direction. And please keep the questions coming. The email address the phone number there in the description of the podcast. Alright, Jeff, let's go ahead and close out today's episode. What do you think sounds good. You got places to beat people to see her thrive? Gotta get back to word. Trying to invest responsibly. It's just a small example of the noise you have to navigate through when it comes to investing. There's so much information out there. It's so hard to keep up with everything. I mean, how do you pick the right company under the ESG criteria we discussed? Well, at Sage path, we can navigate you through the noise. The health of the business community and the community in general is important to me. I mean, I'm a business owner, our needs are different than individuals or families. Ladies and gentlemen, if I can help you in any way, especially if it's answering financial related questions, or speaking with you or your peers, please contact me just know that I'm available. I'm here for you whenever you need me, Jeff, anything you'd like to add? No,
Unknown Speaker 38:56
that's good stuff. Jason. I enjoy here and i don't i don't know the financial stuff that you knows it's fun to hear you talk your
Jason Fuchs 39:04
your profession. I like it. I wish I'd do more. And we don't know the legal stuff, you know, so we're happy to have you here. That's the beauty right? Yeah, we all we all add something when piece of the pie. Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for being here. Thanks for having me. It was fun. Now, Jeff, what is the best way for people to contact you?
Unknown Speaker 39:21
This way? Is the good old telephone. Good old telephone. Okay. Right nine to 471748001 more time 904717 for 800. And when
Jason Fuchs 39:31
people call you they get Jeff right? That's right. They get Jeff or if I'm in the meeting a machine but or your new assistant. That's right. Thank you so much for being here. Thanks, Jason. Enjoyed it had a ton of fun. And all of our listeners out there. Thank you for sticking around. I appreciate all of you make it a great day. apart. We all love the disclosures, securities and investment advisory services off Through FSC securities Corp FSC member FINRA s IPC FSC is separately owned and other entities and remarketing names products or services referenced here are independent of FSC. FSC does not provide legal or tax advice. Investor experience with socially responsible investing will vary. As with any investment mutual fund or exchange traded fund, socially responsible Investments are subject to fluctuations in value and market risk. Shares when redeemed may be worth more or less than their original cost. individuals should also recognize that each investment approach may operate under a different set of principles, so you should be careful that your selection mirrors your personal values and beliefs. Although the information has been gathered from sources believed to be reliable, it cannot be guaranteed and the accuracy of the information should be independently verified. This material was created to provide information on subjects covered but should not be regarded as a complete analysis of these subjects. It is not intended to provide legal tax or other professional guidance please see your professional for your specific situation. Jason Fuchs, Jeff Haney, and sage path and FSC are unaffiliated. This episode is sponsored by Dunham and Associates investment council Inc. Sage path is located at 512 rows but lane Neptune Beach, Florida 32266. information for this episode was obtained through FMG suite, LLC.